1. 60 of America’s largest school districts are joining Obama’s “My Brother’s Keeper Program” to improve the education futures of African-American and Latino boys from preschool to high school graduation.
2. The FCC has approved spending $2 billion over two years to deliver more Wi-Fi to schools and libraries, with hopes of giving $1 billion annually after that.
3. The U.S. Department of Education says only 15 states fully meet federal requirements for students with disabilities now that its focus has switched from compliance to how well these students are being taught. Meanwhile, 32 states “need assistance,” and 3 and D.C. “need intervention.”
4.cThe U.S. Department of Education has launched a $3 million “randomized-control trial” to gauge the effectiveness of the Khan Academy and its flipped classroom model.
5. Pennsylvania lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow layoffs based in part on teacher performance on the state’s new evaluation system instead of simply seniority, thus following the lead of countless other states.
6. New Jersey Governor Christie has rolled back the impact of tests on teacher evaluations from 30% to 10% next year.