Not unexpectedly, LA Governor Bobby Jindal has lost his appeal to block the Common Core process. Plus also questions about racial gaps in test scores for teachers:
Jindal loses appeal on Common Core lawsuit in state court AP: A Louisiana appeals court Wednesday upheld a judge’s ruling that barred Gov. Bobby Jindal from suspending testing contracts tied to Louisiana’s use of the Common Core education standards.
House Appropriators Prepare Fiscal 2016 Education Spending Bill for Markup PK12: The subcommittee markup is the first to occur in more than three years, as Congress has been dysfunctional in its ability to draft fiscal year spending bills.
Tough Tests for Teachers, With Question of Bias NYT: Minority candidates have been lagging whites in passing the tests, jeopardizing a goal of diversifying the teaching force so it more closely resembles the makeup of the country’s student body.
Elements of ‘Portfolio’ Strategy Taking Root in Some Districts District Dossier: A new snapshot from the Center on Reinvention Public Education (CRPE) looks at the progress school districts have made in implementing components of the portfolio model strategy.
10 Years After Katrina, the Education System in New Orleans is Still Evolving District Dossier: The annual “State of Public Education in New Orleans” report, which is published by the Cowen Institute at Tulane University, examines the education reforms in the city’s public schools since 2005’s Hurricane Katrina.
Johnny on the Spot: Ohio Gov. Kasich, Common Core, and the 2016 Campaign State EdWatch: Unlike fellow Republican Jeb Bush, Ohio Gov. John Kasich is a sitting public official and common-core supporter who has parried a variety of attacks on the standards.
Usher’s curriculum with ‘swag’ could help D.C. students find their passion Washington Post: The day started with a simple question: What’s your “spark”? The dozen teens, all students at Cardozo High School in Columbia Heights, shared their interests: Hip-hop, football, music, singing and pottery.
De Blasio signs law requiring new school diversity reports ChalkbeatNY: The law, known as the School Diversity Accountability Act, will require the city to release demographic data related to individual grade levels and programs within schools, including gifted and talented and dual-language programs. The law will also require the city to account for any steps it takes to advance diversity in schools and programs citywide.
Lessons from the principal of a Kentucky school that went from one of the worst to one of the best under Common Core Hechinger Report: Three years later, the school had moved up to the 99th percentile, with 54 percent of students passing the reading test and 57 percent the math. So how’d they pull it off? The Hechinger Report spoke to principal Steve Carroll to find out how, despite lingering concerns about the standards themselves, he and his teachers are making them work.
In first test of flexibility plan, nearly a fifth of Denver principals go their own way ChalkbeatCO: Nearly one-fifth of Denver principals are taking the district up on an offer to opt their schools out of centrally-provided curriculum or professional development programs next school year and instead choose their own.
London love fest: Michelle Obama charms, thrills schoolgirls WHDH-TV: Michelle Obama’s visit to a girls’ school in a diverse east London neighborhood turned into a love fest Tuesday when she was greeted with singing, poetry and interpretative dance on her mission to promote education for girls.
5 Questions With Citizen Schools Co-Founder Eric Schwarz Boston Learning Lab: For two decades, the Boston-based non-profit organization has partnered with schools across the country to offer an extended learning day program for low-income middle school students. Their extended learning day program is led by volunteer teachers from various professions and supported by Citizen Schools teaching fellows.
