Schools eligible for federal improvement grants released

Posted on 12. Mar, 2010 by Heather.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn released the names of 47 schools identified as “persistently lowest-performing schools” as identified by federal guidelines. The identified schools will be eligible for additional Title I funds and must choose one of four intervention models to receive the funds.

The four intervention models are:

1. Turnaround model. Replace the principal, rehire no more than 50 percent of the staff and grant the new principal sufficient operational flexibility (including in staffing, calendars/time and budgeting) to implement fully a comprehensive approach to substantially improve student outcomes.
2. Restart model. Convert the school or close and reopen it under a charter school operator, a charter management organization, or an education management organization that has been selected through a rigorous review process. Washington does not currently authorize charter school operators or charter management organizations. The restart model can only be used through an education management organization.
3. School closure. Close the school and enroll the students who attended that school in other schools in the district that are higher achieving.
4. Transformation model. Replace the principal and take steps to increase teacher and school leader effectiveness; institute comprehensive instructional reforms; increase learning time and create community-oriented schools; and provide operational flexibility and sustained support.

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Race to the Top, phase 1 finalists announced

Posted on 04. Mar, 2010 by Heather.

From the U.S. Department of Education’s website, the 16 finalists for phase 1 of Race to the Top were announced this morning. Some may surprise, others may not (Education Week reporters made predictions using a  bracket) — Colorado, Louisiana, Massachusetts and Ohio were considered early front-runners.

The phase 1 finalists are:

•Colorado
•Delaware
•District of Columbia
•Florida
•Georgia
•Illinois
•Kentucky
•Louisiana
•Massachusetts
•New York
•North Carolina
•Ohio
•Pennsylvania
•Rhode Island
•South Carolina
•Tennessee

The 16 finalists will go before a panel in mid-March, and “winners” will be announced in April. Phase 2 applications are due in June (Washington will apply then).

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Obama: college/career-ready standards linked to federal $

Posted on 22. Feb, 2010 by Heather.

President Obama today shared with the nation’s governors his plan to include college- and career-ready standards in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (aka No Child Left Behind).

Here are the bulleted policiesObama and his educrew would like to see integrated into ESEA:

• “Require all states to adopt and certify that they have college- and career-ready standards in reading and mathematics, which may include common standards developed by a state-led consortium, as a condition of qualifying for Title I funding.
• Include new funding priorities for states with college- and career-ready standards in place, as they compete for federal funds to improve teaching and learning and upgrade curriculum in reading and math. This priority applies to  the President’s FY2011 budget request for new Effective Teaching and Learning programs in literacy ($450 million) and STEM ($300 million).
• Encourage states, schools districts, and other institutions to better align teacher preparation practices and programs to teaching of college and career-ready standards.  This priority supports the President’s FY2011 budget request for a new Teacher and Leaders Pathways program ($405 million).
• Assist states in implementing assessments aligned with college- and career-ready standards, under a new Assessing Achievement program. The President’s FY2011 budget supports $400 million in state grants under this program.
• Support the expansion of the Race to the Top, beyond funding in the Recovery Act, to dedicate $1.35 billion in awards to states and school districts that have college- and career-ready standards in place as a condition of funding.
• Support professional development for teachers, leaders and other school instructional staff to better align instruction to college and career-ready standards.  This supports the President’s FY2011 budget request for the Effective Teacher and Leaders state grant program ($2.5 billion).”

The big thing to note is the potential linkage of Title I funds to the adoption of college- and career-ready standards. For reference, Washington received $388.1 million in Title I funds in FY 2009(or roughly $776 million a biennium). This gels with previous statements and sentiments shared by the Obama adminstration that Race to the Top components will start to bleed into ESEA.

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R2T: 40 states + DC apply

Posted on 20. Jan, 2010 by Heather.

Bee-tee-dubs, if you hadn’t already heard, the deadline for round 1 Race to the Top applications was yesterday. In the end, 40 states and the District of Columbia applied (Washington State is vying for round 2).

Find the list of applicants here, along with press conference footage and other items from the White House. Also see news coverage in Education Week.

It doesn’t look like the U.S. Department of Education has posted state applications yet. Applications for other ARRA grant programs (e.g. State Fiscal Stabilization Fund) were posted…

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36 states might go for R2T, round one

Posted on 15. Dec, 2009 by Heather.

The edublogs are aflutter with the news that 36 states have sent letters of intent to apply for round one of Race to the Top to the U.S. Department of Education. This doesn’t preclude other states from applying or require states that sent in letters to apply. The Department of Education asked states to send in letters of intent so the department can plan for the peer review process. No, Washington’s name is not on the list; we already decided to shoot for round two.

[hat tip(s): eduwonk, gothamschools, politics K-12]

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WA & Math NAEP: 4th grade steady, 8th grade up

Posted on 14. Oct, 2009 by Heather.

The results of the 2009 Mathematics National Assessment of Educational Progress (fondly referred to as NAEP, or the nation’s report card) for grades 4 and 8 were released this morning. As a nation, 4th grade math scores are unchanged from 2007, and 8th grade scores are up slightly. Results in Washington follow that trend, and continue to be above the national average, although Washington is not the leader among the Global Challenge States.

