Arne Duncan
Read our coverage of the ninth U.S. Secretary of Education, who served from 2009 to 2016
Arne Duncan, Ninth U.S. Education Secretary: Biography and Achievements
Background and highlights of Arne Duncan's tenure as the ninth U.S. Secretary of Education.
Standards & Accountability
What the Ed. Dept.'s New Race to the Top Report Reveals, and What It Avoids
The Education Department says all states in the competitive-grant program made progress toward their goals, but makes little mention of areas where they stumbled or backtracked.
Federal
New SIG Data Serve Up Same Old Conclusion: Mixed Results
The latest Education Department report on the federal School Improvement Grant program paints an uneven picture of SIG's impact, just as Congress is about to decide its fate.
Federal
Arne Duncan Touts Study Showing 25 Percent Dip in Number of Drop-Outs
"Progress Is No Accident: Why ESEA Can't Backtrack on High School Graduation Rates" also reports that the number of high school "dropout factories" has also declined significantly in recent years.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Five Cynical Observations About Teacher Leadership
Who's really in charge of explaining school-embedded teacher leadership, selecting the right goals and purposes for individual classrooms? Who is inspiring teachers to find their own paths--based on the own carefully honed experience and observations--to lead? Is what we're seeing about teacher leadership in the media driven by the big cannons--the federal government, the well-funded organizations and grant-receiving universities--rather than actual teachers working in grubby classrooms, scattered across the country?
Federal
The Push to Roll Back Testing Picks Up Steam: An Education Week Odyssey
The "too much testing" story line has been gathering momentum for quite some time. Check out our new Storify that's collected articles and other media about the topic.
Federal
Open-Ed Resources Get Attention in Proposed Ed. Dept. Regulation
Any educational resources created with federal grants would have to be openly licensed under a proposed regulation.
Federal
CAP Report: Congress Shouldn't Forget 'Subgroup' Students in ESEA Renewal
Some of the biggest achievement gaps are found in schools that are performing well otherwise, a CAP analysis finds.
Federal
Fact-Checking Arne Duncan: Do Higher Grad Rates Mean His Policies Helped?
Do higher graduation rates mean that the Obama administration's K-12 policies when it comes to school turnarounds and accountability are on the right track, as U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has claimed?
Federal
Arne Duncan, John King: Don't Cap Testing at the Expense of Testing Quality
"Everybody has had a hand in what our current testing system looks like—this situation was not created by just one entity," said Michael Casserly, the executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools.
Assessment
Top Education Officials Talk Test Proliferation, Quality
Education Secretary Arne Duncan, as well as those representing states and school districts, discussed proposals to improve assessments amid debate about "overtesting" at a panel in Washington.
Federal
Too Much Testing? Ed. Dept. Outlines Steps to Help States and Districts Cut Back
The U.S. Department of Education has released some general principles for states and districts to help them figure out how to cut back on assessments and ensure that they're used to drive instruction.
Federal
U.S. Department of Education Approves More State Teacher-Distribution Plans
The states are: Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, California, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
Federal
Arne Duncan, John King Talk Higher Graduation Rates, ESEA, and Testing
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has good news: High school graduation rates appear on track to rise for the third year in a row.
Federal
Duncan, King, Democratic Senators: New ESEA Must Be Strong on Accountability
The toughest issue in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act? Finding the sweet spot on accountability.