SBOE Weekly Ed Links: 09-15-2018

By: Paul Negron, Public Affairs Specialist

Take a look at our weekly rundown of the top education news and events here in the District and around the country!

SBOE IN THE NEWS
Two State Board of Education incumbents face challengers, with three-way races for two open seats | DC Line (Ruth, Joe)

DCPS chancellor search continues with last of three community forums tonight | DC Line (Joe)

SEEKING HEALTHIER SCHOOL ENVIRONMENTS IN DC’S WARD 6: 9/13 ED TOWN HALL | We Act Radio (Joe)

SBOE ESSA TASK FORCE
– September Monthly Meeting
– September Meeting Twitter Thread
– September Meeting Presentation Slides

SCHOOL REPORT CARD
– OSSE’s Draft Report Card Mock-up (Presented to ESSA Task Force on Tuesday)
– OSSE 2018-19 DC School Report Card and STAR Framework Technical Guide
– OSSE School Report Card Site

NATIONAL NEWS
Maryland to ditch statewide PARCC exams in favor of homegrown test | Washington Post
Maryland students will see the last of the state’s PARCC exams — named for the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career — during spring 2019. By that fall, PARCC will be replaced by new standardized tests. Those exams will be called MCAPs — for Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program — and state officials say they will be based on the same high-level standards and rigorous curriculum.

Is It Time for the American Approach to Assessment to Change? | Education Week
Every year in the U.S., millions of schoolchildren take annual, standardized state tests to get a sense of how well their states, districts, schools, and even teachers are helping them learn. Another sampling of students take the National Assessment of Educational Progress—or NAEP, better known as the Nation’s Report Card.

‘I Work 3 Jobs And Donate Blood Plasma to Pay the Bills.’ This Is What It’s Like to Be a Teacher in America | Time

“I truly love teaching,” says Hope Brown. “But we are not paid for the work that we do.” That has become the rallying cry of many of America’s public-school teachers, who have staged walkouts and marches on six state capitols this year.

If Democrats Take the House, Here’s What Awaits Betsy DeVos, Civil Rights, and ESSA | Education Week
If Democrats take control of the House of Representatives next year, expect civil rights to grab the spotlight and for congressional subpoenas in the name of education oversight to become more popular. But you may not see as much of U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos as some might think.

In Some Cities, Closing Achievement Gaps Is Not for Schools to Fix Alone | Education Week
If a mother needs after-school child care to work extra hours but can’t afford to pay for it, who is responsible for helping her figure it out? What about helping families find housing after a fire? A summer job for a high school student?

African-American Charter Champions Honored at Inaugural #BringTheFunk Charter Leadership Awards Ceremony | 74
Eight black leaders will be honored for their contributions on behalf of America’s more than 3 million public charter school students at a Thursday evening reception in Washington, D.C. The event is being held in conjunction with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 48th Annual Legislative Conference, and among the honorees are three caucus members.

When School Funding Isn’t Fair | Education Writers Association
In recent years, multiple U.S. Secretaries of education, appointed by both Republicans and Democrats, have called access to quality public schools a civil rights issue. At the same time, a growing number of states face court challenges to how they fund their K-12 systems, amid concerns that current approaches exacerbate inequities, particularly for historically underserved groups like students of color.

Experts Weigh in on Key Considerations for K–12 1:1 Programs | EdTech
What important questions should you be asking in order to guarantee a successful personal device rollout?

Teachers leave Philly schools at especially high rates, new study says | The Inquirer
Fully half of all teachers nationally leave the profession within the first five years, with special retention challenges in urban school systems. New research out Wednesday shows that the problem is especially acute in the Philadelphia School District, where over seven years, an average of 27 percent of teachers left their schools in a given year — with some transferring to other schools — and about 15 percent left the school system entirely, according to the analysis by the Philadelphia Education Research Consortium.

Get to Know Your Public Schools: 7 Revealing Numbers About America’s Education System, From Diversity to Safety, Absenteeism & More | 74
74 offers parents a richer understanding of the nation’s public school system — maps and charts that look at specific aspects of district policy and classroom behavior.

SAT Stumbles in Getting Federal Approval as High School Achievement Test | Education Week
In a preview of where the SAT could falter in its bid to gain new ground in the K-12 world, the U.S. Department of Education has decided that it can’t fully approve Connecticut’s use of the college-admission exam as a high school achievement test.

