Recess round-up: September 2, 2010

A daily dose of education news around the nation – just in time for a little mid-day break!

Change agent: A profile of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. (Christian Science Monitor)

Improving assessments: The U.S. Department of Education awarded $330 million to two state-coalitions to design new assessment systems aligned with the Common Core Standards. (Education Week)

Teacher effectiveness: How to measure it? Read a June 2010 report from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation here.

Parent participation: Should parents be punished when their kids are chronically truant? (Sacramento Bee)

School incentives: How to get kids to go to school? Pay the parents. (St. Louis Today)

Teacher training: Just shy of Teach For America’s 20th anniversary, founder Wendy Kopp reflects on the past and looks toward the future. (The Wall Street Journal)