Five Best Blogs: #NCLB Waivers Too Expensive, Says CA

State: Obama testing waiver will cost $3.1 billion
OCRegister: State Superintendent Tom Torlakson has already called for Obama to provide unconditional relief from NCLB while the president and Congress work to reauthorize the law.

Fine Print: NCLB Waiver Application NJ Spotlight: On the one hand, the application follows much of what the Obama administration proposed in offering the waivers in the first place -- including new labels for schools.

Kindergartners, Put Down Your Pencils Slate: Standardized testing for 5-year-olds sounds crazy. But it just might lead to a better way of assessing all kids.

Confused over 'accountability' and 'flexibility' Terrell Halaska:  It’s useful to ask whether accountability and flexibility can and should coexist. It’s even more useful to ask who is being served by flexibility and accountability proposals - systems or students?

Reform Marches On in Denver DFER: The results from election night are clear - education reform in Denver will continue to flourish. 

More CMO Study! Eduwonk:  A few pro and con commenters have opined to the effect that this data must be either “forged by public schools and teacher unions” or not valid because it doesn’t use a pure RCT or randomized model.

What works for teachers? Let’s find out Joanne Jacobson: Teachers need to use time efficiently. Researchers don’t consider opportunity cost: They want teachers to spend more time on X without saying where they should spend less time.