DeVos: It Would Be a ‘Terrible Mistake’ for States Not to Expand School Choice

DeVos: It Would Be a ‘Terrible Mistake’ for States Not to Expand School Choice

Education Week logoU.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos used a speech at the American Federation for Children’s national summit in Indianapolis on Monday to rally states behind the cause of expanding school choice, even though the Trump administration won’t force them to do so.

In the speech before the school choice advocacy group that DeVos used to lead, the education secretary said President Donald Trump soon will propose “the most ambitious expansion of education choice in our nation’s history.”

She didn’t provide any details on how those choice programs would work as the Trump administration prepares to release its fiscal 2018 budget. But DeVos did say that while Washington won’t force states into expanding choice programs and will leave states a lot of flexibility, those states that decline to do so will be held accountable by their constituents.

“If a state doesn’t want to participate, that would be a terrible mistake on their part,” DeVos said. “They will be hurting the children and families who can least afford it. If politicians in a state block education choice, it means those politicians do not support equal opportunity for all kids…”

Read the full article here: May require an Education Week subscription.

Will the Texas Shooting Prompt Action From Trump’s School Safety Commission?

Will the Texas Shooting Prompt Action From Trump’s School Safety Commission?

Education Week logoEarlier this year, shortly after 17 students and teachers were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., President Donald Trump created a school commission, led by U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, to explore solutions.

And now that there has been another deadly school shooting, at Santa Fe High School in Texas, educators, parents, and others, including advocates in Washington and folks on social media, are wondering just what the commission has been up to since its inception in early March.

Besides DeVos, the commission includes Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen. It has had one organizational meeting, on March 28. By contrast, there have been seven school shootings since the one in Parkland, Fla., according to Education Week’s tracker.

Separately, DeVos met May 17 with experts and those personally affected by past school shootings. That meeting was not open to the public or press, but has been posted online here…

Read the full article here: May require an Education Week subscription.

Source: Education Week Politics K-12

COMMENTARY: When It Comes to ‘Dreamers,’ Schools Have a Trump Problem – Education Week

COMMENTARY: When It Comes to ‘Dreamers,’ Schools Have a Trump Problem – Education Week

Education Week logoBruce Fuller, a sociologist at the University of California, Berkeley, works on how schools and civic activists push to advance pluralistic communities. He is a regular opinion contributor to edweek.org where he trades views with Lance Izumi, on the other side of the political aisle.

America’s high schools rarely offer a warm cocoon for our youths, secluded from pressing social ills. Neighborhood disparities deepen wide gaps in learning. The cowardice of pro-gun politicians leads to bloodshed inside classrooms.

President Donald Trump chose Easter Sunday to again vilify the children of immigrants, falsely claiming that dangerous “caravans” of immigrants are crossing the border to take advantage of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. This follows the president’s implications earlier this year that young immigrants were fording the Rio Grande River simply to join the cross-border gang MS-13 and infiltrate our schools.

The future of DACA, which covers less than a quarter of the 3.6 million undocumented residents who arrived before their 18th birthday, remains uncertain. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal on the Trump administration’s attempt to unilaterally end the program, leaving DACA recipients in limbo as the legal battle works its way through the lower appeals courts. That didn’t stop Attorney General Jeff Sessions from traveling to California to warn city officials they cannot provide safe sanctuary for these youths…

But students are pushing back against Trump’s efforts to inject fear and prejudice into the nation’s high schools. Hundreds walked out of Stephen F. Austin High School in Houston last month, after Dennis Rivera-Sarmiento, a senior, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

Read the full article here: May require an Education Week subscription.

Embattled $2 Billion for Teacher PD Poised to Survive in Federal Budget – Teacher Beat – Education Week

Embattled $2 Billion for Teacher PD Poised to Survive in Federal Budget – Teacher Beat – Education Week

Education Week logoTitle II, the $2 billion grant program for teacher development, will likely remain intact for fiscal year 2018, despite President Donald Trump’s proposal to eliminate the program entirely.

Congressional leaders unveiled a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill last night, and the House has already passed the package. The Senate must act by midnight on Friday to avoid a government shutdown. Trump is expected to sign the bill.


