PK-8

New Model Core Teaching Standards Released

On Thursday, April 28, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) announced the release of the new InTASC Model Core Teaching Standards: A Resource for State Dialogue. The standards represent clear expectations about what all teachers should know and be able to do if they are to improve achievement of the next generation of s

New High School Statistics: Size, Quantity and Pupil/Teacher Ratios

Last week the National Center for Education Statistics at the Institute of Education Sciences released a report that provides data about public elementary and secondary schools during the 2009-2010 school year, including information specifically about high schools.[1] The report, “Numbers and Types of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools From the Common Core of Data: School Year 2009–10,” provides data for each state and the country as a whole.

What Does the Research Says About Expanded Learning Time Initiatives?

In a recent interview, President Obama said: “We now have our kids go to school about one month less than most advanced countries. And that month makes a difference.” A recent research synthesis, the first on this topic, has shown that there is some research to support expanded learning time initiatives. The authors of the synthesis screened approximately 1,390 studies related to expanded school year and 818 studies related to expanded school day in elementary, middle, and high schools. Due to the limited number of studies published on the topic, the synthesis included studies with varying rigor of their design. The synthesis focused on the 15 studies which included academic outcomes. Of these studies, three included high schools, and the other 12 studies focused only on elementary and middle schools.

Science Education on the Nation’s Mind

Last week was a big week for science education.  Results of NCES’ Science 2009: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) at Grades 4, 8, and 12 were released; in his State of the Union speech, President Obama suggested that we are in the equivalent of “our generation’s Sputnik moment;" and the nation remembered Christa McAuliffe 25 years after she perished in the explosion of

High School Graduation Initiative Strategies: Preparation in Middle School and Transitions to High School

High School Graduation Initiative (HSGI) grants have been awarded recently to a wide range of applicants, and summaries are now available on the Department of Education’s Web site.  Twenty-nine grantees in 18 states will receive a total of $46,610,682.  In a series of blog entries, we will be examining some of the common strategies proposed by HSGI awardees.  Though these posts examine trends in strategies used, the applications may include other components not captured

Students with Disabilities: Transition to College, Workforce, and Community

Multiple reports[1] indicate that the number of students with disabilities enrolled in K-12 schools has steadily increased since the initial passage of the Education of All Handicapped Children Act (P.L. 94-142) in 1975. Equally important, the number of students with disabilities who completed high school with a regular diploma increased by 50 percent between 1997/98 and 2006/07, showing a greater growth rate than the number of students exiting high school for the same period of time[2].

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