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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
Are you a glass half-full kind of person? Or glass half-empty? Depending on your answer, you’ll find the new report on state-funded preschool programs from the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University either delightfully encouraging or downright depressing. (NPR)
The nation is moving too slowly in terms of providing quality preschool to its youngest learners, especially low-income children who desperately need a strong educational foundation, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Monday morning at a bilingual preschool in Langley Park, Md. (Washington Post)
The staff of the State Board of Education, who had been caught in the middle of a feud between State schools chief Diane Douglas and Gov. Doug Ducey, stealthily moved out of their offices Saturday, The Arizona Republic has learned. (azcentral.com)
A coalition of about 500 California groups, along with a recent poll, indicate statewide support of the Common Core State Standards, the children’s advocacy group Children Now announced Monday. (EdSource)
The work of Indiana lawmakers this year probably won’t be remembered primarily for its affect on schools — given the national debate that erupted over “religious freedom” — but in fact they made a series of changes to the way the state manages schools, tests students and pays for education. (Chalkbeat Indiana)
Bill Gates famously spent hundreds of millions of dollars to develop, implement and promote the now controversial Common Core State Standards. He hasn’t stopped giving. (Washington Post)
In this small suburb outside Milwaukee, no one in the Menomonee Falls School District escapes the rigorous demands of data. (NY Times)
New York
For many education students looking to be fully certified in New York this September, now is crunch time for getting through a new set of requirements that many say are expensive and overly demanding. (WNYC)