Daily News Roundup—July 20, 2010

EEP News

EEP Director Ellen Winn and Executive Director of Parent Revolution Ben Austin (and brand-new EEP board member) co-wrote a response to the National Journal’s question Can Communities and Parents Help Turn Around Schools? highlighting models of parental empowerment that directly transform low-performing schools.

Diverse Education highlights GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) a federally funded organization that helps 739,000 low income students per year boost their college readiness starting in middle school) at the annual National Council for Community and Education Partnerships/GEAR UP conference. U.S. Representative  (and EEP signatory) Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.), also known as the “grandfather of GEAR UP”, urged GEAR UP workers to “counterbalance what he described as pervasive thinking that youths of lesser economic means or non-English-speaking families cannot succeed in college.”

National

Congressional Quarterly reports that House Democratic leaders will accept the Senate's plan to pass a stripped-down supplemental spending bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, while seeking another vehicle for Edujobs funding to prevent teacher layoffs.  EdWeek reports that a measure aimed at the Small Business Administration might be the best vehicle to garner enough votes for the jobs bill to succeed.

Education Next explains why states are the real powerhouses behind improving teacher quality, highlighting that policies covering tenure and evaluation originate in State law.

EdWeek reports that advocates for education reform 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.

Continued Race to the Top funding is not a done deal, however.  The Hill reports that House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey has proposed a 40 percent cut to the White House’s $1.35 billion 2011 request for Race to the Top.  This is the second time this month that Rep. Obey has proposed cuts to the President’s reform initiatives.

After a rare attack on Harlem Children’s Zone Promise Academy by a Brookings Institute report, which claims that the school’s additional investment in social services has negligible impact on student achievement, Jay Matthews (on his Class Struggle blog) argues that HCZ’s Founder (and EEP signatory) Geoffrey Canada’s program needs more time to exhibit its true potential.

Bloomberg Businessweek highlights Bill Gates’ work in education reform, noting his large investment based on the premise that a business approach can work wonders in the classroom.

The Washington Post highlights a recent Mathematic report showing that shows that middle school students in the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) outperform their counterparts in traditional public schools – and attributes this difference in performance to an extended school day.

Eduwonk examines a recent New York Times article on a Vermont principal who was removed from her post so her school could qualify for federal stimulus funds, and uncovers the messy and decidedly more complicated side of federal school turnaround policy that wasn’t originally emphasized in the story.

USA Today observes that educators and policymakers are joining forces to better align K-12 and higher education, so that students coming out of high school have the skills and knowledge they need to do college-level work, as well as reducing the need for remediation once students are in college. This commitment was the product of the first-ever joint meeting of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) on Friday.

From the States

Georgia

EdWeek reports that the percentage of Georgia schools meeting federal benchmarks declined this year as the bar to achieve math proficiency was raised.

Massachusetts

The debate over Common Core Standards adoption is heating up, after the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education recommended that the state adopt the standards.  Former Massachusetts governor William Weld criticizes the Standards, while two former Mass. education chiefs are backing the proposal to replace the math and English standards with proposed federal guidelines.

New York

The New York Times reports that New York State education officials acknowledged on Monday that their standardized exams had become easier to pass over the last four years and said they would recalibrate the scoring for tests taken this spring

The Wall Street Journal reports that Micahel Duffy, the director of the Department of Education's Charter School Office, will join Victory Schools, Inc., a charter school network that helps manage 16 charter schools with 7,000 students in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago.

North Dakota

Edweek reports that North Dakota officials are developing a data project to track student progress in school, and whether their studies will match up with the skills that the job market is demanding.

Public Schedule of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

The Week Ahead: Monday, July 19-Sunday, July 25

MONDAY, JULY 19
No public events.

TUESDAY, JULY 20
No public events.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 21
8:30 a.m.
The Secretary will speak at the National Rural Education Technology Summit, hosted by the U.S. Department of Education in partnership with the Smithsonian.  More than 100 rural superintendents, school leaders, researchers, technology experts and rural education advocates are attending from 24 states.  The Summit will be held at the National Museum of the American Indian, National Mall, Fourth Street and Independence Ave., SW, Washington, D.C.

THURSDAY, JULY 22
Noon
The Secretary and Marian Robinson, mother of First Lady Michelle Obama, will read to local school children at the Department’s Let’s Read. Let’s Move. summer enrichment program. U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C.

FRIDAY, JULY 23
2:45 p.m.
The Secretary will tour the Delaware State Fair at the fairgrounds, 18500 South DuPont Highway, Harrington, DE 19952.

SATURDAY, JULY 24
No public events.

SUNDAY, JULY 25
No public events.

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