NEWS ROUNDUP

At Some Schools, 4 is the New A+ (Except When it Isn't)
Chicago Tribune - June 5, 2009
When her children brought home their final report cards on Thursday, Mary Schooley studied the complicated language of their achievement as if she were tackling an algebraic equation.

Next Test: Value of $125,000-a-Year Teachers
New York Times - June 4, 2009

So what kind of teachers could a school get if it paid them $125,000 a year? An accomplished violist who infuses her music lessons with the neuroscience of why one needs to practice, and creatively worded instructions like, “Pass the melody gently, as if it were a bowl of Jell-O!”

The Widget Effect
Media coverage of a new study by The New Teacher Project (avail on our research page) from EdWeek (access compliments of edweek.org), and from two cities with districts in the study: The Denver Post and The Cincinnati Enquirer.

Consultants to District 186 Board: Make Workspaces More Flexible
State Journal-Register - June 2, 2009
Consultants told the Springfield School Board Monday that the city’s public school students and teachers need more flexible workspaces, greater access to technology and greener buildings that take more advantage of natural light.

Illinois Lawmakers Pave Way for Charter Expansion
Catalyst-Chicago - June 1, 2009
Charter advocates scored a significant victory at the 11th hour of the legislative session: A bill that doubles the statewide charter cap from 60 to 120 passed both houses and awaits the Governor's signature.

A Good Model on Teacher Pay
Washington Post - June 1, 2009
Education Writer Jay Mathews offers his views on merit pay: "It is hard for me to find a school leader with a track record for raising student achievement who does not admire almost everything Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee is doing with the D.C. schools. Yeah, I said almost. One important item on her agenda is not so popular -- merit pay for teachers."

46 States and D.C. Plan to Draft Common Education Standards
Washington Post - June 1, 2009
Forty-six states and the District of Columbia today will announce an effort to craft a single vision for what children should learn each year from kindergarten through high school graduation, an unprecedented step toward a uniform definition of success in American schools.

Spitting in the Eye of Mainstream Education
Los Angeles Times - May 31, 2009
Not many schools in California recruit teachers with language like this: "We are looking for hard working people who believe in free market capitalism. . . . Multicultural specialists, ultra liberal zealots and college-tainted oppression liberators need not apply."

10 Steps to World-Class Schools
Washington Post - May 30, 2009
The key to U.S. global stature after World War II was the world's best-educated workforce. But now the United States ranks No. 12, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and today's younger generation is the first to be less educated than the preceding one.

At Last, Parents Will Get Access to Student-Tracking Data
New York Times - May 28, 2009
After several months of delays, a Web site that offers an interactive portfolio of public school students’ test scores, grades and attendance
rates will be available for all parents by the end of June, the Department of Education said on Thursday.

Duncan: States Could Lose Out on Stimulus Cash
Associated Press - May 28, 2009
States will hurt their chance to compete for millions of federal stimulus dollars if they fail to embrace innovations like charter schools, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Thursday.

New Push Seeks to End Need for Pre-College Remedial Classes
New York Times - May 27, 2009
After Bethany Martin graduated from high school here last June, she was surprised when the local community college told her that she had to retake classes like basic composition, for no college credit. Each remedial course costs her $350, more than a week’s pay from her job at a Chick-fil-A restaurant.

Study Links Teacher Movement to Influx of Black Students
Education Week - May 27, 2009 (article access compliments of edweek.org)
The best teachers tend to leave when their schools experience an influx of African-American students, according to a study of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., school district published today.

Chicago Group Promotes Links Between Districts, Researchers
Education Week - May 25, 2009 (article access compliments of edweek.org)
Sensing growing interest among researchers and school districts in partnering to solve the vexing real-world problems of schools in their communities, the Consortium on Chicago School Research sent invitations to a dozen or so districts to attend a two-day meeting on how to go about doing it.

At-Risk Need a Mix of Good Teachers, Social Service Help
Washington Post - May 25, 2009
Karen Kaldenbach, an 18-year-old high school senior in Arlington County, remembers vividly what life was like when she was 11: "I saw Social Services almost as much as I saw my mother, who was always drunk. Her best friends, alcohol and money, were always there for her. She spent so much time with them, she couldn't raise my little sister and me. Social Services always came to talk to me at school. They asked questions about my family. My response? A lie, always."

