Obama administration releasing new rules for judging schools

The U.S. Education Department released final regulations governing how states should judge which schools are doing well and which are struggling and require help, a set of rules that has pitted the Obama administration and its civil rights allies against an unusual alliance of teachers unions and GOP leaders. Read more>>

The New York governor has vetoed legislation that would have inflated New York City’s school bus bills by tens of millions of dollars through job guarantees for drivers. He cited a court ruling in justifying the veto, saying judges found protections in the bill to be “anti-competitive” and favored the companies that already held the contracts. Read more>>

In a national snapshot of what teachers are observing, nine out of 10 educators who responded to a survey said the election has negatively impacted students' behavior and mood. Forty percent of the more than 10,000 educators said they have heard derogatory language used against students of color, Muslims, immigrants and other students based on gender or sexual orientation. Read more>>

Melanie Lasoff Levs

In many school districts today, hiring practices for administrative leaders often consist of “replacement filling”—or, waiting for a position to open up before searching for candidates. But a successful succession often requires more proactive planning. Read more>>

Dallas County officials want even fewer kids to wind up in truancy court for missing class. That means giving school and county authorities more leeway to punish students who are skipping and to excuse those with legitimate medical or personal issues. A Dallas ISD committee is outlining two dozen recommendations on how state and local officials should address truancy. Read more>>

More than 120 organizations signed an open letter to education officials in California Monday, urging that schools in the state not comply with federal authorities in immigration raids and deportations. Read more>>

In an effort to illuminate root causes of segregation in New York City public schools, a City Council bill seeks to create an office within the New York City Commission on Human Rights tasked specifically with reporting on the prevalence and causes of racial segregation in the schools. Read more>>

Ask anyone working in education and you are likely to hear many recommendations on how to change teacher turnover. But there are two other big causes of teacher transfers and turnover that are largely missing from the national conversation: unsupportive leaders and toxic school cultures. Read more>>

One of the hottest trends in public schooling is dual-language or two-way immersion programs. But what are some of the potential benefits of bilingual education? It turns out that, in many ways, the real trick to speaking two languages consists in managing not to speak one of them at a given moment—which is fundamentally a feat of paying attention. Read more>>

Teenage angst is another good reason why parents, teachers and coaches must make a concerted effort to monitor the online lives of school-age children. The numbers certainly justify the need for better access to mental health services and suicide screening and prevention in schools. They also emphasize the need for additional vigilance at home. Read more>>

Capstone 4D is an augmented reality component blending its print books with technology to extend the reading experience. Publishing in January 2017, Origami Crafting 4D will be the publisher’s first series to include the Capstone 4D feature. Read more>>

MobyMax has released seven new early reading modules that cover the core early reading subjects of phonics, reading, writing and spelling. All of the new modules use interactive manipulatives with automatic read-aloud. Read more>>

Synergy Community is a free meeting place for 24/7 peer-to-peer support in a secure online environment. It adds another layer to Edupoint's existing support offerings, enabling Synergy partner districts to work closely with one another to share thoughts, ideas, and solutions related to using the Synergy platform and achieving education goals. Read more>>