Checking in on SIG. Three reporting powerhouses teamed up with 18 news outlets to take a comprehensive look at the School Improvement Grant program and how its money is being used. Education Sector created an interactive map of SIG grantees last year. (Education Week)
Embalming bodies is a science. A Washington state college student explains why she commutes five hours daily (round-trip) to go to school to be a funeral director. (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
What began as a class project. An eighth-grader in Maine has inspired a town council ordinance that will ban plastic bags and charge a 10-cent fee for non-recyclable paper bags at big-box stores. While commonplace in some big cities, the ban would be the first in Maine. (The Portland Press Herald)
Something smells fishy. University of Colorado officials have an idea for keeping the usual crowd off campus for the unsanctioned Apr. 20 “smokeout” tomorrow: Apply fish-based fertilizer to the lawn. (h/t The Kept Up Academic Librarian) (Denver Post)
Chad Aldeman 
Kristen Amundson 
John E. Chubb 
Constance Clark 
Peter Cookson Jr. 
Thomas Dawson 
Joni Finney 
Andrew Gillen 
Sara Mead 
Jeff Selingo 
Ben Wildavsky 
Mandy Zatynski 
3/21/2013 | Andrew Gillen tells the 
4/5/2013 | Jordan Weissman discusses Andrew Gillen’s Higher Ed Data Central and the increase in college tuition in 
3/28/2013 | Chad Aldeman’s Chart You Can Trust “The Evergreen Effect” is discussed in