July News RoundUP

News

Week of July 21-25

• Obama To Report Widening of Initiative For Black and Latino Boys, New York Times: 60 of the nation’s largest school districts have signed on to the Administration’s program, My Brother’s Keeper. Together, these districts represent more than 40 percent of African-American and Hispanic boys living below the poverty line.
• Apple Touts Strong iPad Sales in Global School Market, Education Week: Apple dominates the market for tablets in K-12 US education, and this month announced it’s not doing too badly internationally either.
• Poll Shows More Students in Summer Programs, Ed Source: New data released shows that a third of families with school-age children enrolled at least one child in 2013 summer programs. That is an increase from five years earlier when only a quarter of families had enrolled.
• Federal Study Probes Readiness of 4th Graders for Computer-Based Tests, Education Week: According to a pilot study by NCES, 4th graders are capable of being assessed on computers, however whether the results of a computer-based test offer a true measure of students’ writing abilities is yet to be determined.

Week of July 14-18

• States that Dropped CCSS Under Gun in Replacing Them, Education Week: States that dropped the CCSS face the prospect of less time to create new academic standards, under intense political pressure.
• Schools Safe Haven for Kids Who Crossed the Border Alone, US News & World Report: School districts such as Washington, Houston, and Miami have seen an uptick in undocumented immigrants. The government estimates that 90K children could make the journey alone by this fall.
• Ed Tech Accelerators Launch Second Round of Classes for Startups, Education Week K-12 Marketplace: This summer two high-profile accelerator programs—Pearson’s Catalyst for Education and Kaplan EdTech—have launched their second round of mentoring and support for edtech startups.

Week of July 7-11

• EA Calls for Duncan’s Resignation, Education Week: Delegates from the NEA passed a resolution calling for Sec. Duncan’s resignation. The Secretary’s response to the high profile Vergara court case in California spurred this action.
• Zero Tolerance Policies Are Destroying the Lives of Black Children, Washington Post: The Obama Administration recently issued new guidance around zero tolerance policies. In this opinion piece Dr. Andre Perry, founding dean of of urban education at Davenport University, argues that schools are giving up on black children by simply expelling those they deem not ready to learn.
• New Obama Initiative Stresses Equal Access to Good Teachers, Huffington Post: Earlier this month, the Administration announced a new push to enforce a mandate under NCLB that gives students of all ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds equal access to good teachers.
• FCC Approves E-Rate Modernization Along Partisan Lines, Education Week: Earlier this month, the FCC approved plans to boost support for more wi-fi technology and create more efficiency. The plan includes $1 billion over the next two years to provide greater access for schools and libraries across the country.

Blogs

• Edtech Promoters Need to Understand How Most of Us Learn, Hechinger Report: This piece by Annie Murphy Paul is a word of warning to those touting personalized, student-driven learning. She reminds the edtech world that students need to learn from teachers and peers in order to be truly successful.
• Digital Game Developers to Get Free Help Tracking Student Learning, Ed Week Digital Ed Blog: GlassLab announced it will be providing free assessment and analytics technology to third-party digital learning game developers, including a cohort of five groups beginning this fall.
• Facebook Pilots Free Wi-Fi for Kids’ Homes, TechCrunch: The company announced a pilot that provides free wi-fi to students in NC, located near one of Facebook’s big data centers. This comes at a time when another digital divide initiative hit a stumbling block: a 1:1 laptop program issued the computers to students, but officials realized students had no access at home. Great example of a public/private partnership!
• Why Is GBL Good for Today’s Youth, Huffington Post: Industry experts weigh in on why game-based learning is good for students.
• LA Education Officials Reject iPad in Favor of Laptops for Schools, Digital Trends: After the debacle that LAUSD experience with iPads this last year, it now appears they are making an about-face and adopting other computing devices for some schools in the district.
• How to Cultivate Blended Learning Leaders and Grow a Better Pipeline, edSurge: A director of technology for KIPP in Chicago reflects on his new role, and what schools should look for as these new positions grow in demand.

Reports

• Policy Playbook for Personalized Learning, Bellweather Education: While edtech gains traction in schools, this report says the current technologies are barely scratching the surface of what technology is truly able to do to teaching and learning in the US education system.
• OECD: Assessments the Greatest US Education “Innovation”: A new report from the OECD says that the greatest US contribution of innovation in education has been standardized testing. Many of the greatest innovations in Asian countries deal with peer evaluations of teachers in schools.
• New Report on Extended Learning Time: The US DOE has reviewed ELT research and found mixed results. But it highlights promising design features, including the use of certified teachers for the extra time and targeting the initiatives to specific student needs, such as reading.
• Creating Anytime, Anywhere Learning for Students: Alliance for Excellent Education disseminated a new report on the key elements for a comprehensive digital infrastructure.