Below, please find education news from sources around the state and nation. You can also read our Weekly News Update here. Obama Takes On Critics of Education Plan New York Times -
July
29 Saying that reforming education is perhaps “the economic issue of our time,” President Obama went before a major civil rights organization on Thursday to defend his main education program against criticisms from some minority and teachers groups. Read more... Chicago Public Schools suggests eight concessions to its teachers Chicago Tribune -
July
28 Chicago Public Schools officials have suggested a list of concessions from its teachers to close a $370 million budget hole, including unpaid holidays, frozen wages and unpaid school recesses. The proposals are part of ongoing negotiations between the district and its teachers union to avoid having larger class sizes, which schools CEO Ron Huberman has said could increase to 33 students, from 31, at the high schools. Read more... Duncan Highlights Education Department's Civil Rights Agenda U.S. Department of Education - July
28 Duncan responds to civil rights leaders' criticism of his proposed reforms by vowing to both form a bipartisan commission on behalf of educational equity and pursue policies aimed toward advancing equity. Duncan says his Department will "ensure that all schools—public, private and charter—serve the kids most
in need". Read more... New Test Scores Show New York Students Struggling New York Times - July
28 On Wednesday, New York State education officials released test results showing "dismal performance across the state" - for example, more than half of New York City residents are currently failing to meet the state's standards for reading. This result comes just after state officials had recalibrated grading for these tests. As the Times notes, this "could raise new questions about the imprecision of educational testing".Read more... How Common-Standards States Fared in Race to Top Education Week - July
27 Education Week blogger Catherine Gewertz examines the close correlation between Core Common Standards adoption and finalist positioning in this current round of Race to the Top. Of the 19 finalists, 17 - including Illinois - have adopted the Core Common Standards, with California and Colorado deciding next week (August 2nd). And of the 17 who missed finalist status, only 11 had adopted the Standards. Read more... 18 States (including Illinois) & D.C. Named Race to the Top Round 2 Finalists Education Week - July
27 Illinois was one of eighteen states to be named a finalist for the Race to the Top Round 2 funding. Next, the state will send a five-person delegation to Washington for an interview the week of August 9th. Read
more... A first-rate education for all Chicago Tribune - July
27 The Tribune's Avani Patel argues in favor of the "ambitious" Race to the Top and explains what Illinois has done to prepare for Round 2. Patel lists five recently enacted education reform laws - including the Performance Evaluation Reform Act, which ties teacher and principal performance ratings to student growth - as well as five changes in Illinois education that would result from a Race to the Top Round 2 win. Read
more... Equity of Test is Debated as Children Compete for Gifted Kindergarten New York Times & Education Week - July
26 The Times reports on New York City's gifted kindergarten program and the standardized test that is the sole determinant of admission. Wealthy families are rapidly investing in preparing their children for this test, and arguments are brewing over whether the test is simply another form of discrimination along lines of race and class. Read
more...
And Sara Mead of Education Week finds a different problem with the system: often, the only way for children to receive quality public education is to win the 'gifted lottery'. More from her here. Standards bearer Boston Globe - July
26 Globe columnist Sam Allis calls Massachusetts' adoption of the Common Core Standards a "smart move". The core of his argument for the standards: "Any self-respecting nation should have a good grasp, based on solid, consistent data, of how well it is educating its children. All of its children." Read
more...
Good teachers deserve good salaries Chicago Tribune - July
23 *Advance
Illinois in the News* Responding to a Tribune story on teacher
compensation in Illinois, Advance Illinois Executive Director Robin
Steans argues that Illinois should "celebrate and reward those
[teachers] who are successful". According to Steans, if teachers are
"making a difference at the classroom level", they deserve the
six-figure salaries that the Tribune
noted. Read
more... When Tenure Trumps Talent Forbes.com - July
23 Advance Illinois board member Tim Knowles opines on public schools' "last-in, first-out" policies. "Students will suffer when seniority, not competence, dictates which teachers keep their jobs," he warns. Read
more... Once a Leader, U.S. Lags in College Degrees New York Times - July
23 The United States has fallen from first to
12th in the share of adults
ages 25 to 34 with postsecondary degrees, according to a new report from
the College Board.
40.4 percent of its young adults hold postsecondary credentials. Read
more... U.S. goes from leading to lagging in young college graduates Washington Post - July 22 The United States has fallen from first to 12th in the share of adults
ages 25 to 34 with postsecondary degrees, according to a new report from
the College Board.
40.4 percent of its young adults hold postsecondary credentials. Read more... The education carrot Boston Globe - July 22 This Globe op-ed theorizes that the Race to the Top's funding payoff is the force driving recent state education reforms. "It's about the money. It always is," Joan Vennochi writes. Read more...
District 7 reinstates the Pre-K program Edwardsville Intelligencer - July 21 The Edwardsville District 7 Board of Education approved the reinstatement of the district’s pre-kindergarten (Pre-K) program at its regular board meeting Monday night. District 7 families had previously been notified in December 2009 that the district’s Pre-K program would not be offered in 2010-11. Read
more... Many States Adopt National Standards for Their Schools New York Times - July 21 Less than two months after the nation’s governors and state school chiefs released their final recommendations for national education standards, 27 states have adopted them and about a dozen more are expected to do so in the next two weeks. For more on this trend, read here. Also, for a Times round-table debate, read here.
Reformers See Promise in Race to Top Momentum Education Week -
July
20 (article access compliments of edweek.org) Advocates for education redesign are encouraged by a U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations panel’s decision to extend the Race to the Top program for an additional year. Read
more... Decatur schools ready bid to get Race to the Top funding Herald & Review -
July
20 School districts were asked to sign a memorandum of understanding for their state board of education to send with the application for Race to the Top grant funds. Decatur, Davis said, is one of a select few districts in which both the administration and the union leadership signed the memorandum. "This is a true collaboration between us and something we really celebrate," Davis said. Read
more... New Evaluation Laws Split Teachers Even More KOSU News -
July
20 When summer ends, many teachers will face a new reality: A number of
states have passed new laws and policies that tie teachers’ job security
to how well their students do in class. Some teacher groups dropped
their longstanding opposition to this idea, and now say it will be good
for the profession. Still, many teachers fear the new evaluation systems
are part of an attack on their profession. Read
more... Ex-commissioners endorse national education standards Boston Globe -
July
20 The two former education commissioners who guided Massachusetts through recent overhauls of its public schools endorsed a move yesterday to replace the state’s highly regarded academic standards with a new set of national benchmarks. Read
more... The time to learn: KIPP schools show what a longer school day offers Washington Post - July
20 A new report documents again that middle school students in the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) outperform their counterparts in traditional public schools -- and debunks some of the arguments often used to discount KIPP's success. One reason KIPP students learn more is that they are in school more. KIPP's experience, and that of other schools with extended learning, should prompt the nation's schools to face up to the need to change the school calendar. Read more...
Rare attack on Harlem Children's Zone Washington Post - July
20 Whitehurst and Croft have done well raising a caution flag about spending big bucks right away on more social safety net zones. But we need to know much more before we decide on the worth and importance of what Geoffrey Canada has done. Read
more...
Charter Backers Flex Political Muscles Wall Street Journal - July
20 The charter-school movement appears to be catching up to the teachers union in political giving to Albany. Read more... Avoiding the Presidency? Inside Higher Ed - July
20 Chief academic officers from many postsecondary institutions express little interest in becoming college or university presidents, but provosts at liberal arts colleges are even less likely to make the big move. Read more...
Ed. Dept. Launches New Early Learning Web Page Education Week -
July 19 (article
access compliments of edweek.org) The U.S. Department of Education has added a new page to its website to help keep readers updated on early learning issues. Read
more...
Obey’s axe hovers over Obama's $1.3B education program The Hill -
July 19 House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey is taking on the White House over President Obama’s Race to the Top education program. Obey has proposed a 40 percent cut to the White House’s $1.35 billion 2011 request for Race to the Top — a budget allocation for which Obama personally pleaded. Read
more...
A Popular Principal, Wounded by Government’s Good Intentions The New York Times -
July 18 It’s hard to find anyone here who believes that Joyce Irvine should have been removed as principal of Wheeler Elementary School. Ms. Irvine was removed because the Burlington School District wanted to qualify for up to $3 million in federal stimulus money for its dozen schools. Read
more...(For additional perspective and analysis on this story, see Education Week's blog report here.)
Illinois cancels most writing tests Chicago Tribune -
July 18 For the second time in less than a decade, Illinois is eliminating the state writing exam for elementary and junior high students, provoking concerns that writing instruction will taper off and fewer students will master the critical skill. Education officials blamed the state's budget crisis, saying canceling the writing test this year will save $3.5 million at a time when cuts are being forced in a variety of education programs. Read
more... Museum, IIT spell out new program
for science teachers Chicago Tribune - July 16 The Museum of Science & Industry, which
has been an educational resource for generations of Chicagoans, is
collaborating with Illinois Institute of Technology to offer teachers a
master's degree in science education. The core objective behind the
degree program, which emerged in May out of an existing program, is to
inspire the scientific minds of the future, museum officials say. Read
more... International Program Catches On in U.S.
Schools New York Times - July 2 The alphabet soup of college admissions is getting more complicated as
the International Baccalaureate,
or I.B., grows in popularity as an alternative to the better-known
Advanced Placement program. Read more...
Graduation
is the Goal, Staying Alive the Prize New York Times - July 1 The bonding moment between Veronica Tinajero
and the student she calls Big Sunshine came during one of their first
meetings. "Have you ever been shot?" the student, a high school senior,
asked.
When Ms. Tinajero replied no, he looked genuinely amazed and said, "Wow, almost everybody I know's been shot." Later, he ticked off a list
of his own bullet wounds: upper thigh, left hand, scalp. Read
more...
Despite Veto Threat, House Passes Edujobs With Race to the Top Cut Education Week - July 1 The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation late Thursday
night to help prevent teacher layoffs, despite opposition from the
Obama administration, which threatened to veto the measure if it
includes $800 million in cuts to its key K-12 initiatives. Read more...
Public School Funding Sees $241 Million Cut Chicago Tribune - July 1 Gov. Pat Quinn
slashed $241 million in public school funding Thursday, reducing
financial support for student busing, reading programs and textbook
loans. Read more...
U of I President to Look Beyond Government for Funding Peoria Journal-Star - July 1 University of Illinois President Michael Hogan moved quietly into his
new job Thursday, spending a day talking with campus leaders and
reporters about what he sees as the stark fiscal realities facing the
school. Read more...
Factory Jobs Return But Employers Find Skills Shortage New York Times - July 1 Factory owners have been adding jobs slowly but steadily since the
beginning of the year, giving a lift to the fragile economic recovery.
And because they laid off so many workers � more than two million since
the end of 2007 � manufacturers now have a vast pool of people to
choose from. Read more...
School district Gets State Blessing to Build Wind Farms Daily Herald - June 30 After three years, Hoffman Estates Democrat Fred Crespo finally has
something to show for his efforts on behalf of schools seeking to tap
into renewable energy. Read more...
Program Gives CPS Teachers a Lesson in History, Culture Chicago Tribune - June 30 This is what Keyonna Lowe-Williams plans to tell her fifth-grade class at Kershaw Magnet Elementary School in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood this fall: "We
have different-colored skin, but we have all the same feelings, all the
same emotions. We may come from different places in the world, but we
all feel human. The color of your skin does not make up your identity." Read more...
Bill Gates Touts Charter Schools, Accountability Chicago Tribune - June 29 Billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates said
Tuesday that charter schools can revolutionize education, but that
the charter school movement also must hold itself accountable for
low-performing schools.
Read more... Related: The Trouble with Charter Schools. Read more... Unfiltered: Bill Gates Addresses the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools' National Conference Listen here... Study Shows No Clear Edge for Charter Schools Education Week - June 29 Students who won lotteries to attend charter middle schools performed,
on average, no better in mathematics and reading than their peers who
lost out in the random admissions process and enrolled in nearby
regular public schools, according to a national study released today. Read more...
District 47 Freezes Salaries Daily Herald - June 29 In a reflection of the budgetary difficulties facing most school
districts in the state, the Crystal Lake Elementary District 47 school
board on Tuesday inked a new teachers contract that freezes salaries
next year. Read more...
Educator Pension Pots Sweet Highland Park News - June 29 More than 2,000 retired educators across the state are pulling pensions
of more than $100,000 a year because their school boards granted them
raises of 40 percent as they headed toward the exits. Read more... Last Day of "Rubber Room" in New York New York Times - June 29 There were the hugs goodbye, the exchanges of phone numbers and the
almost sure to be broken promises of keeping in touch. They packed up
their bags one last time and left Room 619, which had been their daytime
home for months, if not years. Monday was the last day of school for the city�s 1 million students. But
at the �rubber room� on West 125th Street, it was also the end of an
era. Read more...
Numbers Start to Add Up at Charter Schools in Chicago Run by Noble Street Group Chicago Business - June 28 It's finals week at UIC College Prep, a new high school run by the
Noble Street charter network, and Principal Oliver Sicat is smiling. He
has some cause. Read more...
Funding Cuts CPS Deficit; Class Sizes Will Not Increase Catalyst - June 28 The
Doomsday scenario�featuring CPS classes bulging with 35 students�has
been averted, but deep cuts are still on the table and teachers are
being pressed hard to forego pay raises. Read more...
31 Charter Schools Risk Closure in 2011 Columbus Dispatch - June 28 It is improbable, but not impossible: At the same time that 31 Ohio charter schools could be
ordered to close, another 41 could be gearing up to open. Read more...
A Bold Step on Behalf of Children *Advance Illinois in the News* Chicago Sun-Times - June 28 In a letter to
the editor, Advance Illinois Executive Director Robin Steans applauds
Chicago's recent decision to use evaluation, and not only seniority, in
layoff decisions. We appreciate teachers' concerns that this
change be made carefully
and agree that seniority should continue to play a role.
But, at a time when state and district budgets impose difficult
choices for leadership, staffing decisions must be made in the best
interest of students, not adults. Read
more... Firing Bad Teachers Chicago Tribune Editorial - June 28 A Tribune editorial urges the Chicago teachers' union to avoid fighting Chicago's decision on staff layoffs: "There's a term in education circles for what happens when a bad teacher
is shuffled from school to school, rather than being fired. It's called
"the dance of the lemons." Read more...
Up for Grabs: $10 million for Groups Reaching Kids NPR - June 28 President Obama wants to replicate the Harlem Children's Zone � a community
organization that gives low-income kids equal access to education � and
he's offering a total of $10 million to communities willing to try. The
response has been tremendous. Read more... Professor YouTube: Teacher offers 1,516 lessons to world McClatchey Newspapers - June 28 From a
tiny closet in Mountain View, Sal Khan is educating the globe for free. His
1,516 videotaped mini-lectures � on topics ranging from simple addition
to vector calculus and Napoleonic campaigns � are transforming the
former hedge fund analyst into a YouTube sensation, reaping praise from
even reluctant students across the world. Read more...
Watchdog Group Says Schools Aren't Evaluating Special Education Students Chicago Tribune - June 27 Claiming that Chicago Public Schools
routinely fails to properly evaluate young children for special
education services, an advocacy group has filed a complaint with the
Illinois State Board of Education. Read more... How Many Graduates Does It Take to Be No. 1? New York Times - June 26 In top suburban schools across the country, the valedictorian, a beloved
tradition, is rapidly losing its singular meaning as administrators
dispense the title to every straight-A student rather than try to choose
the best among them. Read more... Study
Says Many
Parents Don't Know Their Preschoolers Are Overweight EdWeek - June 25 -(article access compliments of edweek.org Parents may not realize their preschool-aged children are overweight or
even obese, if a pediatrician hasn't told them it's a problem, a study
by the University of South Florida and Johns Hopkins University reports.
Read more... School Is Turned Around, but Cost Gives
Pause New York Times - June 24 Locke
High represents both the opportunities and challenges of the Obama
administration�s $3.5 billion effort, financed largely by the
economic stimulus bill, to overhaul thousands of the nation�s failing
schools.
The school has become a mecca for reformers, partly because the
Department of Education Web site hails it as an exemplary
turnaround effort.
But progress is coming at considerable cost: an estimated $15 million
over the planned four-year turnaround, largely financed by private
foundations. Read more... State-by-State Illusions About Reading Proficiency Early EdWatch - June 23 In news that won't surprise readers of this page, a new study shows that states' estimates of their 4th graders' reading proficiency don't match results from nationally normed tests. As Early EdWatch notes, the study matches a previous stud, which "showed that states were setting such low bars for proficiency that they
were giving a false impression of success -- with particularly low
expectations for elementary school children." Read more... Going for grants: 31 states join to create
national academic tests AP via USA Today - June 23 A group of 31 states has banded together to compete for a
federal grant to create a series of new national academic tests to
replace the current patchwork system. Read more...
Boston Charities Support Partnerships to Help At-Risk Students Boston Globe - June 22 Several major philanthropic organizations in Boston will give $27
million to a new partnership, being announced today, that aims to
greatly accelerate student achievement across the city, from �cradle to
career.�� Read more...
Related: Boston College will launch an innovative training program for school
principals in January to improve urban education and prepare more
low-income students for college, with a $20 million donation from
Fidelity vice chairman Peter Lynch and his wife, Carolyn. Read more... Wallace Unveils Effort to Give City Kids More Learning Time Press Release - June 21 With an initial investment of $9 million,
The Wallace Foundation announced it is launching an initiative to
provide disadvantaged urban students with more time for high-quality
learning � both through improved summer learning opportunities, and
through extending the school day and school year. Read more... In some states, quality issues step to head of
the class The Hechinger Report - June 18 The recession is taking its toll
and jeopardizing expansion of early childhood in some states, so
it was interesting to read this week about effort to ramp up the quality
of current programs. Featured: California's efforts to define quality of instructors. Read more...
Deputy
secretary of education returns home to Peoria Journal-Star - June 18
Peoria County Board member Phil Salzer wasn't at an informal meeting
with the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education on Friday morning to push
for more education funding, more charter schools or more gifted
education programs.
He was there as former track and football coach of Tony Miller, a 1979
Peoria High School graduate who is deputy secretary of education. Read more...
Trend Watch: States working to identify English language learners in pre-school EdWeek blog - June 18 A significant number of states now identify English-language learners in
preschool, even though their state laws for providing services to ELLs
apply only to students in K-12. Read more...
Minn. Law Spurs Charter Sponsors to Think Twice EdWeek - June 18 (article access compliments of edweek.og) A major overhaul to a Minnesota law aimed at strengthening
accountability for those who sponsor charter schools is drawing both
praise and criticism and spurring some districts to consider getting out
of the business of authorizing such schools. Read more...
Profile of new head of Chicago Teachers' Union Chicago Sun-Times - The career trajectory of Karen Lewis proves that the route to the top
does not always reflect the shortest distance between two points. The president-elect of the Chicago Teachers Union left Kenwood High
School in 1970 without a diploma, skipping right from her last day of
junior year to a prestigious university, and eventually graduated --
"thank-you laude," as she puts it -- from Dartmouth College. Read more...
District 204 Board Freezes Salary Daily Herald - June 22 Indian Prairie Unit District 204 officials put on a
clinic Monday night, on the value of their word.Keeping their word to their 2,100-member teachers union
and the community, board members unanimously approved a pay freeze for
72 administrators at a savings of about $70,000. Then, within minutes,
they doled out an approximate 1 percent increase to 13 elementary school
principals, totaling $56,000. Read more...
CPS Lays Off Top Teachers WBEZ - June 22 Some of Chicago Public Schools�
best teachers have fallen victim to budget cuts. Fifty-four master
teachers were let go as the district struggles to plug what it says is a
$427 million hole.Read more...
America�s
Best High Schools 2010 Newsweek Each year,
Newsweek picks the best high schools in the country based on how hard school
staffs work to challenge students with advanced placement college-level courses
and tests. Just over 1600 schools�only six percent of all the public schools in
the U.S.�made the list. Read more...
A View From
Both Ends of the Educational Spectrum Jim Warren
column for Chicago News Cooperative � June 18 "I attended
my first Chicago Board of Education meeting in decades Tuesday and my first
Chicago Public Schools kindergarten graduation the next morning. The
inadequacies of the former were underscored by the inspiration of the latter." Read more...
