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Round II Race to the Top News
Anne Wujcik — Friday, July 30, 2010
Short of vacationing on a desert island, you know by now that the finalists for Round II of Race to the Top have been announced - Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina. Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia submitted Round II applications. The 18 states and the District of Columbia who were named finalists are now preparing for their live presentations to the peer reviewers which will take place the week of August 9. Read More »
EdNET Insight to Launch
Anne Wujcik — Friday, July 23, 2010
Next week, you may notice a few minor tweaks to the newsletter and its associated web site. Some of you have heard about EdNET Insight, an exciting new research service and member community we’re launching next week. To support the new service we’ve built a unified EdNET web site, which will house member resources for EdNET Insight and be the home for the EdNET Conference and the EdNET news site. The News Alert itself won’t change. We’ll still be bringing you all the same quality market news and commentary that we have in the past. If you want to get a sneak peek at some of what we learned while doing the research for EdNET Insight, be sure to read today’s Market Insight article written by Steve Rappaport, EdNET Insight Director. And be sure to explore the new EdNET Insight web site next week, starting from the News Alert home page. We’re excited about expanding our services and look forward to hearing what you think. Read More »
ARRA Education Spending; Broadband Developments
Anne Wujcik — Friday, July 16, 2010
A little more information this week on ARRA spending. According to research from the Center on Education Policy (CEP), the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) portion of stimulus funding did help to stabilize local budgets in 2009-10. In many cases, as reported elsewhere, the influx of SFSF dollars was not enough to make up for overall budget decreases. About 62% of the districts that received SFSF grants say that they are spending at least some of these funds to save or create teaching jobs in core academic subjects or other teaching areas; 27% of districts also report spending SFSF funds to save or create administrator jobs and/or other jobs. Never the less, nearly half (45%) of the districts that received SFSF, ended up cutting teaching staff in 2009-10. Read More »
ARRA Spending, Teachers' Letters to Obama Statement of Principles
Anne Wujcik — Friday, July 09, 2010
The Department of Education has been busy. It recently hosted a webinar to provide some guidance to school districts on spending ARRA dollars (and to give them a little push). Titled, “Strategic Use of Title I & IDEA: How To Maximize ARRA FY09 and FY10 Funds,” the webinar covered ways school districts can maximize the impact of Title I and IDEA funding and minimize the post-ARRA "funding cliff." They've also, along with the Department of Justice, sent a reminder to educational institutions about their obligation under ADA to avoid discriminating against students with disabilities and preventing them from receiving equal opportunity to "participate in and benefit from" services, programs, and activities available to others," in this case programs that use eBook readers that are inaccessible to low-sighted or blind students. The steering committee of Teachers' Letters to Obama has developed a statement of principles related to Race to the Top, asserting that many teachers have serious reservations about the direction of the program. It's an interesting read. Read More »
First You Have to USE the Technology
Anne Wujcik — Friday, July 02, 2010
I’ve only had the chance to speak with a few people, but it sounds like ISTE 2010 was a success – solid attendance and good energy on the show floor. Congratulation to everyone at ISTE! There is certainly a lot of news coming out of the show. This is a week when you will want to click through on the K-12 and Technology tabs to be sure you see all the announcements, since there was simply not enough space to include them all on the front page. Be sure to read the complete releases behind today’s feature stories as well. All three studies report really interesting finds and are strongly supportive of one another. Read More »
RaceTo the Top Assessments and i3
Anne Wujcik — Friday, June 25, 2010
Just a few short notes this week. Many of you are in the last stages of getting ready to leave for Denver and ISTE 2010. It sounds like the turnout will be good this year and I’ll be curious to learn what the atmosphere was like. The state fiscal outlook is still pretty bleak and many schools are facing budget cuts. In the technology arena, states and districts have been buoyed somewhat by the influx of ARRA funding into the EETT program. Unless Congress decides otherwise, this is the last of the EETT money and schools are planning very carefully to maximize its use. A number of decision makers at ISTE will be seeking technology-based solutions that support their EETT goals. Read More »
IES Funds Reading Comprehension Research
Anne Wujcik — Friday, June 18, 2010
The Institute of Education Sciences announced $113 million in grants as part of its Reading for Understanding Research Initiative, which aims to improve students' reading comprehension from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade. Two things to note here. First the welcome emphasis on reading comprehension, where there is less agreement on instructional practice than there is on teaching children to decode text. Second, the way this Research Initiative is designed points to some changes at IES in terms of what types of research will be valued and promoted over the next several years. Read More »
Graduation Rates, Cloud Apps for Schools and a Digital Textbook Platform
Anne Wujcik — Friday, June 11, 2010
Some news of note: Education Week has released Diplomas Count, its annual review of nationwide trends related to high school graduation. The cloud seems to be gaining proponents as Kentucky signs on for Microsoft Live@edu. Kno, Inc. introduced a dual-screen tablet, designed for digital textbooks. Some changes at the Department of Education, as well. Secretary Duncan named Joanne Weiss, currently the director of the Race to the Top initiative, as his new chief of staff. Weiss is stepping into the shoes of Margot Rogers who has held the job for the past 18 months. Rogers has resigned, effective June 30, to spend more time with her family. Now we have to wait to see who will be appointed to head up Race to the Top. Read More »
Next Steps Begin for Now Final Common Core State Standards
Anne Wujcik — Friday, June 04, 2010
Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia submitted applications for round two of the Race to the Top on June 1, hoping to win a share of the remaining $3.4 billion. Applications will be reviewed over the summer and winners will be announced in September. On Wednesday, the final version of the Common Core State Standards was released. The sponsors - the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) – hosted the roll out in Georgia, emphasizing that the standards are a state-led effort, not a Washington-based activity. Read More »
News Roundup
Anne Wujcik — Friday, May 28, 2010
Congratulations to all the educational technology companies that received CODiE Awards this week at the award dinner held during SIIA's Ed Tech Industry Summit in San Francisco. The Summit itself was a great meeting, focused on going mobile and global. I opted to sit in on many of the Hot Topic sessions, addressing issues like digital rights, online learning and the LMS and competing with free. MDR hosted a breakfast to introduce its new EdNET Insight subscription service. EdNET Insight combines a variety of products and services into a unique offering designed to help our customers stay informed of market trends and opportunities in the K-12 education market. Read More »
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