A daily dose of education news around the nation – just in time for a little mid-day break!
Back to school but staying home with virtual schools. (The Associated Press via The Boston Globe)
Comparing teachers: The conversation about how best to measure teacher-performance continues, especially when it comes to value-added models. (The New York Times)
Middle-schoolers: New York City students who attend kindergarten through eighth grade under one roof score higher on standardized tests than those who go to stand-alone middle schools. (The Wall Street Journal)
Pay-to-play: Sponsors of NBC’s Education Nation summit, to be held at the end of this month, include the Gates and Broad Foundations, Raytheon, Scholastic, American Airlines and the for-profit University of Phoenix. (Inside Higher Ed)
Special-ed: People who completed summer-long crash courses in teaching special education will enter classrooms in Milwaukee today. (The Hechinger Report, in collaboration with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
Standardized tests: Thirty-nine percent of Oregon sophomores failed a state reading test required for graduation. (The Oregonian)
Waiting for Superman: Readers weigh in on Thomas Friedman’s August 25th column, “Steal This Movie, Too,” cautioning us on the film’s depiction of charter schools as a cure-all, and the roles of students, parents, teachers and school leaders. (The New York Times)
