AM News: Concerns About Social Media, Virtual Learning

Rules to Limit How Teachers and Students Interact Online NYT: School boards in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia have updated or are revising their social media policies this fall. 

Virtual schools booming as states mull warnings AP:  More schoolchildren than ever are taking their classes online, using technology to avoid long commutes to school, add courses they wouldn't otherwise be able to take - and save their school districts money....

M.I.T. Expands Free Online Courses, Offering Certificates NYT: The new online learning platform will provide access to online laboratories, self-assessments and student-to-student discussions.

Calif teen to be sentenced for killing gay student AP (Boston Globe): A Southern California teenager faces 21 years in state prison when he's sentenced Monday for killing a gay student during a computer lab class three years ago.

New York City Student Testing Over the Past Decade NYT: Thanks to the best education minds in Washington, Albany and Lower Manhattan, we now have finely calibrated state tests aligned with the highest academic standards.

LA schools look to teachers to lead reform efforts AP:  For some, the new policy gives teachers long overdue license to enact reforms they want. For others, however, it doesn't make sense to eliminate charters from the reform equation.

Behind the Numbers: Why Dropouts Have it Worse Than Ever Before PBS:  While the demand for blue-collar work has declined, the supply of undocumented cheap labor has increased. The bottom of the labor market is now flooded with undocumented immigrants, greatly decreasing the opportunity for native-born high school dropouts.