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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
The nation’s new federal education law makes room for states to design and try out new and better ways to measure what kids know, because just about everyone agrees on this: Standardized tests as currently delivered in U.S. public schools leave something to be desired. (The Washington Post)
The National Education Association plans to draft a list of the qualifications that the next U.S. Secretary of Education should have. The list would be sent to the presidential candidates, as well as the members of the Senate, which confirms cabinet-level picks. (Education Week)
We now know that 84.1 percent of the approximately 6,900 National Education Association delegates gathered here this week for the union’s Representative Assembly voted to endorse Hillary Clinton in the general election for the U.S. presidency. (Education Week)
Hillary Clinton’s campaign announced a proposal on Wednesday to eliminate tuition at in-state public colleges and universities for families with annual incomes up to $125,000 — largely embracing a core position of Senator Bernie Sanders, who had pledged to make tuition at public institutions free for all students. (The New York Times)
Colorado is rethinking all of its major education policies. And everyone is jockeying for influence.
As Colorado prepares to adopt a new plan that will set the course for the state’s schools for the foreseeable future, competing priorities have emerged spotlighting familiar divides. The state’s direction — and points of tension — will become clearer Thursday when Colorado Department of Education officials brief the State Board of Education on decisions it likely faces in developing a blueprint required under the nation’s new federal law. (Chalkbeat Colorado)
Tennessee
Out with the old and in with the new — that’s the hope of the Tennessee Department of Education. The state offered a two-year contract to Questar Assessment on Wednesday to develop and administer standardized tests across the state. (WBBJ)