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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis:
Moving Ahead With Common Core
New York City parents are understandably nervous about tough new state tests that were rolled out last week. And some parents whose children have already taken the tests are outraged. They shouldn’t be: the tests, which measure math and English skills, are an essential part of rigorous education reforms known as Common Core that seek to improve reasoning skills and have been adopted by 45 states. (New York Times)
GED high school equivalency test to get major overhaul, become more difficult
Hundreds of thousands of high school dropouts hoping to earn an equivalency diploma will have to pass a more challenging GED test that is being designed to improve the prospects of low-skilled workers in a high-tech economy. (Washington Post)
Students Face Tougher Tests That Outpace Lesson Plans
At Public School 10 on the edge of Park Slope, Brooklyn, parents begged the principal to postpone the lower school science fair, insisting it was going to add too much pressure while they were preparing their children for the coming state tests. (New York Times)
Mike Peabody’s focus on city schools led him to help establish D.C. charters
Malcolm E. “Mike” Peabody began lobbying to establish charter schools in the District nearly two decades ago. At the time, D.C. charters were just a concept; now they are a thriving part of the city’s education landscape, serving nearly half the children in D.C. schools. (Washington Post)
View Point:
Arne Duncan: Universal preschool is a sure path to the middle class
President Obama put forward a plan last week to make access to high-quality early learninga reality for every 4-year-old in America by making full-day preschool available to families with incomes at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty line. (Washington Post)