Current News

Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia now have waivers from certain provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) approved by the U.S. Department of Education. These waivers provide states the flexibility needed to establish rigorous, high-quality accountability systems that support schools and districts, and provide students with the interventions they need to improve. States are now months into implementation of waivers and, having made significant progress, are considering how these important reform efforts will be continued. States are calling on Congress to reauthorize ESEA to include the innovations from their waivers and provide stability to move forward with systemic reform.

Jessica Cuthbertson, a literacy teacher based in Aurora, Colo., says the Common Core State Standards offer numerous professional possibilities and greater collaboration. Many question whether the Common Core stresses contemporary texts or the classics, informational texts or literature, excerpts or whole works, but Cuthbertson says "or" should be replaced with "and" when implementing the standards.

In the last two years, West Valley (Ariz.) school districts have focused efforts on teacher training and curriculum development to meet the needs of the new Common Core standards that will be used beginning next fall. The standards are expected to help students with critical thinking and ensure a deeper understanding of subjects. Arizona will replace its AIMS test in 2015 with the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) online test.

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have schools and teachers concerned about their curriculum, particularly the emphasis on informational texts under the standards. Educators working in literature and with poetry are particularly concerned, but Center for Teaching Quality's Teacher Leaders Network member Ben Curran says poetry is a perfect fit and should play an important role.

To assist states as they continue to pursue opportunities for ESEA flexibility, the U.S. Department of Education (USED) has released a series of informational brochures and fact sheets related to ESEA Flexibility.

CCSSO has joined a new coalition aimed at boosting STEM graduates and jobs throughout the country. inSPIRE STEM USA is co-chaired by former New Hampshire Senator John E. Sununu and Maria Cardona, a former adviser to the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton and surrogate for both of Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns.

U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) will not seek re-election in 2014. He oversees the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, which is tasked with renewing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the Higher Education Act, and other bills that deal with schools. He also chairs a Senate appropriations subcommittee that writes funding bills for all K-12 programs.

The appointment of Chris Minnich as the new executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) indicates that the organization will continue to help states implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and develop assessments for the standards.

New data from the National Center for Education Statistics says the graduation rate among U.S. high-school students climbed to a 35-year high in 2010. The rate increased 2.7 percent over the prior year to 78.2 percent for students receiving their diploma in four years. Graduation rates have mostly been on the rise over the past decade.

The Montana Digital Academy (MTDA) was created by the state legislature three years ago to be an online learning tool for the state's far-flung high school students. Almost any class is available on MTDA, ranging from remedial math and English courses to language, honors, Advanced Placement, and dual credit classes, such as Latin and oceanography.