School Counselors face big workload in Illinois
Chicago Tribune - May 27, 2009
As the school year draws to a close, many students across the Chicago region will be able to count on a few fingers the number of times they have met one on one with a guidance counselor. Illinois has one of the worst records in the country when it comes to counselor caseloads, federal data show, shortchanging students who need help with class scheduling, college planning, crisis counseling and more .
Related: Data Error Irks School Officials. Also from the Chicago Tribune, a data error left Chicago out of the state's report on school counselors. The erroneous number suggests Illinois has the worst ration of counselors to students in the country; the corrected figure shows Illinois has the 5th-worst ration.

Number of local blacks students headed to college rises
Chicago Sun-Times - May 27, 2009
In the Class of 2008, nearly 54 percent of African American high school graduates in the Chicago Public Schools headed to college. That percentage is nearly the same rate as those for black grads nationwide, a significant improvement from five years ago, when the rate for Chicago's African-American graduates was nearly 18 percentage points lower than their counterparts nationwise.

Principals Younger and Freer But Raise Doubts in the Schools
New York Times - May 25, 2009
They are younger than their predecessors, have less experience in the classroom and are, most often, responsible for far fewer students. But their salaries are higher and they have greater freedom over hiring and budgets, handling a host of responsibilities formerly shouldered by their supervisors.

The New Math: Teachers Share Recession's Pain
New York Times - May 25, 2009
Bankers, lawyers and journalists have taken pay cuts and gone without raises to stay employed in a tough economy. Now similar givebacks are spreading to education, an industry once deemed to be recession-proof.

Duncan Pressed to Set High Bar on "Race to the Top"
Education Week - May 20, 2009 (article access compliments of edweek.com)
The U.S. Department of Education should set a high standard for deciding which states get $4.35 billion in discretionary Race to the Top funding under the economic-stimulus package, a key lawmaker told Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today.

Illinois Ranks Near Bottom on Equal Education for Minorities
Catalyst-Chicago - May 20, 2009
Minority students in Illinois are falling through the cracks because they are more likely to be enrolled in the worst-performing schools, according to a new national study that reinforces what education activists have been saying for years about the state’s inequitable school funding system.

School Options Lacking on Chicago's West and South Sides
Chi-Town Daily News - May 20, 2009
An independent study of Chicago's schools shows that tens of thousands of children in the city do not have access to adequately performing schools. Researchers at IFF, formerly known as the Illinois Facilities Fund, found "both measurable improvement and areas of continued substantial need" in Chicago Public Schools. They based their conclusions on a comparison of the district in 2008 versus 2004, when the nonprofit issued its first "Here and Now" report.

End is Near in a Fight on Teaching of English
New York Times - May 20, 2009
When Miriam Flores was a student at Coronado Elementary School, her mother, also named Miriam, was surprised to learn that she was getting in trouble.

Innovation Push Raising Questions
Education Week - May 18, 2009 (article access compliments of edweek.com)
School leaders are under increasing pressure to “innovate.” The word is ricocheting around Washington, emanating from the White House, the U.S. Department of Education, and numerous reports and conferences convened by those who hope to influence the direction such ventures take.

Governor's Plan for Revamping Education in Ohio Challenged
Education Week - May 18, 2009 (article access compliments of edweek.com)
Gov. Ted Strickland’s ambitious plan to overhaul Ohio’s education system—from revamping school finance to crafting new academic standards and extending the school year—appears to be facing a difficult political road.

Educators to Get Cash for Top Graduation Increases
Chicago Tribune - May 19, 2009
High schools that achieve the biggest graduation rate increases between now and next spring could receive up to $20,000 -- money that would be split among each school's principal and select staff members.

FACT CHECK: Are US Students Really That Bad?
Associated Press - May 18, 2009
America's moms and dads are getting a good scolding: Your kids are lagging behind students all around the world. The White House says so, with concern bordering on alarm. So do institutions such as the Gates Foundation, citing performance tests, graduation rates and other benchmarks.