The
4 percent solution Chicago Tribune Editorial � Jun 18 But
the bottom line is clear: Teachers face a painful choice. They can watch
hundreds of their colleagues get laid off, which will boost class sizes and
make teaching harder for everyone who's left. Or
they can surrender a scheduled 4 percent wage increase to help the system
balance its budget, which is seriously out of whack because of state cuts to
education funding. We
hope the teachers and other union employees swallow hard and make the right
choice: Take the pay freeze. Save the district about $135 million, according to
CPS figures. Read more...
Social Networking Goes to School Education Week � June 16 (article access compliments of edweek.org) Just a few years ago, social networking meant little more to
educators than the headache of determining whether to penalize students for
inappropriate activities captured on Facebook or MySpace. Now, teachers and students have a
vast array of social-networking sites and tools�from Ning to VoiceThread
and Second Life�to draw on for such
serious uses as professional development and project collaboration. Read more...
U-46 Calls Back Laid-off Teachers Courier News � June 18 ELGIN -- School District U46 has now rehired more than half of the 757
teachers who were laid off earlier this year. The district announced Tuesday that 401 of those teachers have been called
back for the 2010-11 school year. Read more...
The Trouble With Teacher Tenure
Wall Street Journal - Tim Knowles op-ed Advance Illinois Board Member Tim Knowles, Director of the Urban Education Institute, recommends states take a hard look at laws to overhaul teacher tenure. Read more...
It's All About the Students Catalyst-Chicago Opinions Page IBHE Executive Director Judy Erwin writes a letter of support for recent principal preparation legislation. It�s all about student success.
That is all anyone needs to know to appreciate the need, the
scope, and the value of the School Leader Reform Act signed
into law recently by Governor Pat Quinn to totally reform the way
Illinois selects, trains, and certifies educational leaders to be
principals in our schools.
Read more... Teacher Evaluation Program Shows Promising Results Catalyst-Chicago - June 15 [The] first
study of a promising pilot program to overhaul teacher evaluation
suggests that policymakers should turn to teachers themselves to have
the best shot at weeding out poor performers and helping lackluster
teachers improve. Read more...
Chicago Board Authorizes Layoffs, Class Size increases The Chicago Board of Education on Tuesday granted schools chief Ron
Huberman authority to lay off teachers and increase class sizes, a
procedural move that was met with fierce resistance from union groups. It
will not result in immediate firings. Coverage from Chicago Tribune, Sun-Times and Catalyst-Chicago.
Districts Coping with State Budget Crisis Lincolnshire-Prairie View School District 103 will eliminate five
part-time educational support personnel and make other reductions. Carol Steam District 93 teachers to get raises after temporary pay freeze. CPS
Pilot Program Could Hold Answers to Overhauling Teacher Evaluations WBEZ - June 15 Schools
across the country are struggling to find a better way to
evaluate teachers. A Chicago Public Schools pilot program may have hit
upon a situation. That's according to a report released on Tuesday by
the Consortium on Chicago School Research. Few CPS
teachers ever receive an unsatisfactory rating. But in the pilot
program, which began in 44 schools, a new framework led to 8 percent of
teachers getting at least one unsatisfactory rating. Listen here... Interview with Chicago Teachers' Union President-Elect WBEZ education reporter Linda
Lutton sat down with CTU President-Elect Karen Lewis to talk about what her victory means. Listen here... Springfield School
board OKs one-year teacher contract State Journal-Register - June 14 The
Springfield School Board Monday unanimously approved a new one-year contract
for Springfield School District teachers. The contract includes no raises in
base pay and requires teachers to contribute slightly more to health care
costs. Read more...
Glenbard Dist. 87
wants more information from Springfield Daily Herald - June 14 Because of very conservative estimates made early this year,
Glenbard High School District 87 officials consider themselves better off
financially than they expected, but uncertain funding from Springfield still leaves
them in a bind. Read more...
Schools
Face Test on Budget Math Wall Street Journal - June 15 As the school year winds down, educators are grasping for new ways
to do more with less, and to remedy an embarrassing reality: Despite spending
more per student than the average developed country, U.S. schools perform below
average in core subjects such as math and reading."Where we are as a country in education is not
acceptable," says Jon Schnur, a former education adviser to the Clinton
and Obama administrations and now head of a training program for school
administrators called New Leaders for New Schools. The goal, he believes,
should be to bring performance up to the level of spending, rather than to cut
the latter. Read more...
Teacher Bailout, Teacher Reform? Christian Science Monitor Editorial - June 14 [Any] �teacher
bailout� that Congress might pass should come with strings attached. House
Democrats are now considering putting about $10 billion toward saving teacher
jobs, a slimmed-down version of a $23 billion Senate bill that was recently
felled by strong antideficit winds. The Senate version included no incentives
related to seniority reform. The House version, which would be paid for by
unspent Recovery Act money, should correct that mistake. Read more...
Improvements,
Challenges in Chicago's Teacher Evaluation System Education Week Teacher Beat Blog Results from year one of a pilot teacher-evaluation system
in Chicago show a much broader range of ratings under the new system than under
the district's existing one, with at least 8 percent of pre-tenured teachers
receiving at least one "unsatisfactory" rating, according to a new
paper out from the Consortium on Chicago School Research. Read more...
Montgomery County to vote on school sales
tax in November Springfield Journal-Register - June 13 Montgomery County will hold a school sales tax referendum Nov. 2, after the
county board this week unanimously approved placing the issue on the fall
ballot. Sangamon County is among other counties that also are considering school
sales tax referendums. Only five of the 21 Illinois counties that have
previously asked voters to enact such a tax have passed it. Read more... Early school start times may raise risk of teen
car crashes USA Today - June 13 Starting the school day earlier may
lead to more car accidents involving teenagers, new research suggests.The study, which looked at schools
in two cities in Virginia with different start times, found an association
between earlier classes and more crashes among sleep-deprived students. Read more...
Studying Engineering Before They Can Spell It New York Times - June 13 Spurred by growing concerns that American students lack the
skills to compete in a global economy, school districts nationwide are packing
engineering lessons into already crowded schedules for even the youngest
students, giving priority to a subject that was once left to after-school
robotics clubs and summer camps, or else waited until college. Read more...
Chicago Teachers
Union gets new leadership Chicago Sun-Times - June 12 The Chicago Teachers Union has a new
leadership team.In a runoff election held Friday,
the Caucus of Rank and File Educators (CORE) team of Karen Lewis for President,
Jesse Sharkey for Vice-President, Michael Brunson for Recording Secretary and
Kristine Mayle for Financial Secretary beat the United Progressive Caucus (UPC)
team led by two-term CTU President Marilyn Stewart, according to a release from
the CTU. Read more... CPS to borrow
$800M, boost teacher pay 4% Chicago
Sun-Times - June 12 Chicago Public Schools officials revealed Friday that they
plan to borrow up to $800 million to pay their bills -- even as they pledged to
give teachers a promised 4 percent pay hike, a move designed to head off a
strike. Read more... Editorial: The best teachers Chicago Tribune editorial - June 11 Principals at traditional public school should be able to
pay their best, most in-demand teachers more, especially in hard-to-staff
subjects such as math and science. And like their charter counterparts, they
should be held accountable for how well their kids learn. Underperforming
charter schools can have their charters revoked, leaving the principals without
a school, or a job. Read more...
Two Men and Two Paths New York Times - June 11 Op-Ed Columnist Nicholas Kristof recounts the story of two men named Wes Moore: "Both Wes Moores had troubled youths in blighted neighborhoods,
difficulties in school, clashes with authority and unpleasant encounters
with police handcuffs. But one ended up graduating Phi Beta Kappa and
serving as a White House fellow, and today is a banker with many
volunteer activities. The other is serving a life prison sentence
without the possibility of parole." Read more...
Morton high
schools cut graduation demands to save money Chicago Tribune - June 10 Morton
High School District 201 officials
have cut the number of credits students need to graduate and lengthened
class
periods in what the board president calls "the most effective and
practical way to save the district money." But the teachers union
says the board has cut
educational opportunities. Read
more... Illinois Education Leaders Favor Adoption of New National Education Goals All public school students would be expected to learn the same
concepts and skills in math and English under a proposed set of national
academic standards, an idea that proponents say is necessary and
critics say doesn�t go far enough.
A group of math and English language arts experts, convened
by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State
School Officers, released in March a draft form of the proposed Common
Core State Standards Initiative for students in kindergarten through
grade 12. A final version of the standards is expected to be released in
late spring. Read more... A
group of national advocates are rallying to support the
Common Core. Read more... The full standards, including supporting
material, and video of the announcements, are available at their website. States Up the Ante in Race to the Top Phase 2 Education Week - June
4(article access compliments of edweek.org) *Advance Illinois in the News* After 39 applicants went home losers from the first round of the Race to the
Top competition, many states regrouped and raised the stakes for round
two-changing laws to revamp teacher evaluations. Illinois is featured in
this review of what states are doing to win the next round, with announcements
due in September. Read more... The Pew Center for the States reviewed Early Education proposals in the states'
Race to the Top applications. Read the report... Fresh Thinking on Teacher Accountability Education Week -June 9
(article access compliments of edweek.org) James Stigler of UCLA and
the Carnegie Foundations argues that current thinking on teacher accountability
is flawed, an "inspection" model that won't produce results. He
argues for PDSA cycles, which have traditionally been used in production processes
but which have also shown good results among teachers in Japan. Read more... Schools of Education Chart New Roadmap for Chicago Teachers Local colleges and universities are using millions of federal dollars to
revamp training for future CPS teachers.
Many are taking a page from alternative certification programs like
Teach for America and the Academy for Urban School Leadership, which
focus heavily on immersing prospective teachers in urban classrooms. Read more...
Report: Raise teacher Pay, Dismiss Poor Performers Teachers in Baltimore deserve more money, but they should also work longer hours, and it should be easier for administrators to dismiss those who perform poorly, according to a national education group commissioned to study the city schools. Read more... Obama addresses Michigan high school graduation Washington Post - June 8, 2010 In an unusual presidential speech to high school graduates Monday night, President Obama urged students to persevere in their goals and "take responsibility not just for your successes, [but] take responsibility where you fall short as well." Read more...
School board asks Milton to revisit budget plan State Journal-Register - June 7, 2010 School Superintendent Walter Milton is looking for more ways to cut the Springfield School District�s proposed new budget after some Springfield School Board members suggested more could be done to trim costs. Read more...
Chicago teachers using city codes on overcrowding to challenge hike in classroom sizes Chicago Tribune - June 7, 2010 A few days before Chicago teachers choose their union leadership, current President Marilyn Stewart announced a new tack to prevent the school district from raising class sizes next fall. Read more...
Major cuts: High schools face hard economic lessons USA Today - June 6, 2010 Students graduating from high school this spring may be collecting their diplomas just in time, leaving institutions that are being badly weakened by the nation's economic downturn. Read more...
Storming the School Barricades Wall Street Journal - June 5, 2010 A new documentary by a 27-year-old filmmaker could change the national debate about public education. 'What's funny," says Madeleine Sackler, "is that I'm not really a political person." Yet the petite 27-year-old is the force behind "The Lottery"�an explosive new documentary about the battle over the future of public education opening nationwide this Tuesday. Read more...
States Up Ante on Applications for Race to Top Education Week - June 4, 2010 (article access
compliments of edweek.org) After 39 applicants went home losers from the first round of the Race to the Top competition, many states regrouped and raised the stakes for round two�changing laws to revamp teacher evaluations, drumming up more support from districts and teachers� unions, and getting more aggressive about turning around low-performing schools. Read more...
700 CPS teachers receive layoff letters Chicago Sun-Times - June 4, 2010 Seven hundred Chicago Public Schools teachers received layoff letters Friday, under recommendations Schools Chief Ron Huberman made last winter � and the Board of Education approved � for eight schools in the Renaissance 2010 program. Read more...
4-Day School Weeks Gain Popularity across U.S. CBS
News - June 4, 2010 During the school year, Mondays in this rural
Georgia community are for video games, trips to grandma's house and
hanging out at the neighborhood community center. Don't bother showing
up for school. The doors are locked and the lights are off. Read
more...
Public Financing Supports Growth of Online Charter Schools New York Times - June 3, 2010 Laura Drews has converted a corner of her San Jose dining room into a public school. Every weekday, she guides her first-, fifth- and eighth-grade children through their class assignments, delivered through textbooks and desktop computers. Read more... Race to Sanity New York Times Op-Ed - June 4, 2010 Sometimes it seems as if we�re doomed to fight a new culture war between
orthodox liberals who have lavish faith in the power of government and
orthodox conservatives who have almost no faith at all. But occasionally a politician comes along with a more measured vision of
a limited but energetic government. Read more... D.C. Teachers Ratify New
Contract Washington Post - June 3 Washington D.C.
joins a growing list of cities and states that have established
classroom results, not seniority, as the standard by which teachers are
paid. Read
more... New York Mayor Freezes
Salaries New York Times - June 2 After warning of
widespread teacher layoffs for months, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
announced Wednesday morning that the city would eliminate planned raises
for all of its public-school teachers and principals for the next two
years, which he said would "save the jobs of some 4,400 teachers."
Teacher leaders said Bloomberg didn't have the power to make such a
move. Read
more...
Common
Core Standards Released The National Governors' Association
and Council of Chief State School Officers released the much-anticipated
Common Core Standards Wednesday, June 2. The full standards, including
supporting material, and video of the announcements, are available at
their website. You can read the
highlights from New
York Times, the Wall
Street Journal and the Christian
Science Monitor. The Harvard Education Letter
uses the occasion to examine how "college" and "career" standards are
converging. Race
to the Top - Phase 2 - update The deadline for Phase 2 in the U.S. Department of Education's Race to the Top competition came Tuesday, June 1, wrapping up a year of reform activity across the country. Here are some of the highlights.
Several national roundups looked at all the Phase 2 applicants. EdWeek's Politics K-12 blog has the basics (35 states plus D.C.).
The Hechinger Report has a map, showing which states applied in which rounds, or which never applied.
New
Law Raises Principal Prep Standards Gov. Quinn signed a bill
that will make it tougher to become a principal in Illinois. The bill
would boost Illinois' Race to the Top application (more on RTTT below).
It lays the groundwork for tougher state assessments of principal
candidates, more intensive internships and more competitive admissions
to principal prep programs. You can read more in the Governor's press release or the legislation
itself (SB 226), as well as background
on the legislation and coverage
of the press conference from Catalyst-Chicago. State budget crisis may impede groundbreaking preschool reform Daily Herald - June 1, 2010 Groundbreaking preschool regulations have been tweaked to reflect Illinois' dire financial situation, but budget concerns still likely will stand in the way of getting the neediest students help, suburban educators say. Read more... 8-hour school day? Chicago Sun-Times - June 2, 2010 An eight-hour school day for kids? It could be headed to your local Chicago public elementary school. In an attempt to extend an unusually short instructional day, Chicago public school officials are quietly working on a plan to bring an eight-hour school day to up to 100 struggling schools by using a combination of laptop computers, instructional software and non-teachers, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned. Read more...
Race to Top, Round 2: The Contenders Education Week - June 1, 2010 (article access
compliments of edweek.org) Michele's got the full list of states posted over at Politics K-12, so we can officially kick off our prognosticating on who the likely victors will be in Round 2 of the Race to the Top sweepstakes. Read more...
Evanston schools lose 31 more position Evanston Review - June 1, 2010 While some districts try to ride out the state's fiscal crisis by digging into their reserves, Evanston-Skokie School District 65 has cut 31 more positions from its payroll for the 2010-11 school year. Read more...
Race
to the Top - Phase 2 - update The Race to the Top
competition rounds the final curve as the Phase 2 deadline is June 1st.
Here's a roundup of recent Race to the Top headlines.
Some states walk away from 'Race to Top' millions (Associated Press)
Race to Top Leaves Some School Reformers Weary (Wall Street Journal)
States Create Flood of Education Bills (New York Times) Performance-Pay Model Shows No Achievement Edge Education Week - June 1, 2010 (article access
compliments of edweek.org) Preliminary results from a Chicago program containing performance-based compensation for teachers show no evidence that it has boosted student achievement on math and reading tests, compared with a group of similar, nonparticipating schools, an analysis released today concludes. Read more... Free books block 'summer slide' in low-income students USA Today - May 31, 2010 Can a $50 stack of paperback books do as much for a child's academic fortunes as a $3,000 stint in summer school? An experimental program in seven states may help answer that question this summer as districts from Nevada to South Carolina give thousands of low-income students an armful of free books. Read more... Too many school districts Chicago Tribune - May 28, 2010 Only 42 percent of the school districts in Illinois signed on to the state's first-round application for Race to the Top, the federal education reform challenge grant. State officials wanted more on board before the June 1 second-round deadline, so state school Superintendent Chris Koch has been selling the reform package to school districts across the state. Now more than half have signed on. Read more...
Districts Struggle Amid State's Budget Woes Several stories from the
week on how districts are coping with late payments from the state, as it
struggles with an historic budget deficit. A special thanks to Catalyst-Chicago
for their "In the News" digest.
At the federal level, just when the $23 billion Keep Our Educators Working Act seemed dead, lawmakers may have found a way to rescue it.
A Carterville pre-K program's future hinges on a budget.
Suburban schools districts are bracing for cuts. Race to the Top - Phase 2 - update The Race to the Top
competition rounds the final curve as the Phase 2 deadline is June 1st. Here's a roundup of recent Race to the Top headlines.
Illinois has increased its district and union support. The process spurred union leaders and administrators in Rockford to pledge a partnership.
Connecticut's governor signed that state's RTTT-inspired package of reform.
Maryland signed on to the Common Core Standards, but is losing union support.
Virginia won't try for Phase 2. House finds one vote needed to pass key part of
state budget
Chicago Tribune - May 25, 2010 The Democratic-led House passed legislation tonight to borrow $4 billion
to cover payments for the state pension system and cobble together a
shaky state budget, hours after the same effort failed by one vote. Read more...
City
school district seeks community feedback through Web survey State Journal-Register - May 25, 2010 A survey that popped up on some Springfield School District websites a
week ago will be taken down Thursday, a first crack at what could be
more ambitious efforts to collect community feedback, district officials
say. Read more... More Scrutiny for Charter Schools in Debate
Over Expansion New York Times - May 26, 2010 During its first years of operation, the Niagara
Charter School in Niagara Falls spent thousands of dollars on plane
tickets, restaurant meals and alcohol, and more than $100,000 on no-bid
consulting contracts. Yet the school�s teachers resorted to organizing a
fund-raiser to buy playground equipment. Read more...
Virginia to Expand Post-High School Tracking Education Week - May 25, 2010 Do students who take math in their senior year of high school fare
better in their freshman year of college? If that doesn't help, what does? Virginia education officials hope to find the answer to those
questions and countless others by broadening the state's student
tracking system to follow graduates after high school. Read more...
Students hit the books to protest budget cuts Chicago Tribune - May 25, 2010 Bearing books and band instruments and wearing sports uniforms, more than 250 Chicago high school students on Monday afternoon protested sweeping cuts to public education by � studying. Read more...
High Court to Weigh Arizona Tuition Tax Credits Education Week - May 24, 2010 The U.S. Supreme Court today agreed to weigh the constitutionality of a 13-year-old Arizona program offering tax credits for donations made to organizations that provide scholarships for children to attend private schools. Read more...
More teachers� unions throw support behind R.I.�s race to top Boston Globe - May 25, 2010 Several of Rhode Island�s teachers unions and school districts have signed on to the state�s application for $75 million in federal education grants, strengthening the state�s chances in the second round of the US Department of Education�s Race to the Top competition, Education Commissioner Deborah Gist said yesterday. Read
more...
Stumbling blocks remain for newly minted teachers, career-switchers The Hechinger Report - May 12, 2010 Ana Arroyo-Montano spent the first year in front of her class fearing she�d be fired. After training in the Boston Teacher Residency program, the business major with five years� experience in financial aid services wasn�t prepared for a room of kindergartners who didn�t speak English. Read more...
We're Firing the Wrong Teachers The Daily Beast - May 24, 2010 Thousands of New York City�s strongest teachers are in danger of losing their jobs�with no consideration given to their talent, only how long they�ve been teaching. And the real losers will be children, says Schools Chancellor Joel Klein. Read more...
Union election heads to runoff; Stewart to face challenger from CORE Catalyst Chicago - May 22, 2010 Four caucuses challenged incumbent Chicago Teachers Union president Marilyn Stewart in Friday's election. Stewart won the most votes, but Karen Lewis from the runner-up Caucus of Rank and File Educators (CORE) will also advance to a June 11 runoff election. Read more...
