Current News

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded another round of early-childhood education grants as part of the Race to the Top program, following an initial distribution of $500 million to nine states. This time around, $133 million in grants will be given to five states: Colorado, Illinois, New Mexico, Oregon, and Wisconsin.

The New York Education Department says $17.3 million in federal Race to the Top Funds will be distributed to 17 school districts or consortia of districts as part of the state's Virtual Advanced Placement Program. The program aims to provide high school students with better access to advanced placement (AP) courses.

Vermont Education Commissioner Armando Vilaseca says Montgomery and Poultney Elementary Schools achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) on the New England Comprehensive Assessment System (NECAP) for two consecutive years and academic gains within the subpopulation of students in poverty. The state's first Title I Reward Schools will each receive grants totaling $10,000.

Kentucky was the first state to sign on to the Common Core State Standards for reading and math in 2010. The standards were implemented in the classroom the same year, and tests aligned with the standards were rolled out in the 2011-12 school year. A report issued in November shows an increase in students prepared for college or careers to 38 percent for the class of 2011 and 47 percent for the class of 2012, despite a decrease in proficiency scores in reading and math.

Connecticut Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor announced that 46 schools achieved the highest overall performance in the state under a new rating system. The new classifications were based on scores from the 2011-12 Connecticut Mastery Test for elementary and middle schools and the Connecticut Academic Performance Test given in high school. Within the schools of distinction were schools noted for excellence among Black and Hispanic students, students with disabilities, low-income students, and English language learners.

California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson says the state's Common Core State Standards (CCSS) Systems Implementation Plan will "take our state's already world-class standards to a new level, emphasizing a deep understanding of English language arts and mathematics to ensure our students complete high school, ready to thrive in college and careers." The plan, which will be implemented by the 2014-15 school year, will be rolled out in three phases.

The Department of Education announced that 61 applications have been selected as finalists for the $400 million Race to the Top-District (RTT-D) competition.

On December 19, 2012 at 4:30 p.m. ET, CCSSO will be hosting a webinar on the recently released Partnership for Readiness for College and Career (PARCC) and Smarter Balanced sample assessment items in mathematics with middle school mathematics teacher Jim Mamer.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has issued a "Dear Colleague" letter to chief state school officers reinforcing that the requirement of calculating high school completions still applies even under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) waivers. Graduation-rate accountability must be a significant part of accountability systems, and they must be calculated in the same way as outlined in 2008 regulations.

As part of its new Reward Schools Ambassador Program, the Tennessee Department of Education has selected 15 teachers from 2012 Reward Schools -- or those in the top 10 percent with regard to performance and progress -- to share best practices with neighboring schools in their region in an effort to bolster student achievement and close achievement gaps. These teachers all earned the top score of 5 on the state's teacher evaluations, were nominated by their schools for the year-long paid positions, and were chosen through a competitive application and interview process.