- For the fifth year in a row, Maryland’s public school system earned the top spot with a B+ in Education Weekly‘s Quality Counts 2013. Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia cam in next with overall grades of B.
- Former D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s Students First gave 12 states failing grades on public school policies. No state received an A, and only two received a B-.
- The Baltimore school system is paying bonuses to teachers and administrators at struggling schools that reduce suspensions, a program that many say compromises school safety. The bonuses, so far, have ranged from $5,000 to $9,000 given to 72 teachers and assistant principals, plus $3,000 each to two principals. The program is funded with Maryland’s $695,000 federal Race to the Top grant winnings.
- Researchers have found that girls taught by a female teacher get a learning boost is said teacher has a strong math background but consistently performed more poorly if she did not. Boys were unaffected either way.
- Parents at California’s Desert Trails Elementary School used the parent trigger law, successfully turning the school over to a charter school operator in August. The law was inspired by the film, Won’t Back Down.
