- The federal government has denied Pennsylvania’s request to evaluate charter school achievement using more lenient criteria, so they must now be assessed by the same standards as traditional public schools.
- Pennsylvania’s Education Secretary of Education Ron Tomalis is seeking a No Child Left Behind waiver after the state’s request for a 2-year freeze on assessment performance targets was denied. That leave just 5 states yet to request a waiver.
- The U.S. Department of Education has released a first-ever list of each state’s 4-year high school graduation rates; all states now use a common, more rigorous measure. The results: 26 states reported lower graduation rates than on previous years and 24 showed unchanged or increased rates.
- The Gates Foundation is giving 7 school districts a total of $25 million to reduce tensions and foster collaboration between traditional public schools and charters. Philadelphia, Boston, Denver, New Orleans, New York, and Hartford will each receive $2.2 and $5 million.
- On the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), South Korea and Singapore came out on top in math and 4th grade science, while Singapore and Taiwan were tops in 8th grade science. The U.S. ranked 11th in 4th grade math, 9th in 8th grade math, 7th in 4th grade science, and 10th in 8th grade science.