Teachers union president, challenger in runoff Chicago Tribune - May 22, 2010 The president of the Chicago Teachers Union will face the head of a education organization in a runoff election after none of the five candidates got 50 percent of the vote. Read more...
Illinois gets $11.9M to track student progress Chicago Tribune - May 21, 2010 Plans in Illinois to create a statewide system that would track student progress got a boost Friday when the state received an $11.9 million federal stimulus grant to help fund the project. Read more...
School districts making decisions on Race to Top Northwest Herald - May 22, 2010 Schools districts have until Monday to say whether they�re on board with the state�s application for the second round of federal Race to the Top grants. Read more... 1st Southland charter school OK'd Southtown Star - May 21, 2010 The Illinois State Board of Education today approved a plan for a charter high school in Rich Township School District 227. Read more...
Colorado education law may mark a national shift Los Angeles Times - May 23, 2010 A landmark Colorado law that ties teacher evaluations to the progress of their students on achievement tests could help build momentum for a national movement that seeks to overhaul how instructors' tenure and pay is earned, education leaders say. Read more...
School vouchers aren't the answer Chicago Sun-Times - May 24, 2010 The ongoing debate over private school vouchers for Chicago schoolchildren has at times prompted more questions than answers. We certainly don't believe vouchers are the answer. The Chicago Public Schools should not be allowed to shirk its responsibility for educating its toughest students, and most recent research shows voucher schools do not outperform public schools. What we need are solutions that will help every child in every public school. Read more... Chicago students lag behind other big cities on "nation's report card" Catalyst Chicago - May 20, 2010 Chicago posted flat reading scores in today�s release of the 2009 Trial Urban District Assessment, which stacks up 18 big-city districts based on results from last year�s National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the �nation�s report card." Read more...
Reading scores stay flat for CPS eighth-graders Chicago Sun Times - May 21, 2010 Despite the mantra from Mayor Daley to focus on reading, Chicago's eighth-grade reading scores haven't really budged since 2002 on a key national test, although fourth-grade results have seen a gradual uptick, results released Thursday show. Read more... Literacy Scores Stall in Inner Cities Wall Street Journal - May 20, 2010 Students in large U.S. inner cities are struggling to improve their reading ability, especially at middle-school levels, according to results from a national reading test released Thursday. Read more...
Schools bailout package should have strings attached Los Angeles Times - May 20, 2010 The $23-billion Keep Our Educators Working Act should require districts to submit plans for long-term savings, and prohibit them from laying off or rehiring teachers strictly on a seniority basis. Read more... Teachers Facing Weakest Market in Years New York Times - May 19, 2010 In the month since Pelham Memorial High School in Westchester County advertised seven teaching jobs, it has been flooded with 3,010 applications from candidates as far away as California. The Port Washington District on Long Island is sorting through 3,620 applications for eight positions � the largest pool the superintendent has seen in his 41-year career. Read more...
Teacher Layoffs May Be Linked to Hiring Spree Education Week - May 18, 2010 (article access
compliments of edweek.org) An increase in teacher hiring in recent years is leading some observers to posit a link to the waves of pink slips that districts are sending across the country. Read more...
Education Groups Set Forth Principles for TIF Education Week - May 20, 2010 (article access
compliments of edweek.org) On the heels of the opening-up of $437 million in competitive federal dollars to support performance-based compensation systems, three national groups representing teachers, district administrators, and school boards have put forward a set of guidelines to aid members who choose to seek the funding. Read more... To fight 'dropout factories,' school program starts young USA Today - May 20, 2010 The day has barely begun here at Feltonville School of Arts and Sciences, a middle school in the city's northeast corner, and Adam Jackson already is using his cellphone, hoping to get a parent on the other end. Read more... Districts Struggle Amid State's Budget Woes Several
stories from the week on how districts are coping with late payments
from the state, as it struggles with an historic budget deficit. A
special thanks to Catalyst-Chicago for their "In the News" digest.
The Southern editorial board tells legislators to "get back to Springfield and fund education."
Indian Prairie teachers agreed to a contract that saves $2.5 million in the first year.
"Race to the Top" Phase 2 Update
The
Race to the Top competition is back on as states across the country
work to improve their applications for Phase 2. Here's a roundup of
recent Race to the Top headlines.
Minnesota (20th place in Phase 1), Idaho (28th place) and West Virginia (36th place) won't reapply in Phase 2.
Keeping Effective Educators Working Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa is hoping
to send $23 billion of federal help to states in an effort to prevent
widespread teacher layoffs. The prospects for the legislation got some
help when the Obama administration came out in support. Many
hope the money is tied to reforms, including a change in how seniority
impacts layoff decisions. Support for that reform came from the
Sun-Times editorial page, and a letter to the Tribune from Advance Illinois (it's the last letter on the page).
Opinion: All-Day Kindergarten a Sound Investment Rockford-Register Star - May 19 The
Register-Star editorial board throws its support behind a plan to start
full-day kindergarten in Harlem, though it notes its delays in general
state aid threaten the popular pre-K Rising Stars program. Read more...
What Educators are Learning from Money Makers Forbes - May 20 (online; printed in June 7 magazine) Forbes
profiles a set of charter school operators that "are starting to
resemble corporations--tracking and responding to minute changes and
putting resources to efficient and innovative uses. The question," asks
the article, "is whether these strategies can be writ large, to work in
thousands of schools with millions of students nationwide. There are
plenty of doubters." Read more...
Researchers Advise
Race to Top Applicants on ELLs Education Week Blog: Learning the Language - May 18, 2010 States need to give test developers explicit instructions on how to
avoid unnecessary linguistic complexity when designing content tests.
They need to provide detailed guidelines to school districts on how to
select and use testing accommodations for students. Those are two of the
recommendations in a new
research brief on how to include ELLs appropriately in academic
content assessments. Read more...
Slow progress for bill to toughen principal preparation Catalyst Chicago - May 18, 2010 A state Senate bill that would create a new principal endorsement with more stringent requirements for candidates is stuck in committee. State Rep. Roger Eddy (R-Hutsonville) told Catalyst Chicago that the bill has stalled in the Senate�s education committee because Chicago Public Schools � concerned it would exclude a particular program � wants to rewrite its language. The spring 2010 issue of Catalyst In Depth reported on the specifics of the bill, including an internship, tougher requirements for selecting and assessing principal candidates, and mandatory partnerships between preparation programs and school districts. Read more...
Study says more students struggling with reading at end of pivotal third grade Washington Post - May 18, 2010 Nearly two-thirds of students in Virginia and Maryland do not read proficiently by the time they finish third grade, a pivotal milestone when material becomes more complex and children are more likely to slip behind, according to a national report released Tuesday. Read more...
CPS involved in 43 proposals for federal innovation grants Catalyst Chicago - May 13, 2010 The deadline passed quietly yesterday for submissions in the $650 million federal stimulus competition known as the Investing in Innovation, or i3, grant program. For Chicago Public Schools officials, quiet is good. They have yet to publicly name the organizations with whom they are partnering, lest a competitor use the information to its advantage. Read more...
Teachers at Chicago's first union-backed charter school reach tentative contract agreement Catalyst Chicago - May 12, 2010 Teachers at a union-backed charter school have come to a tentative contract agreement with management just months after newly unionized teachers at Chicago International charter schools ratified their contract. Read more... The Teachers� Unions� Last Stand New York Times - May 17 MICHAEL MULGREW is an affable former Brooklyn vocational-high-school teacher who took over last year as head of New York City�s United Federation of Teachers when his predecessor, Randi Weingarten, moved to Washington to run the national American Federation of Teachers. Over breakfast in March, we talked about a movement spreading across the country to hold public-school teachers accountable by compensating, promoting or even removing them according to the results they produce in class, as measured in part by student test scores. Read more...
Gov: Lawmakers Will Have Budget By May Deadline Illinois Statehouse News - May 17, 2010 Illinois lawmakers are going to cut it close, but Gov. Pat Quinn said he's confident that legislators will have a budget by the month's deadline. The Illinois General Assembly adjourned May 7, even though lawmakers have not come to terms on a state spending plan. Read more... Kathy Cox resigns to lead Washington-based nonprofit. What next for state DOE? Atlanta Journal Constitution - May 17, 2010 Flanked by state board of education members and Department of Education colleagues a tearful State Schools Superintendent Kathy Cox announced she was resigning her position effective June 30 to become CEO of a new education nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. Read more... State expected to vote on Southland charter school Southtown Star - May 18, 2010 Supporters and elected officials from several south suburbs are headed to Springfield Friday, where the Illinois State Board of Education is expected to vote on what could become the Southland's first charter school. Read more...
The Value of College New York Times - May 17, 2010 A small group of economists and education experts argue that college is overrated. They say that many students who go to college today should not be doing so. But is the lesson of this failure that we should try to lift graduation rates? Or that we should persuade more teenagers not to enroll in college? I think the answer lies in the most straightforward data of all: the relative pay of college graduates and everyone else. Read more...
"Race
to the Top" Phase 2 Update The
Race to the Top competition is back on as states across the country
work to improve their applications for Phase 2. Here's a roundup of
recent Race to the Top headlines.
68 percent of Iowa school districts back Race to the Top effort (DesMoines Register)
Districts Struggle Amid
State's Budget Woes Several stories from the week on
how districts are coping with late payments from the state, as it
struggles with an historic budget deficit. A special thanks to
Catalyst-Chicago for their "In the News" digest.
Tentative U-46 teachers pact keeps salaries flat, increases class sizes (Daily Herald) A race, or a crawl? Chicago Tribune - May 17, 2010 Second-round applications for Race to the Top, the $4.35 billion
challenge grant program that is the centerpiece of the Obama
administration's education reform efforts, are due June 1. Read more...
Seeking to Assure Students� Safety Outside
School The New York Times - May 14, 2010 When parents in some Chicago neighborhoods talk about keeping their
streets safe for schoolchildren, they often refer to the times �before
Derrion� and �after Derrion.� Read more...
Plan B: Skip College The New York Times - May 17, 2010 WHAT�S the key to success in the United States? Short of becoming a reality TV star, the answer is rote and, some would
argue, rather knee-jerk: Earn a college degree. Read more...
"Race
to the Top" Phase 2 Update The
Race to the Top competition is back on as states across the country
work to improve their applications for Phase 2. Here's a roundup of
recent Race to the Top headlines. Minnesota
likely won't seek Race to Top federal education funding (Pioneer Press)
Idaho
won�t reapply for �Race to the Top� funds for schools (Spokesman-Review) Smoke
and mirrors won't pay for schools, advocates say State Journal-Register - May 14, 2010 School and union officials say they remain wary of smoke-and-mirror
budget plans as state lawmakers continue to debate how to fund
education. Read more...
Continuum of Learning Education Roundtable ABC 20 - May 13, 2010 See video in the center of the page...
Few States Meet NCLB Goals for English-Learners Education Week - May 12 (article access compliments of edweek.org) Only 11 states met their accountability goals for English-language learners under the No Child Left Behind Act in the 2007-08 school year, concludes a study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Education. Read more...
Full-day Preschool Helps Boys, Black Students More Washington Post - May 11 A study from Montgomery County, Md., found that boys as well as African Americans of both sexes benefit more from full-day pre-kindergarten programs. Read more... Districts Struggle Amid State's Budget Woes Several stories from the week on how districts are coping with late payments from the state, as it struggles with an historic budget deficit. A special thanks to Catalyst-Chicago for their "In the News" digest.
District 65 leaders in outline $5.1 million in cuts (Evanston Review)
District 103 leaders ask the community for financial advice (Lincolnshire Review)
Chicago-area schools turn to parents for help raising money (Chicago Tribune) Chicago Principals "On Edge" Catalyst-Chicago - May 11 CEO Ron Huberman today defended his administration's practice of using a disciplinary process that was once reserved for the worst principals to remove those who haven't been able to turn around struggling schools. Read more... Testing Teachers' Patience Chicago Tribune - May 13 For people in most professions, losing a job takes effect immediately with a request to clear the desk and a handshake on the way out the door. But for Illinois school teachers governed by a last-in, first-out tenure system, it can be a painfully slow process. The teacher layoff shuffle is an age-old dance in Illinois schools that is worsened this year by the state's abysmal budget picture. Read more...
Illinois Universities, Schools Waiting on Lawmakers for
Budget Illinois Statehouse News - May 11, 2010 The
General Assembly took a two-week recess after failing to reach a
budget. The lack of a budget leaves school leaders in K-12 and
higher-ed waiting. Read more...
Quinn vetoes scholarship bill, says it won't
stop lawmaker abuses Chicago Tribune - May 11, 2010 Gov. Quinn vetoed
a bill to restrict the practice of lawmakers awarding scholarships to
state universities, arguing that only a total ban is appropriate. Read more...
Golden Apple Awards Announced Golden Apple awards were awarded this week. Here's the complete list. The Tribune and Ch. 7 each focused on Chicago-area winners. The Daily Herald profiled teachers who won from Stevenson and Wheaton's St. Francis. Say what, Secretary Duncan? Washington Post - May 10, 2010 Education Secretary Arne Duncan said something in an interview with the New York Times that was so scary wrong that it leaves me hoping he was kidding. The alternative--that he really means it-- is even scarier. Read more...
Agreement Will Alter Teacher Evaluations New York Times - May 10, 2010 The State Education Department and New York�s teachers� unions have reached a deal to overhaul teacher evaluations and tie them to student test scores, brokering a compromise on an issue the unions had bitterly opposed for years. Read more...
CPS replacing 80 principals Chicago Sun-Times - May 10, 2010 Eighty principals -- some of them only a year or two into their contracts -- will be replaced to shape up chronically-under-performing Chicago Public Schools, Schools CEO Ron Huberman said Monday. Read more...
Dept. Shares the Research Behind its ESEA Blueprint Education Week - May 10, 2010 Arne Duncan has taken some heat over the past year, in this space and elsewhere, for the lack of research evidence to back up some of the policy ideas that get priority treatment in the U.S. Department of Education's Race to the Top program. Read more...
"Race
to the Top" Phase 2 Update The
Race to the Top competition is back on as states across the country
work to improve their applications for Phase 2. Here's a roundup of
recent Race to the Top headlines.
Michigan Teachers throw support behind Race to the Top (Detroit News)
Arne Duncan weighs in on Colorado SB-191 (Denver Post)
Ohio school districts behind in Race to the Top filings (Columbus Dispatch)
Educators
Struggle Amid State's Budget Woes Several
stories from the week on how districts are coping with late payments
from the state, as it struggles with an historic budget deficit. A
special thanks to Catalyst-Chicago for their "In the News" digest.
Pay freezes OK'd by SD 210 board (Neighborhood Star)
U.S. adviser gets an earful on test scores at U-46 meeting (Daily Herald)
New education grads discouraged by Chicago-area prospects (Chicago Tribune) Minority teachers' importance emphasized by U.S. education secretary Times-Picayune - May 8, 2010 Quinton Jones, a Houston teacher, told U.S. Education Department Secretary Arne Duncan that he had entered college "strongly against" teaching as a profession. "That's a common theme," Duncan said, as he moderated a Friday roundtable of young African-American and Latino teachers at the Children's Defense Fund offices in New Orleans with Marian Wright Edelman, the iconic advocate who began the organization in 1973. Read more...
Editorial: Texas education schools failing at basic prep Dallas Morning News - May 7, 2010 In any profession, you need a flow of ideas so the conversation around any particular subject doesn't become stale. But we also need a common understanding of the profession's fundamentals. For example, who wouldn't want our doctors and pilots to understand the basics of medicine and flying? If they don't, we're all in a heap of trouble. Read more...
Chicago-area schools turn to parents for help raising money Chicago Tribune - May 9, 2010 Hundreds of Oak Park parents cried foul last month when a school board member suggested that parent-teacher organizations might help raise money to improve technology in District 97 elementary schools. Read more... Charter Schools� New Cheerleaders: Financiers New York Times - May 9, 2010 When Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo wanted to meet certain members of the hedge fund crowd, seeking donors for his all-but-certain run for governor, what he heard was this: Talk to Joe. Read more...
Six Districts Participate in National Common Standards Pilot Education Week - May 7, 2010 (Article
access courtesy of Edweek.org) Albuquerque Public Schools is one of six districts around the country chosen to pilot math and reading standards that could someday set the bar for education nationwide. By signing on now, along with school districts in Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, St. Paul, Minn., and Cleveland, APS will be one of the first districts to try out and comment on the standards. Read more...
Q&A: Why are U.S. teachers on the defensive? The Heckinger Report - May 9, 2010 Teachers have been having a tough time lately. Their unions are under pressure to accept pay cuts and fewer benefits. States are threatening massive teacher layoffs in response to budget deficits. There�s a major push to make teachers more effective, with how teachers are trained, evaluated, tenured and compensated all on the table. In addition, rewards to states in U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan�s $4.35 billion Race to the Top contest have been contingent on teacher union support; there�s still $3 billion available in the next round that could rely on union buy-in. Randi Weingarten, who became president of the 1.4-million-member American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, in July 2008, spoke with Liz Willen of The Hechinger Report about some of the issues currently facing teachers. Read more...
"Race
to the Top" Phase 2 Update The
Race to the Top competition is back on as states across the country
work to improve their applications for Phase 2. Here's a roundup of
recent Race to the Top headlines.
'Race to the Top' likely over for Minnesota (Star Tribune)
South Dakota drops out of school grant race (Argus Leader)
Colorado latest battleground for teacher performance (Christian Science Monitor) Michigan optimistic about union support for Race to the Top funds Detroit Free Press - May 6, 2010 State
Superintendent Mike Flanagan said this morning he�s optimistic about
Michigan�s chances for receiving money through the second round of the
federal Race to the Top program. Read more... Ed Reformers Eye Jobs Bill As Vehicle For Change National Journal - May 5, 2010 Two prominent education groups are lobbying for
a pending education jobs bill to include teacher tenure reform. "If we want to improve teacher effectiveness, we have to make it
count," said Timothy Daly, president of the New Teacher
Project. "Ignoring performance when it comes to high-impact decisions
like layoffs sends the message that we aren't really serious about
putting a great teacher in every classroom." Read more...
Bradley
plants STEM in solid ground Peoria Journal Star - May 5, 2010 Bradley University wants to be a magnet with national recognition when
it comes to teaching science and technology. Bradley announced Wednesday the creation of a new Center for STEM
Education. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math. Read more...
Challenges
await new District 150 superintendent Peoria Journal Star - May 3, 2010 It was ceremonious, but the ensuing "honeymoon" may be about as short
as ever for a Peoria School District 150 superintendent. Grenita Lathan officially was installed Monday as the district's
superintendent after the School Board formally approved amending her
contract to reflect that. Read more... "Race to the Top" Phase 2 Update The
Race to the Top competition is back on as states across the country
work to improve their applications for Phase 2. Here's a roundup of
recent Race to the Top headlines.
Connecticut
passed sweeping legislation, toughening standards, overhauling
evaluation, empowering the state to intervene with struggling
districts, and more. (Hartford Courant)
New Jersey's
education chief plans to introduce a package of reforms, including
tying teacher evaluations to student achievement, next week. (NJ.com)
West Virginia plans a special session to improve their RTT application. (Charleston Gazette)
Florida's teachers' union signed on to the state's Phase 2 application. (St. Augustine Record)
Georgia's second-largest union will formally oppose that state's bid. (Atlanta Journal Constitution)
Oregon, which applied in Phase 1, won't bother with Phase 2, saying it's sure to lose. (OregonLive.com)
Michigan High School Snags Obama as Speaker New York Times - May 4, 2010 WASHINGTON � Proving they have more to boast of than just their alumnus Derek Jeter, the graduating Giants of Kalamazoo Central High School in Michigan have beaten more than 1,000 public high schools in a national contest of academic self-promotion. The prize: President Obama as commencement speaker. Read more... Coaching of Teachers Found to Boost Student Reading Education Week - May 4, 2010 (Article
access courtesy of Edweek.org) Denver: An innovative study of 17 schools along the East Coast suggests that putting literacy coaches in schools can help boost students� reading skills by as much as 32 percent over three years. Read more...
11,000 Students Denied Aid Illinois Statehouse News - May 4, 2010 In just two weeks, the state has rejected more than 11,000 applications for student aid. Paul Palian with the Illinois Student Assistance Commission says the MAP financial aid program was coming dangerously close to its 400 million dollars and has been forced to suspend funding on April 19th, the earliest the program has ever been closed. Read more... Why Charter Schools Fail the Test New York Times - May 4, 2010 THE latest evaluation of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, the oldest and most extensive system of vouchers and charter schools in America, came out last month, and most advocates of school choice were disheartened by the results. Read more...