See also: Federal Spending Bill Would Boost Education Aid, Reject Trump Choice Push


Title II money is used for teacher professional development and class-size reduction. Trump’s budget proposal eliminated the grant program, saying that the money is “spread too thinly to have a meaningful impact on student outcomes. In addition, there is limited evidence that teacher professional development … has led to increases in student achievement.” This is not a new argument—the Obama administration also questioned the effectiveness of the program and decreased its budget from nearly $3 billion to about $2.3 billion.

But the proposal to eliminate Title II sparked backlash among the education community. Title II advocates said state and district leaders are working to improve professional development, in large part due to the Every Student Student Succeeds Act, which calls for PD programs to be evidence-based….

Read the full article here. May require an Education Week subscription.

COMMENTARY: The Case for Limiting School Security – Education Week

COMMENTARY: The Case for Limiting School Security – Education Week

“We have to harden our schools, not soften them up,” President Donald Trump said at a White House event days after the Feb. 14 school shooting in Parkland, Fla.

There is no evidence to support such an assertion. I know, because I’ve looked for it. I have spent close to a decade studying various aspects of American high school life, culminating last year in a book that questions whether high-security schools do students more harm than good. In Rhetoric, Embodiment, and the Ethos of Surveillance: Student Bodies in the American High School, I make a controversial suggestion: We need to lessen school security.

We may think that more metal detectors, more sniffing dogs, and more armed police officers will keep students safer. The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the STOP School Violence Act last week by a 407-10 vote to provide training and funding for violence prevention. The bill doesn’t allow funds to be used to provide firearms, but could fund threat assessments and crisis-intervention teams. A similar Senate bill is awaiting a vote.

The darker side of all these safety measures is that they conflate schools with prisons, engendering the school climate with fear, distrust, paranoia—and, yes, violence…

Read the full article here: May require an Education Week subscription.

Trump announces new leadership for the White House Initiative on HBCUs

Trump announces new leadership for the White House Initiative on HBCUs

Defender Network Logo
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced new leadership for the White House Initiative on HBCUs.

Johnny C. Taylor Jr. is now the new Chairman of the President’s Board of Advisors on the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. This position comes not long after Taylor was appointed to be the president and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) in June of last year. Taylor is the former president of Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

At the White House event announcing the new leadership, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos praised HBCUs for their cultural and historical significance in her remarks ahead of Trump.

“HBCUs play a very important role in American education,” she said, according to CBS News.“Under President Trump’s leadership in supporting and uplifting HBCUs, we are taking important steps to ensure that HBCUs and the students they serve remain influential players in their communities and in our country.”

DeVos then introduced Trump, who touted the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities and thanked the team working on the initiative.

Trump also praised HBCUs as being “cherished and vital.” A White House press release notes that Trump’s proposed 2018 and 2019 budgets maintain funding for HBCUs.

Taylor offered his own words about the appointment. “Every year, over 300,000 students turn to these institutions for their education and to prepare them for their careers. This president’s advisory board can be a nexus between higher educational institutions and employers,” he said.

DeVos and Trump have a rock relationship with HBCUs

We’re not fooled by Trump and DeVos making a big show of their support for HBCUs.

We haven’t forgotten the fact that DeVos called HBCUs “pioneers of choice” and had to issue an apology for her comments.

“When I talked about it being a pioneer in choice it was because I acknowledge that racism was rampant and there were no choices,” she said in August after her comments caused massive backlash. “These HBCUs provided choices for Black students that they didn’t have.”

Some HBCU students did not accept the apology. In May of 2017, Bethune-Cookman University students booed DeVos and turned their backs to her as she tried to give remarks during their graduation ceremony.

We also haven’t forgotten that infamous picture of Trump surrounded by HBCU presidents in what turned out to be more of a photo opportunity than an actual productive meeting.

The post Trump announces new leadership for the White House Initiative on HBCUs appeared first on DefenderNetwork.com.

OPINION: Guns in Schools: Are Our Kids Truly Safe?

OPINION: Guns in Schools: Are Our Kids Truly Safe?

WRITTEN BY: JEFFREY L. BONEY

Just how easy is it to bring a gun into our schools?