Montgomery Co. Touts 'Seven Keys to College Readiness' as an Academic Pathway
The Washington Post - May 18, 2009
In a region where college preparation often begins at birth, some glossy new public school brochures offer a tantalizing formula for parents who crave assurance that their children are on track: a seven-step pathway to higher education that starts as early as kindergarten.

Washington State Moves Toward Overhaul of K-12
Education Week - May 15, 2009 (article access compliments of edweek.org)
Lawmakers in Washington state recently passed a bill designed to overhaul the public education system by 2018 and redefine “basic education” for the first time in the state since 1979.

Dropout Factories
New York Times - May 17, 2009
About one in five American students drops out of high school today, and there are some schools where students have only a 50-50 chance of getting a diploma. Hearings held last week before the House education committee suggest that Congress may be ready to tackle this problem. To solve it, federal, state and local governments will all need to focus intensely on the relatively small number of troubled schools that produce a majority of the nation’s dropouts.

Something Gingrich, Sharpton Can Agree On: Closing the Achievement Gap
Washington Post - May 17, 2009
Politics often produces strange bedfellows. But yesterday, on the 55th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision that integrated the nation's schools, when former Republican House speaker Newt Gingrich shared the stage at a boisterous rally in front of the White House with the Rev. Al Sharpton, even Gingrich called the two the "Original Odd Couple."

Diploma's Only Half the Battle for Students
Rockford Register-Star - May 16, 2009
It’s a situation more and more young adults are facing: Recently laid-off adults are taking the typical high school jobs away because the job market has left them no other choice and no better option.

8th Graders' Exam Is Delayed
New York Times - May 14, 2009
The College Board said Thursday that it was putting off the unveiling of a new standardized test intended to help eighth graders prepare for rigorous high school courses and college. It cited school districts’ tight finances as the cause of the delay.

Rethinking Restructuring
Education Week - May 13, 2009 (Article access compliments of edweek.org)
According to an analysis by the Center on Education Policy, based on test results from 42 school in 5 states that have undergone restructuring, "none of the five federal restructuring options (under NCLB) was statistically more effective than another in helping schools make adequate yearly progress."

The Harlem Miracle Debated
Bridging Differences Blog - (Access compliments of edweek.org)
Experts Deborah Meier and Diane Ravitch use an op-ed by David Brooks in the New York Times to debate the merits of the Harlem Promise Academy.

Building a High-Quality Education Workforce
The National Governor's Association released a report aimed at getting the most effective teachers into the classroom. In the words of NGA Chair Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell "To improve student achievement and outcomes, states must invest strategically in our education workforce."
Here is the press release page from the nga.org.
Here is the Education Week article. (Article access compliments of edweek.org)
Here is a pdf of the report.

New Trier Discussion to Focus on Future of Education
Chicago Tribune - May 13, 2009
More than eight months after 1,000 Chicago students skipped classes and tried to enroll instead in North Shore schools, a group of parents, clergy and area residents this week will probe the disparities in Illinois public education that sparked the boycott.
On Thursday, the initiative called United We Learn -- launched last August in the run-up to the influx of city students applying to New Trier Township schools -- will hold a forum to consider what is needed to level the playing field among schools statewide.

Testing Faces Ups and Downs Amid Recession
Education Week - May 12, 2009 (Article access compliments of edweek.org)
As the recession crimps education budgets, states are beginning to pare the number of standardized tests they give, particularly those that no longer factor into state or federal accountability decisions.

Obama Wants to Turn Around 5,000 Failing Schools
Associated Press - May 11, 2009
President Barack Obama intends to use $5 billion to prod local officials to close failing schools and reopen them with new teachers and principals.

Local Officials React to Student Data Tracking
Westmont Progress - May 11, 2009 Parents imagine this: Your daughter wants to get an early start on her career at Westmont High School with dreams of becoming an engineer. To help her prepare, you’re able to look at data of all Illinois students who went into engineering and see what classes they took to help realize that goal.