President Swanson: �Why IEA opposes vouchers� Illinois Education Association - May 3, 2010 Response to Chicago Tribune editorial, Op-Ed by Ken Swanson, President Illinois Education Association: Your May 3 editorial, School vouchers vote: House must put kids first is offensive to public school employees throughout Illinois because it unfairly and dishonestly equates their opposition to vouchers as being an anti-child position. Read more...
State program seeks to stop revolving door of teacher turnover rates in low-income neighborhoods Medill Reports - May 4, 2010 Grow Your Own Illinois aims to bring stability to low-income schools by sending community members to earn education degrees, believing that students could best be served by teachers who don't only understand their neighborhood, but live in it. Read more...
Spurred by the lure of federal aid, House approves major education reforms in Connecticut CT Mirror - May 5, 2010 A sweeping education bill that calls for tougher high school standards, a more demanding evaluation system for teachers and a greater voice for parents in school governance won approval in the state House of Representatives early today. Read more...
Evanston Teachers To Be Graded on How Much Students Learn WBEZ - May 5, 2010 How do you define a good teacher? What about an excellent teacher? A new Illinois law requires school districts to factor in how much students learn when they grade their teachers. It�s a concept being pushed by federal education officials, and it�s stirred up controversy nationwide. But locally, one north suburban school district is quietly trying it out. Listen here...
Ed Reformers Eye Jobs Bill As Vehicle For Change National Journal - May 5, 2010 Two prominent education groups are lobbying for a pending education jobs bill to include teacher tenure reform. Read more... Despite Push, Success at Charter Schools Is Mixed New York Times - May 1, 2010 Executives from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, McKinsey consultants and scholars from Stanford and Harvard mingled at an invitation-only meeting of the New Schools Venture Fund at a luxury hotel in Pasadena, Calif. Founded by investors who helped start Google and Amazon, this philanthropy seeks to raise the academic achievement of poor black and Hispanic students, largely through charter schools. Read more...
The New Haven Model The New York Times - May 2, 2010 To improve the quality of schools, districts need a rigorous system for evaluating the quality of teaching � rewarding teachers who do their jobs best and retraining or removing those who fail their students. The city of New Haven and the American Federation of Teachers deserve high praise for the new teacher training and evaluation system they unveiled earlier this week. Read more...
Latino Kindergartners' Social Skills Found Strong Education Week - May 3, 2010 (Article
access courtesy of Edweek.org) A majority of Latino children enter kindergarten with the same social skills as middle-class white children, while low-income Latinos demonstrate stronger social skills than low-income African-American kindergartners at the start of school, says a study published in the May issue of Developmental Psychology. Read more...
Education Chief Vies to Expand U.S. Role as Partner on Local Schools New York Times - May 3, 2010 Education secretaries usually keep a low profile, in keeping with their agency�s backseat status to states and local districts, which control schools. Read more...
Dist. 203 proposes balanced budget for 2010-11 Daily Herald - May 4, 2010 Naperville Unit District 203 will be able to balance its budget for the upcoming school year without cutting programs. Read more... Hard Times Derail Growth of State-Funded Preschool Education Week - May 4, 2010 (Article
access courtesy of Edweek.org) Early-education programs are struggling to serve all the children who qualify for them, as the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression has caused states to slash budgets and reduce spending, according to an annual survey of state-funded programs by the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University. Read more... U.S. Department of Education Opens Competition for Promise Neighborhoods Press Release - April 30, 2010 The U.S. Department of Education today launched the Promise Neighborhood program, the first federal initiative to put education at the center of comprehensive efforts to fight poverty in urban and rural areas. Read more...
Teacher of the Year: Educator as �Lead Learner� Teacher Magazine - April 30, 2010 Under a picture perfect blue sky, preceded by 56 of her state and territory Teacher of the Year peers, Sarah Brown Wessling, an Iowa high school English teacher, walked out of the Oval Office into the Rose Garden of the White House Thursday afternoon flanked by President Barack Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. The president described the 2010 National Teacher of the Year as passionate and creative, and highlighted Wessling�s innovative teaching style. Read more...
Charter changes Chicago Tribune - April 30, 2010 Illinois is one of 40 states that allow charter schools, but it's also one of 19 states that put a cap on the number of charter schools allowed. That's a perfect example of an eek-that's-enough! approach to education reform in the state. Read more...
Illinois lawmakers mull school vouchers for Chicago Public Schools Chicago Tribune - May 3, 2010 Price Elementary School was not Quintella Johnson's first choice for her daughter. She wanted Kerisma to attend a nearby charter school, but a long wait list forced her to enroll the 12-year-old at Price, a neighborhood school struggling with some of Chicago's lowest test scores. Read more...
School vouchers vote: House must put kids first Chicago Tribune - May 3, 2010 Do kids in Chicago deserve a chance to find a better education? Lawmakers in the Illinois House will answer that question this week with their vote on the School Choice Act. Chicago students in the worst-performing 10 percent of schools and most crowded 5 percent of schools would be offered a voucher they can redeem to pay tuition at a private school. The program would be managed by Chicago Public Schools. Yes, by the public school system. Read more...
State schools chief paints dire funding picture Daily Herald - May 1, 2010 Illinois' top education official warned local schools Friday they should expect continued delays of state payments and urged them to contact lawmakers and explain the real-world consequences of the state budget not being balanced. Read more...
Voice of The Southern: Forget the rivalries � Let�s work together on our schools The Southern - April 25, 2010 Our View: Some people may not want to admit it, but the time has come for school consolidation to be given serious consideration across Southern Illinois. Our state's budget crisis is no longer a talking point or a political football to be kicked between opposing parties. It is a growing storm, one that has already caused damages and threatens to overwhelm the entire state of Illinois. Read more... The Time Is Right for Teacher-Tenure Reform Education Week - May 3, 2010 The Obama administration�s Race to the Top initiative has begun a long-overdue debate on how to improve state systems of teacher evaluation and tenure. Read more...
Panel Finds No Favorite in Teacher-Prep Pathways Education Week - April 29, 2010 (Article
access courtesy of Edweek.org) After six years of study, a national panel of prominent scholars has
concluded that there�s not enough evidence to suggest that teachers who
take alternative pathways into the classroom are any worse��or any
better��than those who finish traditional college-based preparation
programs. Read more... Illinois House pushed to boost tobacco tax Pantagraph - April 29, 2010 Democrats in the Illinois Senate are calling on
their colleagues in the House to approve a $1 per pack boost in the
state cigarette tax. The move, they say, would help raise money to offset Gov. Pat
Quinn's proposed cuts to local school districts. Read more...
Springfield Action
Day: Wednesday May 5, 2010 Illinois Kids Matter Coordinate with your schools and districts to join parents,
community leaders and educators as we urge Springfield to
avoid cuts to education. Read more...
Obama
and Quinn Discuss Money for Illinois Education, No Promises WBEZ - April 29, 2010 Illinois Governor Pat
Quinn says President Barack Obama didn't promise him any money to avoid
teacher layoffs. Quinn met with the president during his stop in
Illinois Wednesday. Listen here...
U46 one step away from $22 million Courier-News - April 30, 2010 School District U46 is a pen-stroke away from receiving as
much as $22 million more in state financial aid after Illinois lawmakers
approved legislation Thursday closing a loophole in the district's
funding process. Read more...
CPS officials unveil new school action
process Catalyst Chicago - April 29, 2010 As early as next month, CPS officials will start holding meetings in
communities across Chicago to inform residents how their schools are
performing on standardized measures and to engage them in a discussion
about how to improve those that are failing. Read more...
CPS announces new school closing policy Chicago Sun-Times - April 29, 2010 Bowing to complaints about a secretive process for determining school
closings, Chicago Public Schools CEO Ron Huberman today unveiled plans
to involve parents, aldermen and community leaders months in advance. Read more...
Vouchers for Chicago
schoolchildren advances to full House Chicago Breaking News Center - April 29, 2010 Kids in Chicago's
poorest and most-overcrowded schools could get vouchers to help cover
costs at private schools under legislation a House panel approved today. Read more...
"Race to
the Top" Update - Across the U.S. The
Race to the Top competition is back on as states across the country
work to improve their applications for Phase 2. Here's a recent roundup
of how states are doing.
The Buy-In Myth (Education Week-Article
access courtesy of Edweek.org)
Florida's educators unite to push for federal
Race to the Top funds (Miami Herald)
Arizona Applies For Second Round Race To The
Top Funds (Government Monitor)
Superintendents talk to chamber about schools *Advance Illinois in the News* Naperville Sun - April 29, 2010 On Monday, the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce held our monthly
luncheon, which featured presentations from Kathy Birkett,
superintendent of District 204; Mark Mitrovich, superintendent of
District 203; and Robin Steans, executive director of Advance Illinois, a
not-for-profit education policy group. Read more...
Schools districts may get state OK to issue bonds for buildings
without voter approval Chicago Tribune - April 29, 2010 Strapped for cash and taking their lumps on tax-increase measures,
school districts in Chicagoland are increasingly skirting requirements
for voter approval of building projects by issuing bonds that don't
require a referendum and then shifting that money from fund to fund. Read more...
Colleges slammed over teacher preparation Houston Chronicle - April 28, 2010 Some of the largest colleges of education in Texas offer poorly designed
programs that leave prospective teachers unprepared for the job,
according to a new report that suggests more rigorous and meaningful
coursework. Read more...
House Sends Tuition Freeze Extension to Governor Illinois Statehouse News - April 28, 2010 Legislation that would extend the current tuition freeze by two years
for undergraduates attending Illinois public universities is headed to
Gov. Pat Quinn's desk after House approval on Wednesday. Read more...
Odd politics of school voucher debate Daily Herald - April 28, 2010 With a controversial voucher proposal targeting Chicago Public Schools
advancing at the Capitol, concerns about the idea are coming from some
unexpected political corners. Read more...
College Prep for All? What We've Learned in Chicago Education Week - April 27, 2010 As state and national policymakers look for ways to improve the rigor of
the high school curriculum and enhance students� readiness for college,
many have turned their attention to increasing course requirements in
core academic subjects. The national policy group Achieve reports that
about 20 states now require all students to take some version of a
�default curriculum� to graduate�generally defined as four years of
English and mathematics and three or more years of science and social
studies. Read more...
"Race to
the Top" Update - Across the U.S. The
Race to the Top competition is back on as states across the country
work to improve their applications for Phase 2. Here's a recent roundup
of how states are doing.
California takes new tack in bid for U.S. school funding (Los Angeles Times)
Vermont education deptartment won't "race to the top" (WCAX.com)
Educators
Struggle Amid State's Budget Woes Several
stories from the week on how districts are coping with late payments
from the state, as it struggles with an historic budget deficit. A
special thanks to Catalyst-Chicago for their "In the News" digest.
A cry for school funding fix in District U-46 (Daily Herald)
Batavia school support workers concede on benefits to save jobs (Daily Herald) High School Reform: Partnerships, Not Standoffs Education Week - April 27, 2010 (Article
access courtesy of Edweek.org) A failing urban school. A union and a school district at loggerheads.
And a federal and state policy demanding the �turnaround� of the
nation�s lowest-performing schools. Read more... How to Save the Schools The New York Review of Books A review of: The Death and Life of the
Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are
Undermining Education by Diane Ravitch. Read more...
More kids, more choices Chicago Tribune - April 27, 2010 How about this? Suddenly everybody wants in on the act. In
late March, the Illinois Senate passed a bill to give vouchers for
private school tuition to as many as 22,000 children who go to the
academically weakest Chicago public schools. Read more...
Last Teacher In, First Out? City Has Another Idea The New York Times - April 24, 2010 Peter Borock, 23, is in his second year teaching history at Health Opportunities High School in
the South Bronx. It could be his last. Read more...
Explosive book for a new teacher generation The Washington Post - April 25, 2010 A storm is brewing in teacher training in America. It involves a generational
change that we education writers don�t deal with much, but is more
important than No Child Left Behind or the Race to the Top grants or
other stuff we devote space to. Our urban public schools have many
teachers in their twenties and thirties who are more impatient with low
standards and more determined to raise student achievement than previous
generations of inner city educators, having seen some good examples.
But they don�t know what exactly to do. Read more...
"Race to
the Top" Update - Across the U.S. The Race to the Top competition
has spurred reforms in states across the country, including Illinois.
But, the progress isn't consistent. Here's a recent roundup of how states are doing.
Unions, States Clash in Race to Top (Wall Street Journal)
Tensions Flare in Race
to Top's Second Round (Article
access courtesy of Edweek.org)
California weighs longshot bid for school funds (San Francisco Chronicle)
The hidden cost of inflated pensions: Schools forced to pay up Daily Herald - April 26, 2010 Local schools now scrambling for money collectively paid more than $1.8
million to the state in recent years because they granted excessive
raises and sick leave benefits for retiring employees, boosting their
pensions beyond limits lawmakers put in place to try to combat
skyrocketing pension costs. Read more...
Brooklyn School Scores High Despite Poverty The New York Times - April 25, 2010 To ace the state standardized tests, which begin on Monday, Public
School 172 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, finds money for coaches in writing,
reading and math. Teachers keep detailed notes on each child, writing
down weaknesses and encouraging them to repeat tasks. There is
after-school help and Saturday school. Read more...
Pre-K Rules for ELLs Would Break Ground Nationally Education Week - April 23, 2010 (Article
access courtesy of Edweek.org) Questions are being raised about proposed regulations that would impose
the same requirements on Illinois school districts about educating
English-learners at the preschool level as for older students. Read more...
Teachers Unions, Educators Follow Up Rally With More
Pleas Illinois Statehouse News - April 22, 2010 A day after thousands of Illinois teachers marched in a massive rally
in Springfield calling for a tax increase to spare school
cuts, education and union leaders trotted back to the Capitol on
Thursday to make sure lawmakers got the message. Read more...
Voucher bill picks up steam, passes key
House committee Catalyst Chicago - April 22, 2010 A controversial school voucher bill sponsored by state Sen. James Meeks
has cleared another hurdle, today passing the House Executive Committee
on a 10-1 vote. The proposed bill, which would launch the state�s first
private school voucher program, now moves to the House floor, where even
opponents concede its chance of passage is good. Read more...
Momentum for choice Chicago Tribune Editorial - April 22, 2010 How about that. The House Executive Committee voted 10-1 on
Thursday to advance a groundbreaking bill that would give new hope, new
opportunity to some of the poorest children in Chicago. The committee
approved a school voucher bill that has already cleared the Illinois
Senate. Read more...
Key lawmaker: Education overhaul might get
left behind Miami Herald - April 22, 2010 The chairman of the House of Representatives subcommittee in charge of
rewriting of the No Child Left Behind Act said this week that lawmakers
would be hard pressed to pass a bill this year, despite assurances from
other top lawmakers and a push from Education Secretary Arne Duncan. Read more...
"Race to
the Top" Update - Across the U.S. The Race to the Top competition
has spurred reforms in states across the country, including Illinois.
But, the progress isn't consistent. Here's a recent roundup of how states are doing.
Florida to prepare second application for Race
to the Top grant. The governor appoints a panel of educators,
union leaders and parents to help draft a second application for Race to
the Top funds. Florida finished 4th in Phase 1. (Miami Herald)
Indiana schools to exit Race to the Top competition. Indiana will bow out of the federal Race to the Top competition after a
highly public feud between public schools chief Tony
Bennett and the state�s teachers' unions. Indiana finished 23rd in Phase 1. (Indianapolis Business Journal)
Educators Struggle Amid State's Budget Woes Several
stories from the week on how districts are coping with late payments
from the state, as it struggles with an historic budget deficit. A
special thanks to Catalyst-Chicago for their "In the News" digest.
As
many as 15,000 people turned out at the Statehouse for a rally
organized by a collection of education, social service and state worker
groups calling itself the Responsible Budget Coalition.
The
coalition's "Save Our State" rally aimed to pressure Illinois lawmakers
to approve a tax increase and avert major budget cuts this spring. Read
more in the SJ-R, Illinois Statehouse News and Catalyst-Chicago.
Chicago and Elgin schools chiefs called "on the state to pay what it owes to schools or see draconian cuts." (Courier-News)
The teachers union in DuPage High School District 88 has rejected requests for contract concessions that could have saved up to 16 teaching positions, officials said. (Daily Herald)
You can learn more about the state's budget challenges at IllinoisIsBroke.com.
Duncan
says education is the key to better tomorrow Peoria Journal Star - April 21, 2010 There is both an economic and education crisis taking place in the
United States that cannot be ignored, and the time for reform is now,
said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Read more...
Programs Train Teachers Using Medical School Model NPR - April 22, 2010
What if we prepared teachers the same way we
prepare doctors? As school reformers lurch toward more innovative
ways for training classroom teachers, this idea is getting a lot of
attention. A handful of teacher "residency programs" based on the
medical residency model already exist. Boston was one of the first to
create one in 2003. Listen or read here...
Fuzzy models perplex schools Northwest Herald - April 21, 2010 The effects of state funding cuts for schools have been splashed across
the headlines recently, but behind the scenes, officials are trying to
calculate complicated funding formulas with little idea as to what the
equation will be. Read more... Illinois Senate says no to four-day school week Chicago Tribune - April 20, 2010 An Illinois Senate panel today killed a measure that would have given
local school boards the option of setting four-day school weeks. The
House approved
the measure last month to try to help financially strapped school
districts save money. Lawmakers said the move could save on fuel for
buses, particularly in large rural districts, and scale back their
electric bills for school buildings. Read more...
Scramble Begins for $650 Million in 'i3' Funding Education Week - April 20, 2010 (Article
access courtesy of Edweek.org) Nearly 2,500
districts, schools, and nonprofits representing every state have
indicated they plan to compete for an Investing in
Innovation grant, setting up a furious fight over $650 million in
federal economic-stimulus money that�s designed to scale up creative
solutions to education�s most vexing problems. Read more...
A worthy education Chicago Tribune - April 21, 2010 Because of irresponsible leadership, Illinois is running out of money.
Still, the educational mission of state government is critical to our
future. As U.S. Education Secretary Arne
Duncan has said, education is the "civil rights issue of our
generation." These two realities confront us with a simple demand: We
must spend money much more effectively. Read more...
Liberate the kids Chicago Tribune - April 20, 2010 The Illinois House Executive Committee will hear a bill on Thursday that
could give 22,000 Chicago elementary school students � those stuck in
the weakest 10 percent of the city's public schools � an escape hatch. Read more...
Chief Education Officer Barbara
Eason-Watkins stepping down Catalyst Chicago - April 20, 2010 For the past 15 months, Chief Education Officer Barbara Eason-Watkins
has stood next to her new boss Ron Huberman, often quietly watching his
trademark power points outlining plans to restructure or issue mass
layoffs. At times, she�s added what she could, usually calmly assuring people,
whether it be principals or reporters, that things won�t change too
much, that the world is not coming to an end. But when she announced on Tuesday that she plans to leave Chicago
Public Schools, with a population of 400,000-plus students, for
Indiana�s tiny Michigan City School District with a mere 7,000 students,
it was no surprise. Read more...
Duncan Prescribes Drastic Measures for Schools NPR: Talk of the Nation - April 19, 2010 After a school board in Rhode
Island fired all the teachers at a struggling high school earlier this
year, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan praised officials for
doing the right thing for the kids. The Obama administration has
committed billions of federal dollars to help turn around chronically
troubled schools like Rhode Island's Central Falls High but only those
ready to take drastic measures: fire teachers and principals, start over
as a charter school or close the worst performers entirely.
Listen here...
High teacher pay no guarantee of results *Advance Illinois in the News* Chicago Sun Times - April 19, 2010 Elementary students in Bannockburn had the fourth-highest test scores in
Illinois last year, but that achievement wasn't reflected in the pay of
their teachers, whose average salaries ranked 242nd among elementary
school districts statewide. Read more...
Illinois to apply in second round for funds *Advance Illinois in the News* Vidette Online - April 13, 2010 Illinois is gearing up for an application in the second round to secure
funds from the Race to the Top program. Illinois came up short in the
program�s first round. Read more...
St. Charles schools chief readies for busy summer of budget shuffling Daily Herald - April 19, 2010 St. Charles Unit District 303 Superintendent Don Schlomann is bracing
for a long summer of getting his priorities in order. Read more...
Status Quo 1, Kids 0 Chicago Tribune - April 19, 2010 Florida Gov.
