Education: DC Area Education News, Education Policy, School Information - The Washington Post

The billionaires lose one

Valerie Strauss — Thu, 23 May 2013 09:02:57 GMT

Big money doesn't always win the day. At least it didn't in a school board race in Los Angeles in which a few million dollars showered on a favored candidate failed to overcome the poorly funded campaign of a fifth-grade teacher.

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The serious risks of rushing new teacher evaluation systems

Valerie Strauss — Thu, 23 May 2013 09:02:48 GMT

Increasingly we are hearing concerns from educators that new education reforms are being rushed, including the Common Core State Standards. At the same time, new teacher evaluation systems are being put into place as well. Here to evaluate the risks to rushing these systems are Morgan S. Polikoff and Matthew Di Carlo. Morgan is assistant professor in the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California. Di Carlo is a senior fellow at the non-profit Albert Shanker Institute, located in Washington, D.C. This post appeared on the Shanker blog.

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NY principals: Why new Common Core tests failed

Valerie Strauss — Thu, 23 May 2013 08:01:22 GMT

Teachers and principals in New York have expressed strong concerns about the new high-stakes standardized tests supposedly aligned with the Common Core State Standards that were recently given to students across the state. The following letter to New York Education Commissioner John King from a number of New York principals explains the depth of the problems educators found with the tests.

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Montgomery middle school students see their films on the big screen

Lynh Bui — Thu, 23 May 2013 02:47:00 GMT

Downtown Silver Spring isn’t exactly Hollywood, but for Montgomery County middle school students, it was transformed into a scene as thrilling as any L.A. movie premiere Wednesday.

Silver Spring International Middle School students filled the seats of the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center to see their documentaries and films roll on the big screen, part of a two-day film festival that continues Thursday morning. The event is the culmination of the school’s “Lights, Camera, Literacy!” classes, designed to teach middle school students about storytelling and the elements of literature through movies and other visual media.

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Fairfax County School Board to consider discipline changes

T. Rees Shapiro — Wed, 22 May 2013 22:32:02 GMT

As a year-long study of Fairfax County school discipline policies nears its end, some School Board members and parents are questioning whether any substantial changes will come out of it.

The board plans to consider revised regulations relating to student rights and responsibilities at a meeting Thursday, with a final vote scheduled to come in two weeks. Notable proposed changes focus on how parents are notified when their child is under investigation for possible discipline, and they would soften punishments for first-time marijuana possession.

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Chicago to shutter 50 schools, largest mass closing in major U.S. city

Lyndsey Layton — Wed, 22 May 2013 21:27:28 GMT

Chicago’s board of education voted Wednesday to shutter 50 schools, the largest number of schools closed at one time by any major U.S. city.

The board, appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D), opted to close 49 elementary schools and one high school after the current school year ends. It decided to keep open four additional schools that had been recommended for closure by Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett.

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National Geographic Bee puts Mass. student on the map

T. Rees Shapiro — Wed, 22 May 2013 21:22:00 GMT

Quick question: Name the peak in Ecuador with a summit that marks the point farthest from Earth’s center due to our planet’s bulge at the equator.

If you were Sathwik Karnik, a 12-year-old from Massachusetts, you’d know the answer is Chimborazo, and you’d have won the National Geographic Bee along with a $25,000 college scholarship.

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Henderson shakes up two D.C. schools

Emma Brown — Wed, 22 May 2013 20:57:00 GMT

More than 100 teachers and other staff members at two D.C. schools learned this week that they must reapply for their jobs after Chancellor Kaya Henderson decided to “reconstitute” the schools in an effort to spur improvement.

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Md. to spend $2 million to expose high school students to college-level courses

Ovetta Wiggins — Wed, 22 May 2013 19:58:00 GMT

Maryland has allocated $2 million to help fund programs throughout the state that will allow students to take high school and college courses at the same time, Gov. Martin O’Malley said while taking a tour at the Academy of Health Science at Prince George’s Community College on Wednesday.

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Md. student who says she faced harassment wants to discuss reform with officials

Lynh Bui — Wed, 22 May 2013 19:19:00 GMT

A Montgomery County student, who said she was harassed for refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance said the apology she received from her principal wasn’t enough. She still wants to meet with district officials and Superintendent Joshua P. Starr’s staff.

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What do you do if your child isn’t going to college?

Jay Mathews — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:22:20 GMT

A parent asked me recently what she should do if her child doesn’t appear headed for college. The student in question is just a fourth-grader, but this is the Washington area, probably our nation’s most college-conscious region. Parents here like to plan ahead.

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Pr. George’s BOE responds to adding 15 new employees

Ovetta Wiggins — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:04:00 GMT

The Prince George’s County Board of Education released an e-mail statement Wednesday about its decision to hire 15 new employees to work for the school board.

The board voted 7-1 on May 9 to approve the emergency measure. School board member Donna Hathaway Beck (District 9) was opposed, and Carletta Fellows (District 7) was absent.

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Jefferson-Houston in Alexandria to get a fresh start with a new building

Michael Alison Chandler — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:42:00 GMT

Construction of a new building for Alexandria’s Jefferson-Houston School broke ground this week, an event officials said heralds a brighter future for a school that is under tremendous pressure to improve academically.

