1. Washington is the first state so far to lose its NCLB flexibility, and now the government has rejected all of its requests not to have to notify parents if their schools are not meeting AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) and allowing them to transfertheir kids to better schools.
2. Idaho has received a second NCLB waiver; Florida is still waiting for its second.
3. Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Nevada, and South Dakota have now all received such waivers.
4. The AFT is calling for more teacher input in the implementation of the Common Core as a condition for its continued support for the standards.
5. The NEA has launched a national campaign to end the “test, blame, and punish” system now in place in our schools, seeking to end the abuse and overuse of standardized tests and reduce test prep time.
6. The Oklahoma Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s repeal of the Common Core Standards is constitutional.
7. More than 5.2 million kids across the country tested the Common Core assessments. The federal government paid $370 million to two consortia, SBAC and PARCC, to develop them. The upshot: the computerized tests proved difficult for students, especially those in special education.
8. Obama’s upcoming “50-State Strategy” will release “Educator Equity” profiles of how states are faring in spreading teachers between high-poverty and wealthier schools based, for example, on teacher attendance, qualifications, and years of experience.
9. Continuing from #13, next spring states will have to devise plans to address the equitable distribution of teachers.