OPINION: Importance of Educators of Color for Black & Brown Students
NNPA ESSA AWARENESS CAMPAIGN — This month, my organization, the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools released its highly-anticipated report, “Identity and Charter School Leadership: Profiles of Leaders of Color Building an Effective Staff” which examined the ways that school leaders of color’s experiences and perspectives influence how they build school culture, parent and community relationships, and effective staff.
read moreOP-ED: Student Loan Debt is a Crisis
THE WESTSIDE GAZETTE — Finances should never be a barrier to graduation, nor should the financial impact of earning a college degree be a barrier for buying a home, saving money, starting a family, and having a good credit score. TMCF prides itself on building pipelines into good paying jobs but we also have to work to ensure that those students are able to truly reap the financial benefits of their achievements without having to pay off years of student loan debt.
read moreProfile in Education Equity: Sharif El-Mekki
El-Mekki is answering his own “nation building” call. In May, he announced that after 11 years as Shoemaker’s principal and 26 years of being inside schools as a teacher or administrator, he was devoting his full attention and time to launching a new Center for Black Educator Development to help address the urgent need to bring more Black educators into Philadelphia’s classrooms and across the nation. “If I’m going to be serious about trying to change the lives of Black educators and hence the lives of Black children, then it just can’t be my night and weekend job,” he said.
read moreCOMMENTARY: Is There More to Teaching and Learning Than Testing?
In order for education to capitalize on the strengths and talents of learners and the skills and professionalism of their teachers, what kinds of additional progress measures might be employed?
read moreESSA: Every Student Succeeds Act
Video explaining the evolution, benefits and implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act.
read moreOP-ED: Black Studies becomes major factor in social advancement
OUR WEEKLY NEWS — The Black Power movement of the late 1960s helped to redefine African American identity and establish a new racial consciousness. As influential as this period was in the study and enhancement of the African Diaspora, this movement spawned the academic discipline known as Black Studies on our college and university campuses.
read moreBetsy DeVos Approves Testing Flexibility Under ESSA for Two More States
EDUCATION WEEK — U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced that she had approved Georgia and North Carolina to try out new assessment methods for the 2019-20 school year, joining Louisiana and New Hampshire as states to successfully apply to participate in this pilot.
read moreCOMMENTARY: Financial Literacy Transforms Students’ Lives. Here’s Where to Start
EDUCATION WEEK: In 2013, the Council for Economic Education (CEE) released a set of rigorous national standards for financial literacy that offer a starting point for elementary, middle, and high school educators to create a meaningful curriculum with the flexibility to determine what works best in their own school day. Schools should also tailor their curriculum to account for cultural differences in the classroom, as well as the specific learning styles of girls versus boys.
read moreDeVos Seeks to Align Education Grants With Trump-Backed Economic Initiative
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos wants to put a priority on competitive grants that square with the Trump administration's initiative to improve economic opportunities in distressed areas. In the Federal Register, which is where the U.S. government publishes...
read moreMarion S. Barry Summer Youth Employment Program: A Personal Essay
WASHINGTON INFORMER — Barry’s program changed the outcome of many teenagers’ lives, allowing them to build a work history that would afford better chances of future employment. I have been able to reap many benefits from my experience as an MBSYEP worker.
read moreNo More Scissors. No More Mail. Box Tops for Schools Goes Digital
General Mills, which founded the program 23 years ago, announced that the program will soon be digital-only. Customers now earn money for their schools by scanning receipts rather than clipping box tops and mailing them in. Participants can download the new mobile app, scan their store receipt, which will automatically analyze which products were box-tops items and tabulate the amount that will be donated to their school of choice. Every box top will still be worth 10 cents.
read moreWhat We Can Learn from Schools that Educate Military Children
A unique program in Virginia Beach public schools includes 28 Military Family Life Counselors, who work closely with schools’ staff and families to support students. One mother we spoke with, talked about the fears her five-year-old daughter had while her father was deployed.
read moreEducator Spotlight: Donald Hense
Three-quarters of the students enrolled in Friendship schools in D.C. are from Wards 7 and 8, the city’s two poorest areas, and nearly all are African-American. Their achievement is reflected in their continuous improvement on standardized tests. Most recently, Donald Hense and his team celebrated, when five of Friendship’s 12 D.C. schools were rated Tier 1 by the Public Charter School Board – the highest of three ratings a charter school can earn.
read moreLakisha Young, Oakland Reach
Young knows firsthand the aggravation of dealing with the Oakland school lottery. She also understands the anxiety parents feel not knowing whether their children will have to enroll in a low-performing neighborhood school should there not be enough seats available at quality schools. Her personal experience led her to organize other parents and teach them how to advocate for their children.
read moreFlorida Education Plan Lacking in Both Promise and Practice
According to Dr. Rosa Castro Feinberg, who serves on the committee for LULAC Florida, an advocacy group serving all Hispanic nationality groups, Florida’s “current plan includes features that contradict common sense, expert opinion, popular will, and the intent of the ESSA. Contrary to the purposes of the ESSA, the Florida plan denies attention to struggling subgroups of students. Without attention, there can be no correction.”
read moreStates Hunt for Evidence to Underpin School Turnaround Efforts
EDUCATION WEEK — Allendale County’s school district sits in South Carolina’s Lowcountry, in an impoverished, rural region near the coast known as the “corridor of shame” for the chronic poor quality of its education system. Until recently, three of the district’s four schools were considered among the lowest performing in the state.
read moreHampton Says It Won’t Pay Private School Tuition For Former Student Alleging Racist Bullying
NEW HAMPSHIRE PUBLIC RADIO — Hampton school officials have rejected a local family’s request for tuition reimbursement after allegations of racist bullying.The family says their daughter, who is black, was bullied for her race by other students in her third-grade class.
read moreN.Y.C. Program Aimed at Diversifying Elite High Schools Comes Up Short
EDUCATIONAL WEEK — A program meant to diversify New York City’s infamously segregated specialized high schools failed to admit representative numbers of black and Hispanic students this school year, figures released last week by district officials show.
read morePuerto Rico’s Outgoing Education Secretary: ‘We Need the Help…’
EDUCATION WEEK — The storm created an opportunity for the world to see the challenges confronting Puerto Rico’s schools. Hurricane Maria and its economic repercussions exposed the negative impacts of poor decision-making and the politicization of the public education system.
read moreState seeks grant applications for new, expanding charter schools
DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION — The Delaware Department of Education is seeking grant applications for new charter schools interested in opening in Delaware or highly effective existing schools looking to add seats or additional locations.
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