Charlie Crist on Thursday vetoed an education reform bill that
would have eliminated tenure protection for teachers and based their pay
on student achievement. Read more...
$3.5 Billion in Turnaround Aid Flowing to States Education Week - April 19, 2010 (Article
access courtesy of Edweek.org) The largest-ever federal investment in fixing low-achieving schools is
now flowing to states, raising the pressure on district leaders to make
tough�and quick�decisions about firing principals, replacing teachers,
or shutting down schools entirely. Read more... Early
education program may face big cuts Chicago Tribune - April 16, 2010 The
governor's proposal would slash the state's early childhood education
block grant by 16 percent, which means 6,000 students in Chicago public
schools
could be shut out of the Preschool for All program, which targets
academically
at-risk children. Though not mandatory, Preschool for All is hailed for
giving
3- and 4-year-olds a jump-start with its 2 1/2 hours a day of free
instruction. Read more... New campaign urges parents to
understand the poor quality of their schools *Advance Illinois in the
News* Catalyst Chicago - April 16, 2010 A new statewide campaign
is trying to spur parents into
action with this message: Your child is not learning as much in school
as you
think. On Friday, the group will present their report called
"When good is not good enough in Illinois public schools." The report
focuses on the deficiencies in schools, both in Illinois and the United
States,
as compared to the rest of the world. Read more... Bill
targets more aid to community college students Chicago Sun-Times -
April 16, 2010 About 80,000 low-income students who sought Illinois
financial aid to attend community colleges this year didn't get a dime
because
the state ran out of money. To prevent that from happening again, state
officials are proposing a novel way to pay for $100 million in Monetary
Award
Program grants: borrowing $550 million to cover the cost of five years
of
grants to 100,000 students each year. Then, they propose using the state
income
tax paid by those students over 10 years to pay off the bonds. Read
more... Teacher
Training No Boon for Student Math Scores Education Week - April 16,
2010 (Article
access courtesy of Edweek.org) First-year findings from a federal
study of 77 middle
schools suggest that even intensive, state-of-the-art efforts to boost
teachers� skills on the job may not lead to significant gains in student
achievement right away. Read more...
U.S.
Falls Short in Measure of Future Math Teachers New York Times
- April 15 America's future math teachers, on average, earned a C on
a new test comparing their skills with their counterparts in 15 other
countries, significantly outscoring college students in the Philippines
and Chile but placing far below those in educationally advanced nations
like Singapore and Taiwan. Read more... Survey
Shows Teachers Not All Teachers Oppose Using Testing in Evaluation Catalyst
Chicago - April 14 A spate of teacher surveys is giving policymakers
a clearer picture of what frontline educators think of emerging school
reforms. But as Learning Point researchers Ellen Behrstock and Jane
Coggshell point out: educators are often at odds with researchers and
policymakers over how to evaluate learning and spark effective teaching.
Read more... Taking Parent Organizing Statewide Catalyst-Chicago
- Apr. 14 A new campaign, called SAGE (Statewide Action &
Grassroots Education), launches this Friday, April 16th at a summit in
Chicago. SAGE will also release a report: When Good is Not Good Enough: A
Quest for Quality Education in Illinois' Public Schools. Read more...
Advocates Weigh Obama's Commitment to Early Ed. Education Week - April 12, 2010 (Article access courtesy of Edweek.org) A year ago, President Barack Obama�s budget pledge to make
early-childhood education one of his top priorities created enormous
excitement among advocates who had long pushed for greater federal
investment. Read more...
Harkin and Duncan
Say They Won't 'Walk Away' From Early Learning Challenge Grants Early Ed Watch-A Blog from America's Early Education - April 14, 2101 The resurrection of the Early Learning Challenge Fund -- a proposal to
improve the quality of early learning programs for children from birth
to age 5 -- was among the first topics addressed today during a budget
hearing with members of the U.S. Senate's appropriations
subcommittee related to education. Read more...
NEA offers its own ESEA Overhaul Education Week - April 13 (article access compliments of edweek.org) The National Education Association has put forward its most detailed recommendations to date for the overhaul of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, in what a union official calls a new approach for the federal law. Read more... Districts
Struggle Amid State's Budget Woes Several stories from the week on how districts are coping with
late payments from the state, as it struggles with an historic budget
deficit. A special thanks to Catalyst-Chicago for their "In the News"
digest.
Congress is now considering a $23 billion bailout for the nation's schools to help avert layoffs across the country. (Washington Post)
Some schools are increasing student fees to help fill the gaps in certain areas, such as music or computer labs. (Chicago Tribune)
Three school districts are hoping to raise funds by building a wind farm. (Daily Herald)
While honoring D189 students during a visit to East St. Louis, Supt. Chris Koch says he doesn't see how the budget is balanced without a tax hike. (bnd.com)
"Race to
the Top" Update - Across the U.S. The Race to the Top competition
has spurred reforms in states across the country, including Illinois.
But, the progress isn't consistent. Here's a recent roundup of how states are doing.
Obama's
plan to reward schools for innovation sparks congressional debate (Washington Post)
Expert J.E. Stone
says Tennessee won because of a renewed commitment to it�s value-added assessment
system (Education Next)
Maryland will open
its Phase 2 application up to the public (Baltimore Sun)
New York legislators propose a tough tenure bill (New York Times), and so does Colorado (Durango Herald)
Districts
Struggle Amid State's Budget Woes Several stories from the week on how districts are coping with
late payments from the state, as it struggles with an historic budget
deficit. A special thanks to Catalyst-Chicago for their "In the News"
digest.
Dist. 300 still
needs to cut $5.6 million to balance budget (Daily Herald)
State expects to cut off
MAP Grants soon Pantagraph - April 12, 2010 Illinois higher education officials next week likely will stop approving
applicants for the state�s largest need-based college scholarship
program. The state awards money from the Monetary Award Program to students on
a first-come, first-served basis until the amount of money they think
they�ll have available runs out. It could run out as early as next week,
said Illinois Student Assistance Commission Executive Director Andrew Davis. Students
can qualify for a grant after filling out the Free Application for Federal
Student Aid, or FAFSA. �You should drop everything and fill it out
today,� Davis said. Read more...
Education forum growing Peoria Journal Star - April 9, 2010 The list of education officials and experts converging in Peoria
later this month to discuss changes to public education is growing by the day,
organizers say. Kenneth Wong, considered the leading expert on urban education
and director of the Urban Education Policy Program at Brown University, will
join U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and renowned education reformer
Paul Vallas to speak at an education symposium at the Peoria Civic Center
titled "Transforming Public Education." Read more...
Op-Ed: Springfield needs
more school choice State Journal-Register - April 12, 2010 Collin Hitt is director
of education policy at the Illinois Policy Institute, argues in an op-ed that
Springfield needs more charter schools to address the dropout crisis. Read more...
Illinois celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Prekindergarten
Program for at-risk children Quad-Cities Online - April 9, 2010 The Illinois State Board of Education
recognizes the 25th anniversary of legislation that established the state's
Prekindergarten Program for Children at Risk of Academic Failure. Since its
inception, this nationally-recognized program has offered high quality
preschool education services to more than 800,000 at-risk 3- and 4-year-olds
throughout the state. Read more...
State
budget cuts singe one Naperville school district, scorch another Chicago Tribune - April 11, 2010 Two school districts are a suburban "Tale of Two
Cities" under Gov. Pat Quinn's proposed budget cuts. The
different results of the funding shortfall offer a glimpse into the quirks in
state funding that are causing some schools to lay off educators by the dozens
while others are getting by with more minor belt-tightening. Read more...
Recession hits 'private public' schools, too Daily Herald - April 12, 2010 A study published last month by a nonprofit think-tank, the Thomas B.
Fordham Institute, reported that more than 1.7 million American children
attend "private public schools" - filled with predominately white
children, with less than 5 percent coming from low-income homes. Read more... Florida�s bold move Chicago Tribune - April 12, 2010 In the wee hours of Friday morning, long after most of us were asleep,
Florida's lawmakers made dramatic changes to their state's education
system. They took reform to a new level. Read more... Literacy
academy aims to hook second-graders on reading The State Journal-Register - April 12, 2010 Marcus Pettus, a second-grader at Harvard Park Elementary School,
doesn�t lack curiosity. He recently filled out a reading inventory of
subjects that interest him and checked 13 of 16 available topics,
including sports, games, music, insects, trains, the circus, jokes,
cooking, computers, art and outer space. Read more... Hamos to head state's healthcare Evanston Review - April 9, 2010 State Rep. Julie Hamos,
D-18th, a respected policy wonk, will get to put some of that knowledge into
practice -- at least through the remainder of Gov. Pat Quinn's term. Quinn named the Hamos today as director of the Illinois Department of
Healthcare and Family Services. Read more...
Advocates Weigh Obama's Commitment to Early Ed. Education Week - April 12, 2010 (Premium
article access courtesy of Edweek.org) A year ago, President Barack Obama�s budget pledge to make
early-childhood education one of his top priorities created enormous
excitement among advocates who had long pushed for greater federal
investment. Read more...
Bilingual Ed., Immersion Found to Work Equally Well Education Week - April 9, 2010 (Premium
article access courtesy of Edweek.org) In the first randomized-assignment study in which English-language
learners were followed for as long as five years, researchers have found
that Spanish-speaking children learn to read English equally well
regardless of whether they are taught primarily in English or in both
English and their native language. Read more... Education
Historian Diane Ravitch on Ideas for Changing Chicago's Educational
System WBEZ - April 8, 2010 Noted education historian Diane Ravitch was an Assistant Secretary of Education under the first President Bush. She was also a staunch supporter of school reforms like No Child Left Behind. But in a new book, Ravitch recants many of her former positions, and warns against the reforms that have reshaped public school systems in Chicago and around the country. Her book is called The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education. Ravitch talks more about her book. Listen here...
Keep universities afloat for sake of state's future Chicago Sun-Times - April 9, 2010 Sun-Times editorial: Illinois' public universities are in uncharted waters, and for the first time there is fear that one or more could sink. Never before has the State of Illinois simply stopped paying money it had appropriated for higher education. The state now is an estimated $800 million behind for this fiscal year. On campuses around the state, worried administrators are looking at looming payrolls they don't have the money to meet. Read more...
Schools to state: Don't balance budget on our backs Courier-News - April 9, 2010 School administrators from across Illinois sent a message loud and clear to the state: Pay your bills and fix education funding. Although no immediate solutions to fix the budget crisis were reached, about 25 school administrators from Springfield to Chicago met Thursday at Morgan Park High School in Chicago to discuss the repercussions of the state's proposed spending cuts to education. Read more...
Round Lake schools receive technology grant Lake County News-Sun - April 9, 2010 Round Lake Unit School District 116 will receive $850,000 in federal stimulus funds for technology upgrades. The Illinois State Board of Education announced it will distribute $10 million in recovery funds toward enhancing student achievement in literacy and mathematics with the use of one-to-one technology such as laptops, computer notebooks and iPods. Read more...
Pontiac
High School Awarded $480,000 The Community Times - April 9, 2010 The Illinois State Board of Education announced today it will distribute
$10 million in recovery funds toward enhancing student achievement in
literacy and mathematics with the use of one-to-one technology such as
laptops, computer notebooks and iPod touches. The competitive grants
were awarded to 15 districts across the state as part of a federal grant
program designed to improve student academic achievement through the
integration of technology in schools and help every student become
technologically literate by the end of eighth grade. Pontiac
Township High School was awarded $480,000. Read more...
Students walk out to protest CPS cuts Chicago Tribune - April 9, 2010 The idea for the protest started with a group of five high school
friends at lunch discussing the financial woes of the Chicago Public Schools.
The budget cuts seemed endless, they agreed. Bigger class sizes. No
more after-school programs. Read more... Iowa may drop 'Race to the Top' school reform bid
Des Moines Register - April 8, 2010 A state education leader has doubts about staying in the federal
government's Race to the Top competition, despite Iowa's sprint to
rewrite laws in a failed first bid for the school reform money. A
decision to pull out would be an about-face from November, when Gov.
Chet Culver trumpeted the plan as a way to dramatically alter Iowa's
education landscape. Much of the decision hinges on whether local
school leaders will support a second-round grant application, said Judy
Jeffrey, the Iowa Department of Education director. Many local
officials have warned they won't. Read more... Florida Legislatures passes major teacher reform bill Education Week - April 8, 2010 (Premium article access courtesy of Edweek.org) Hailed as a national model
by conservative academics and politicians, legislation that would make
it easier to fire Florida teachers and link their pay to student test
scores was expected on Thursday to go to Gov. Charlie Crist. Read more... States push to pay teachers based on performance Boston Globe - April 8, 2010 For parents and politicians hungry for better schools, the
idea of paying teachers more if their students perform better can seem
as basic as adding two and two or spelling "cat." Yet just a handful of schools and districts around the country use such
strategies. In some states, the idea is effectively illegal. Read more...
Tentative Contract for DC Teachers The New York Times - April 7, 2010 Capping two years of rancorous bargaining, the Washington schools chancellor and the city�s teachers� union on Wednesday announced an agreement on a tentative contract that would increase teacher salaries, establish a voluntary merit pay system and give the authorities clearer powers to move teachers out of the system based on their effectiveness rather than seniority. Read more...
$350 Million 'Race to the Common Test' Starts Now Education Week: Politics K-12 Blog - April 6, 2010 The U.S. Department of Education has given the green light to the $350 million Race to the Top assessment competition, which will award grants to groups of states to create rigorous common tests to complement the common standards effort already underway. Read more...
Chicago prepares debut of Kindergarten Readiness Catalyst Chicago - April 6, 2010 Chicago Public Schools is about to debut a kindergarten readiness assessment tool to be taken by preschoolers. The goal is to help teachers and parents know where students need to improve as they make the transition from preschool to formal schooling. �There�s an abyss between preschool and kindergarten, so we�re trying to bridge that gap,� says Eilene Edejer, a senior research analyst in the CPS Office of Early Childhood Education. Read more...
Illinois regroups to retry for federal education funding Rockford Register Star - March 30, 2010 Illinois whiffed in the first round of a national competition to win federal education reform funding, but Rockford, Belvidere and other local school districts are hopeful the state will be successful during another round in June. Read more...
Tough times, tough decisions for teachers, unions Chicago Tribune - April 5, 2010 Facing layoffs, unions weigh contract concessions for financially
strapped school districts. Read more...
Newton senior
gets politics lessons on ISBE council Effingham Daily News - April 5,
2010 When Newton High School senior Jordan Ping headed to
Springfield
last fall to take his seat on the Illinois State Board of Education�s
Student Advisory Council, he didn�t know what he was getting himself
into. But he figured out his purpose soon enough. The
18-year-old quickly became Jasper County�s youngest lobbyist, seeking
the
state�s cooperation and aid for his financially strapped school
district. Read more...
Governors State Receives $7.1 Million
Department of Education Grant eNews Park Forest - April 5, 2010 Governors
State University, with the assistance of a $7.1
million federal education grant, will expand and refine teaching
programs
designed to raise student achievement and improve instruction in nine
high-need
Chicago Southland school districts. Read more...
The Real Race
Begins: Lessons
from the First Round of Race to the Top The New Teacher
Project - April, 2010 In
Round 1 of Race to the Top, the U.S.
Department of Education delivered on its promise to hold states to a
high bar
for reform. Only 2 states out of 16 finalists and 41 total applicants
were
selected for awards: Delaware and Tennessee. This analysis offers a
close look
at the scoring of the Round 1 finalists. It refutes some of the most
common
myths about Race to the Top and offers important lessons for states
applying
for the $3.4 billion in funding that remains available in Round 2.
Read more...
Input of teachers unions key to
successful entries in Race to the Top The Washington Post - April 3, 2010 Delaware's surprising first-place finish in a fierce battle for federal
school-reform dollars highlights a tension in President Obama's
education agenda: He favors big change, but he also prizes peace with
the labor unions that sometimes resist his goals.
Read more...
States Skeptical About �Race to Top� School
Aid Contest The New York Times - April 4, 2010 A dozen governors, led by Bill Ritter Jr. of Colorado, sat with
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
in a hotel ballroom in Washington a few weeks back, praising his vision
and gushing with enthusiasm over a $4 billion grant competition they
hoped could land their states a jackpot of hundreds of millions of
dollars. Read more...
States Strive to Overhaul Teacher Tenure Education Week - April 5, 2010 Over the past year, a handful of states have begun to overhaul their
tenure-granting processes by increasing the number of years it takes
teachers to win due process rights, and by trying to improve the
evaluations that are supposed to guide determinations of whether a
teacher qualifies for the benchmark. Read more...
Does 'Last Hired, First Fired' Really Make Sense? Teacher Magazine - March 31, 2010 (Premium article access courtesy of TeacherMagazine.org) It�s spring 2010, and I am no longer called Heather among my peers.
Instead I am known by my number: 173. That�s my place on our district�s
seniority list. With the pink slip plague rippling out from our
district�s first-year teachers toward those of us in our 10th, all of us
in the danger zone are sweating. And it doesn�t stop here. If some
teachers are nixed this year, and none are hired to replace them, then
those of us who survive this round actually become even more vulnerable
next year when the cuts continue.
Read more...
Report: College remains elusive for many Hispanic men Chicago Tribune - April 4, 2010 Hispanic women enrolling at a higher rate, as men find obstacles to
higher education, study says. Read more...
Districts
Struggle Amid State's Budget Woes Several stories from the week on how districts are coping with
late payments from the state, as it struggles with an historic budget
deficit. A special thanks to Catalyst-Chicago for their "In the News"
digest.
School officials in Mount Zion not shy about blaming state for financial straits (Herald-Review)
St. Charles' District 303 is preparing for another round of
multi-million budget cuts � just in case. (Kane County Chronicle)
Community colleges serve more students with
less cash Southtown Star - April 4, 2010 Salvador M. Lopez had no idea what he wanted to do when he left the
Marines in 2005. A year of private college didn't work out. Jobs led
nowhere. Then he enrolled in community college. Read more...
UIS
not sold on three-year degrees The State Journal-Register - April 3, 2010 When interim University of Illinois President Stanley Ikenberry asked
college officials to find out what it would take to create an
accelerated degree program, he kick-started the process at all three U
of I campuses. Read more...
Our
View: Year-round schools a good option for educational success Rockford Register Star - April 4, 2010 U.S. children spend less time in school than their peers in Europe and
Asia and lag behind those children in academic achievement. The traditional school calendar in the U.S., with kids off during the
summer, has not been keeping up with the needs of a global society. Read more...
Tape shows how SD 227 board manipulated
schools chief pick Southtown Star - April 4, 2010 Board members of Rich Township High School District 227 manipulated the
selection process and discussed misrepresenting public input to justify
their controversial pick for a new superintendent. Read more...
Five Minority School Districts In Running for Broad Prize US News and World Report - April 1, 2010 Five school districts�all in predominantly Southern states�were announced today by the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation as being finalists for the 2010 Broad Prize for Urban Education, an annual $2 million award that honors low-income school districts of at least 100,000 students that are making the greatest progress toward raising student achievement. Read more...
Obstacles may pull Colorado out of Race to the Top Denver Post - April 1, 2010 The decision of whether Colorado should apply for up to $175 million in federal education grants in the second round of the Race to the Top competition seems like a no-brainer, but state officials aren't sure. Two big sticking points: Colorado's unsuccessful first-round application didn't have full union support, and not every school district bought in. Read more...
State
officials insist school reform will happen State Journal-Register - March 31, 2010 Whether Illinois wins federal money or not, state education officials
have made one thing clear: school reforms are on their way. Read more...
Teacher Surveys Aimed at Swaying Policymakers Education Week - March 31, 2010 (Article complements of EdWeek.org) Perhaps at no other time in the history of American education has there been more publicly available information about what teachers think about their profession, their students, and the conditions under which they work. Read more...
Jaime Escalante dies at 79; math teacher who challenged East L.A. students to 'Stand and Deliver' The Los Angeles Times - March 31, 2010 He became America's most famous teacher after a 1988 movie portrayed his success at mentoring working-class pupils at Garfield High to pass a rigorous national calculus exam. He died of cancer. Read more...
