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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 start of the next school year, the Recovery School District will be the first in the country made up completely of public charter schools, a milestone for New Orleans and a grand experiment in urban education for the nation. (Washington Post)
At the start of morning assembly in the state-of-the-art Viikki School here, students’ smartphones disappear. In math class, the teacher shuts off the Smartboard and begins drafting perfect circles on a chalkboard. The students — some of the highest-achieving in the world — cut up graphing paper while solving equations using their clunky plastic calculators. (Politico)
New Jersey
A New Jersey lawmaker is attempting to rewrite the state’s charter school laws to include another layer of oversight and more public input. Assemblyman Troy Singleton, a Democrat, introduced a bill last week that would create a statewide charter-authorizing board while establishing a framework to include public feedback in the charter-authorizing process. (Education Week)
Pennsylvania
Eighteen percent of teachers were “chronically absent” in 2012-13, missing more than 18 days of work, and no obvious system of consequences exists, says a report released last week by the National Council on Teacher Quality, an advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. (Watchdog.org)
Rhode Island
With just 11 days until high school graduation ceremonies begin across the city, the Providence School Board voted unanimously to amend its diploma policy as part of a last ditch effort to help hundreds of students who haven’t achieved a qualifying score on the state’s standardized test complete high school. (WPRI)