By Tony Wan Jul 9, 2018 For much of this decade, the narrative of tech giants battling to sell devices in U.S. K-12 classrooms has pitted Apple against Google. But through an ongoing series of product launches and acquisitions, Microsoft has been making its case to be the dark horse in the race. Today, the Redmond,…
Category: Testing
Chicago promised that closing nearly 50 schools would help kids in 2013. A new report says it didn’t.
By Valerie Strauss May 24, 2018 In 2013, the Chicago school district closed 49 elementary schools and one high school program in the face of a $1 billion deficit, the largest mass school closure in the country’s modern history. Schools officials and Mayor Rahm Emanuel made this promise to nearly 12,000 mostly African American students from…
With A-F grades off the table, Tennessee gets creative about rating its schools under federal law
BY MARTA W. ALDRICH JUNE 11, 2018 Tennessee’s plan to start grading its schools this year has taken a big detour. Days of online testing problems this spring forced officials to toss out a new A-F grading system, under development for more than a year as part of Tennessee’s sweeping plan to usher in a new era of…
Why our schools are failing
Most teachers do not teach because of the money. Updated Jun 13; Posted Jun 12 By Robert Wilkerson When people say our schools are failing, they have overstated the problem. The truth is many of our schools are failing, but some are doing quite well. The ones that are failing are not failing because prayer was taken out…
Melrose teachers continue calls for fair evaluations
By Conor Powers-Smith Posted Jun 1, 2018 at 4:01 PM For the third Friday in a row, Melrose teachers demonstrated solidarity with recently released colleagues on June 1 by gathering outside schools across the city in union t-shirts before heading in for the start of classes. “The standouts or the walk-ins or however you want to characterize them are really just…
Teacher Evaluation Is Stuck in the Past
Race to the Top is over. Why haven’t we moved on? By Rachael E. Gabriel & Sarah L. Woulfin May 15, 2018 When President Barack Obama announced his Race to the Top competition in the summer of 2009, states across the country submitted plans for reforming standards, data use, and teacher quality to turn around their…
Students have their own ideas about standardized tests
Highschoolers weigh in on controversy about tests and teacher evaluations By Rick Karlin Updated 5:28 pm, Thursday, May 31, 2018 Albany Lawmakers, activists and teachers have been fighting for years over the role that student test scores should play when it comes to evaluating teacher performance. The fight continues this month as legislators wrangle over a bill…
State teachers union calls 2018 standardized testing “abusive”
Josh Bazan 6:43 PM, May 23, 2018 BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) – Computer glitches. Lost answers. Tests extending into three class days. Stressed and concerned students. These frustrations from public school teachers across New York State are outlined in a new, eye-opening report from New York State United Teachers (NYSUT). The report, called The Tyranny of Testing,…
De Blasio’s plan to diversify elite NYC high schools would admit top performers from every middle school
Mayor Bill de Blasio brought together city officials, elected leaders and Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza to seek to elminate a single test from being the only factor in deciding whether a student gets into a top high school in New York City. (Todd Maisel / New York Daily News) By CATHERINA GIOINO and ERIN DURKIN JUN 04,…
Teachers Are Marching Ahead Of Their Unions, In Oklahoma And Arizona
April 2, 201811:24 AM ET By: CLARE LOMBARDO & Anya Kamentez “I’m 54 years old and my paycheck is $1,980 [a month]. I can’t afford f****** health insurance.” That’s one of the first things Larry Cagle says on the phone. He is spitting nails. The Tulsa English teacher is one of the leaders of a…
Standing Strong for Public Education! 