Quinn
Wants Chicago Teachers to Live in City WBEZ - March 31, 2010 Illinois Governor Pat Quinn is
speaking out against a bill that would allow Chicago teachers to live
outside the city. Last week, the state senate approved a measure that
would let teachers live in the suburbs but still teach for the city's
schools. Quinn says he hasn't seen details of the bill, but likes the
current system. Read more... Obama Signs Overhaul of Student Loan Program The New York Times - March 30, 2010 President Obama signed legislation on Tuesday to expand college access for millions of young Americans by revamping the federal student loan program in what he called �one of the most significant investments in higher education since the G.I. Bill.� Read more... Traditional schools aren't working. Let's move learning online. The Washingtion Post - March 28, 2010 Deep within America's collective consciousness, there is a little red schoolhouse. Inside, obedient children sit in rows, eagerly absorbing lessons as a kind, wise teacher writes on the blackboard. Shiny apples are offered as tokens of respect and gratitude. Read more...
Federal grant will expand University�s innovative teacher preparation program The University of Chicago, Press Release - March 30, 2010 Building upon six years of successful urban teacher preparation, the University of Chicago Urban Teacher Education Program (Chicago UTEP) will refine and expand its teacher preparation efforts with the assistance of nearly $11.6 million from the U.S. Department of Education�s Office of Innovation and Improvements through its Teacher Quality Partnership Grants Program. Read more...
Illinois Education Superintendent Chris Koch on What's Next for State Schools WBEZ - March 30, 2010 As State Superintendent of Education, Chris Koch was in Washington D.C. earlier this month to present the state�s application for the Race to the Top. He explains next steps for the state's schools. Listen here...
CPS vows overhaul of special education program Chicago Tribune - March 29, 2010 Critics describe the Chicago Public Schools special education system as so complex and litigious that parents of children with disabilities must hire a cadre of medical and legal experts to have any hope of getting their child proper educational services. Disputes with the district can drain parents' resources and patience, and leave the physicians who care for their kids exasperated. Read more...
Stimulus Aid Yanks States' Spending Leash Education Week - March 29, 2010 (Article access compliments of EdWeek.org) With state budgets tighter than ever as the second�and final�big pot of federal economic-stimulus money is about to fill their coffers, states are finding it harder than ever to keep up their end of the funding bargain. Read more...
The Next Heat The Chicago Tribune Editorial Board applauds Illinois for making "remarkable strides in reshaping its long stagnant education
protocols" over the past year and encourages state leaders to make further changes in the hopes of winning Phase 2 of Race to the Top.Read more...
Delaware and Tennessee Win First Race to The Top Grants U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced today that Delaware and Tennessee have won grants in the first phase of the Race to the Top competition. Illinois finished a strong 5th. Secretary Duncan said Delaware and Tennessee stood out by having full participation in their plans from every district in their states. Read more in the Chicago Tribune, Illinois Statehouse News, theDaily Herald, the State Journal-Register, Catalyst, WBEZ, the New
York Times, Catalyst Chicago, the Christian Science Monitor and EdWeek (article access compliments of edweek.org). The Dept of Ed website now features feedback and scores on all the applications, including the list of states and their scores. Also, in an op-ed the morning of the announcement, Suzanne Tacheny Kubach is the executive director of the Policy Innovators in Education, or PIE, Network, wrote an op-ed showing how statewide advocacy organizations are helping their states Race to the Top.
Race To The Top Winners Coming Monday, Illinois On The Bubble Illinois Statehouse News - March 26, 2010 llinois will find out Monday if it�s one of the states that will share in billions of dollars in federal money from Race To the Top. But education leaders in the state don�t sound optimistic. Illinois is among 16 finalists, but only a handful will be selected as winners next week. Read more...
NAEP Scores: Flat in Illinois; U.S. cities improve Illinois scores on national reading tests remained flat in 2009, an indication that transformative reform is needed for the state's schools. Performance on these tests, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), have been flat for several years. Achievement gaps have also remained essentially the same over the past six years, though they've improved slightly over that time period. Learn more on the NAEP website, including a special page on Illinois scores. Coverage from the Washington Post is here. Related: Students in the nation’s urban school districts have
improved markedly in mathematics and reading proficiency as measured both on
state exams and the National Assessment of Educational Progress, according to a
new report by the Washington-based Council of
the Great City Schools. EdWeek coverage here. Suit to target funding Chicago Tribune - March 24, 2010 Two Illinois homeowners said they will sue the state
Wednesday, claiming Illinois' education funding system discriminates against
taxpayers based on where they live. This newest challenge to the controversial funding system alleges the state is
shirking its responsibility to properly fund education by relying largely on
local property taxes to pay for schools. Read more...
Lawmakers Split
On 4 Day School Week Illinois Statehouse News - March 24, 2010 If local schools want to switch to a four day
school week, lawmakers in Springfield say that’s their decision. Though
most legislators doubt schools will make that choice. One day after the Illinois House okayed a
plan to let schools talk about cutting back to a four day school week,
lawmakers say they don’t know how may schools would actually make that choice. Read more...
Educators hopeful for NCLB overhaul Pioneer Press - Mar. 23, 2010 The ink is barely dry on President Obama's planned overhaul of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), but talk on the matter is widespread. Douglas Rudig, superintendent at Elmwood Park Community Unit District 401, said he applauds Obama and his administration for their initiative to support, revise and improve a national plan for education. "I am solidly behind a reform for NCLB, but we have not yet seen the final details of this new plan," Rudig said. Read more...
Gov candidates debate education at IEA From the IEA website: Arriving to the thunderous chants of �SOS (Save Our Schools)� from 1,268 pink-clad member delegates, gubernatorial candidates, Gov. Pat Quinn and Sen. Bill Brady squared off in a lively forum at the IEA Representative Assembly. The two came to Rosemont at the invitation the state�s largest education employee organization.In the packed session moderated by IEA President Ken Swanson, each of the candidates pledged support for quality education initiatives, but they came at school funding and pension issues in very different ways. IEA Website coverage here. WLS-TV story here.
All districts suffering, but some more than others Daily Herald - Mar. 22, 2010 With varying levels of student poverty, property taxes rates and local revenues, no two suburban school districts are funded exactly the same way. Years ago, complicated formulas were created in the attempt to equalize resources in rich and poor districts across the state. Those that take in less local revenue, are, in theory, supposed to get more help. These days, that's not happening. Read more...
The race is on for Central Illinois school districts Pantagraph - Mar. 21, 2010 More than a dozen Central Illinois school districts are at the starting line, ready to see if they qualify for Race to the Top. Earlier this month, Illinois was named one 15 states and the District of Columbia (among 40 and Washington, D.C. that applied) in the running for a share for of $4.35 billion in federal grants to enact education reform and improve student achievement. The names of states divvying up about $2 billion in the first phase will be announced in April. Read more...
One Classroom, from Sea to Shining Sea New York Times - Mar. 19, 2010 Author Susan Jacoby argues for stronger cohesion in national education policy, including national standards, suggesting that the founding principles to America's education system "cannot be upheld if the quality of our public schooling continues to depend more on where a student lives than on a national commitment to excellence." Read more...
National Education Technology Plan announced The U.S. Department of Education released its Education Technology plan. Here's an excerpt from the Executive Summary: Just as technology is at the core of virtually every aspect of our daily lives and work, we must leverage it to provide engaging and powerful learning experiences, content, and resources and assessments that measure student achievement in more complete, authentic, and meaningful ways. Technology-based learning and assessment systems will be pivotal in improving student learning and generating data that can be used to continuously improve the education system at all levels. Technology will help us execute collaborative teaching strategies combined with professional learning that better prepare and enhance educators� competencies and expertise over the course of their careers. To shorten our learning curve, we can learn from other kinds of enterprises that have used technology to improve outcomes while increasing productivity. Read more... School Districts Face Tough Decisions Illinois Statehouse News - March 18, 2010 Illinois State Superintendent Chris Koch knows that with the state mired in a record budget deficit, K-12 school districts will face some difficult personnel decisions in the weeks ahead. Read more... In other budget news, several districts are considering consolidation, including Richland. Chicago faces a doomsday budget
The Education President The Chicago Tribune editorial board applauds the recent education initiatives launched by President Obama. Read More...
Education's Magic Bullets are Often Blanks LA Times - March 16, 2010 A teacher writes an op-ed suggesting that education reform sometimes can't be boiled down to simple 'magic bullets.' Read more... Uniform educational standards help kids Chicago Sun Times - March 15, 2010 We're all for local control in education -- communities and parents should decide how best to teach their kids, where to invest dollars, which schools should open and which should close. Read more...
National School Standards, at Last New York Times - March 13, 2010 The countries that have left the United States behind in math and science education have one thing in common: They offer the same high education standards � often the same curriculum � from one end of the nation to the other. The United States relies on a generally mediocre patchwork of standards that vary, not just from state to state, but often from district to district. A child�s education depends primarily on ZIP code. Read more...
Obama Calls for Major Change in Education Law The New York Times - March 13, 2010 The Obama administration on Saturday called for a broad overhaul of President George W. Bush�s No Child Left Behind law, proposing to reshape divisive provisions that encouraged instructors to teach to tests, narrowed the curriculum, and labeled one in three American schools as failing. Read more... Update: The Christian Science Monitor noted how opinion about the proposal fell along traditional lines.
Obama: Revise No Child Left Behind law Washington Post - March 14, 2010 President Obama proposed overhauling the No Child Left Behind law that was his predecessor's hallmark education initiative, aiming to eliminate several of the measure's controversial mandates on public schools but adding new ones. Read more...
Administration Unveils ESEA Renewal Blueprint Education Week - March 13, 2010 U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has released broad principles for renewing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that seek to address perennial complaints that the law�s current version�the No Child Left Behind Act�is inflexible and doesn�t set a high enough bar for academic achievement. Read more...
Teach for the World The New York Times - March 10, 2010 A generation ago, the most thrilling program for young people was the Peace Corps. Today, it's Teach for America, which this year has attracted 46,000 applicants who are competing for about 4,500 slots. Read more...
Panel Proposes Single Standard for All Schools The New York Times - March 10, 2010 A panel of educators convened by the nation�s governors and state school superintendents proposed a uniform set of academic standards on Wednesday, laying out their vision for what all the nation�s public school children should learn in math and English, year by year, from kindergarten to high school graduation. Read more...
Quinn seeks income tax increase for schools State Journal-Register - March 10, 2010 Seeking a tax hike is never a popular move -- even less so in the middle of both a historic recession and an election year. Nonetheless, Gov. Pat Quinn called on Illinois lawmakers Wednesday to do just that. Read more...
GOP candidate for governor calls Quinn�s budget �catastrophe� Illinois Statehouse News - March 10, 2010 Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady on Wednesday called Gov. Pat Quinn�s fiscal year 2011 budget a �catastrophe,� insisting his own plan for a 10 percent across-the-board cut would balance the budget and dig the state out of its $13 billion hole. Read more...
Draft Common Standards Elicit Kudos and Criticism Education Week - March 10, 2010 The first public draft of grade-by-grade common standards, released this morning, is being greeted with a mix of praise and skepticism, illustrating both the mounting consensus that the country needs to set higher expectations for all students and the many problems that complicate their adoption. Read more...
Many Nations Passing U.S. in Education, Expert Says New York Times - March 9, 2010 In another sign that the static performance of U.S. schools is no longer good enough, one of the world�s foremost experts on comparing national school systems told U.S. lawmakers that many other countries were surpassing the United States in educational attainment, including Canada, where he said 15-year-old students were, on average, more than one school year ahead of American 15-year-olds. Andreas Schleicher, a senior education official at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Poland, he said is improving its education system most rapidly. In less than a decade, it raised the literacy skills of its 15-year-olds by the equivalent of almost a school year. �If the U.S. would raise the performance of schools by a similar amount,� he said, �that could translate into a long-term economic value of over 40 trillion dollars.� Read more...
Bad Teachers: Reform Them or Retire Them? Newsweek - March 10, 2010 On Sunday, The New York Times Magazine published a cover story called "Building a Better Teacher." Written by Elizabeth Green, the article detailed how teachers could be retrained to increase classroom performance. On Monday, NEWSWEEK published a cover package labeled "The Key to Fixing American Education." In that series of articles, authors Evan Thomas and Pat Wingert argued that the only way to increase classroom performance was to fire the teachers who didn't get results. So which is it? Can bad teachers be reformed, or should they be kicked to the curb? We asked Green and Thomas to debate the issue via e-mail, and will publish their discussion, as it unfolds, below. Read more...
Treating Different Teachers Differently Center for American Progress - March 10, 2010 Historically, state and local policies have tended to treat all teachers as if they were equally effective in promoting student learning,1 but a good deal of evidence amassed over the past decade documents enormous variation in teacher effectiveness.2 The effectiveness of a teacher is indeed the most important school-based factor determining students� levels of academic achievement, yet few state and district policies reflect this finding. Read more...
Removing Chronically Ineffective Teachers Center for American Progress - March 10, 2010 The importance of effective teaching in the nation�s public schools is receiving unprecedented attention. As President Barack Obama so aptly stated in his remarks to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce last year, �From the moment students enter a school, the most important factor in their success is not the color of their skin or the income of their parents, it�s the person standing at the front of the classroom. The president expresses what a great deal of research has documented�that teachers have a tremendous impact on student achievement and that teachers vary greatly in their effectiveness. Read more...
Latest School Worry: Categorical Cash Illinois Statehouse News - March 9, 2010 Principals across Illinois already know they will likely have to lay off teachers this spring. They also already know that any checks from the state are going to be late. But now school officials in Springfield are raising questions about money for special education, transportation, and early childhood education. Read more...
What Would Diane Do? Huffington Post - March 9, 2010 Diane Ravitch is an inspired writer, one of the few education analysts with a historical perspective, and a professional skeptic and contrarian. These admirable traits are in short supply these days but in full display in her new book The Death and Life of the Great American School System. Read more...
Districts Struggle Amid State Budget Woes Several stories from the week on how districts are coping with late payments from the state, as it struggles with an historic budget deficit. A special thanks to Catalyst-Chicago for their "In the News" digest.
Delavan superintendent, facing budget cuts, skips own pay raise (Pantagraph)
Ravitch, unpredictable, still likes NCLB basics The Washington Post, Class Struggle by Jay Mathews - March 9, 2010 Everybody (okay, everybody among the few thousand education obsessives who might read this) is talking about Diane Ravitch's new book, "The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education." Read more...
Two D204 schools could enter new program Naperville Sun - March 9, 2010 Changing demographics around Indian Prairie District 204 means changing the way some of its schools receive and use federal funding. Read more...
On to college Chicago Tribune - March 8, 2010 If nothing else made you feel good last week, you had to smile at the news out of Urban Prep Academy for Young Men, a charter school in Englewood. Read more...
Final Rules Unveiled for 'i3' Innovation Fund Education Week - March 8, 2010 The U.S. Department of Education today unveiled the final rules for its $650 million Investing in Innovation, or i3, grant program, standing fast in the face of criticism that its proposed guidelines demanded too much from applicants in the way of private-sector match and evidence to back up their proposals. Read more...
Chicago group set to take parent education campaign statewide Catalyst Chicago - March 8, 2010 To outsiders, the fact that a school is performing poorly might seem obvious from the numbers readily available on state school report cards. Read more...
Pre-med student switches gears to teach in Chicago school Chicago Tribune - March 8, 2010 Throughout Joseph Lee's childhood, his parents believed they were grooming a future doctor. But last year when Lee was a senior and pre-med major at Northwestern University, something was gnawing at him. Read more...
All of charter school's senior class accepted to college Chicago Sun-Times - March 6, 2010 Four years ago, every freshman at Urban Prep Academy Charter High School-Englewood was given a watch and told they now had no excuse to be late for class at a school dedicated to putting black males into college. Read more...
Students' Civil Rights to Get Scrutiny The Wall Street Journal - March 8, 2010 The Obama administration plans to crack down on civil-rights infractions in school districts and university systems, including alleged disparities in the disciplining of white and black students. Read more... Students in race for state's college financial aid funds Chicago Sun-Times - March 8, 2010 Applications for state financial aid grants are being filed at a record pace. Students who don't complete applications soon could risk being shut out from state aid. Read more...
Building a Better Teacher The New York Times - March 2, 2010 On a winter day five years ago, Doug Lemov realized he had a problem. After a successful career as a teacher, a principal and a charter-school founder, he was working as a consultant, hired by troubled schools eager � desperate, in some cases � for Lemov to tell them what to do to get better. Read more...
Illinois named a Race to the Top Finalist Congratulations to Illinois for being named one of the 16 Race to the Top finalists. State leaders and lawmakers should be proud of their hard work and smart leadership over the past year. Good luck to the team going to do the finalist interview in Washington. Here is the statement from Advance Illinois Executive Director Robin Steans. Here is the Governor's press release. Here is the Dept of Ed page on the Race to the Top. From Education Week, here is a summary of the national picture. Catalyst Chicago and Chicago Tribune both note Illinois� strong collaboration and its evaluation legislation. Illinois Statehouse News notes that it�s an endorsement of the momentum behind reform in the state. Daily Herald talks to local superintendents who note the devil is in the details.
U.S. Teachers More Interested in Reform Than Money Associated Press - March 3, 2010 U.S. teachers are more interested in school reform and student achievement than their paychecks, according to a massive new survey. Read more...
More Funding for Principal Training Deemed Vital Education Week - March 2, 2010 As principals come under more pressure than ever to improve underperforming schools, leadership experts say it�s time for the nation to emphasize recruiting and training the next generation of school leaders. Read more... Scholars School Reform U-Turn Shakes Up Debate The New York Times - March 2, 2010 Diane Ravitch, the education historian who built her intellectual reputation battling progressive educators and served in the first Bush administration�s Education Department, is in the final stages of an astonishing, slow-motion about-face on almost every stand she once took on American schooling. Read more...
Ravitch on the Road to Damascus National Alliance for Public Charter Schools - March 2, 2010 Diane Ravitch is probably the only person in America who would begin re-evaluating her entire belief system while sitting in a research seminar at the American Enterprise Institute. Read more...
School board unanimously approves college-prep academy The State Journal-Register - March 2, 2010 The Springfield School Board on Tuesday approved plans to open a small college preparatory academy next fall, after concluding that it�s worth the extra $120,000 to run the program. Read more...
Morton East students stage walkout The Chicago Tribune - March 2, 2010 Angered over a budget reduction plan to eliminate classes and lay off teachers, more than 100 students from Morton East High School in Cicero walked out of school Tuesday morning and staged a brief protest in the streets. Read more...
Illinois schools chiefs growing salaries The Chicago Tribune - March 2, 2010 The state's school superintendents are cutting costs in a gruesome budget cycle, but they can take some consolation: Their own paychecks are growing comfortably. Read more...
Meeks School Voucher Plan Moves Ahead Illinois Statehouse News - March 1, 2010 A new school voucher program proposed by Democratic state Sen. James Meeks of Chicago has cleared its first test, but murky waters loom ahead. Read more...
'A Decent Education' The Chicago Tribune - March 2, 2010 When state Sen. James Meeks asks fellow Democrats to give education vouchers to kids who attend some of the worst schools in Chicago, the legislators often tell him they don't want to divert dollars from public education. Meeks' response: "If the public schools are not doing their job, why do you want to continue to reward them with money?" Read more...
Local lawmakers warn of deep school cuts The Daily Herald - March 1, 2010 State lawmakers who help oversee school funding discussions at the Capitol say local districts should plan for the worst as education funding is likely to lose its sacred cow status with the state trying to erase a nearly $13 billion budget deficit. Read more...
Today Is Publication Day Education Week Blog, Bridging Differences - March 2, 2010 Today is publication day for The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education by Diane Ravitch. As former U.S. Dept of Education, Ravitch supported No Child Left Behind, but has had a change of heart and written a book critical of many components of the modern reform movement. She blogged about it this morning. Advance Illinois supports many of the reforms Ravitch criticizes, but, as is our custom, we encourage a healthy debate about them. Read more...
Former 'No Child Left Behind' Advocate Turns Critic NPR - March 2, 2010 In 2005, former Assistant Secretary of Education Diane Ravitch wrote, "We should thank President George W. Bush and Congress for passing the No Child Left Behind Act ... All this attention and focus is paying off for younger students, who are reading and solving mathematics problems better than their parents' generation." Four years later, Ravitch has changed her mind. Read more or listen here...
Obama unveils 'turnaround' grants for schools The Los Angeles Times - March 2, 2010 $900 million in grants will be available next year for low-performing schools that opt for one of four reform models, which include firing the principal and even closing the campus. Read more...
Obama Backs Rewarding Districts That Police Failing Schools The New York Times - March 1, 2010 President Obama said Monday that he favored federal rewards for local school districts that fire underperforming teachers and close failing schools, saying educators needed to be held accountable when they failed to fix chronically troubled classrooms and curb the student dropout rate. Read more...