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Pr. George’s residents work to block new school system structure

Ovetta Wiggins — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:48:17 GMT

Organizers of a petition drive to block Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III’s plan to restructure the public school system from taking effect said during a news conference Tuesday that they have a couple of hundred canvassers collecting signatures at megachurches, graduations and community gatherings as their deadline approaches.

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'What has changed is that it is harder for us to be nice to kids' -- departing veteran principal

Valerie Strauss — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:02:21 GMT

George Wood is retiring this year after serving as principal of Federal Hocking Secondary School in Stewart, Ohio, for 21 years. He will stay on as superintendent of the Federal Hocking District. Wood is a nationally known author, educator, activist and school reform leader, and founder of the Forum for Education and Democracy. This is his last weekly letter to his staff.

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Jeb Bush's 'Chiefs for Change' attack Weingarten for something she didn't say

Valerie Strauss — Wed, 22 May 2013 10:03:06 GMT

How's this for a trick? Jeb Bush's "Chiefs for Change," a group of former and current state education superintendents, have attacked American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten for something she didn't say -- without even mentioning her name!

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The college 'preparation gap' in a single graphic

Valerie Strauss — Wed, 22 May 2013 08:02:13 GMT

An annual national survey of school curriculum concludes that there is a "large gap" between how high school teachers perceive their graduating students' readiness for college and what professors expect freshmen to know.

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'It's just our job' -- teacher who saved students from tornado

Valerie Strauss — Wed, 22 May 2013 06:01:09 GMT

A CNN video:

In this CNN story, second-grade teacher Tammy Glasgow talks about the Oklahoma tornado that demolished her school, Briarwood Elementary. Nobody died in the school, thanks to the efforts of the teachers. The story says in part:

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University of Virginia is falling behind its competitors, consultants warn in report

Jenna Johnson — Wed, 22 May 2013 00:32:10 GMT

CHARLOTTESVILLE — A higher education consulting firm had a blunt message for the University of Virginia’s governing board Tuesday: Despite the university’s vaunted stature as a “public Ivy,” school and state leaders have been complacent in the past 15 years and U-Va. is now falling behind many of its competitors.

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Fairfax teacher raises: a breakdown

T. Rees Shapiro — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:01:00 GMT

When the gavel is struck and Thursday’s Fairfax County School Board meeting is adjourned one fact will be certain: the district’s teachers will earn raises next year.

The question board members will face as they finalize the fiscal year 2014 budget is how exactly to fund those pay increases.

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Meridian continues to examine allegations of test-tampering

Emma Brown — Tue, 21 May 2013 20:38:29 GMT

Meridian Public Charter School officials have said that are continuing to examine allegations of test-tampering at the school and have not yet disciplined any staff members.

Meridian was among four charter schools that the Office of the State Superintendent flagged last month for cheating on 2012 standardized tests. Five classrooms — representing more than 40 percent of tested students -- were implicated.

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Common Core clash: AFT president fires back at state education officials

Lyndsey Layton — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:45:49 GMT

The head of a major teachers union fired back Tuesday at state education officials who had dismissed her call for a moratorium on stakes associated with new standardized state tests in public schools.

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Quiet protest staged at Teachers College graduation

Valerie Strauss — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:15:37 GMT

Some students staged a quiet protest at Columbia University Teachers College commencement ceremonies Tuesday in New York to express their unhappiness with the choice of Merryl Tisch as a speaker and award recipient.

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Tornado survivor: Our teacher saved our lives

Valerie Strauss — Tue, 21 May 2013 18:01:12 GMT

Here's a video from "Today" about how a teacher saved some children when the massive tornado struck Moore, Okla., and the transcript:

Reporter: You know, there have been some amazing stories of survival that are starting to emerge from the rubble and I have one of those, Brandi Klein, Damien Klein and Bobby Britain. Damien, you're a fourth-grader at Plaza Tower Elementary School. Do you remember anything from yesterday?

Damien: We were in class and all we heard was the sirens go off and we all ran to the hallway. Some of us had a math book, some of us had backpacks and they went off again. Then we ducked again and then it went off and then we went in the bathroom, and then they went off again and then we heard the tornado and it sounded like a train coming by, and then we all, we were all covered and a teacher took cover of us, Miss [Rhonda] Crossway.

Reporter: Miss Crossway threw her body right over you, didn't she?

Damien: Yes.

Reporter: Was she covering you and some other students?

Damien: She was covering me and my friend, Zachary, and then she, I told her that we were fine because we were holding onto something and she went over to my friend Antonio and covered him, and then so she saved our lives.

Reporter: She did save your lives. How long do you remember being under the teacher? How long did it feel like for the tornado to pass over you?

Damien: About five minutes

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EdX adds 15 schools, several from Asia

Nick Anderson — Tue, 21 May 2013 16:28:05 GMT

The race to enlist the world’s universities in the movement for free online education accelerated Tuesday as the Web site edX announced that it has added 15 new schools, more than doubling the size of the venture, with new partners from Asia, Europe and Australia.

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