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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News & analysis:
Audit assails US education department’s monitoring of federal spending on charter schools
An audit of the U.S. Department of Education’s division overseeing hundreds of millions of dollars in charter school funding has criticized the office for failing to properly monitor how states spend the money. (Washington Post)
Adaptive Testing Evolves to Assess Common-Core Skills
When Delaware switched to computer-adaptive testing for its state assessments three years ago, officials found the results were available more quickly, the amount of time students spent taking tests decreased, and the tests provided more reliable information about what students knew—especially those at the very low and high ends of the spectrum. (Education Week)
National Board Seeks to Boost Its Impact on Teaching Profession
At a time of competing pressures around teacher evaluation and career development, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, which provides an advanced certification for educators, is retooling itself in an effort to increase its influence in the field, according to officials with the organization. (Education Week)
Highly Effective Principals Raise Student Achievement: Study
It’s indisputable that great teachers lead to successful students, as the presidential candidates have touted, but what about students’ connection to their school principals?
A study published in Education Next has found that the effect of highly effective principals on student achievement is equivalent to 2-7 months of additional learning each school year, while ineffective principals negatively impact student achievement by a comparable amount. (Huffington Post)
Public School Employment Has Been Outpacing K-12 Enrollment For Decades, Study Finds
Mitt Romney’s recent remarks thatknocked President Barack Obama for proposing more money to hire teachers was partially embedded in a longstanding belief that the issue lies at the local level. But a new report out of the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice might give the Republican presidential hopeful another economic backing for his stance. (Huffington Post)
New York:
Nearly 400 schools plead with city for extra funding to meet basic needs
After years of consecutive budget cuts, the number of schools submitting pleas for extra funding just to meet basic operating expenses has more than tripled, The Post has learned.
This year nearly 400 schools filed appeals with the city — an alarm bell that a school doesn’t have enough funds to operate for the entire school year — compared to 121 schools in 2008, Department of Education data show. (NY Post)