Current News

When the College of Education at the University of Kentucky created a program to build capacity in leaders to design new systems for learning, Eminence's superintendent Buddy Berry and instructional supervisor Thom Coffee were among the first participants.

Tennessee Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman plans to reform the state's special education programs. As nearly 14 percent of students are in special education programs across the state, he said, "special education is a huge focus in Tennessee, but they are not achieving at the levels we would consider acceptable."

The South Carolina Education Department reported a decline in the state's dropout rate for the fourth straight year, with dropout rates declining in 51 of the state's 85 school districts.

North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction Kirsten Baesler says the state will join the Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM) consortium to develop alternate state assessments for students with severe cognitive disorders (SWSCD), who represent about 1 percent of students in grades where assessments are administered.

Now that Louisiana requires high school students to take the ACT, the number of students taking the college admissions test has increased by around 11,000 in 2013.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and State Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor have announced a $10 million competitive technology grant for Connecticut school districts.

Tennessee Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman has proposed linking teacher licenses to student test scores, making it tougher for teachers to obtain and maintain licenses by demanding higher scores on initial licensing tests and requiring more frequent renewals.

Beginning in 2014, South Dakota public school students will take new Smarter Balance assessments to assess their abilities in math and English, replacing the STEP assessments.

In South Carolina, 47 schools in 14 districts will pilot the performance-based teacher evaluation system proposed by State Superintendent of Education Mick Zais in the coming school year. A

New Mexico has released the 2013 A-F letter grades for 839 elementary, middle, and high schools. Grades were maintained or improved by more than 70 percent of schools, with improvements recorded by 87 percent of high schools. "Our challenge is to improve every student's achievement, every year.