Beth’s Briefings (6-3-15)

Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:

 

Eva Moskowitz, the founder of New York City’s largest chain of public charter schools, imported a Harlem classroom to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to demonstrate how she trains and coaches teachers at Success Academy schools. (The Washington Post)

 

As they begin to set policies around a new performance-based licensing test for teachers, states are setting the bar in a variety of different places—a phenomenon that raises questions about across-state comparisons. (Education Week)

 

For about a month in the spring of 2013, I spent my mornings at Lakeside School, a private school in Seattle whose students are the scions of the Pacific Northwest elite. The beautiful red-brick campus looks like an Ivy League college and costs almost as much to attend. The school boasts Bill Gates among its alumni, and its students come from the families of Amazon and Microsoft executives. Unsurprisingly, there is no dearth of technology: Teachers post assignments on the school’s intranet; classes communicate by email; and every student carries a laptop (required) and a smartphone (not). (The Atlantic)

 

Family-engagement practitioners and researchers say educators are adopting systemic and sustained efforts to integrate parents into the fabric of their schools—a welcome shift for advocates who have complained of lip service but scant support for programs they say can have a big impact on student achievement. (Education Week)

 

Before members of Congress took off for Memorial Day recess last week, the Washington policy think-tank Third Way blasted out their message to members of Congress about overhauling the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, specifically the bipartisan Senate bill: “The bipartisan Every Child Achieves Act may not be perfect, but it makes notable improvements to the most scorned aspects of No Child Left Behind.” (Education Week)

 

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval has signed a bill allowing students to use state funds designated for their public education at private schools. (Las Vegas Sun)

 

While running for governor of Maryland last year, Republican Larry Hogan said that school reforms in the state were a “train wreck.” Just after he took office in January, his administration said that he wanted to hit the “pause” button on the Common Core State Standards and the Core-aligned PARCC standardized test. (The Washington Post)

 

Starting next week, parents of students in New York City public schools will be able view their children’s attendance, grades and, ultimately, scores on Regents exams and state reading and math tests on a new website, NYC Schools. (The New York Times)