Anonymous message board app raises concern

Messages, posted anonymously via the app, are hurtful and unnecessary, administrators say

anonymous-appAn anonymous message board app that students in some districts are using to tease teachers and fellow students has parents and educators alarmed, not only because of how it is being used, but because the app, Gaggle–Local Message Board, shares a name with Gaggle.Net, a popular safe online teaching and learning solution.

District leaders are urging schools to block the app and are asking parents to be on the lookout for it, due to the negative way students are using it.

Student use of the app at one high school in the Katy Independent School District prompted the school’s principal to block it from the school’s network and send an eMail to parents to alert them to the situation, according to one local news outlet.…Read More

The latest push for competency-based learning

As personalized learning becomes more in-demand, more educators advocate for competency education

competency-basedStudent-centered learning is at the forefront of many education reforms today, as stakeholders realize that personalizing learning is key to student success. And competency-based learning–the idea that students advance based on concept mastery and not time- or grade-level restraints–is a key part of student-centered learning.

Supporters maintain that education’s design as it is today, which centers around time and curriculum, doesn’t support students the way they need to be supported in order to prepare for a competitive global economy. Critics wonder if all student groups are well-served by the model, and have said there can be too much testing.

“Competency-based education is really foundational for true student-centered learning and personalized learning,” said Susan Patrick, president and CEO of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL), speaking during an April 28 web briefing.…Read More

4 ways to leverage federal funds for ed-tech

Federal funding can help support ed-tech goals in a school or district

ed-tech-fundingEducation technology is a priority in today’s classrooms, and this includes ensuring that students have access to technology tools and high-speed internet to access digital learning resources.

While school budgets are still burdened, federal funding programs, including formula and competitive grant programs, can funnel funds directly to digital learning opportunities, even if program rules and statutes do not explicitly reference ed-tech.

In an open letter to educators, Richard Culatta, the U.S. Department of Education’s director of the Office of Educational Technology, outlines some ways that federal funds from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), along with funds from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), can support ed-tech goals to use technology tools to improve teaching and learning.…Read More

5 critical student data questions for schools

U.S. Department of Education issues guidance on student data privacy, use

student-dataStudent security and data privacy are top concerns for today’s students, and now federal guidelines are helping to shed light on the often confusing issue of data security.

Speaking at the Common Sense Media Privacy Zone Conference on Feb. 24, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said keeping student data secure and using it for its intended purposes are top priorities.

To that end, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) on Feb. 25 released guidance for vendors that work with schools to store student data. Part of ED’s efforts will involve helping educators understand how technology and data interact and how privacy issues surround data issues.…Read More

Six areas that can improve teaching quality

New guide aims to positively impact teaching quality through targeted efforts

teaching-guideA new policy guide from seven educational groups aims to help state leaders improve teaching quality with examples of models that, through research and actual implementation, have proven successful in states across the country.

“Excellent Teachers for Each and Every Child,” is broken into six major sections: Recruitment, Preparation, Professional Learning and Development, Evaluation Systems, Equitable Teaching and Learning Conditions, and Funding. Each part of the guide presents examples, sample legislation, and more.

The blueprint aims to help policymakers implement effective policy changes and improve teaching quality “by pulling from research, state, and global models for ensuring a talented, diverse, and sustainable teaching force that prepares all students for college, career, and life.”…Read More

Are states making the right decisions with charter schools?

Report reveals states’ new aggressive charter schools laws, but can these laws actually impact charter performance?

charter-schools-statesWhether or not you’re for or against charter schools, the charter movement is spreading like a wildfire in many states across the country. Now, one report details which states are updating policy measures that could significantly impact charter school growth and funding for traditional public schools, leading many to wonder: Will more aggressive state charter laws lead to better performance?

The report, “Measuring Up to the Model: A Ranking of State Charter School Laws,” produced by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, evaluates charter school laws in every state based on 20 “Essential Components of a Strong Public Charter School Law.”

Components include no caps on the growth of public charter schools, a variety of public charter schools allowed, multiple authorizers available, accountability required, adequate funding, transparent decision-making processes, performance-based contracts required, and many more.…Read More

The best and worst states for teacher policy

Teacher policy report discusses what makes for good teacher policy and which states still have work to do

teacher-policy-NCTQTeacher quality has been a hot, if polarizing, topic in education recently, with many states making what some perceive to be progressive steps in teacher policy. One new report gives grades to states in how well they’re implementing these teacher policies, from teacher preparation to dismissal.

The report, “State Teacher Policy Yearbook,” by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) provides an analysis of every state law, rule and regulation that “shapes the effectiveness of the teaching profession,” it says, from teacher preparation and evaluation, to compensation, professional development (PD) and dismissal policy.

According to the report, states in the U.S., including the District of Columbia, averaged an “improved” C- for their teacher policies in 2013, up from a grade of D+ in 2011 and D in 2009.…Read More

Charter experiment ‘spinning out of control’

What is happening in Durham County, N.C.,  is exactly what charter school critics have long feared: the destabilization of the traditional district system, the Washington Post reports. Ned Barnett, the editorial page editor of the News & Observer wrote in this piece that the spread of charter schools in the county since the state legislature lifted the cap on new charters in 2011 is out of control, serving to “undermine” the traditional system that educates most of the region’s children — without the kind of accountability that school reformers say they love…

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Fight over effective teachers shifts to courtroom

They have tried and failed to loosen tenure rules for teachers in contract talks and state legislatures, The New York Times reports. So now, a group of rising stars in the movement to overhaul education employment has gone to court. In a small, wood-paneled courtroom here this week, nine public school students are challenging California’s ironclad tenure system, arguing that their right to a good education is violated by job protections that make it too difficult to fire bad instructors. But behind the students stand a Silicon Valley technology magnate who is financing the case and an all-star cast of lawyers that includes Theodore B. Olson, the former solicitor general of the United States, who recently won the Supreme Court case that effectively overturned the state’s ban on same-sex marriage…

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Feds block education funding because of lawsuit

The federal government said it has blocked millions in funding to Idaho’s education broadband system because a lawsuit over the project’s $60 million contract raised questions about who should get the cash, the Associated Press reports. The Federal Communications Commission withheld $7 million for the Idaho Education Network, a high-speed broadband network for Idaho high schools. Idaho legislative budget writers learned Thursday telecom giant CenturyLink and Education Networks of America haven’t been paid by the federal government since last March…

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Obama touts ed tech, 21st century skills

The jobs of the new economy will require higher-order skills such as “problem solving” and “critical thinking,” President Obama said during his State of the Union address Jan. 28.

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Obama said said efforts are under way to connect more schools and students to broadband internet service “without adding a dime to the deficit.”

He also said efforts are under way to connect more schools and students to broadband internet service “without adding a dime to the deficit.”

In a wide-ranging speech that lasted 65 minutes, Obama discussed these and other education priorities in the context of creating more economic opportunities for all Americans.

Obama’s speech started on a high note for educators, as his very first statement referred to a teacher.…Read More

Ex-NC Gov. Perdue unveils education tech effort

Former North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue says she wants to jump start collaboration among teachers, students and entrepreneurs to develop electronic technology that improves learning for adults and children, the Associated Press reports. Perdue announced Wednesday the initiative called DigiLEARN, or the Digital Learning Institute. She chairs the group, which held a strategic planning meeting at North Carolina State University. Perdue was elected North Carolina’s first female governor in 2008 and left office a year ago after choosing not to seek re-election. Since then, the New Bern Democrat has spent time at Harvard and Duke universities and started a consulting firm…