posted on
Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
National
6 Key Federal Policy Areas to Watch Under Trump
President Donald Trump said less about education on the campaign trail than almost any major-party nominee in recent history, except for a high-profile proposal on single issue: school vouchers. But his ascendance to the White House could upend K-12 education in ways that are felt from the U.S. Department of Education’s headquarters in Washington to urban schools that serve big numbers of immigrant students. (Education Week)
Delving Into One of the Questions Betsy DeVos Couldn’t Answer
It doesn’t sound particularly sexy, but the growth-versus-proficiency debate is one of the most consequential to have shaped education policy in recent years.
The “proficiency” approach amounts to evaluating kids based on whether they arrive at a set benchmark—whether, for example, they achieve a certain math score on standardized tests. (This was, controversially, pretty much the exclusive focus of No Child Left Behind.) The “growth” approach is more customized in that it involves, say, evaluating each individual student based on how much he or she has progressed from the beginning to the end of the school year; schools aren’t punished for serving consistently below-average yet improving children and they’re responsible for being attentive to those who are steadily high-performing. (The Atlantic)
Are Education Startups The New Dot Com?
The amount of education startups is now increasing at an exponential rate. At the same time, the amount of venture funding for education businesses is at an all-time high. In some ways, the rise of education startups resembles the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, however, the successive crash of the dot-com craze may not be inevitable for the EdCo boom. (Forbes)
States
New York
Cuomo’s budget proposal includes perks for New York City charter schools, including lifting the city’s cap
When Gov. Andrew Cuomo released his executive budget proposal last week, New York’s charter school advocates were quick to offer support. The pro-charter group StudentsFirstNY said the plan reaffirms Cuomo’s belief in the “critical role” of charter schools. New York City’s Charter Center said it sets the stage for “continued growth.” (Chalkbeat)
Tennessee
Every struggling school to see intervention under new law
It’s easy to tell which classroom Angela McKay oversees at Westhaven Elementary in Memphis. Her voice and the voices of her fourth-grade students bellow down the hallways of the brand new building, guaranteeing everyone in the Shelby County Innovation Zone school learns about the four stages of metamorphosis. It’s a level of enthusiasm for both teaching and learning that principal Rodney Rowan stressed in two iZone schools he’s supervised, and it’s why he always steers visitors to McKay’s class. (The Commercial Appeal)