“Common Core Blarney.” Ten illegitimate arguments around the Common Core State Standards (five for, five against) and why you shouldn’t believe them. (Sherman Dorn)

Math March Madness. What about a NCAA bracket-style, academic competition that pits classrooms across the country against each other in subjects like math? (USA Today)

“Geeky grannies.” A tribute to grandmothers (past Continue Reading »

How to raise long-term living standards for children. Step one: Elevate academic expectations, writes Peter Cookson Jr. (The Journal News)

Doing “more than ever before.” Almost 70 percent of teachers surveyed say that technology has helped maximize their work in the classroom. This Education Sector piece profiles a blended learning school in California, where technology allows for 48 (enContinue Reading »

Best edu-tweet from last night’s State of the Union? @smarick: PreK, high schools, CTE, and higher ed get big attention. K-8: the Jan Brady of this year’s SOTU. (Twitter)

When does a policy start? “The point is that a counter-intuitive idea—that policy effects can occur before a policy is adopted—must be taken seriously,” writes Tom Loveless. It’s something to consider for implemenContinue Reading »

Statistic of the day. Nearly 90 percent of Americans say students should receive college credit for work experience and other skills learned outside of the classroom. An Education Sector-New America Foundation report last fall highlighted ways that institutions can measure learning based on competencies and prior learning assessments like these. (Gallup)

Oh, the irony. A MOOC intended toContinue Reading »

Success with the Common Core. Critics of the Common Core State Standards have ramped up efforts against the new educational framework, particularly in Colorado, Idaho, and Indiana, for a variety of reasons. A recent Education Sector piece reminds us that we’ve been here before. It outlines the biggest obstacles to the Common Core’s success and how to avoid them. (Education Week)

Ed reforContinue Reading »

Where ed chiefs aren’t elected, but appointed. Indiana’s outgoing ed chief Tony Bennett, who was defeated during the November elections, is seeking the top education spot in Florida. (Indianapolis Star)

Try before you pilot. The college scorecard, a proposed online tool meant to help students make smarter decisions about college, needs the input of actual users, not policymakers, argues Continue Reading »

Tennessee’s ESEA waiver request offers a strikingly honest confession: “The state fully recognizes that, in the past, PD in Tennessee, whether offered by the state, LEAs, or outside organizations, has often been of poor quality.” The request goes on to describe some ways the state plans to do better with professional development on the Common Core State Standards over the next few years, for exContinue Reading »

The Obama Administration has granted waivers from No Child Left Behind to 33 states and the District of Columbia in return for adopting college- and career-ready standards, creating new accountability systems, and implementing teacher and principal evaluation and support systems*. The Department defines “college- and career-ready standards” as:

…content standards for kindergarten throughContinue Reading »

So Google doesn’t know everything. This writer tries to answer the question: How many college students never finish school? She ends up with a bottle of aspirin. Education Sector’s Anne Hyslop would sympathize. She has argued for the 4 Ts of edu-data (timely, thorough, tailored, and transparent) to save folks these exact headaches. (The Atlantic)

To tweed or not to tweed? A Notre Dame faContinue Reading »