Education Week (10/14, Heitin) reports on the growing use of digital devices by students in classrooms, noting that many teachers struggle to “manage the tech-infused classroom” and “keep kids, who suddenly have the Internet at their fingertips, on task.” The article notes that often students are more “tech-savvy” than teachers, and explores the safety and classroom management issues involved.
Most California Districts Report Being Prepared For Common Core Tests
EdSource Today (10/11) reports that according to a California state survey, most districts said “they’ve got the technology to offer computer-based testing for the new Common Core standards.” However, as many as 40% say “they have only some or little confidence they can pull it off,” potentially signaling “trouble complying with a new state law” Mandating that all districts implement field tests next year. The article touches on the “conflict” between the state and Education Secretary Arne Duncan over the new law.
California Educators Concerned Common Core Tests Favor Technologically Savvy
The Oakland (CA) Local (10/9) reports that some teachers and parents in Oakland, California, are concerned that computer-based Common Core assessments could “deepen the digital divide and the achievement gap” because students with less access to computers at home and at school “would be at a disadvantage” regardless of their mastery of subject matter.
Research: Teaching Students To Argue Like Scientists May Help Them Better Understand Science
Education Week (10/9, Sparks) reports that at last month’s Society for Research in Educational Effectiveness conference, several ongoing research projects showed that “teaching students to argue, question, and communicate more like real scientists may also help them understand scientific concepts more deeply.” James W. Pellegrino, a co-director of the Learning Sciences Research Institute at the University of Illinois-Chicago, said that “both the Common Core State Standards for reading and mathematics and the Next Generation Science Standards have increased the focus within their disciplines on skills such as constructing and evaluating arguments, complex communications, disciplinary discourse, and critical thinking.”
Survey: Most Teachers “Enthusiastic” About Common Core
Liana Heitin writes at the Education Week (10/8) “Teaching Now” blog that according to a new survey from Scholastic and the Gates Foundation, 97% of US teachers are aware of the Common Core Standards, and “73 percent of math, English, science, and social studies teachers” in Common Core states “say they are enthusiastic about” implementing them.
Researcher: Teacher Quality Can Boost College Attendance, Future Earnings
The Boston Globe (10/8, Johnson) reports that notwithstanding the common perception that teacher quality has a causal relationship with student performance, “the true effect of having a great teacher, versus a merely average one, has been difficult to assess.” The piece notes that Harvard economist Gary Chamberlain has published a study finding that “middle-school teachers could have a small, but real influence on whether people attended college and how much they earned at age 28.” However, Chamberlain does not identify discrete factors that increase teacher effectiveness.
Author: Successful Countries Have Implemented Common Core Analogs
In conjunction with NBC News’s “Education Nation” summit, MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports hosted Amanda Ripley, author of “The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Way.” The discussion included the need for increased rigor and critical thinking skills among US students, and Ripley’s research into education in countries that are perceived to be outperforming the US academically. Asked about the Common Core Standards, Ripley said, “All the countries I looked at that are really the education superpowers of the world right now...all did something like the Common Core. They huddled together, swallowed their pride we’re going to agree on higher, fewer, deeper standards on what all kids should know at every level.”
Ravitch Speaks Out Against Corporate Education Reform
The Los Angeles Times (10/6, Blume) reports on an appearance by former Assistant Secretary Diane Ravitch in Los Angeles to protest “corporate-style school reform, which emphasizes competition and accountability and is promulgated by many state governments and the US Department of Education.” The piece describes the events at which Ravitch spoke, describing her as “widely seen as a leading spokeswoman for a movement that calls for collaborative school reform, which emphasizes social services for families and anti-poverty economic policies.”
California Law Bans Long-Term CABs For School Construction
The Los Angeles Times (10/3, Weikel) reports that California Gov. Jerry Brown (R) has signed legislation “cracking down” on the use of long-term capital appreciation bonds for school construction. The Times characterizes the practice as “risky,” and notes that it can lead to “debt payments many times the amount borrowed.” The Times notes that observers have criticized the bonds as being “reminiscent of the lending and Wall Street excesses that contributed to the Great Recession.”
The Orange County (CA) Register (10/3, Kyle) reports that the bill means that schools “will no longer be able to shift debt payments for new classrooms to taxpayers 40 years in the future,” noting that it “sharply limits the cost of so-called capital appreciation bonds, which dozens of California schools have used in recent years.”