Obama Seeks Money, Interventions to Stem Dropouts Education Week - March 1, 2010 President Barack Obama took aim Monday at the nation's school dropout epidemic, proposing $900 million to states and education districts that agree to drastically change or even shutter their worst performing schools. Read more...
Conn. lawmakers may beef up "Race to the Top" plan The Boston Globe - February 28, 2010 Connecticut lawmakers are considering ways to fortify the state's application for millions of dollars in education funding under the president's "Race to the Top" initiative, concerned the state won't receive funding in the first round. Read more...
In Middle School, Charting Their Course to College and Beyond The New York Times - February 28, 2010 Public schools have long offered their students the same basic academic program, with little real choice aside from foreign languages or an occasional elective in what was a one-size-fits-all approach that drove many families to seek private and charter schools. Read more... Protests and Promises of Improvements at Schools The News York Times - February 26, 2010 Josephine Norwood, a Bronzeville mother of three Chicago public school students, has rebounded from two rounds of school closings that displaced her children from their schools. As she watched the Board of Education approve another set of schools for closing or turnaround last week, Mrs. Norwood had a simple question: Can Chicago Public Schools officials promise that the new schools will be better? Read more...
State's red ink likely to mean cuts for schools JG-TC Online - February 26, 2010 Gov. Pat Quinn�s initial budget scenario revealed this week shows the potential for big cuts in school funding next year because federal stimulus money is drying up. Read more... Central Illinois school superintendents expect more cuts ahead Peoria Journal Star - February 25, 2010 Area school superintendents say possible drastic cuts in state funding for education, while expected and becoming more tangible, will be hard to swallow. Read more...
County may lend $1 million to education office Peoria Journal Star - February 25, 2010 Peoria County could temporarily pick up slack for the state of Illinois after preliminary approval to issue a $1 million line of credit to the Peoria Regional Office of Education to meet payroll. Read more...
Turnarounds can work: Here's Howe Chicago Sun-Times - February 25, 2010 To an outsider, Howe School of Excellence rises from the landscape like a decaying fortress. But to the people who work there every day -- the principal, administrators, teachers and students -- Howe is a haven in a sea of chaos. Read more... State Superintendent Says Schools Face Funding Cliff Illinois Statehouse News - February 25, 2010 The state superintendent of education says he sympathizes with local school administrators� dilemma of dealing with late payments from the state. But with the state mired in a deep budget crisis, Chris Koch said there�s not much he or the state can do. Read more...
Schools to take wallop in 2011 state budget Chicago Sun-Times - February 25, 2010 Without an infusion of cash, Gov. Quinn plans to slash more than $2 billion from next year's state budget and make already cash-strapped public school systems across Illinois bear the brunt of that cutting, his budget director confirmed Wednesday. Read more...
A Fiscal Rehabilitation Plan for the State of Illinois Institute for Illinois' Fiscal Stability at the Civic Federation The Fiscal Rehabilitation Plan for the State of Illinois describes the basis of Illinois current fiscal crisis and presents the Civic Federation�s plan to salvage the State�s finances. This plan calls for a comprehensive package of budget cuts, pension reforms, and revenue increases to put Illinois on solid financial footing and address its nationally-recognized fiscal crisis. Read more...
Quinn Administration Launches First-Ever Interactive Budget Web Site BudgetIllinois.Gov - February 24, 2010 Officials from Governor Pat Quinn's Administration today announced that, for the first time in Illinois� history, the public can actively participate in the state's budgeting process. The Governors Office of Management and Budget (GOMB) today launched www.budget.illinois.gov, a Web site that allows Illinois residents to provide feedback that will be used to shape the states fiscal year 2011 budget. Read more...
Schools big loser in early Quinn budget Chicago Business - February 24, 2010 Gov. Pat Quinn's administration Wednesday gave taxpayers the first peek at what will happen to spending if the General Assembly doesn't give him a tax hike this spring, and it ain't pretty. Read more... Quinn releases budget numbers Illinois Issues Blog - February 24, 2010 Gov. Pat Quinn�s office spelled out today the shortfall and cuts that could come with next year�s budget. Read more...
'Doomsday is here for the state of Illinois' Chicago Sun-Times - February 22, 2010 To become solvent, the state must enact the largest tax-increase package in Illinois history, whack another $2 billion from already starved government programs and wrest major financial concessions from the state's unionized work force, a nonpartisan government watchdog contends. Read more...
Many Authorized STEM Projects Fail to Get Funding Education Week - February 23, 2010 With considerable fanfare and bipartisan support, Congress in 2007 approved a bill to strengthen the nation�s economic competitiveness that features a strong emphasis on bolstering education in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. And yet, many of the new education-related programs spelled out under the federal law, called the America COMPETES ActRequires Adobe Acrobat Reader, have so far amounted to unfulfilled promises. Read more...
Illinois stuck in a �historic, epic� budget crisis The Chicago Tribune - February 23, 2010 Illinois government is staring down the barrel of an explosive financial mess, and perhaps nothing frames the danger better than two big numbers. Read more...
Per-Pupil Cash from Springfield Could Shrink Illinois Statehouse News - February 23, 2010 Illinois schools are struggling with late state aid payments for this school year. But lawmakers in Springfield are warning local districts that those payments may be more than just late next year. Read more... Nearly 1,000 schools recognized for academic excellence on 2009 Illinois Honor Roll Press Release, Illinois State Board of Education - February 23, 2010 The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and Northern Illinois University (NIU) announced today that 975 schools made the Illinois Honor Roll for their continued academic progress. The 2009 honor roll includes more than 90 schoolsthat are being recognized for the sixth or seventh consecutive year. All of these outstanding schools are being honored for their accomplishments in making progress toward or maintaining academic excellence. Read more...
Senator seeks open school enrollment statewide Daily Herald - February 23, 2010 State government will have to be more flexible on where residents send their kids to school if a Democrat from Chicago gets his way. State Sen. James Meeks has introduced legislation that would require schools to enroll students from any part of the state, regardless of whether they live inside the school district. Read more...
Preaching Choice in Obama's Hometown The Wall Street Journal - February 23, 2010 'The voucher movement seems to have been born, or seems to have been started as a Republican idea. That's the way Democrats look at it. That's the way black lawmakers look at it. This is a Republican idea. This is what the Republicans want to push on us. . . . We don't seem to see public schools not working in your area." Read more... Early education another victim of Illinois budget crisis Catalyst Chicago - February 18, 2010 In Early Childhood Education Preschool for All, still reeling from a 10 percent funding cut this fall, is now facing even more uncertainty. As the state teeters on the edge of insolvency � with at least $5 billion in unpaid bills this year and a projected deficit for next year large enough to wipe out several state departments � no one is sure how many children the program will be able to serve, or have to turn away, next year. Read more...
Rookie Chicago Public Schools teachers get full-time coaches The Chicago Tribune - February 24, 2010 Halfway through Mandy Nelson's first year of teaching struggling fifth-graders, she has a different reaction than many newbie teachers: She loves it. A high percentage of teachers in the Chicago school system � as many as 39 percent, by one study � leave after their first year, frustrated by difficult conditions, lack of resources and indifference from higher-ups. Nelson believes the difference for her was a mentor from the New Teacher Center to help her navigate the many rough patches and occasionally act as her advocate. Read more...
How Federal Education Policy Can Reverse the Widget Effect Policy Brief, The New Teacher Project - February, 2010 Transforming ESEA Title II to Improve Teacher Effectiveness and Student Outcomes. Read more...
Experts Lay Out Vision for Future Assessments Education Week - February 23, 2010 A group of high-powered policymakers and educators gathered here yesterday to build support for a new vision of educational assessment that is less a snapshot of students� one-time performance and more like good instruction itself. Read more...
Computerized state assessments to save time, money The Wichita Eagle - February 22, 2010 All students statewide will have to take her math, reading and writing tests on the computer this year. Read more... Math Wiz Adds Web Tools to Take Education to New Limits PBS - February 22, 2010 From a bedroom in the San Francisco Bay area, Salman Khan is using the Web to teach math and science to millions. Spencer Michels reports on how the non-profit Kahn Academy is providing educational materials through its free YouTube video library. Watch here... Colorado could be stuck in a race to the middle Denver Post - February 23, 2010 At first glance, Colorado's wimpy entry in the national "Race for Big Education Bucks" wouldn't seem to stand much chance in the first round of the competition. But don't bet that we'll get shut out when the feds get ready to dole out the grants. Other states aren't exactly racing toward the top, either. Read more...
SAT Prep Gone Wild Good Is - February 25, 2010 Only wealthy kids are lucky enough to get primed for their SATs with a formal prep course, right? Not anymore. The online social enterprise I Need A Pencil (INAP) is leveling the playing field for students from all economic backgrounds. Read more...
Where the Bar Ought to Be The New York Times - February 22, 2010 Deborah Kenny talks a lot about passion � the passion for teaching, for reading and for learning. She has it. She wants all of her teachers to have it. Above all, she wants her students to have it. Read more...
Districts Struggle Amid States Budget Woes Several stories from the week on how districts are coping with late payments from the state, as it struggles with an historic budget deficit. A special thanks to Catalyst-Chicago for their "In the News" digest.
School districts ax teachers, blame state for financial meltdown (The Chicago Tribune)
Schools being squeezed by late state payments (The State Journal-Register)
State Superintendent Koch announces Illinois' federal award from Phase 2 of State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (Illinois State Board of Education Weekly Message)
Elgin Area School District U-46 details cuts: Early childhood center, teacher layoffs on list (Daily Herald)
Oswego school district OKs $5.5M in budget cuts (Chicago Breaking News Center)
District 300 slashes budget $4.6 million, even more cuts are coming next month (Daily Herald)
Indian Prairie School District Official: Dist. 204 cuts may be 'unprecedented' (Daily Herald)
Chatham schools may cut pre-kindergarten, increase fees (The State Journal-Register)
Cuts wouldn't hit classroom teachers, Springfield Superintendent Milton says (The State Journal-Register)
Obama to Propose New Reading and Math Standards The New York Times - February 21, 2010 In a proposed change to the No Child Left Behind law, the Obama administration would require states to adopt new academic standards to qualify for federal money from a $14 billion program that concentrates on impoverished students, the White House said Sunday. Read more...
Obama wants students prepared for college, careers The Washington Post - February 21, 2010 President Barack Obama will urge states to better prepare high school students for college and careers when he meets Monday with the nation's governors. Read more...
Next-Generation Assessment Systems Education Week - February 22, 2010 An unprecedented confluence of factors�economic, political, and educational�is causing many states to rethink their student-assessment programs. But careful thought and expert guidance will be needed if they are to avoid the problems of the past and take advantage of promising new developments. Read more...
U.S. ed chief calls teacher prep programs outdated Atlanta Journal-Constitution - February 19, 2010 U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on Friday said teacher preparation programs offered by colleges are outdated, but pledged additional federal money to help leaders overhaul their programs. Read more...
Districts Struggle Amid State�s Budget Woes Several stories from the week on how districts are coping with late payments from the state, as it struggles with an historic budget deficit. A special thanks to Catalyst-Chicago for their "In the News" digest.
Springfield District 186 has high number of officials; Administrator-to-pupil ratio expected to come up during budget debate (The State Journal-Register)
Frustrated schools advertising how much they're owed (Chicago Sun-Times)
A new site, www.illinoisisbroke.com, put together by the Civic Federation, takes a look at the state�s broader budget challenges.
Early education another victim of Illinois budget crisis Catalyst Chicago - February 18, 2010 In Early Childhood Education Preschool for All, still reeling from a 10 percent funding cut this fall, is now facing even more uncertainty. As the state teeters on the edge of insolvency � with at least $5 billion in unpaid bills this year and a projected deficit for next year large enough to wipe out several state departments � no one is sure how many children the program will be able to serve, or have to turn away, next year. Read more... District 214 not anticipating layoffs, big cuts Daily Herald - February 19, 2010 Unlike many other school districts, District 214 officials are not preparing for massive layoffs and program cut backs in 2010-2011. Read more...
Forced placement of teachers is hot topic Education News Colorado - February 19, 2010 A plan to limit the �forced placement� of veteran teachers in Denver�s lowest-performing and highest-poverty schools drew applause Thursday, and some opposition. Read more...
Teacher Seniority Rules Challenged Wall Street Journal - February 19, 2010 Teacher seniority rules are meeting resistance from government officials and parents as a wave of layoffs is hitting public schools and driving newer teachers out of classrooms. Read more...
Education reform, one classroom at a time The Washington Post - February 19, 2010 Sitting on the desk of the secretary of education are dozens of ideas bold enough to finally start solving our country's education crisis. They are contained in applications by 40 states and the District of Columbia for grants from the Race to the Top fund, a $4.35 billion piece of the stimulus package designed to dramatically improve student achievement. Read more...
QPS to close alternative school, site for teen parent and adult education programs; district needs $3.8 million in cuts overall Quincy Herald-Whig - February 19, 2010 Quincy Public Schools announced that it plans to cut $1.8 million from its budget, a move that includes closing Irving Alternative School and discontinuing the Teen Parent Services/Adult Education Program school housed at 1416 Maine. Read more...
U-46 files to be Cook County school district Daily Herald - February 19, 2010 Elgin Area School District U-46 officials Thursday formally asked the state board of education to be reclassified as a Cook County district. Read more...
Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge The White House - February 19, 2010 The White House and the Department of Education have announced a new Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge and are inviting public schools across the country to compete to have President Obama speak at their graduation. Read more...
Lawmakers to launch bipartisan effort to rewrite No Child Left Behind The Washington Post - February 18, 2010 Senior House Republicans and Democrats plan to announce Thursday that they will team up to rewrite the No Child Left Behind education law, a rare show of bipartisanship in the polarized Congress. Read more...
Peoria District 150 introduces new superintendent Peoria Journal Star - February 16, 2010 At a brief event billed as a "meet and greet" between Peoria School District 150's finalist for school superintendent and members of the media, Grenita Lathan called on the community to get behind the city's schools. Read more...
Student Data Systems, Unite! Inside Higher Ed - February 16, 2010 Step by step, an infrastructure is emerging that would make it possible for dozens of states to share data about the students in their K-12 and postsecondary education systems, creating the equivalent of a national system of data on students' educational progress. Read more...
Districts Struggle Amid State's Budget Woes Several stories from the week on how districts are coping with late payments from the state, as it struggles with an historic budget deficit. A special thanks to Catalyst-Chicago for their "In the News" digest.
Springfield Superintendent proposes $5.3 million in cuts. (The State Journal-Register)
Educators in Danville huddle on state funding freeze. (Commercial News)
$2 million in cuts proposed for Urbana. (The News-Gazette)
News Analysis: School Vouchers WTTW - February 15, 2010 State Senator James Meeks wants to reform education in Illinois, in the form of more vouchers and less power for local school councils. Meeks will discuss his controversial education plan with Carol Marin. Watch here... ISU programs prepare teachers for urban schools The Chicago Tribune - February 17, 2010 A student-led organization at Illinois State University hopes to change the way education is taught for urban schools, thereby having a greater impact on issues such as high dropout rates. Read more...
Plan Would Allow for Early College The Chicago Tribune - February 17, 2010 Dozens of public high schools in eight states will introduce a program next year allowing 10th graders who pass a battery of tests to get a diploma two years early and immediately enroll in community college. Read more... State behind in school payments ABC News 7 - February 17, 2010 The state of Illinois is more than $650 million behind in payments to schools. Some schools are posting messages on their outdoor signs, hoping to persuade state lawmakers to make sure districts get money they've been owed for months. Read more...
Byrne and Zorn discuss school vouchers in the Rhubarb Patch The Chicago Tribune - February 15, 2006 Veteran Chicago commentator Dennis Byrne is a weekly contributor to the Tribune's commentary pages and the proprietor of The Barbershop, a ChicagoNow blog. In Tuesday's Tribune he joins me in The Rhubarb Patch to discuss school voucher programs. Read more... Recession affecting child poverty rate The Benton Evening News - February 12, 2010 The first comprehensive study of how the recession is affecting Illinois' children and families shows that child poverty is increasing and will get worse in years to come - even after the economy improves. The findings in Illinois Kids Count 2010, a report released Thursday by Voices for Illinois Children, underscore the need to maintain strong public policy investments to help kids and families through the recession and beyond. Read more...
College prep academy could be lifeline for Feitshans The State Journal-Register - February 15, 2010 When the Springfield School District�s Capital College Preparatory Academy opens next fall, it will operate alongside an older, floundering district experiment � Feitshans Academy. Read more...
Experts Say Schools Need to Screen for Cheating The New York Times - February 12, 2010 This week, Georgia officials said they had found evidence that cheating might have occurred on standardized tests at one in five public elementary and middle schools around the state. What was extraordinary, however, was not so much the extent of the problem, but the decision of the state to screen for cheating at all. Read more...
Districts Struggle Amid State's Budget Woes Several stories from the week on how districts are coping with late payments from the state, as it struggles with an historic budget deficit. A special thanks to Catalyst-Chicago for their "In the News" digest.
State's issues causing budget crunch at Dieterich (Effingham Daily News)
One way Elgin Area U-46 can raise funds: Move HQ (Daily Herald)
Waukegan Schools Budget workshops eye $9M shortfall (Lake County News-Sun)
Across the country: Schools face big budget holes as stimulus runs out (Chicago Sun-Times)
Innovation is key to policy reform, ISBE chairman says Daily Herald - February 14, 2010 The chairman of the Illinois State Board of Education plans to use his new position on a federal policy committee to advocate for practical changes to education legislation, including allowing states more resources and flexibility under No Child Left Behind. Read more...
Basic skill test for teachers still fails state's students Chicago Sun-Times - February 13, 2010 Starting in September, future educators will find it much tougher to pass the Illinois Test of Basic Skills for would-be teachers, but until then, they can squeak under a bar some call shockingly low. Read more...
Districts Struggle Amid State�s Budget Woes Several stories from the week on how districts are coping with late payments from the state, as it struggles with an historic budget deficit. A special thanks to Catalyst-Chicago for their "In the News" digest. Lake Zurich District 95 may hike fees to pay for projector bulbs (Daily Herald)
Grayslake District 46 debates what to cut (Daily Herald)
Barrington District 220 gets specific about budget cuts (Daily Herald)
Disadvantaged Students Continue AP Climb Education Week - February 10, 2010 Continuing a pattern from recent years, more students from low-income families are taking�and earning what is considered a passing score on�at least one Advanced Placement exam, a new analysis of results for the public high school graduating class of 2009 shows. Read more...
Pass rate falls for Illinois Advanced Placement test takers Chicago Breaking News Center - February 10, 2010 A record number of Illinois high school students took Advanced Placement tests last year, but the proportion of them who passed the rigorous end-of-course exams continued to decline, according to data released Wednesday. Read more...
Expansion of A.P. Tests Also Brings More Failures The New York Times - February 10, 2010 The College Board�s Advanced Placement program is expanding in American high schools, but as it moves from being a program primarily for elite students, the number of test-takers who fail A.P. exams is growing � although not as much as the number of those who pass. Read more...
Doubt about learning styles The Washington Post - February 11, 2010 Washington Post Education Columnist Jay Mathews offers a provocative read of a study which casts some doubt on Learning Styles. Read the column here...
Preckwinkle: Educational issues threaten economic development Chicago Current - February 10, 2010 Low high school graduation rates could threaten Chicago's economic future, said a panel of government and civic leaders yesterday. Read more...
Study Gives Charters an Edge Education Week's Inside School Research Blog - February 10, 2010 A new study, featuring charters in Chicago and Florida, tries to address criticisms of previous research by focusing closely on which students are in the sample. The findings show charter students are more likely to graduate and go on to college. Read more...
It�s All About Schools The New York Times - February 9, 2010 Not just in Illinois, or even the United States, but education is key to economic growth around the world. Columnist Thomas Friedman argues education also plays a role in geopolitics. Read the column here...
State rolls out new way to track student achievement Post-Tribune - February 11, 2010 The Indiana Department of Education announced Wednesday the state will roll out a new way to track student achievement, one that will emphasize growth in academic knowledge. Read more...
Bill would strip local school councils of principal selection, budget powers Catalyst Chicago - February 10, 2010 Grassroots education advocacy groups are reeling from the news that state Sen. James Meeks filed a bill Monday that would strip local school councils of their most important powers, including selecting principals and controlling their school�s discretionary funds. Read more...
