According to a new Stanford University Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) study, charter school students made larger learning gains overall than their peers in traditional schools on state tests from 2007-2011. More than 33 percent of charters demonstrated higher achievement levels than other public schools in their districts. However, the report also says charter school performance is almost as varied as that of traditional public schools.
The Hawaii Department of Education released its two-year Race to the Top report on Nov. 28, indicating that significant progress has been made toward the state's Race to the Top goals. In particular, the report cites substantial gains in reading and math among the state's fourth- and eighth-graders on the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress.
Louisiana Superintendent John White says the state's prekindergarten overhaul will be tested for at least one year before decisions are made on how schools and centers are graded. "Until we see how those assessments work we will not develop an accountability measure," he says. State officials will create early learning performance guidelines for those up to age three and academic standards for those between ages three and four.
The Nebraska Education Department has released a report on public schools and student progress, indicating that three of four school districts graduated 90 percent or more of their high school students. More than 50 school districts graduated all of their seniors, with 88 percent of high school seniors graduating across the state, up from 86 percent last year. Most school districts demonstrated improvement and growth under the new accountability system.
School accountability reports for 2012 have been issued by the Arkansas Department of Education, the first under a new system in which student achievement, student growth, and high-school graduation rates are used to gauge performance, and individualized targets apply only to a specific school and its students. Under the old system, schools competed against others in their district and those across the state.
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.
Chris Minnich has been named Executive Director of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). The decision follows a nationwide search by CCSSO Board of Directors to find a successor for Gene Wilhoit, after he announced his plans to retire in June.
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 South Carolina Department of Education released data that shows more students graduated on time in 2012 than in 2011, with the rate increasing from 73.6 percent to 74.9 percent. The graduation rates of black, Hispanic, and subsidized school-meal students are at their highest levels since the department began releasing subgroup performance data in 2004. The graduation rate gap between white and black students declined by 0.2 percent in 2012, while the gap with Hispanic students declined 5.1 percent since 2004.
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.
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