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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
The Obama administration is seeking yet another yearlong extension of language allowing teachers still in training to be considered “highly qualified” under the No Child Left Behind Act. (Education Week)
Think of an educational tool and you might picture beloved standbys from our Tools of the Trade series, like the abacus and the wooden block. But educators are increasingly turning to software and websites like Khan Academy, Google Apps and Code.org to help them deliver lessons, manage collaboration, do real-time assessments and more. (NPR)
School choice advocates from across the state and country rushed to defend Nevada’s new education savings accounts after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit challenging the program’s constitutionality. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
One in four D.C. public schools started the school year this week with a new principal, continuing a pattern of high turnover in the District’s traditional public schools. (The Washington Post)
New Jersey
It’s a whole new world for city students, thanks to a $100,000 grant from Disney. Kids at five schools in and around Newark this year and five next year will be performing in musicals based on Disney cartoon movies, funded by a Disney grant to NJPAC, the venue announced in a release this week. (nj.com)
New York
No more vaccine delays for school kids in New York. Children entering kindergarten must get two doses of measles, mumps and rubella vaccines, under new state Health Department regulations that kick in Sept. 1. Until now, parents could hold off giving kids some doses until age 6. (New York Daily News)