A $100 Billion Problem: How Best to Fix America's Schools?
Washington Post - May 11, 2009
Education columnist Jay Mathews gives a grade (from C-minus to A-plus) for the recommendations made by the recent Broad Foundation report, "Investing the Recovery Funds for Student Success."

The Harlem Miracle
New York Times - May 7, 2009
Columnist David Brooks argues that success stories like the Harlem Children's Zone "vindicate an emerging model for low-income students. Over the past decade, dozens of charter and independent schools, like Promise Academy, have become no excuses schools. The basic theory is that middle-class kids enter adolescence with certain working models in their heads: what I can achieve; how to control impulses; how to work hard. Many kids from poorer, disorganized homes don’t have these internalized models. The schools create a disciplined, orderly and demanding counterculture to inculcate middle-class values."

The Federal Education Budget

Here are a few ways to find out more about the education-related portions of the federal budget, released Thursday by the White House.
- The Washington Post focuses on how the budget invests in teacher merit pay programs.
- Politics K-12 notes some school districts may find that money they counted on has been cut.
- Catalyst focuses on the impact on Chicago and Illinois.
- For the full account, here Ed Dept's Budget Summary.
- Finally, did you know the Dept. of Education had a liaison to the U.N., based in Paris? The Los Angeles Times notes: Not any more.

Stimulus Fund Ups the Ante for Public Schools
USA Today - May 5, 2009
Handing $100 billion to needy public schools in an economic crisis is an unalloyed good thing, right? Depends.

Gingrich, Bloomberg and Sharpton Pay Obama a Visit
Washington Post - May 7, 2009
It's an eclectic trio, symbolic of the wide-ranging personalities, interests and ideas involved in reforming the country's public education system. This afternoon New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, and the Rev. Al Sharpton will meet with President Obama to discuss his public education proposals and, to be sure, share some thoughts of their own.

The Golden Boy and the Blob
The Economist - May 7, 2009
The U.S. columnist for the Economist takes a look at the Secretary of Education after 100 days.

District 186 Names Educator of the Year
State Journal-Register - May 5, 2009
The third time was the charm for Sandy Bauer, a fourth-grade teacher at Iles Elementary School who was named 2009 Springfield School District educator of the year Tuesday.

Easy Grades Equate to Failing Grads
Atlanta Journal Constitution - May 3, 2009
Some metro Atlanta public high schools that don't grade rigorously produce more graduates lacking the basic English and math skills needed for college, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has found.

What Should Arne Duncan Do?
Chicago Tribune - May 3, 2009
In an Op-Ed, Jeb Bush and James B. Hunt, Jr., two former governors -- one from each party -- offer their suggestions for what states should propose for "Race to the Top" funding. Topping list: a comprehensive data system that tracks student progress from one year to the next.

Obama on the the Power of Post-Secondary Education
New York Times Magazine - May 3, 2009
As part of a longer story about his views on the economy after the recession, President Obama discusses why he thinks post-high-school training is essential, and the need to make sure high school is giving students what they need to succeed.

Interestingly, a separate article in the New York Times today looks into some four-year colleges think community colleges are starting to invade their turf.

Firing Tenured Teachers Can Be a Costly and Torturous Task
Los Angeles Times - May 2, 2009
An LA Times investigation finds the process so arduous that many principals don't even try, except in the very worst cases. Jettisoning a teacher solely because he or she can't teach is rare.

School Mentor Program Opens Doors for Immigrant Parents
Chicago Tribune - May 1, 2009
A parent-mentoring program has helped bring dramatic benefits to a school in Chicago's Logan Square Neighborhood. Since 2004, when a neighborhood associated organized programs to increase parent engagement, the percentage of students testing at or above level on standardized tests has doubled, from about 30 percent to about 60 percent.

Obama's Long Education To-Do List Awaits Action
NPR - May 1, 2009
In his first 100 days as president, Barack Obama has proposed a more expansive federal role in education from cradle to college. A short list of his numerous education proposals includes: uniform standards for preschool programs; rigorous tests and academic standards for public schools; merit pay for classroom teachers; a longer school day and school year; and a national strategy to address the high school dropout crisis.

