June 10, 2015

Education Week, Vol. 34, Issue 34
Education Best of the Blogs Blogs
June 10, 2015
3 min read
College & Workforce Readiness Congress Turns Attention to Higher Education Act Renewal
Efforts to reauthorize the law could be complicated by some of the same issues holding up renewal of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
Lauren Camera, June 9, 2015
5 min read
Former R.I. Gov. Lincoln Chafee (D)
Former R.I. Gov. Lincoln Chafee (D)
Federal Additional Entrants Join Presidential Race
Two more Democrats and another two Republicans–including three former governors and a sitting U.S. Senator–officially announce their candidacies for the White House in the 2016 race.
Lauren Camera & Andrew Ujifusa, June 9, 2015
3 min read
Curriculum Multistate Effort Brings 'Open' Content to Broad Audience
The K-12 OER Collaborative is supporting the creation of open educational resources, which can be built upon by educators as well as for-profit and nonprofit entities.
Sean Cavanagh, June 9, 2015
2 min read
Curriculum N.Y. 'Open' Education Effort Draws Users Nationwide
A free online library of instructional materials created in New York state to align with the common-core standards has generated a vast audience.
Sean Cavanagh, June 9, 2015
9 min read
Janna Sells, an instructional facilitator, hugs 3rd grader Shamonica Branch at East Iredell Elementary School in Statesville, N.C.
Janna Sells, an instructional facilitator, hugs 3rd grader Shamonica Branch at East Iredell Elementary School in Statesville, N.C.
Justin Cook for Education Week
Federal As Federal Grants Taper Off, Two N.C. Districts Tally Impact
Two North Carolina school systems show how districts have used a patchwork of one-time federal grants to spur changes, and face challenges going forward.
Alyson Klein, June 9, 2015
11 min read
Federal District Uses Federal Aid to Fuel Multi-Tiered Instruction
The federal Investing in Innovation program was among the sources of grant funding for the Iredell-Statesville school system in North Carolina.
Alyson Klein, June 9, 2015
1 min read
Recruitment & Retention SIG Money Gives Principal Tools for Turnaround
A federal School Improvement Grant has helped the principal at one North Carolina school amp up the focus on using data to boost student achievement.
Alyson Klein, June 9, 2015
1 min read
Federal Nevada Statute Supercharges School Choice
A broad new law will give parents near-total control over how state education dollars are spent on their children, through education savings accounts.
Arianna Prothero, June 9, 2015
5 min read
Special Education Hurdles in Pairing General, Special Education Teachers
Poorly implemented co-teaching practices may be taking the "special" out of special education, say many who train teachers and districts in collaboration.
Christina A. Samuels, June 9, 2015
6 min read
Madison Reid, a student in a combined 2nd and 3rd grade classroom, leads a discussion on good listening with her classmates during a morning session at Cleveland’s Wade Park Elementary School. Such classroom exercises are part of Cleveland’s districtwide social-emotional learning plan.
Madison Reid, a student in a combined 2nd and 3rd grade classroom, leads a discussion on good listening with her classmates during a morning session at Cleveland’s Wade Park Elementary School. Such classroom exercises are part of Cleveland’s districtwide social-emotional learning plan.
Dustin Franz for Education Week
School Climate & Safety Urban Districts Embrace Social-Emotional Learning
Researchers are measuring the impacts of social-emotional learning programs in eight big-city school districts.
Evie Blad, June 9, 2015
8 min read
Student Well-Being From Our Research Center Survey: Student Success Calls for More Than Academic Skills
Educators agree that social-emotional learning is important, but teachers and school leaders have different perceptions about how well students are faring.
Evie Blad, June 9, 2015
1 min read
Law & Courts High Court Rules in Online Threat, Religious Rights Cases
A pair of U.S. Supreme Court decisions deal with issues playing out in schools as much as in the rest of society.
Mark Walsh, June 9, 2015
6 min read
Diane Douglas The Arizona schools' chief has clashed with other state officials on governance and K-12 policy topics.
<b>Diane Douglas</b> The Arizona schools' chief has clashed with other state officials on governance and K-12 policy topics.
School & District Management Education Policy Issues Caught in Arizona Crossfire
Disagreements between the state's education chief and other officials could complicate work on academic standards, school finance, and other topics.
Andrew Ujifusa, June 9, 2015
6 min read
Equity & Diversity Magnet Schools Struggle to Be Diverse, Says Study
While the specialty schools do boost diversity, students outside their local neighborhoods are not flocking to them as expected, say researchers who studied 21 nonselective magnets.
