“After years of frustration in her attempts to expand education choice, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is picking up steam,” writes Andrew Ujifusa for Education Week. “Fresh evidence that DeVos is continuing her push to prioritize choice with federal funds can be found in...
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos introduced a proposal last week that would empower teachers “through stipends or vouchers, to select and access professional development courses and opportunities that are relevant to their personal needs or career goals instead of having one-size-fits all programming dictated...
The Greater Johnstown School District in New York is waiting on its ESSA designation, which is expected soon. Nicole Panton—the district’s director of curriculum and professional development— presented an overview of the educational accountability system to the Board of Education, saying “the Johnstown school system...
According to InsiderNJ, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Representatives Donald Norcross (D-NJ) and Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) have reintroduced a bill that seeks to address the nation’s increasingly problematic teacher shortage. The Supporting the Teaching Profession Through Revitalizing Investments in Valuable Educators (STRIVE) Act “would overhaul the student loan...
Education Dive’s Lucy Hood reports on the importance of social-emotional learning (SEL) and highlights a new guide from the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL). The guide, “provides educators with assessment tools for gauging social emotional learning (SEL) as well as guidelines for...
Amelia Harper reports about new research from the NYC Leadership Academy, which examines the issue of coaching principals. In a related policy brief entitled “Still in the Game: How Coaching Keeps Leaders in Schools and Making Progress,” the Academy “suggests eight policy changes that school...
Klein reports on how ESSA’s Academic Enrichment Grants (aka, Title IV) just “got a huge boost” from $400 million to $1.1 billion. So, “what are districts going to do with those grants?” According to an Education Week Research Center survey, while there are some “regional differences”...
In the Augusta Chronicle, Doug Mesecar and Don Soifer, authors of a recent report from the Lexington Institute, write about the mission, rollout and implementation of ESSA’s Military Student Identifier and “highlighted the compelling work at the Columbia County School District in serving its military-connected...
Because ESSA sets aside professional development funding for all states and local districts, the National Center for Learning Disabilities has put together a helpful toolkit “for parents and advocates to use in their schools and districts” to advocate for professional development that will improve outcomes for students...
According to Matt McCullough, director of innovation in teaching and learning at Schoolcraft Community Schools, “my favorite tasks are providing innovative classroom strategies to my teachers and collaborating with them to lead to greater student success.” After reading Educators for High Standards’ recent report, McCullough is...
