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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News & analysis:
Charting New Frontiers for Charter Schools
As leaders of the charter school movement gather in Washington, D.C. this week for their annual meeting, they do so in a decidedly mixed frame of mind. harles Dickens’ famous words in A Tale of Two Cities — “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times” — could never be more appropriate for this sector of American K-12 education. (Huffington Post)
Superintendent’s Effort To Do Right By His Kids
This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I’m Michel Martin. We are joining you from Aspen, Colorado as part of the Aspen Ideas Festival. And while we’re here, we decided we wanted to focus on the big ideas about education and, more broadly, learning. And if you missed your flight or lost your all-access pass, do not worry, because over the next two days we’ll be joined by many other people who are shaking things up in education – or trying to. You can also join us online. Head to Twitter and use the #NPRAspen. We’ll be reading your tweets and sharing as many as we can over the next few days. Why are we talking about education? (NPR)
Gallup-EdWeek Poll: What Superintendents Really Think
While many of the nation’s superintendents are optimistic about the potential of the common-core standards and new technology to improve what goes on in classrooms, a healthy percentage are also skeptical about such developments, according to results from the first Gallup-Education WeekSuperintendents Panel survey. (Education Week)
Mo. takes steps toward better funding of early childhood education
Missouri is one of several states taking steps to boost funding for early childhood education as the economy improves. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon told the Early Childhood Education Commission at the Kauffman Center that there’s no higher priority than early education for children. (Fox 4 KC)
Districts Accountable for Foster Youth in New Calif. Funding Scheme
Under California’s new funding formula for K-12, schools and districts will be held accountable for the academic progress of students who are in foster care. (Education Week – District Dossier)
View Point:
The Trouble With Testing Mania
Congress made a sensible decision a decade ago when it required the states to administer yearly tests to public school students in exchange for federal education aid. The theory behind the No Child Left Behind Act was that holding schools accountable for test scores would force them to improve instruction for groups of children whom they had historically shortchanged. (New York Times)