Sarah D. Sparks, June 9, 2015
4 min read
New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña speaks to the media last year at the Laboratory School of Finance in the Bronx. The chancellor has pledged to improve language instruction for the city’s English-learners.
New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña speaks to the media last year at the Laboratory School of Finance in the Bronx. The chancellor has pledged to improve language instruction for the city’s English-learners.
Frank Franklin II/AP-File
Federal In Strategy to Help English-Learners, New York Expands Dual-Language Programs
The nation's largest school district, which enrolls 160,000 ELLs, remains under a state-imposed corrective-action plan to improve services for English-learners.
Corey Mitchell, June 9, 2015
8 min read
Education Funding Report Roundup Per-Pupil Spending Found to Rise a Bit
After a three-year dip, per-pupil spending on public prekindergarten-12 education inched upward again in 2013, according to a report.
Jacob Bell, June 9, 2015
1 min read
Education How Could Opting Out Affect School Ratings?
See how a relatively small number of homogenous students opting out could tip a school’s rating into a different score bracket.
June 9, 2015
BRIC ARCHIVE
Steve Braden for Education Week
Assessment Opinion The Opt-Out Movement Is Gaining Momentum
The building opt-out movement signals a need for K-12 policymakers to improve family engagement, argue Michael P. Evans and Andrew Saultz.
Michael P. Evans & Andrew Saultz, June 9, 2015
3 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
Jonathan Bouw for Education Week
School & District Management Opinion The Power of Parents Is on Display in Opt-Outs
Resistance to mandated tests, especially from parents of children with special needs, is reaching a breaking point in many districts, writes Rebecca Page Johnson.
Rebecca Page Johnson, June 9, 2015
4 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
Bob Dahm for Education Week
Federal Opinion When Students Opt Out, What Are the Policy Implications?
The opt-out movement has an impact on K-12 accountability, but it's complicated, write researchers Jessica K. Beaver and Lucas Westmaas.
Jessica K. Beaver & Lucas Westmaas, June 9, 2015
4 min read
Fred and Catherine Hamel pose with their daughter, Teddi, who has completed 12 years of public schooling. She has earned an undergraduate degree in history and is now an outdoor educator with the international nonprofit organization Outward Bound.
Fred and Catherine Hamel pose with their daughter, Teddi, who has completed 12 years of public schooling. She has earned an undergraduate degree in history and is now an outdoor educator with the international nonprofit organization Outward Bound.
Hamel Family Photo
Assessment Opinion Q&A: An Early Opt-Out Talks About School Without Tests
Twelve years after opting their children out of testing, Fred and Catherine Hamel interview their daughter on her experience.
Fred L. Hamel & Catherine Ross Hamel, June 9, 2015
5 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
Nip Rogers for Education Week
Assessment Opinion Test-Taking 'Compliance' Does Not Ensure Equity
Parents have a civil right to opt out of testing when children's K-12 needs go unmet, write Judith Browne Dianis, John H. Jackson, and Pedro Noguera.
Judith Browne Dianis, John H. Jackson & Pedro A. Noguera, June 9, 2015
3 min read
Education Funding Report Roundup Higher Education
Illinois' efforts to control costs for college students actually led to faster tuition increases, finds a study.
June 8, 2015
1 min read
School & District Management Report Roundup Community Partnerships
Schools that participated in City Year's schoolwide programs in 22 cities were more likely to see overall improvements on their states' mathematics and English/language arts tests than similar schools that did not participate, according to a new report.
Sarah D. Sparks, June 8, 2015
1 min read
Reading & Literacy Report Roundup Research Report: Special Education
Students with disabilities continue to score much lower than their peers on state tests, even as their graduation rates inch upwards, a new report finds.
Christina A. Samuels, June 8, 2015
1 min read
Early Childhood Report Roundup Digital Games
Younger students get the most out of digital learning games when the game combines elements of both the real and virtual worlds, finds new research.
Audrey Armitage, June 8, 2015
1 min read
School Climate & Safety Report Roundup School Nutrition
More low-income children ate at federally subsidized summer meals sites in summer 2014, continuing a trend of growth in participation that started a few years before, a new report says.
Evie Blad, June 8, 2015
1 min read
Education Correction Correction
An article in the June 3, 2015, issue of Education Week on efforts to develop measures of social-emotional factors for the National Assessment of Educational Progress incorrectly identified Chris Gabrieli's role in the project. Mr. Gabrieli, an adjunct lecturer with the Transforming Education project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, is developing such measures for a separate project involving a coalition of California districts.
June 8, 2015
1 min read