The Common Core Standards: A Summer 2013 Update
Introduced in draft form in 2009, the Common Core Standards are on their way to schools across the country, ready or not. This large scale education reform was initiated by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers...
Quotable Education Quotes: 7/29/2013
** "Back in 2011, the administration's Race to the Top sweepstakes . . . had a round focused on early childhood education. The first priority that states were asked to consider as they wrote their proposals was this: 'Priority 1: Absolutely Priority--Using Early...
Making Common Core News: 7/25/2013
1. More than one million students across the country have participated in a pilot of the math and English/language arts SBAC and PARCC Common Core standardized tests to help prepare teachers for when they really count. 2. The Next Generation Science Standards have...
Education-Related Websites: 7/24/2013
** http://englishcompanion.ning.com ~ This site explains that it's "where teachers go to help each other, a place to ask questions and get help . . ." ** www.usingenglish.com ~ This site offers "a large collection of English as a Second Language (ESL) tools and...
It’s an Education Fact: 7/23/2013
1) A recent survey showed that 71% of 4th grade teachers grouped their students by reading ability in 2009, up from 28% in 1998. In math, 61% of them grouped by ability, up from 40% in 1996. 2) Obama's School Improvement Grant program has given up to $2 million to...
Quotable Common Core Quotes: 7/22/2013
** "In fact, I think Common Core is going to set education back even further because you're dictating curriculum, what people are supposed to regurgitate on some kind of an assessment that's supposed to gauge how well kids have learned the material and how well...
Education-Related Websites to Visit: 7/17/2013
** http://quest.nasa.gov ~ Here you'll find "free, web-based, interactive explorations designed to engage students in authentic scientific and engineering processes . . ." ** http://pbskids.org ~ This site offers videos, games, even shows. ** www.quizpoo.com ~ Called...
It’s an Education Fact: 7/16/2013
1) While women hold 48% of all U.S. jobs, they hold just 24% of STEM-related ones. 2) Tech jobs represented 5.4% of the private sector workforce with an average salary of $93,800 vs. the average private wage earner's $47,400. 3) Now only 4% to 5% of children start...
Quotable Education Quotes: 7/15/2013
** On online schools: "Like the charter schools, they have no busing costs, they have no transportation costs, there's just a whole series of costs they don't have. So the question is, why would we give them as much money as we give to traditional public schools? The...
Making Common Core News: 7/11/2013
11. Opposition to the Common Core Standards is mounting--especially towards their frequent testing and mostly from conservative groups and teacher unions. Meanwhile, many Democrats, while not opposed to national standards, say that the Common Core is not based on...
Education-Related Websites to Visit: 7/10/2013
*** www.themoreyouknow.com ~ This site offers a free downloadable eBook to help kids understand how to "behave" online and start a conversations about online safety. *** www.colorincolorado.com ~ This is a "bilingual site for families and educators of English language...
It’s an Education Fact: 7/09/2013
1. A National Council on Teacher Quality found that annual teacher pay increases dropped from 3.6% in 2008-09 to 1.3% in 2011-12. 2. U.S. unemployment remains at 7.5%, with only 50% of young blacks in their 20s holding a job. 3. In the past 2 school years, 40...
Quotable Education Quotes: 7/08/2013
** "I reject the idea that [accountability-based testing] forces people to cheat." ~ Arne Duncan, U.S. Education Secretary ** "In the years ahead, the burden will be on unions to develop policies rooted in information-era schools where student learning is the focus....
Making Education News: 7/04/2013
1. Just so you know: The U.S. boasted 1/3 of all high-performing students in both reading and science among the OCED nations--far more than our next closest competitor Japan. On math, we claimed 14% of the high performers, with Japan coming in at 15.2% and South Korea...
Education-Related Websites to Visit
*** http://juniebjones.com/parent-newsletter-signup/ ~ Just sign your kid up for the Junie B.! Kids Reading Club and receive a starter kit that includes a free book and activity pages. *** www.scholastic.com/summer ~ Sign up your child for the 2013 Scholastic Summer...
It’s an Education Fact: 7/02/2013
1) The $650 million ("i3) grant competition awarded up to $50 million to each of 49 recipients in 2010. 2) On the NAEP in economics, 43% of high schoolers scored at the "proficient" level or above. The breakdown: 53% of whites, 26% of Hispanics, and 17% of blacks. 3)...
Quotable Quotes: 7/01/13
"When I was a child, back in the Parenting Stone Age (a.k.a. the Parentocentric Era), your parents were the most important people in the family. They paid the bills, bought your clothes, prepared the food you ate, took care of you when you were sick, drove you to...
Recommended Education Websites: 5/22/2013
www.persuasivegames.com/games ~ This site offers a variety of quality video games for educators and others--and all so much better than "Angry Birds." www.starfall.com ~ This site teaches children "to read with phonics using a systematic phonics approach and in...
Current Education Facts: 5/21/2013
According to an UCLA survey, 87.9% of freshmen this year said "being able to get a better job" is an important reason to go to college. Between 2005 and 2011, 45 states increased the number of 8th graders taking Algebra I. Nevertheless, states that didn't actually...
Quotable Parenting Education Quotes: 5/20/2013
"Kids are in school for six hours a day. The rest of the time, they're at home. And unless parents work in concert with their children's teachers, their children will never be able to reach their true potential. Over the summer, it's entirely possible for a kid, if...