House Panel Considers Federal Role in Standards
Education Week - April 29, 2009 (Article access compliments of edweek.org)
Key state officials, congressional leaders, and the president of the one of the national teachers� unions all agreed at a hearing today that the United States needs to move toward common academic standards to stay competitive in an increasingly globalized economy and that states must be the vehicle for the change.

Persistent Racial Gap Seen in Students' Test Scores
New York Times - April 28, 2009
The achievement gap between white and minority students has not narrowed in recent years, despite the focus of the No Child Left Behind law on improving black and Hispanic scores, according to results of a federal test considered to be the nation�s best measure of long-term trends in math and reading proficiency.

Older Students Less Successful on Math NAEP
Education Week - April 28, 2009 (Article access compliments of edweek.org)
The proportion of 13-year-olds taking algebra has grown steadily for at least two decades, but the increase in the number of students taking harder mathematics classes is not translating into higher average math scores by 17-year-olds on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, according to long-term trend data released today.

Many Teachers in Advanced Placement Voice Concerns About Its Rapid Growth
New York Times - April 29, 2009
A survey of more than 1,000 teachers of Advanced Placement courses in American high schools has found that more than half are concerned that the program's effectiveness is being threatened as districts loosen restrictions on who can take such rigorous courses and as students flock to them to polish their sums.

Forcing Illinois Schools to Measure Up
Chicago Tribune - April 28, 2009
Advance Illinois Co-Chairs Jim Edgar, former governor of Illinois, and Bill Daley, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce, take up the challenge by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and argue "it is time for comprehensive, bipartisan effort to tackle what ails public schools."

Happy Teachers
Dallas Morning News - April 16, 2009
A new study suggests teachers today are more satisfied, optimistic and encouraged than at any time during the last 25 years.

Hugging the Middle
Education Week - April 24, 2009 (Article access compliments of edweek.org)
A column by Larry Cuban calls into question whether a building national consensus -- that the the classroom teacher is crucial to learning -- will lead to real change.

End the University as We Know It
New York Times - April 27, 2009
Graduate education is the Detroit of higher learning. Most graduate programs in American universities produce a product for which there is no market (candidates for teaching positions that do not exist) and develop skills for which there is diminishing demand (research in subfields within subfields and publication in journals read by no one other than a few like-minded colleagues), all at a rapidly rising cost (sometimes well over $100,000 in student loans).

Poor Neighborhoods, Untested Teachers
Washington Post - April 27, 2009
Students in the region's poorest neighborhoods are nearly twice as likely to have a new or second-year teacher as those in the wealthiest, a Washington Post analysis has found. The pattern means some of the neediest students attend schools that double as teacher training grounds.

Parents, Schools Must Work Together
Chicago Tribune - April 26, 2009
Patricia Watkins, Executive Director of the Target Area Development Corp., and an Advance Illinois board member, offers her response to the challenge put to Illinois and Chicago by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

Charter Schools' Secret Weapon
Washington Post - April 24, 2009
In his education blog, Class Struggle, Jay Mathews reports on a new study by Steven F. Wilson at the American Enterprise Institute about what makes charter schools successful (study available on this page at AEI's website). His answer is both surprising and worrying (the teachers come disproportionately from the most selective colleges), though Mathews offers his own take on how to address the worrying part.

Charter-School Cap, Safety Measures Top Lawmaker's Talk
Rockford Register Star - April 24, 2009
When State Rep. Chuck Jefferson, D-Rockford, held advisory Education and Public Safety committee meetings, he heard a list of concerns from constituents, including one school board member who wanted to lift the state's charter-school cap.

Could You Lend Us A Hand?
Inside Higher Education - April 24, 2009
The executive director of Colorado GEAR UP, Scott Mendelsburg, talks about how his program prepares poor students for college and asks why more colleges aren't taking part.

Taking on Tenure
L.A. Daily News - April 24, 2009
Embarking on a monumental task that some say is doomed to fail, Los Angeles Unified school officials are taking aim at state laws that make it virtually impossible to fire teachers.Facing unprecedented layoffs, including 3,500 teachers with less than two year's experience, district officials and their allies say they need the power to cull bad teachers from the ranks or students will suffer in the classroom.

