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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
During a conference keynote speech Wednesday morning, Bill Gates recommitted the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to its current work in supporting the use of high academic standards and helping teachers improve through evaluation systems that provide useful feedback. (Education Week)
Democratic presidential candidates are blowing off an education forum that anchorwoman-turned-activist Campbell Brown was expected to host in Iowa this month, and Brown blames pressure from traditionally Democratic teachers unions eager to move the party away from President Barack Obama’s school reforms. (Politico)
The ups and downs of gentrification have been chronicled thoroughly, but one of its consequences hasn’t been widely addressed: the effect on neighborhood schools when a critical mass of well-educated, well-off people move in. Gentrification usually brings some benefits with it to a neighborhood, such as more attention from the city—as Spike Lee noted, suddenly the trash gets picked up! But does an influx of children from wealthier families make a positive difference to local public schools? (The Atlantic)
Waking up early on a Saturday. Sharpened No. 2 pencils and a calculator. For teenagers headed to a four-year college, taking a standardized entrance exam such as the ACT and SAT is typically a requirement. But it’s far from a universal experience. (NPR)
The U.S. has extreme inequalities in life expectancy. One 2006 study, for example, found that the average Native American male in several South Dakota counties died a full thirty-three years younger than the average Asian female in Bergen County, New Jersey. That’s even larger than the gap separating the U.S. life expectancy (79.68 years, ranked 43/224) with Afghanistan’s (50.87 years, ranked 222/224). (US News)
Jeb Bush’s signature achievement in education policy as Florida governor may be at risk of coming apart. A champion of what became known as Common Core education standards, Bush pushed a set of high-stakes tests for students and a system of grading schools as the centerpiece of an education agenda that defines much of his legacy in office. (Business Insider)