Current News

At a recent New Hampshire Scholars program event, panelists, including New Hampshire Education Commissioner Virginia Barry, discussed how to build better partnerships between businesses and schools and to honor those already making progress toward that goal. Leaders hope for 100 percent participation in the program as 60 of the state's 80 high schools already take part to ensure students have the skills the business community needs.

In October, the Missouri State Board of Education adopted a resolution in support of International Education Week to encourage schools to provide students with the knowledge they would need to succeed in an increasingly global society and its globally competitive economy. Missouri Education Commissioner Chris L. Nicastro said, "The ability to communicate effectively with people from other countries and develop a deeper understanding of other cultures has never been more important."

In Louisiana, tougher questions for English, math, science, and social studies on annual assessments may not count toward this year's results, but they will count for nearly 10 percent of the results in the 2013-14 school year and all answers will count in the 2014-15 school year. State Superintendent of Education John White said the tests are part of the state's move toward a more rigorous curriculum aimed at improving student achievement.

Iowa Education Director Jason Glass released a 20-page report that, among other things, recommended the implementation of a Response to Intervention program to assess students three times per year and provide struggling students with additional small group or one-on-one instruction. Glass says the program would have "quality controls as to what those assessments look like," but each school can choose its own assessments. The goal of the program is to reduce the achievement gap between different socioeconomic, racial, and disability groups.

The U.S. Department of Education has named 20 school districts and nonprofits as winners of the third round of the Investing in Innovation (i3) grant competition. A total of $150 million was awarded, with eight "validation" awards up to $15 million and 12 "development" awards up to $3 million.

In a recent speech to educators, Oregon Chief Education Officer Rudy Crew stressed that confidence in the classroom and building relationships with students are keys to success. "I want the model in Oregon classrooms to focus on confidence. Confidence plus effort," he said. "When they say they can't do algebra or that they don't like math, you tell them you believe they can."

A new Michigan State University study published in Educational Researcher supports the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSSM), which will be implemented in 46 states in 2014. Researchers William Schmidt and Richard Houang report that states with previous standards most similar to CCSSM scored better on national math tests in 2009.

The Iowa State Board of Education has approved new rules that will require prospective teachers -- beginning with those graduating in spring 2013 -- to score in the 25th percentile on two national tests in order to obtain their teaching certificates. Only elementary school teachers are presently required to take two exams, but the new rules expand the requirement to all teachers.

Guam Public School System Superintendent Jon Fernandez says the agency has been given a three-year grant that will enable it to promote the Common Core standards at the school level. The $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education will support administrator and teacher leadership with regard to Common Core implementation, and Fernandez says the funds will enable the agency to overcome local financial challenges and focus on outcomes.

Georgia Superintendent of Schools John Barge has praised the state for helping improve student test scores over the past year. Barge said the state has partnered with the Black Caucus to set up educational summits throughout the state to share the positive news.