Meeks Open to School Vouchers Illinois Statehouse News - February 8, 2010 A key legislative proponent of improving Illinois� public schools is reversing his usual course by pushing school vouchers. Read more...
Districts Struggle Amid State�s Budget Woes Several stories from the week on how districts are coping with late payments from the state, as it struggles with an historic budget deficit. A special thanks to Catalyst-Chicago for their "In the News" digest. Carterville early childhood program prepares for worst (WSIL)
Can fees save Mokena SD 159 extracurriculars (Southtown Star)
Carpentersville District 300 considers more cuts (Daily Herald)
Fundraisers in St. Charles offer help in lean times (My Suburban Life) Blue Island schools look at layoffs, program cuts over state aid delays (South Town Star)
Oswego schools plan for $5.5M deficit (Beacon-News)
Budget woes force school cuts in Effingham (Daily News)
The New York Times reports that with federal stimulus money gone, many schools face budget gaps. Read more...
"Race to the Top" Update - Across the U.S. The Race to the Top competition has spurred reforms in states across the country, including Illinois. But, the progress isn't consistent. Here's a recent roundup of how states are doing.
Massachusetts Unions balk at school aid program (Boston Globe)
Union opposition dogs Florida application for education Race to the Top funds (Jacksonville News)
South Carolina's Sanford seeks federal grant money for schools (Herald Online)
Virginia's effort for Race to the Top funds modest so far (Washington Post) As a reminder, Illinois passed legislation called �groundbreaking� and has filed a strong Phase 1 application, which one expert called a �standout.� Read more... Spared Cuts, Education Gets Special Attention NPR - February 6, 2010 U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan discussed education reform and federal efforts to spur state action with guest host Audie Cornish. Listen here...
Decatur School District, Union team up for Race to the Top Decatur Herald-Review - February 6, 2010 A new federal initiative to reform schools and increase student achievement might soon come to Decatur schools. Illinois has submitted a $400 million grant application to be one of the participating states, and Decatur schools have signed a document called a Memorandum of Understanding, which promises the district's support and cooperation. Eisenhower and MacArthur high schools have been designated "priority schools" in need of improvement. Read more... Making "No Child" Better The New York Times - February 4, 2010 Like most ambitious federal reforms, the No Child Left Behind Education Act of 2002 will need to be revised, perhaps several times, before it reaches maximum effectiveness. Without formally announcing them, the Obama administration has made clear that it wants changes in the law, which could be reauthorized this year. For starters, it would like more effective mechanisms for intervening in failing schools and ways to reward schools that make rapid improvements. Read more...
No Child Left Behind: Mend it, don't reauthorize it The Education Gadfly - February 4, 2010 This week saw the release of President Obama's annual budget request, which outlines a proposal for overhauling the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), a.k.a. No Child Left Behind. The ideas floated therein have promise, but no matter what Secretary Duncan and his boss would like to accomplish this year in education policy, the odds of completing a full-dress reauthorization of ESEA between now and the November election are vanishingly small. Read more...
Key Questions on the Obama Administration's 2011 Education Budget Request Ed Money Watch - February 1, 2010 In an effort to heighten the quality of debate on federal education policy, the New America Foundation's Federal Education Budget Project has reviewed the president's proposals and generated a list of key questions policymakers, the media, stakeholder groups, and the public should ask about the proposals. Read more...
Charter schools' growth promoting segregation, studies say Los Angeles Times - February 5, 2010 A UCLA study is one of two finding that the increasingly popular campuses skew toward racially separate student bodies. Charter advocates criticize the reports. Read more...
Playing the race card The Economist - February 4, 2010 A new study concludes that charter schools are a "civil rights failure" because they are "more racially isolated than traditional public schools in virtually every state and large metropolitan area in the country." Read more...
D300, U46 could get funds to help struggling schools The Courier-News - February 4, 2010 Hundreds of thousands of dollars could flow into Elgin School District U46 and Carpentersville-based Community Unit School District 300 to help their lowest-performing schools, according to the Illinois State Board of Education. Read more...
Money Well Spent The New Republic - February 4, 2010 Forget the spending freeze. Obama's Department of Education announced on Monday that it is asking Congress for more money in the 2011 budget. The department wants $49.7 billion in discretionary funds, roughly $3.5 billion more than it got in 2010. (That's on top of the $173 billion that would go to student loans, grants, tax credits, and work-study programs.) And, if Congress finally reauthorizes No Child Left Behind (NCLB)--it's already three years overdue--to include the president's reforms, the administration says it would allot another billion to the discretionary pot. Read more...
Illinois lands major grant for school turnarounds Catalyst Chicago - February 2, 2010 Illinois and five other states today secured nearly $75 million in funding for school turnarounds, a controversial approach to school improvement that calls for wholesale staffing changes at chronically failing schools. Read more...
District 150 could race to reform Peoria Journal Star - February 2, 2010 A longer school day, performance-based merit pay for teachers, even charter-like qualities could move to the front of Peoria classrooms in exchange for public and private dollars. Read more...
Illinois Joins Six-State Turnaround Effort Illinois was one of six states chosen for a new multi-state initiative to "clear hurdles that have hindered previous attempts to improve underperforming schools." Read more inEdWeek (article access compliments of edweek.org) or read the press release from MassInsight, which is leading the project.
Illinois State Superintendent honored for collaborative efforts to build student data system Copy Line - January 30, 2010 State Superintendent Chris Koch and three other Illinois education leaders named `State Policymakers of the Year�. Read more...
Obama to Seek Sweeping Change in �No Child� Law The New York Times - January 31, 2010 The Obama administration is proposing a sweeping overhaul of President Bush�s signature education law, No Child Left Behind, and will call for broad changes in how schools are judged to be succeeding or failing, as well as for the elimination of the law�s 2014 deadline for bringing every American child to academic proficiency. Read more...
President's Education Budget Signals Bold Changes for ESEA US Department of Education, Press Release - February 1, 2010 Budget Proposes More Competition, Flexibility and Accountability. Read more...
President's FY 2011 Budget Request for the U.S. Department of Education US Department of Education - February 1, 2010 On February 1, 2010, President Obama released his Fiscal Year 2011 Budget. The following materials are available showing what this budget provides for the programs and activities of the Department of Education. Read more...
Education Budget Signals Sea Change For NCLB National Journal Online- February 1, 2010 Specifics of the Obama administration's plan for reauthorizing No Child Left Behind, the landmark education bill enacted by the Bush administration in 2002, were laid out for the first time in the budget proposal unveiled today. Read more...
Local control back at Round Lake schools The Daily Herald - January 29, 2010 Local officials elected by taxpayers once again will have a say on all issues from the budget to hiring top administrators at Round Lake Area Unit District 116. Read more...
Community Schools: Reform's Lesser-Known Frontier Education Week - February 1, 2010 (article access compliments of EdWeek.org) When it comes to the battle of ideas that has dominated the school reform stage for the past decade, 2010 may be opening on a hopeful note. Read more... Congratulations 2009 Award Recipients Data Quality Campaign Each year the Data Quality Campaign Recognition Program highlights the critical role of leadership in changing the culture around data use for continuous improvement. Below are the award recipients for the State Policymaker of the Year award. Read more... National Review: Who Will Judge The Race? NPR - January 29, 2010 Late last week, word leaked out that the Obama administration has selected the 58 reviewers for state applications to its $4.35 billion Race to the Top (RTT) fund � and has no intention of revealing their names. Read more... Race to the Top: Unions Asked to Play Ball for Education Dollars Labor Notes - January 28, 2010 With all eyes on Obama�s fraught health care push, his plans to overhaul public education have sped along with relative ease. The first leg of the federal "Race to the Top" competition finished January 19 when 40 states sent applications for a piece of the $4.35 billion in stimulus funds. Read more...
Education system overhaul outlined The Chicago Tribune - January 28, 2010 While Illinois residents are focused on election season and budget woes, the state's top education officials have quietly pushed through a sweeping agenda that will transform how students are tested, teachers are rated and failing schools are fixed. The most provocative reforms will replace the elementary school ISAT with a tougher exam, mandate testing at every grade and rate teachers and principals based on students' test results. Read more...
Obama to Seek Up to $4 Billion Boost for Education Education Week - January 28, 2010 (article access compliments of EdWeek.org) Despite a pledge to hold down spending on most domestic programs, President Barack Obama tonight called for greater investment in public schools in his State of the Union address as part of a push to renew the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Read more...
Administration pushes to rework No Child Left Behind law The Washington Post - January 28, 2010 The Obama administration launched an effort Wednesday to rewrite the No Child Left Behind law, with a proposed increase in federal spending, a pledge to make the Bush-era school reform program more flexible and an appeal to Republicans for bipartisan cooperation. Read more...
Next Bunch of Obama Education Reforms to Offer More Carrots Newsweek - January 27, 2010 When the Obama administration first proposed having states duke it out for a share of a $4 billion education-reform fund, critics expected the whole enterprise to either be largely ignored or dissolve into political infighting. But instead, the Race to the Top competition has proved so successful in motivating states to accelerate their education-reform efforts that the administration has new plans to offer such competitions on an annual basis. Read more...
Sec. Duncan on Obama's Plan to Increase Education Spending ABC News - January 27, 2010 Education Secretary Arne Duncan offered details this afternoon on Obama�s plan to increase education spending by six percent in the 2011 budget. Read more...
More minority teachers will help bridge gap Daily Herald - January 28, 2010 If local school districts are to connect with minority students to help them achieve, the students need to see more faculty that look like them in the halls. Read more...
Chicago to measure kindergarten readiness Catalyst Chicago - January 27, 2010 Preparing students for kindergarten is the paramount goal of preschool programs.This Spring, the district will roll out the most ambitious initiative yet to gauge whether preschools are succeeding at that task. Read more...
Race to the Top Applications Scrutinized Education Week - January 26, 2010 (article access compliments of EdWeek.org) In an article examining how each state prioritizing key aspects of its Race to the Top application, EdWeek notes Illinois' strong teacher evaluation legislation, which passed just before the Phase 1 Race to the Top application was due. Read more...
Obama to promote more education spending in State of the Union speech The Washington Post - January 27, 2010 President Obama will propose a major increase in funding for elementary and secondary education for the coming year in Wednesday's State of the Union address, one of the few areas that would grow in an otherwise austere federal budget, officials said. Read more...
Class Struggle by Jay Matthews: Fix schools with ideas, not money The Washington Post - January 27, 2010 President Obama is apparently about to tell the nation he wants to freeze federal spending for three years in several areas, including education. I like the idea. I would also support cutting back entitlement payments for financially secure geezers like me, and find ways for everyone to make some sacrifices for our country. Read more...
Charter school plan causes stir in District 227 The Chicago Tribune - January 27, 2010 Supporters say higher standards at south suburbs' first charter school would lift students; critics say current high schools would suffer. Read more...
District 220 prepares for second year of budget cuts The Daily Herald - January 27, 2010 The lingering unstable economy, especially as it relates to the state of Illinois' cashflow problems, is causing Barrington Unit District 220 officials to look for $1.25 million in budget cuts for the year ahead. Read more...
Rockford school leaders brace for big budget cuts Rockford Register Star - January 27, 2010 School District leaders are grappling with how they�ll manage the next budget cycle with expected cuts of at least 20 percent. Read more...
Staff cuts proposed at Plainfield schools Pantagraph - January 26, 2010 Board members at Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202 are scheduled to vote on a budget plan that could cut 222 jobs to help eliminate a projected $16 million deficit. Read more...
Tardy state payments may cut classes at West Chicago's schools The Chicago Tribune - January 27, 2010 School districts in West Chicago are facing tough decisions as they consider budget reductions in light of rising costs and flat revenues. Read more...
Illinois teen employment at new low Chicago Tribune - January 26, 2010 Decline puts jobless youths at risk of falling further behind economically for years to come, says new report. Read more...
Female teachers may pass on math anxiety to girls, study finds The Los Angeles Times - January 26, 2010 After a year in the classroom with female teachers who say they are anxious about math, girls are more likely to share that attitude -- and score lower on tests, researchers say. Read more...
'We've ridden those waves before' The Fox Valley Villages Sun - January 26, 2010 Effort goes on: Despite uncertainty with needed state funding, special school is still serving tots with special needs. Read more... 5-year charter school contract approved Peoria Journal Star - January 25, 2010 Peoria School District 150 approved a five-year contract with Peoria Charter School Initiative Inc., establishing the new math, science and technology academy at Loucks School. Read more...
Is the Hype on Waiting for Superman Getting Heavy? Good - January 25, 2010 "Waiting for Superman," is the new documentary by Davis Guggenheim, director of An Inconvenient Truth. The film which involves interviews with Harlem Children's Zone founder Geoffrey Canada, D.C. public school chancellor Michelle Rhee, and education advocate and philanthropist Bill Gates is supposedly going to do for public education what Guggenheim's collaboration with Al Gore did for climate change. Read more...
State funding for education not likely to change; 'It's about all we could ask for,' Quincy official says Quincy Herald-Whig - January 22, 2010 First the good news: The Illinois State Board of Education has recommended no change in the level of funding for the next budget year. Then the bad news: ISBE also recognizes that a cut to education is a very real possibility. Read more...
Local superintendents react to 'Race' proposal with skepticism, questions Daily Herald - January 22, 2010 This week's announcement that President Obama is requesting another $1.35 billion to expand the Race to the Top federal education competition might, on the surface, seem like major news for cash-strapped suburban school districts. Read more...
More (Steve) Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, Jobs The New York Times - January 23, 2010 The most striking feature of Barack Obama�s campaign for the presidency was the amazing, young, Internet-enabled, grass-roots movement he mobilized to get elected. The most striking feature of Obama�s presidency a year later is how thoroughly that movement has disappeared. Read more...
After 10 Years, Federal Money for Technology in Education The New York Times - January 24, 2010 More than a decade ago, Lawrence K. Grossman, former president of both NBC News and PBS, and Newton N. Minow, the former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, were asked by several foundations to explore how nonprofits like schools, libraries and museums could tap into emerging digital technologies. Read more...
Concerns About Race To The Top National Journal - January 25, 2010 While Advance Illinois strongly supports Illinois� efforts to win the �Race to the Top,� we are eager to hear all views on education reform. To that end, first, a discussion of Race to the Top at the National Journal�s Experts Blog (including a contribution from Education Secy. Arne Duncan). Read more...
Race to the Top fund puts cart before the horse The Daily Caller - January 25, 2010 Last Tuesday was the due date for first-round applications for President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan�s Race to the Top Fund. It was also the day Obama announced he�d ask for another $1.35 billion in the FY2011 budget to continue the program a third year. Coincidence? No. A good idea? Doubtful. Read more...
A better way to grade teachers Denver Post - January 25, 2010 Legislators must overhaul tenure laws to give districts a more advanced system to evaluate teachers and weed out bad ones. Read more...
Why the Love/Hate Relationship with TFA? Public School Insights - January 25, 2010 These days, you either love Teach for America and its teachers, or you hate them. The love, it seems to me, stems from an obvious source. Young, often privileged, kids are choosing the hard, hard work of teaching in some of our most struggling schools. (There are easier resume stuffers out there.) The hatred is more complex, but I think it's instructive, even if it is unfair. Read more...
Study Links Rise in Test Scores to Nations' Output Education Week - January 25, 2010 (article access compliments of EdWeek.org) Relatively small improvements in the skills of a nation�s workforce can have a big effect on its future economic well-being, concludes a new international study that seeks to quantify those benefits. Read more... A closer look at Illinois' Race to the Top plan Catalyst Chicago - January 21, 2010 In Government and Policy Illinois and more than 20 other states have posted their entire Race to the Top (RT3) applications online�thousands of pages of school reform blueprints that are competing for a slice of $4.3 billion in federal stimulus grants. Read more...
Staying the Course on the Race to the Top Huffington Post - January 21, 2010 President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan's Race to the Top grant program is the most promising education initiative in decades, giving the nation an opportunity to take a hard look at raising standards and closing achievement gaps in public education. Read more...
"Race to the Top" Update - Across the U.S. The Race to the Top competition has spurred reforms in states across the country, including Illinois. But, the progress isn't consistent. Here's a recent roundup of how states are doing.
Tennessee Race to the Top Proposal Has Support of All Gubernatorial Candidates (Nashville Public Radio)
Many Minnesota school groups gather at starting line for Race to the Top, but loophole lets unhappy ones drop out (MinnPost)
Colorado hopes to Race to the Top for grants (Colorado Statesman)
Race to the Middle? The Wall Street Journal - January 21, 2010 The big education story these days is the state competition for some $4.35 billion in Race to the Top grants to be passed out by Education Secretary Arne Duncan. President Obama said this week he'll seek an additional $1.35 billion for the program for next year, but more important than the amount is whether Mr. Duncan really wants to race to the top, or just the mediocre middle. Read more...
RTTT: 24 States Post Applications Online This Week in Education - January 21, 2010 Here's an entirely unverified and completely ad hoc collection of the nearly 20 state RTTT applications that have been located online thanks to blog readers, Twitter friends, and education writers on the EWA listserv. Read more...
Quality of Questions on Common Tests at Issue Education Week - Jan. 21, 2010 (article access compliments of edweek.org) Most experts in the testing community have presumed that the $350 million promised by the U.S. Department of Education to support common assessments would promote those that made greater use of open-ended items capable of measuring higher-order critical-thinking skills.But as measurement experts consider the multitude of possibilities for an assessment system based more heavily on such questions, they also are beginning to reflect on practical obstacles to doing so. Read more...
Foreign Languages Fade in Class � Except Chinese The New York Times - January 20, 2010 Thousands of public schools stopped teaching foreign languages in the last decade, according to a government-financed survey � dismal news for a nation that needs more linguists to conduct its global business and diplomacy. Read more...
D-26 to cut staff Northwest Herald - January 20, 2010 In a move that could dramatically alter classroom instruction in the coming years, the District 26 Board voted to cut $5.4 million from its next budget. Read more...
District 94 identifies possible budget cuts Daily Herald - January 20, 2010 The winter play, intramural sports and SADD chapter are on the list of student activities that could be eliminated in West Chicago Community High School District 94. Read more...
Massive school-spending cuts may loom Peoria Journal Star - January 20, 2010 A draft budget for education spending in Illinois for 2010-11 recommends maintaining current levels in general state aid for school districts and near-similar spending in special education and transportation. Read more...
Southwestern to hold public forum on budget The Telegraph - January 20, 2010 A looming financial crisis has the Southwestern School Board looking for answers. Read more... District 205 Budget Concerns WIFR.com - January 19, 2010 Entire schools could close in the stateline if Illinois continues to cut its education funds. Rockford school board members spoke about what's being done to ensure that doesn't happen. Read more...
Duncan Carves Deep Mark on Policy in First Year Education Week - Jan. 20, 2010 (article access compliments of edweek.org) A year ago, Arne Duncan was known as a long-serving urban district chief who had used his collegial management style to push innovation and close failing schools in Chicago. This week, he enters his second year as U.S. secretary of education pursuing a similar national policy agenda that could place him among the most influential leaders in his department�s 30-year history. Read more...
Time in School Catalyst In Depth - January, 2010 Research supports the benefits of more classroom time for low-income children, especially when the time is used wisely. But Chicago has one of the shortest school days and years in the country. Now, leaders are looking to Washington to help extend the school day. Read more...
40 States, D.C., Submit Applications in Phase 1 Race to the Top Competition Press Release, U.S. Department of Education - January 19, 2010 Today the Department of Education announced that 40 states and the District of Columbia submitted applications to be considered for Phase 1 of the Race to the Top competition. Race to the Top is the department's $4.35 billion fund to dramatically re-shape America's educational system to better engage and prepare our students for success in a competitive 21st century economy and workplace. Read more...
Springfield School District to use bonds to buy security camera systems The State Journal-Register - January 19, 2010 The Springfield School District will use state health and life-safety bonds to purchase security camera systems for Springfield and Lanphier high schools. Read more...
If Your Kids Are Awake, They�re Probably Online The New York Times - January 20, 2010 The average young American now spends practically every waking minute � except for the time in school � using a smart phone, computer, television or other electronic device, according to a new study from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Read more...
Student learning plans, improving school culture will be part of this year's school turnarounds Catalyst Chicago - January 19, 2010 As he announced the list of 14 schools to be closed and turned around next year, CEO Ron Huberman took pains Tuesday to stress that he was incorporating lessons learned from the mistakes of past administrations and reform efforts.
