A daily dose of education news around the nation – just in time for a little mid-day break!
Evaluating teachers: Aaron Pallas of The Hechinger Report‘s EyeOnEd blog looks at a D.C. teacher’s evaluation and continues his examination of IMPACT, the teacher-evaluation system in District of Columbia public schools, on Valerie Strauss’ “Answer Sheet” blog. (The Washington Post)
Jobs in education: A controversial bill to provide states with $10 billion to save education jobs sailed through the Senate yesterday. The money will be passed down to districts using the current school-aid formula. And how’s that formula working for schools? (Dow Jones via Albany Times Hearld-Record)
For-profit colleges: Senator Tom Harkin will examine the accreditation process of 30 schools after federal agents discovered deceptive practices in all 15 for-profits they investigated. (The New York Times)
Equal rights: A letter to the editor about civil-rights groups and the ed reform controversy from the executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Honestly, can’t we all just get along? (The Washington Post)
Ed reform: Although Washington state didn’t make the cut in round two of Race to the Top, the Seattle Public Schools are proposing a bold change that would tie teacher evaluations to student performance. (Seattle Times)
Innovation grants: Teach for America, Ohio State University, KIPP and Success for All are top finalists in the $650 million federal grant competition known as Investing in Innovation (i3). They must secure private-sector matching funds worth 20 percent of their grant, unless they get a waiver from the department by Sept. 8. (AP and Education Week)
Pay to play: Amidst budget shortfalls, some Oregon high school athletes and their families have to pay to participate in after-school sports. (Clackamas Review)
Pre-k budgets slashed: “States are cutting hundreds of millions from their prekindergarten budgets, undermining years of working to help young children — particularly poor kids — get ready for school.” (AP via UCLA/IDEA Newsroom)
Technology and education: The Learning, Design & Technology (LTD) program in Stanford’s School of Education encourages students to design technology-enhanced learning environments. (The Stanford Daily)
