BRANDON PAYKAMIAN The Tennessee Department of Education released the official 2018 ACT test results Wednesday, noting a small improvement from last year’s state average composite score of 20.1 to 20.2, a record-breaker. Throughout the state, the 63,104 public school graduates increased their average score in most areas, according to state officials. The average scores in…
Category: Testing
State’s new school report cards at odds with CPS’ own ratings
By Lauren FitzPatrick The state’s new report cards for public schools around Illinois, released Tuesday, pose a conundrum for parents of kids at Chicago Public Schools, which unveiled its own ratings last week: Which metric should they believe? CPS, for example, gave its highest rating — Level 1+ — to 185 schools — but 30 of…
Teachers to vote next week on possible strike at 19 Chicago charter schools
By Mitchell Armentrout 10/24/2018 Teachers at 19 Chicago charter schools will hold strike authorization votes next week that could open the door to the first-ever work stoppage at any charter school in the nation. Votes will be cast Oct. 30 by teachers at the city’s 15 schools in the Acero network, the largest unionized charter…
Public school teachers in Rapid City still without contract
Oct 22, 2018 RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) – Public school teachers in Rapid City are still without a contract for the current academic year. The Rapid City Journal reports that the teachers union and the school board failed to come to an agreement during an Oct. 9 meeting. They’ll now meet with a state Labor Department…
How are America’s public schools really doing?
It’s hard to find a public official today who, when talking about public schools, doesn’t talk about what a mess they are. Failing. Some of them are, in fact, failing kids. This piece, written by Jack Schneider, an assistant professor of education at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and the author of “Beyond Test Scores: A…
Arizona Could Be a Case Study for Turning Teacher Protest Into Power
“I realized I wouldn’t be able to look my students in the eyes if I didn’t do everything possible.” EDWIN RIOSOCTOBER 12, 2018 6:00 AM In 2016, newly minted Arizona Teacher of the Year Christine Porter Marsh criss-crossed the state, giving speeches and listening to the concerns of her fellow educators. The Arizona Legislature had been slashing school…
Why Texas public schools are suffering. [Opinion]
David S. Knight Oct. 11, 2018 Texas is a prosperous state, but lawmakers are failing to adequately finance public education, and communities and students are suffering the academic, physical and economic consequences. The upcoming legislative session provides a unique opportunity for our state’s elected leaders to right past wrongs, but a preliminary budget request from the…
Pasco schools seek class size solutions
Jeffrey Solochek October 2, 2018 Nearly two months into the academic year, several Pasco County schools continue to struggle meeting state class size requirements. A recently created report indicates hundreds of classrooms across the district that exceeded the constitutional caps by at least one student. School Board members said they had received calls of classes with…
Class sizes raise concerns for Mich. parents, districts, teachers
September 26, 2018 Jennifer Chambers, Korie Wilkins was happy with the small class sizes at her son’s elementary school for the last three years. Then the Rochester Community Schools parent heard a number this month that stopped her in her tracks: 30. “There are 30 kids in his class,” Wilkins said. “He has never had…
Austin ISD considers increasing class sizes to save money
October 8, 2018 Tom Miller AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin ISD is considering increasing the student to teacher ratio next year at campuses throughout the district in an effort to reduce its multi-million dollar budget deficit. Under the proposal, kindergarten through fourth-grade classes could grow by as many as two students, increasing to 24 per teacher. Middle…
Standing Strong for Public Education! 