Quality of Evaluation Draws Attention as Stimulus Money Flows
Education Week - April 24, 2009 (Article access compliments of edweek.org)
The nation's oft-criticized systems for evaluating the quality of its educator workforce are poised to receive increased scrutiny, thanks to an Obama administration plan to require school districts to disclose how many teachers perform well or poorly.

Swimming Without a Suit (Op-Ed Columnist)
NY Times - April 21, 2009
Speaking of financial crises and how they can expose weak companies and weak countries, Warren Buffett once famously quipped that only when the tide goes out do you find out who is not wearing a bathing suit.� So true. But what�s really unnerving is that America appears to be one of those countries that has been swimming buck naked � in more ways than one.

Upside of the Downturn: Dropouts Drop Back In
MSNBC - April 22, 2009
Three years after dropping out, Yamilette Colon is an alternative school honor student on track for a May diploma, spurred in part by a sense of self-pride, but also, she says, by the economic calamity that has shuttered plants, claimed jobs and dimmed the future for many young people in this hard-hit county dubbed the "RV Capital of the World."

Number of Chicago Year-Round Schools Set to Triple in the Fall
Chicago Tribune - April 22, 2009
The number of "year-round" city elementary schools will triple this fall as a result of a plan the Chicago Board of Education is expected to approve Wednesday.

High School Exit Exam Hinders Female, Non-White Students, Study Says
LA Times - April 22, 2009
California's high school exit exam is keeping disproportionate numbers of girls and non-whites from graduating, even when they are just as capable as white boys, according to a study released Tuesday. It also found that the exam, which became a graduation requirement in 2007, has "had no positive effect on student achievement."

Rockford Classrooms Incorporates Origami into Everday Lessons
Rockford Register-Star - April 22, 2009
The Golden Apple Foundation awarded a total of $7,575 to 11 teachers in the Rock River Valley earlier this year. The projects focus on creative ways to encourage achievement. Nancy Spahr, a second-grade teacher at Lathrop Elementary School, received $700 from the foundation to initiate an origami section in her lesson plans. Some of the money was used to purchase colorful origami paper, books, practice paper and other materials.

Large Urban-Suburban Gap Seen in Graduation Rates
New York Times - April 22, 2009
It is no surprise that more students drop out of high school in big cities than elsewhere. Now, however, a nationwide study shows the magnitude of the gap: the average high school graduation rate in the nation�s 50 largest cities was 53 percent, compared with 71 percent in the suburbs.

Charters Weigh Freedom Against the Protection of a Union
New York Times - April 20, 2009
As the number of charter schools in New York City and elsewhere swells, unions have become increasingly aggressive in trying to organize their teachers. These two major forces in education politics, having long faced off in ideological opposition, have begun in some places to enter tentative and cautious partnerships, and in others to engage in fierce combat. New York City�s teachers� union now runs two charter schools in Brooklyn and workers have organized at many more, including more than a dozen across New York State.

Task to Aid Self-Esteem Lifts Grades for Some
New York Times - April 16, 2009
Some seventh graders who were struggling in class did significantly better after performing a series of brief confidence-building writing exercises, and the improvements continued through eighth grade, researchers reported Thursday.

Illinois Receives Stimulus Money for Schools
Dept of Ed - April 20, 2009
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced that nearly $1.4 billion is now available for Illinois under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. This funding will lay the foundation for a generation of education reform and help save thousands of teaching jobs at risk of state and local budget cuts.The link above takes you to the Dept of Education's releases. Here is the ISBE press release. For more, check out the Tribune article or the Sun-Times article.

U.S. Supreme Court Hears Case on English in Schools
NPR - April 20, 2009
The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments Monday in a case testing what states must do to comply with the federal law requiring public schools to teach children to speak English. Butting heads in the case are politicians, federal laws, the power of the federal courts to enforce judicial orders, and the power of state legislatures to decide how to spend taxpayer money.

California Receives Stimulus Money for Schools
Associated Press - April 17, 2009
Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Friday released nearly $4 billion to California, the first state to benefit from a special fund for states that was created by the economic stimulus law.