What is less encouraging about our results is the difference in scores between Washington’s low-income and non-low-income students. While we may have smaller gaps than most of the other GCS, we fall into the middle or bottom of the national pack. Negative signs in the tables below indicate low-income students scored lower than their non-low-income peers.

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Education is hot, debt is not.

Posted on 03. Sep, 2009 by Maggie.

Today, the Wall Street Journal published an article stating that student loan borrowing grew 25% in the last year (and has been steadily rising for some time now). “Today, two-thirds of college students borrow to pay for college, and their average debt load is $23,186 by the time they graduate.” For many of us, this is no surprise.

The article goes on to talk about the consequences of a young generation amassing such measurable amounts of debt at such an early age-the effects of which I have been feeling myself! Graduated 20 somethings are postponing important life steps such as buying a home or starting a family due to debt.

This sucks. Walking around with $20,000 worth of debt on your shoulders doesn’t do much for one’s moral. But what upsets me most is who is BENEFITING from student debt. Private lenders!

The House of Representatives is slated to weigh in on this issue very soon. The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA) breezed through the House Committee on Education and Labor, but it’s going to need a lot of support.  I’m urging all students out there to contact your House Rep and tell them we’re tired. Tired of debt and tired of private companies making money off our debt.  While you’re at it, send that very message to Senator Murray. We need a companion senate bill to support SAFRA and she can do it!

Education is hot, debt is not. Private lenders collecting interest off my federal loans? Definitely not hot. Let’s change this.

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Additional ARRA guidelines released

Posted on 24. Jul, 2009 by Heather.

In addition to Race to the Top, the following guidelines are also out today:

Second round of State Fiscal Stabilization Fund grants

Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems grants

Guidelines for the Investing in Innovation Fund, Teacher Incentive Fund, Title I School Improvement Grants and State Educational Technology Grants will be released in the coming weeks, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

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Race to the Top guidelines released

Posted on 24. Jul, 2009 by Heather.

The U.S. Department of Education has released guidelines for Race to the Top funds.

Press release: President Obama, U.S. Secretary of Education Duncan Announce National Competition to Advance School Reform

White House blog: “Race to the Top”

Press conference: http://www.connectlive.com/events/deptedu/deptedu-040309-archive.asx

Race to the Top webpage: http://www.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/index.html

Guidelines: http://www.federalregister.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2009-17909_PI.pdf

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I <3 the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act.

Posted on 15. Jul, 2009 by Bonnie.

Hot off the federal edu-news presses. This morning, Rep. George Miller (CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, introduced the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act. Here are two reasons why this legislation had me at hello:

1) Tackling the Student Loan Problem

If you ask me, students these days are way too familiar with Sallie Mae. She’s like the house guest who will never leave. Sadly there are very few ways to fund higher education - other than to go in debt. Deeply in debt. And, guess who’s making money off this? Our forever-friend (whether we like it or not), Sallie Mae.

This legislation would eliminate wasteful subsidies to student loan companies and use the $87 billion in savings on a bold policy package to make college more affordable and accessible for low and middle income families. The legislation closely follows a proposal by President Obama, despite fierce opposition from the student loan industry, and represents the largest ever investment in higher education.

As Politico puts it, ‘Our choice is clear: we can continue funneling taxpayer dollars through boardrooms, or we can start sending them directly to dorm rooms.’ My vote is for the dorm. Check out the full Politico article here.

2) Investing in Innovative Early Education Programs.

Solve the problem before it starts. Makes sense, huh? This is why I’m such a huge fan of early education programs. I’m not alone.  So is President Obama. Now we see Rep. George Miller is as well. Hooray for kids and common sense.

To ensure more kids reach kindergarten ready to succeed, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act includes an Early Learning Challenge Fund to increase the number of low-income children in high quality early learning settings. If passed this legislation would invest $10 billion over 10 years in competitive grants to challenge states to build a comprehensive, high quality early learning system for children birth to age 5 that includes:

• Early learning standards reform.
• Evidence-based program quality standards.
• Enhanced program review and monitoring of program quality.
• Comprehensive professional development.
• Coordinated system for facilitating screenings for disability, health, and mental health needs.
• Improved support to parents.
• Process for assessing children’s school readiness.
• Use data to improve child outcomes.

Transform early learning programs by insisting upon real change in state standards and practices:

• Build an effective, qualified, and well-compensated early childhood workforce by supporting more effective providers with degrees in early education and providing sustained, intensive, classroom-focused professional development to improve the knowledge and skills of early childhood providers
• Best practices in the classroom by implementing research-based early learning standards aligned with academic content standards for grades K-3.
• Promote parent and family involvement by developing outreach strategies to parents to improve their understanding of their children’s development.
• Fund quality initiatives that improve instructional practices, programmatic practices, and classroom environment that promote school readiness.
• Quality standards reform that moves toward pre-service training requirements for early learning providers, and adopting best practices for teacher-child ratios and group size.

Here is a link to a short summary on the House Education and Labor Committee  website.

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