Poll: Opinion Shifting Away From Test-Based Teacher Evaluations
Neon Tommy (10/3) reports that according to a new American Policy Makers/Gallup poll, “the majority of Americans now oppose using test scores to evaluate teachers,” even as most respondents “think increased testing has hurt public schools.” The article presents this as a “sea change” from views over the past decade.
California Governor Signs Bill Implementing Common Core Tests
The Los Angeles Times (10/3, Blume) reports that California Gov. Jerry Brown, in a move that sets up a “looming confrontation” with ED, has signed a bill replacing his state’s STAR assessment with a Common Core-aligned assessment.
Students May Be Challenged By Common Core Tests’ Technological Demands
The Hechinger Report (9/30, Carr, Dreilinger) reports that Common Core-aligned assessments from the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers will require students to use computers, noting that this will “place new technology demands on schools,” but also “makes demands on students as well.” The piece notes that elementary school students will be required to type “at least two pages,” and notes that “asking students as young as eight and nine to type several paragraphs on a standardized test presents entirely new challenges.”
Retired Teacher Criticizes Four Decades Of US Education Reform
In an op-ed in the Washington Post (9/28), Patrick Welsh, who recently retired after 43 years teaching English at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia, writes about the frustrations teachers feel about “the politics of education reform,” which results in a constant stream of new reform policies that are often jettisoned soon after being adopted. During his career, Welsh writes, he “saw countless reforms come and go; some even returned years later disguised in new education lingo.” He laments that none of the policies he witnessed “make students care about what they’re studying and understand how it’s relevant to their lives.”
California Survey Shows Increased Focus On School Climate
EdSource Today (9/24) reports that the latest iteration of the California Healthy Kids Survey has found “a stronger focus on students’ emotional health,” reflecting growing national interest in “school climate, a broad term that includes whether students and teachers feel supported and engaged, both socially and academically.”
Blogger Explores Impact Of Classroom Technology
Matthew Lynch writes at the Education Week (9/23) “Education Futures” blog about the rapid advent of digital classroom technology, and explores whether “the inclusion of cutting-edge technology” makes “a difference in academic success.” The piece addresses the technology gap and other issues of access, but points out that “not enough time has passed” to determine the impact of classroom technology.
Analyst Says California Should Not Forego Test Data
Jack Mosbacher, an analyst at California Common Sense, writes in a column in the Los Angeles Times (9/20) about the impasse between California and ED officials over the state’s plans to hasten its transition to Common Core-linked assessments, arguing that given changes to the state’s education funding formula and other policy changes, “a year without [student test] data is unacceptable.”
California Testing Overhaul Ignores High School Exit Exam
The EdSource Today (9/19, Baron) reports that the California High School Exit Exam was not addressed by the California legislature’s recent overhaul of the state’s high-stakes testing program, quoting a California Department of Education spokesperson saying, “The future of CAHSEE remains unclear; it’s an ongoing discussion during this time of transition.”
LA Times Scolds Both Sides In California Testing Impasse
An editorial in the Los Angeles Times (9/17) portrays the clash between California education officials and ED over the state’s plan to abandon state tests in favor of a “limited version” of Common Core assessments as an escalation of past disputes between the parties. The paper supports the state’s plan to “get an early start” on the testing, but notes that it would violate NCLB
California Governor Stands By Common Core Test Switch
EdSource Today (9/18, Fensterwald) reports that California Gov. Jerry Brown “defended” his state’s legislation suspending implementation of Common Core assessment field tests by a year and abandoning the STAR assessment, and “gave no sign of steering away from a collision with the federal government over this issue.”
School Counselors Struggle To Keep Up With Case Loads
US News & World Report (9/17, Bidwell) reports on the issues facing high school counselors in the US and says that the national caseload average “remains nearly twice the recommended rate set by the American Counseling Association, with each counselor seeing 471 students on average.” The article adds that according to data provided by the ASCA, only Vermont and Wyoming “have ratios that meet the recommended case load of 250 students for each counselor.” The article notes that to make matters worse, as school districts eliminate positions, counselors are forced to not only “take on heavier case loads, but they are also expected to pitch in with other administrative and clerical duties.”