Sadly, it appears to be too easy based on the number of school shootings that are happening on a consistent basis in America.

What can be done? Who is next? How can the students, and the adults responsible for their care, be sure that they won’t be next?

These are extremely frightening questions, yet they are also extremely legitimate ones.

When it comes to the issue of gun violence in the United States, it is safe to say that the bullets don’t discriminate – for the most part. And while there does tend to be a double standard related to the media attention and societal support certain groups receive versus others when it comes to ‘dealing with’ the issue of gun violence in America, the pain that all parents, families and friends experience due to these traumatic experiences is the same – heartbreaking.

Since the beginning of the year, America has found itself once again experiencing a tragic act of domestic terrorism, whereby many young people and adults have been tragically gunned down by an individual or individuals who were easily able to access guns – guns that eventually led to the loss of multiple lives as a result of them carrying out a mass shooting.

Case in point – take the recent mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, in Parkland, Florida, that has sparked an outcry from many people in the country, particularly many of the students who were impacted by the shooting and are now demanding changes in the gun laws in this country.

In this case, 19-year-old domestic terrorist suspect, Nikolas Cruz, had just legally purchased a semiautomatic AR-15 rifle in February 2017 – a year prior to killing his victims.

According to reports, Cruz caught an Uber to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and then proceeded to walk inside the school carrying a black duffel bag and a backpack. Cruz hid loaded magazines in his backpack, until the very moment he decided to pull out his newly acquired AR-15 rifle and start blasting away at people.

All-in-all, Cruz killed seventeen people and fourteen others were transported to local hospitals.

The entire world once again watched in horror as politicians and lawmakers, who are entrusted to lead and serve, offered the victims and their families little more than their thoughts and prayers via Twitter, sound bites and scripted press releases.

Nothing changed. Same thing…Different day.

So, as the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass school shooting has been added to the list as one of the deadliest school shootings and acts of domestic terrorism in U.S. history, it has now also been added to the list of tragic mass shooting incidents that have seemingly and sadly become the norm in this country.

Many people remember the tragedy that took place on December 14, 2012, when 20-year-old domestic terrorist Adam Lanza killed twenty 1st graders between the ages of 6 and 7 years of age and six adults with an assault rifle at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

Sadly, since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, there have been roughly 240 other school shootings that have taken place in America with at least 438 people being shot and 138 people being killed. Now of course, school shootings aren’t the only type of mass shootings that have been impacting Americans over the past several years, but it is challenging to know young people are being killed before they have a chance to truly experience life.

Many have argued that this continued loss of life, while tragic, merely reinforces the recurring narrative that America is strongly encouraging a culture of gun violence, particularly because of the flat out refusal of lawmakers to take action and pass any sensible bipartisan gun control legislation. Over the years, the relationship between gun lobbyists and those who make policy has seemingly produced an unwillingness to advance responsible gun safety legislation, and it has caused a major divide amongst many people in this country.

And then, instead of clearly addressing the unrestricted access to high-powered, military-style semiautomatic rifles, like the ones used in the Florida and Las Vegas mass shootings, President Donald J. Trump and many of his supporters have focused on pushing for arming teachers with guns in the classroom. In addition to that, President Trump has also sought to excuse the actions of these domestic terrorists as a mental illness issue rather than a focus on the relatively easy way these individuals can acquire these deadly weapons with no real vetting process.

Many people across America have found President Trump’s mental illness narrative to be a confusing one to find credible, especially considering the fact that Trump’s latest budget proposes dramatically slashing Medicaid, which is the primary source of mental health funding for 70 percent of low-income Americans.

Why acknowledge that mental illness is the issue with gun violence and then turnaround and cut the funding for many low-income Americans who need it, and who suffer from incidents of sustained gun violence in their respective communities?

Speaking of mental illness, there are usually after affects that individuals have to deal with regarding their traumatic experience. Parents suffer, families grieve, students experience trauma, employees and educators have to deal with the stress of coming back to work knowing what had just occurred and whether it could happen again, and many other feelings of fear and concern.

Managing Partners Shantera Chatman and Natalie Arceneaux of PROSCI of C+A Global Group believe that more should be done to help the parents and employees, as well as the students affected by these tragedies and traumatic occurrences.

