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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
With the roster finally set for Thursday night’s Republican presidential candidates’ debate, what should the edu-world expect from the top 10 candidates? (Education Week)
“It feels like a dark time,” wrote the comedian Louis C.K. in a tweet last April. “I’m pissed,” he wrote in another, a few minutes later. C.K. was, indeed, very, very angry. And this time, it wasn’t his own “yucky” existence that was making him fume. Rather, it was a different kind of “massive stressball” irking him: the Common Core State Standards. (The Atlantic)
The education policy ideas of New Jersey governor and Republican presidential hopeful Chris Christie are back in the news after he said that one of the largest US teachers unions, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), deserved a punch in the face. (Yahoo News)
The journal Nature recently reported on a national push to teach undergraduate science courses in a way that makes students grapple with questions, not just “listen passively to answers.” The journal refers to an analysis by University of Washington lecturer Scott Freeman and others that concluded that active learning helps more students pass. (The Seattle Times)
As members of the Senate and House of Representatives work to find compromise on their respective overhauls of the No Child Left Behind Act, Americans are expressing agreement with a central tenet in both chambers’ proposals: the federal government should have less influence over standardized tests. (Huffington Post)
A task force’s suggestion that the Fairfax County school system could cut high school athletic programs to save money immediately stirred anxiety, frustration and incredulity across the community that supports one of the nation’s largest school districts. (The Washington Post)
New Jersey
In January 2014, the Camden City School District published a strategic plan called the Camden Commitment to guide its attempt to improve education across the city. Officials say that had an intentional shelf life, and now they want to update it. (Newsworks)