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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
More than 100 education researchers in California have joined in a call for an end to high-stakes testing, saying that there is no “compelling” evidence to support the idea that the Common Core State Standards will improve the quality of education for children or close the achievement gap, and that Common Core assessments lack “validity, reliability and fairness.” (The Washington Post)
When we’re reporting on special education, we inevitably run up against questions of how we should refer to students with disabilities and to the disabilities themselves. (NPR)
Black students are four times as likely to be suspended from charter schools as white students, according to a new analysis of federal education data. And students with disabilities, the study found, are suspended two to three times the rate of nondisabled students in charter schools. (The New York Times)
The Boston district’s move to begin its hiring process earlier and to allow principals more say over who they bring on board has resulted in a stronger and more diverse pool of teacher candidates, a new analysis concludes. (Education Week)
New Jersey
As they prepared to begin testing young children for lead poisoning this week, school officials in Newark on Wednesday acknowledged that water in the city’s schools had contained elevated levels of lead for years. (The New York Times)