“For parents affected by a devastating trauma such as a mass shooting at their child’s school, they should really tune-in to their emotions,” says Chatman. “Some parents have lost their children and are literally going through the motions at work. Their best course of action is to check with their employer to understand their benefits. Some companies provide hotlines to counselors and other actually pay for counseling services. These services typically cover the entire family.”

Arceneaux states that those working with people affected by these traumatic incidents should understand that their coworkers will never be the same and it is unrealistic to assume they will ever be.

“Employers should invest in team sensitivity activities or counseling to help those that have to encounter the affected parents,” says Arceneaux. “Understanding the mood swings and the 5 stages of grief go a long way to helping your teammates.”

The issue of mental illness related to coping with tragedy and trauma is important, but it does not deal with the real issue of gun violence in the nation.

Most experts believe that any serious plan to stem the tide of this cycle of violence must include common-sense gun laws. A survey by the Pew Research Center concludes that while Americans say they want to protect the right to bear arms, “they’re very much supportive of many gun policy proposals, including more background checks on private and gun show sales and banning semi-automatic and assault-style weapons.”

One would think that protecting local neighborhoods, schools, students and families would be a bipartisan priority and that elected officials would not be bought and sold to the highest bidder. However, it appears there are many lawmakers that have little to no conviction as it relates to doing what it takes to help reduce the risk that all American citizens face regarding this national epidemic of mass shootings due to gun violence that continues to plague our nation.

Many in the Greater Houston community have been pondering how this type of situation can be prevented, while the debate about gun control rages on.

Here locally, an elected official from the Houston area has called on national lawmakers to address this issue and states that it is time for the state of Texas to take gun laws more seriously.

“It is our responsibility to protect the people from any policies that can have a negative impact on any resident in this country, especially in the city of Houston where I serve,” said Houston City District D Councilmember Dwight A. Boykins. “I am a proud outdoorsman and supporter of the right to bear arms, but I am also an elected leader who serves to promote policies that enhance the safety and security of my constituents.”

Boykins believes that federal elected officials must acknowledge the common sense notion that implementing effective gun control measures does not have to interfere with private gun ownership, but that we must put the safety of children and the citizens first above all things.

“After the 1500+ mass shootings since 2012, they (lawmakers) continue to pursue donations and endorsements from the National Rifle Association, while ignoring the clear and present danger posed by lax gun laws,” said Boykins. “The focus on obtaining the NRA’s support and blessing runs rampant, influencing our politics on all levels of government. Therefore, my plan is to create an environment where we can have this discussion openly and seek to deal with this issue from a grassroots perspective.”

Boykins plans to hold a community town hall meeting on Monday, March 5, 2018, from 6pm to 8pm at Greater Grace Outreach Church located at 10800 Scott St., Houston, TX 77047, where he plans to have a proactive conversation on “Keeping Our Children Safe: How Do We Prevent Gun Violence in Our Communities and Schools?”

Boykins has invited local pastors, Houston Police Department (HPD), Harris County Sheriff’s Department, Precinct 7 Constable Office, Houston Independent School District (HISD) Police, Texas Southern University (TSU) Police, University of Houston (UofH) Police, Houston Community College (HCC) Police, HISD Superintendent, District D School Principals, KIPP, and many more to participate in this much needed discussion.

The Forward Times plans to be a part of these discussions and will keep our readers informed on any new developments surrounding this important issue of gun violence in our country.

The post Guns in Schools: Are Our Kids Truly Safe? appeared first on Houston Forward Times.

Students Across Nation March for Gun Control

Students Across Nation March for Gun Control

High school teachers from Maryland and Washington gathered in front of the White House to demonstrate to demand President Trump address the issue of gun violence in the wake of 17 killed at a mass shooting in Parkland, Fla. The students earlier marched to the Capitol to tell congressional leaders they want action to keep them safe from gun violence. PHOTO: Amiyah King/Howard University News Service

By Amiyah King

(Trice Edney News Wire/Howard University News Service) – Tens of thousands of high school students across America were marked with an unexcused absence Wednesday, but everyone knew where they were.

