AM News: Federal Funding For AP Exams, Geography Education

Group Pushes More Federal, State Dollars For Program HuffPostEdu: Funding for geography education is being touted as an economic necessity by the group, which said that No Child Left Behind made geography one of nine curriculum areas, but did not provide the funding.

Feds fund AP tests for low-income students LA Times “Advanced Placement participation is an important element in creating a college-going culture in our high schools,” said U.S. Secretary of EducationArne Duncan in a statement. 

Michigan City Outsources All of Its Schools WSJ: Highland Park School District, one of the state's lowest-performing academically, says it will turn over its three schools and nearly 1,000 students to a private, for-profit charter school company—the second district in Michigan to take such a drastic step to avert financial collapse.

La. Law Boosts, Complicates Local Chiefs' Personnel Powers EdWeek: Louisiana superintendents will start this new school year with the power to hire and fire teachers without approval of local school boards, thanks to recent legislation passed by the Louisiana state legislature.

New rating system will put more D.C. teachers at risk Washington Post:  More D.C. teachers will be at risk of losing their jobs for poor performance in coming years, under a revised rating system, even though standardized test scores will carry less weight in their job evaluations.

Students Urge Teachers to Embrace Digital Tools SchoolBook: Student Nikhil Goyal advocates for more technology in schools at the #edu140 conference. Speaking at a recent panel on bringing technology into the classroom, Mr. Goyal and other students made passionate pleas to educators to embrace technology as a way to teach better. They said teachers should not let fears drive policy

Federal Special Ed. Ratings Fault D.C.—Again EdWeek: For the sixth consecutive year, the District of Columbia has fallen short of meeting federal special education goals, the worst record of any state in the country, according to the latest annual state ratings from the U.S. Department of Education.

Investigation Reveals Ethics Problems for Ohio Superintendent StateWatch: Now, an investigation by the state inspector general has revealed that Superintendent of Public Instruction Stan W. Heffner had agreed to work for the Princeton, N.J.-Educational Testing Service at the same time that he advocated for the company's tests to be used in written testimony to the state senate last year while serving as interim superintendent. 

Comments

[Sarah]

Glad to see the AP tests will be more accessible... they saved me a semester’s worth of college expenses, and whether or not they were truly academically rigorous, I could not have afforded my degree without them. My first semester of college, I literally had four courses and only had classes two days a week, which made it possible to hold a part-time job to help pay my loans while I attended school.

[Sarah]

I’m sorry... but I don’t think students know what’s best for them in bringing more technology to the classroom. It’s all too easy to neglect education altogether when a computer can provide the illusion of it for you.