Daily News Roundup—July 22, 2010

EEP & Signatory News

• President of the Center of Education Reform Jeanne Allen and Co-Founder of State of Black CT Alliance Gwendolyn Samuel both respond to the National Journal education blog’s question - Can communities and parents help turn around schools?  These EEP signatories stress that parents have been pushing for changes in our education system for decades, and that change will take the collective effort and resources of communities and its parents to turn around schools.
• Tom Vander Ark’s (founder of Revolution Learning and VA/R Partners) latest column for the Huffington Post asks:  Is Obama’s EdReform in Trouble?  highlighting the difficult political landscape and other challenges facing the administration as they attempt to further their reform agenda.

National

• Time Magazine argues that Americans, as competitors in the global economy, can no longer afford to retain the luxury of summer vacation in public schools, arguing that “summer is among the most pernicious — if least acknowledged — causes of achievement gaps in America's schools.”
• The Washington Post reports that the United States has fallen from 1st to 12th in the share of adults ages 25 to 34 with postsecondary degrees, according to a new report from the College Board.
• EdWeek’s Politics K-12 explains why the $650 million Investing in Innovation (i3) fund was not a target of Rep. Obey’s budget offsets for Edujobs funding.
• The Philadelphia Inquirer makes the case that Teach for America deserves additional federal funding in an editorial Wednesday.
• Longtime force in education reform, Dan Katzir, is stepping down as managing director at the Broad Foundation, a letter from the foundation reveals today (via This Week in Education).
• New Profit was named as one of 11 intermediary organizations in the Social Innovation Fund (SIF) – a federally funded initiative that supports the growth of high-impact nonprofits. New Profit plans to create the Pathways Fund, through which we will select and invest in a portfolio of some of our nation’s most promising social innovations focused on transitioning low-income youth from high school to college and productive employment.
• Eduflack examines how different states match up to Common Core standards, and looks at the work our states have ahead of them.

From the States

Arkansas

Stateline.org highlights the overwhelming success of a state lottery program whose revenues are used to finance college scholarships.                 

Illinois

Facing budget pressures, Illinois is cancelling state writing exams for elementary and middle school students, leaving only 11^th graders to be assessed by the tests, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Massachusetts

Despite a fiery debate, EdWeek reports that Massachusetts has approved plans to replace the state’s own English/language arts and mathematics standards with Common Core Standards.  The Boston Globe explains how $250 million in federal funding might have tipped the scales towards adoption.

Michigan

EdWeek reports that Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm told the Detroit City Council on Wednesday to let city voters decide whether to give oversight of their school district to Mayor Dave Bing.

New York

• EdWeek reports that New York State adopted Common Core standards on Monday, with little fanfare or opposition.
• Gotham Schools reports that a recent survey of New York City principals found that a vast majority believe that they were given good enough “support and information to address low-performing employees…and guide tenure decisions.”
• Gotham Schools also shows how the State’s low test standards gave many students a misrepresentation of how they would fare in college.

North Carolina

• The News Observer reports that key members of the Wake County school board majority say they're giving strong consideration to an assignment approach called "controlled choice" that could replace its former diversity-based plan without creating high-poverty schools. This plan would allow parents to choose from a wide variety of schools in their zone, similar to municipal models in Cambridge, MA and Lee County, FL.
• EdWeek highlights a Duke University study that shows that teacher credentials are inextricably linked to student achievement, tying certification scores, level of education and experience to gains in the classroom.  The study also found that the best teachers were unevenly distributed across N.C. schools, and also noting that novice teachers were most likely to be in high-poverty schools.

Virginia

Responding to the results of the Thomas B. Fordham analysis of the Common Core Standards, the Virginia Department of Education defends its curriculum, saying that the difference between its standards and the national standards are much smaller than the Fordham study suggests.

Washington, D.C.

The Washington Post reports that the D.C. School Board voted to adopt the Common Core Standards for English and math, joining two-dozen other states in the movement.

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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