In the Washington area, high school students from DC. Public Schools and from public schools in Maryland marched to the Capitol and then to the White House to demand Congress and the president institute gun control legislation that will keep them safe. The march was organized by students from Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Md., and Bethesda-Chevy Chase in Montgomery County, Md., in response to the recent shooting in Parkland, Fla.

It was exactly one week ago Wednesday that 19-year-olf Nikolas Cruz opened fire at Stoneman Douglas High School, killing 17 students and wounding dozens more. Cruz, who had been expelled from the school, was charged with 17 accounts of murder of his classmates, teachers and other school officials. The shooting was the 18th school shooting in the first two months of this year.

Student survivors at the school have launched a nationwide effort to focus attention on gun control in the wake of the shooting. Other student demonstrations were reported in Illinois, Florida and Texas.

Washington-area students walked out of their classes today at 9:30 a.m. where they followed each other in procession to Union Station where they joined other protestors who took public transportation from Maryland. From Union Station, thousands of high schoolers marched to Capitol Hill and later participated in a sit-in demonstration outside the White House.

During the sit-in, students gathered in a semi-circle to hear leaders talk about why they were there.
“No more thoughts and prayers,” said student leader Daniel Shepard. “If this isn’t the last school shooting, we’ll be out here every opportunity we get.”

In response to the speakers, students shouted, “No more silence and gun violence. Hey, hey. Ho, ho. the NRA (National Rifle Association) has got to go.”

Teachers and parents were mixed with the crowd of demonstrations either as chaperones or to provide support for their children and their cause.

“I don’t think they need my help,” said Mandi Mader, mother of three who attended the march in support of her children. “I’m just one more body to represent them here.”

Classmates, from left, Sally Egan, Emma McMillan and Avery Brooks are classmates display their signs seekingbetter gun control. There were similar student rallies across the nation. PHOTO: Amiyah King/Howard University News Service

Most students said they were advocating for the implementation of gun control laws in Congress as a solution to the crisis.

Talia Fleischer, a sophomore at her high school, said she hopes to see “a sign that something will be done in Congress.”

“Countries like Australia and England have great gun control laws, and they have no mass shootings,” she said.

In 1996, Australia passed the National Firearms Agreement after a mass shooting in Tasmania in April of that year. In that incident, a 28-year-old man, armed with a semi-automatic rifle, shot and killed 35 people, and injured 18 others<http://www.loc.gov/law/help/firearms-control/australia.php>, in what was known as the Port Arthur Massacre. Under the 1996 law, Australia banned certain semi-automatic, self-loading rifles and shotguns, and imposed stricter licensing and registration requirements.

Paul DeVries and his daughter, Brechje DeVries, were among the demonstrators. Brechje DeVries, 17, moved from the Netherlands to the United States a year ago and attends high school in Maine. Her father was in the U.S. for one of her sports activities in the Washington, and the two decided to attend the demonstration.

Brechje DeVries said mass shootings are almost unheard of in her country. Her country has experienced only one mass shooting in its history. She said she is stunned and frightened by their frequency in the United States.

“It’s scary,” she said. “There have been threats at schools near me, so it definitely comes close to me.”

Her father said he is worried for his daughter.

“I feel the frustration,” he said. “There are a lot of teenagers here. and I think that speaks for itself.”

Joseph Byler, a senior at his school, said the Florida shooting is what sparked him to attend.

“[I hope] the inability of Congress to pass gun control policies disappears,” Byler said. “I hope after today, we get universal background checks on gun purchases.”

Since the shooting in Florida, President Trump has flirted with the idea of proposing restrictions to purchasing guns, from more intense background checks for gun purchasers to the elimination of bump stocks, the tool the Las Vegas shooter used to kill more than 50 people.

Via Twitter, Trump said, “Whether we are Republican or Democrat, we must now focus on strengthening Background Checks!”

Trump, who received millions of dollars in support from the National Rifle Association in his run for presidency, until now has consistently backed away from any restrictions on guns.

Student protestor Steven Vasquez said his school has armed security and students feel relatively safe.

“But not right now,” Vasquez said. “Hopefully our kids dying will help the government see that they need to do something.”

