SBOE Weekly Ed Links: 07/28/2018

By: Paul Negron, Public Affairs Specialist

Check out our rundown of the top education news and events this week in the District and around the country.

SBOE QUOTED IN THE NEWS
Who Gets Access to Data About D.C.’s Public Schools? | Washington City Paper
SBOE Rejects Credit Recovery Proposal, Seeks Public Guidance | Washington Informer

NATIONAL NEWS
Charter school network spreads ‘personalized learning’ model nationwide | EdSource
In 2012, with a goal of creating “self-directed learners,” Summit redesigned its two high schools and opened two new schools. A key element of Summit’s model is an online platform developed with engineering help from Facebook.

How Many Seats Do Teachers Get on the State Board of Ed.? In Most Places, None | EdWeek
State boards of education craft policies on curriculum, assessment, and other areas that directly affect day-to-day classroom life. But the professionals most affected by those decisions—teachers—often don’t have a seat at the boardroom table.

Where Can Districts Turn for Personalized Learning Resources? | EdTech
Organizations and government agencies are doing their best to help educators respond to the growing demand for individualized education.

Credit Recovery: Are Face-to-Face Classes Better Than Online? | EdWeek
Teaching credit-recovery courses face-to-face doesn’t help students earn credits or graduate on time any better than teaching them online, according to a new study.

Congress Sends Career-Technical Education Bill to President Trump | EdWeek
Congress passed a bipartisan overhaul of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act on Wednesday and sent it for signature to President Donald Trump, who has made career and technical education, or CTE, a priority for his administration.

Can schools commit malpractice? It depends. | Brookings
Shortages of materials, not having skilled teachers, and poor conditions of school buildings have deprived students access to literacy, which, they argued, is essential in order to enjoy the other rights enumerated in the Constitution.

ESSA
How Does Funding for ESSA’s Testing Requirements Work? | EdWeek
ESSA, like its predecessor, the No Child Left Behind Act, requires states to test students in grades 3 through 8 and once in high school, in math and reading. States also have to test in science in certain grade spans. Money for testing comes mostly from the state.

Anti-Test Movement Slows to a Crawl | EdWeek
Some of the biggest skeptics of annual, standardized testing have taken a break from what was a big push to reduce the number of federally required tests. And they don’t expect there will be another opportunity to roll back federal testing mandates for quite awhile.

Betsy DeVos OKs Louisiana Pitch to Use Innovative Tests Under ESSA | EdWeek
Louisiana is the first state to get the all clear from the U.S. Department of Education to participate in the Every Student Succeeds Act’s “Innovative Assessment” pilot.

DC
DeAngelis: More Regulation of D.C. School Vouchers Won’t Help Students. It Will Just Give Families Fewer Choices for Their Kids | 74
The most recent federal evaluation of the Washington, D.C., school voucher program found that it led to a 10-point reduction in math test scores and a statistically insignificant change in reading test scores after two years. Because of this evidence, some people are now calling for more standardized testing regulations of the private schools that low-income families want their kids to attend.

DCPS responses to Grosso’s follow up inquiries on graduation accountability | Councilmember Grosso
On July 25th, 2018, Councilmember David Grosso, chairperson of the Committee on Education, received a response from DCPS to a letter he sent to D.C. Public Schools Interim Chancellor Dr. Amanda Alexander with several questions following up on questions asked at the June 13, 2018, public oversight roundtable on graduation accountability. The purpose of the roundtable was to get an update from OSSE, DCPS, and PCSB on the implementation of Alvarez and Marsal’s recommendations on improving graduation accountability. The response is below, along with the original letter Councilmember Grosso sent to DCPS.

RESEARCH
SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS’ VIEW OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION REFORM | Business Forward
Online Credit Recovery and the Path to On-Time High School Graduation | Sage
How Money Matters for Schools | LPI

EVENTS
Upcoming School Open Houses
DCPS Extended Year 2018-2019 Calendar
DCPS Traditional 2018-2019 Calendar
PCSB List of First Day of School

AUGUST
8/1: Voices from the Classroom: A Survey of America’s Educators
8/3: ESSA and Chronic Absenteeism – A Conversation with Visionary Policy Leaders
8/4: A Taste of Inspired Teaching
8/11: 2018 English Learners’ Back to School Fair