How to Raise Standards for America's Schools
TIME.com - April 15, 2009
The President and CEO of the Aspen Institute calls for national standards to improve schools in the U.S.

Chicago Urban League's School-Funding Lawsuit Clears Hurdle
Chicago Sun-Times - April 16, 2009
A lawsuit challenging the state's education funding system survived a key legal hurdle Wednesday in what advocates hailed as a "milestone'' ruling.

Update: The AmLaw Daily takes a look at the legal tactics in the suit.

Duncan Warns Illinois to Change Or Risk Losing Some Stimulus Aid
Chicago Tribune - April 15, 2009
During a visit home Tuesday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan warned his home state of Illinois is at risk of losing its shot at a new pot of federal money if it fails to show the political will to fundamentally shake up the way schools are funded and operated.

UDPATE: Tribune weighs in with a strongly worded editorial backing up Duncan's warning and adding some criticisms.

Duncan Appoints Ex-Gates official to key post
Education Week - April 7, 2009 (Article access compliments of edweek.org)
James Shelton, a former program officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is now heading the U.S. Department of Education office that was seen under President George W. Bush as a way to help promote charter schools and choice.

Education Standards Likely to See Toughening
New York Times - April 14, 2009
President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan have not explicitly stated their plans for the No Child Left Behind law. But clues are now emerging, and they suggest that the administration will use a Congressional rewriting of the federal law later this year to toughen requirements on topics like teacher quality and academic standards and to intensify its focus on helping failing schools. The law�s testing requirements may evolve but will certainly not disappear. And the federal role in education policy, once a state and local matter, is likely to grow.

Little Pre-K Access for Latinos
Chicago Tribune - April 15,2009
Latino families with young children constitute a significant portion of the nation's population and future workforce, but several studies show those children are less likely to enroll in early education programs because of various barriers including language, cost, transportation and a shortage of pre-kindergarten spots in poor neighborhoods. For those and other reasons, Latino children lag well behind white children in reading and math skills when they start kindergarten.

In Weaker Economy, More Students Choosing to Transfer
Daily Eastern News - April 15, 2009
As state and federal aid declines for four-year public institutions, enrollment has begun to increase in community colleges across the country to reduce the blows of tuition increases. Enrollment head counts at community colleges has increased by 28 percent nationally from Fall 2008 to Spring 2009, according to a winter 2009 survey by the League for Innovation in the Community College.

Secretary of Education Visits Chicago
Chicago Tribune - April 14, 2009
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Gov. Pat Quinn will be visiting a public school on Chicago's West Side. Duncan and Quinn will be touting the state's investment in education when they visit Andrew Jackson Elementary School on Tuesday.

Schools Turn to Online Testing for Standards of Learning
Richmond Times-Dispatch - April 14, 2009
Some school districts are turning to online testing to measure Standards of Learning, as a way to get quicker results and allow for adjustments in the same school year as the test.

Michigan Considers Changing Teacher Licensing Rules
Detroit Free Press - April 13, 2009
Education leaders in Michigan are considering making the state's 100,000 teachers prove they're good at what they do to get and maintain a license. The problem so far is that there are no agreed-upon ways to measure a teacher's effectiveness in the classroom -- even among advocates of making it a key part of how teachers are licensed.

Science Teaching Turns Students Off?
Houston Chronicle - April 9, 2009
An article suggests tests are encouraging a teaching that turns off students to science. But, it also offers a solution.

Math Performance Anxiety
San Francisco Chronicle - April 9, 2009
A columnist suggests Everyday Math is just another battle in the long-running math wars.

Feds give Ill. schools big boost: Problems Remain
Chicago Defender - April 6, 2009
Federal dollars are flowing and Gov. Quinn if offering inflation-beating increases in state funding of schools. Is it enough?

Best Bets for Stimulus Spending
Catalyst-Chicago - April 9, 2009
Guest Columnist Dom Belmonte of the Golden Apple Foundation offers his recommendations for what to do with the $3 billion in stimulus funding.