Dallas ISD School Board discusses security measures following Parkland shootings

Dallas ISD School Board discusses security measures following Parkland shootings

North Dallas Gazette logoBy Jazlyn Mercer, NDG Contributing Writer

The Dallas ISD School (Dallas ISD) board met Feb. 22 in their first meeting in the wake of the Feb. 14 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida. The issue of school safety and security was a primary concern addressed by parents, Dallas ISD staff and the board.

“Our hearts are heavy with our brethren in Broward County, Florida,” said Dallas ISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa. “Our hearts go out to them.”

Gail Perry, a librarian at Thomas Jefferson High School, speaking on behalf of The National Education Association (NEA) of Dallas addressed the issue of school security during the public forum.

“Columbine changed education in America forever,” Perry said. “There had been school shootings before including here in Dallas, but never had there been a mass shooting in a school before that horrible day.”

Perry asked the board to take security measures to the next level after this recent school shooting asking the board and the Dallas Police Department to work together to ensure each school has the best safety plan.

Superintendent Hinojosa provided an overview of the current and upcoming plans for protecting students and staff. There are no plans to arm Dallas ISD teachers. Arming teachers is a suggestion floated by President Donald Trump following a listening session with students and parents who have lost friends and loved ones in school shootings going back to Columbine and including the recent Parkland tragedy.

Hinojosa addressed the existing security plans for students, applauding the Dallas Police Department (Dallas PD). The Dallas PD provides with 100 sworn peace officers to protect the students of Dallas ISD and to patrol the campuses. Building security has increased in Dallas ISD since the Sandy Hook campus shooting. There are camera systems everywhere, and any visitors to the schools must go through the Raptor check-in system.

“Despite all those safety measures, we cannot legislate behavior,” said Hinojosa. “We need to be vigilant, we need to do everything in our power, and I’m very proud of the people and our principals who share information with us and with each other on these matters.”

Plans include reviewing the campus security plan individually to address their specific security needs, and to look at teacher training for emergency situations. They also want to make sure the campus metal detectors are in good working condition and ensure someone is consistently monitoring them.

“It’s a difficult problem, we can’t make schools perfectly safe, but we’ve got to try to make them safer,” said Dallas ISD Trustee and Board President Dan Micciche.

President’s Education Awards Program (PEAP): Celebrating Student Achievement And Hard Work in the Classroom

President’s Education Awards Program (PEAP): Celebrating Student Achievement And Hard Work in the Classroom

Dept. of Ed Blog logo

President’s Education Awards Program (PEAP) student recipients are selected annually by their school principal. Last year, PEAP provided individual recognition to nearly three million graduates at the elementary, middle and high school level at more than 30,000 public, private and military schools from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Outlying Areas (American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands).

Students receive a certificate and schools receive a letter signed by the President and U.S. Secretary of Education.

School Year 2017-18 program materials are now available from PEAP’s partners: the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), the Association for Middle-Level Education and the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). The materials outline how to order certificates before the end of the school year. Certificates are absolutely FREE – and there is no limit.

Please review the list of participating schools at https://www.ed.gov/presedaward/. If your local school does not currently participate, please reach out and urge them to do so this year. We want to recognize ALL graduates for their accomplishments.

Background –

PEAP was founded in 1983. Every year since then, the program has provided principals with the opportunity to recognize students who meet high standards of academic excellence, as well as those who have given their best effort – often overcoming obstacles in their learning. Eligible students are selected by their principal under two categories.

Certificate for President's Education Awards Program (PEAP) celebrating academic excellence.        Certificate for President's Education Awards Program (PEAP) celebrating academic achievement.

  • The President’s Award for Educational Excellence recognizes academic success in the classroom. To be eligible, students must meet a few academic requirements, including a high grade point average or other school-set criteria and a choice of either state test performance or teacher recommendations.
  • The President’s Award for Educational Achievement recognizes students that show outstanding educational growth, improvement, commitment, or intellectual development in their subjects but do not meet the academic criteria above. Its purpose is to encourage and reward students who give their best effort, often in the face of special obstacles, based on criteria developed at each school.

Frances Hopkins is director of the President’s Education Awards Program at the U.S. Department of Education.