ESSA NEWS
How States Try (and Sometimes Fail) to Combat Attendance Gaming and Errors as ESSA Ratchets Up the Stakes | 74
Tackling chronic absenteeism is now part of education plans under the Every Student Succeeds Act for 36 states and Washington, D.C., making student attendance a factor in determining school success under federal education law. The resulting requirements are also new, with many states crafting uniform definitions for chronic absence for the first time and reporting attendance data that distinguishes whether each student absence is excused, unexcused, or linked to disciplinary action.

Education Groups Tell Congress: Prohibit Federal Money From Being Used to Arm Teachers | Education Week
Don’t allow federal funding to be spent on arming school staff or training them to use weapons, more than a dozen groups representing educators told lawmakers in charge of education spending in a letter Thursday.

DC NEWS
Reading, Writing And Rubbers: Condoms In Local Schools | Kojo Show
Montgomery County is launching a condom distribution program in some of its high schools, following the lead of Washington, D.C., which has passed out condoms to students since the ’90s. As rates of sexually transmitted infections like chlamydia and gonorrhea continue to rise, we explore how condom distribution fits into wider public health and education strategies for combating the spread of STIs.

DME : School Health and Behavioral Health Updates | Deputy Mayor for Education
DME highlights how they can increase collaboration between schools and health and behavioral health services and resources to better support students’ academic success. Through collaboration, teaming, and more effective communication, DME believes they can collectively achieve shared goals of supporting student wellbeing and success.

Hill Parents Challenge Legality of DCPS Chancellor-Finding Panel | Hill Rag
On Friday, September 14, DC Superior Court will hear a preliminary injunction on a case that challenges the legality of the panel established by Mayor Muriel Bowser to find a new District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) Chancellor.

New program amps up mental health efforts in DC’s schools | WTOP
Eagle Academy Public Charter School in Southeast D.C.’s Congress Heights neighborhood is one of four schools to receive three years of training and technical assistance in mental health care.

He noticed a black boy with white knuckles. Now, because of a sheet of paper, this teacher hopes to find more students who need help. | Washington Post
In a video, Garner holds up a form titled “Consent for Social Emotional Services” and describes it as “one of the most important documents that I’ve seen in my 18 years of working, because it lets you know what kids are needing of services.”

The Real Estate Struggle Is Real for DC Charter Schools | Commercial Observer
Charter school head Wendy Edwards recently inked a deal for the construction of a 38,000-square-foot school building that will house 300 prekindergarten through third-grade students in the Washington Highlands neighborhood of Southeast, Washington, D.C.

For local school systems struggling to close the achievement gap, the answer may be closer than they know | Washington Post
Only 17 percent of black students in the District scored proficient in math, compared with 68.8 percent of Asian students and 80.1 percent of white students, according to recently released scores on the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers standardized test, more commonly known as PARCC.

RESEARCH
The Digital Divide and Educational Equity | Center for Equity in Learning

What Parents and Teachers Think About Education Data | Data Quality Campaign

Social Media, Social Life: Teens Reveal Their Experiences (2018) | Common Sense Media

WE CAME TO LEARN -A CALL TO ACTION FOR POLICE FREE SCHOOLS | Advancement Project

Educating the Whole Child: Improving School Climate to Support Student Success | Learning Policy Institute

EVENTS
DCPS Extended Year 2018-2019 Calendar
DCPS Traditional 2018-2019 Calendar

SEPTEMBER
9/17: Ward 1 Education Town Hall (featuring Laura)
9/17: Building Safe, Engaging and Equitable Schools
9/18: World Class: How to Build a 21st Century School System
9/18: A School Superintendent’s Challenge to America
9/20: SBOE Public Meeting
9/20: Former Education Secretary Arne Duncan on “How Schools Work”
9/20: DC Council Hearing: Improving School Attendance: Truancy, Chronic Absenteeism, and the Implementation of Reform Initiatives (No Public Link Yet)
9/22: DCPS Back to School Block Party
9/23: DC State Fair
9/25: US Senate Hearing: The Every Student Succeeds Act: States Leading The Way
9/25: RSVP: OPPORTUNITY MYTH LAUNCH
9/25: Making ESSA’s Equity Promise Real
9/27: DressCoded: Black Girls, Bodies & the Bias Embedded in School Dress Codes
9/27: Education 20/20 Double Standards on Discipline Will Widen the Racial Divide
9/29: OSSE DC Parent and Family Engagement Summit