Education Reform: Lessons from New Jersey
Center for American Progress - April 8, 2009
The impact of both funding reform and the fundamental switch from a compliance model to an outcomes model are discussed in a new book by Gordon McInnes

Organizing Charter Teachers, Chicago-Style
Catalyst-Chicago - April 8, 2009
When teaching loads spiked last year, teachers at three Chicago International Charter Schools decided they needed a more formalized role in school management. Months later after quietly organizing and pressing their peers to sign union cards the formation of Chicago's first charter school teachers union is but a step away.

Supt's To Start Work on Virden-Girard School Merger
State Journal-Register - April 8, 2009
The Virden and Girard school superintendents will meet this week to begin discussions on creating a new school district.

Residents of the two districts voted Tuesday to consolidate.

Colleges in 3 States to Set Basics for Degrees
New York Times - April 8, 2009
In the first American effort of its kind, universities and colleges in Indiana, Minnesota and Utah are starting pilot projects to make sure that degree programs in their states reflect a consensus about what specific knowledge and skills should be taught.

Researchers Examine Contracts' Effect on Policy Issues
Education Week - April 7, 2009 (Article access compliments of edweek.org)
At a conference held here March 26 by the National Council on Teacher Quality, a Washington-based group that seeks to improve state and local policies affecting teachers, five scholars presented what are among the first studies to use primarily quantitative research methodologies to connect collectively bargained teacher contracts to various education policy outcomes.

Duncan Says Kids Need More Class Time
Education Week - April 7, 2009 (Article access compliments of edweek.org)
American school children need to be in school more "way more" if the nation is to compete with students abroad, the nation's top educator said Tuesday.

Duncan Spells Out Preferred Use of Stimulus Aid
Education Week - April 7, 2009 (Article access compliments of edweek.org)
After delivering a stern warning that states and school districts must use their federal stimulus money smartly or risk losing billions more, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and his staff are starting to spell out exactly what they mean by "smartly". American school children need to be in school more "way more"” if the nation is to compete with students abroad, the nation's top educator said Tuesday.

Voucher Advocates Seize on IES Study
Politics K-12 - April 4, 2009 - (Article access compliments of edweek.org)
School choice advocates are high-fiving each other over an Institute of Education Sciences study that showed the D.C. Scholarship and Opportunity program has a positive impact on reading scores.

Springfield Considers Plan to add 7th Period
State Journal-Register - April 7, 2009
The Springfield School Board was presented with a proposal Monday that would offer an extra class period for students of Springfield, Southeast and Lanphier high schools beginning next school year. However, the board made no decisions regarding the proposal.

Report Envisions Looming Teacher Shortage
New York Times - April 7, 2009
Over the next four years, more than a third of the nation' 3.2 million teachers could retire, depriving classrooms of experienced instructors and straining taxpayer-financed retirement systems, according to a new report.

The Teacher Beat: Stimulus and Teacher Evaluation
Education Week - (Article access compliments of edweek.org)
Stephen Sawchuk takes a look at the stimulus guidelines around teacher evaluation and has some tough questions about implementation.

Schools Eye Stimulus Money for Energy Efficiency
Education Week - April 6, 2009 - (Article access compliments of edweek.org)
Some of the billions of dollars trickling down from Washington will be used to make schools, libraries and other public buildings more energy efficient. Schools eyeing the money are hoping long-term savings can sprout from those one-time upgrades � the types of projects that get shoved aside when budgets are squeezed and tax levies fail.

Questions About How to Spend the Stimulus Money
State Journal-Register - April 6, 2009
The Springfield School District knows it is supposed to receive roughly $8.5 million in federal stimulus money. But district officials have yet to learn when they'll get it or how they're supposed to spend it.

Duncan Defends Mayoral Control
Politics K-12 - April 4, 2009 - (Article access compliments of edweek.org)
Speaking to school board members at a conference in San Diego, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan didn't back down from comments defending mayoral control.

Obama Unveils Picks for key Dept of Education Positions
Education Week - April 2, 2009 (Article access compliments of edweek.org)
Two new names for the positions near the top of the organizational chart under Secretary Duncan. One of those names is another in a growing list from Duncan's home state.