The discussion continues at 'The Atlantic'

The New Common Core standards, a set of reforms that will soon be adopted by most states, talk about nonfiction reading, but that category seems to include more memos, short speeches, brochures, and technical articles than anything like a complete history book. The standards also mention something about nonfiction writing, but all of the examples in the appendix seem to be only more two-page efforts that will far from challenge the capability of our students in academic writing. (William Fitzhugh at the Atlantic)

Rural states seek NCLB waiver

The seven states that have applied for the latest round of waivers under the No Child Left Behind Act represent a large swath of rural America, ensuring that the U.S. Department of Education's experiment in awarding flexibility in exchange for certain education-improvement promises will play out in a diverse set of states with vastly different geographies and student populations.
At least half the schools in Alaska, Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota, and West Virginia are considered rural by the National Center for Education Statistics. Alabama also has a high number of rural students, while Hawaii's single, state-run school district educates some students who live in remote island areas. (Michele McNeil at Education Week)

'The Atlantic' tackles writing instruction

In "The Writing Revolution," Peg Tyre traces the problems at one troubled New York high school to a simple fact: The students couldn't write coherent sentences. In 2009 New Dorp High made a radical change. Instead of trying to engage students through memoir exercises and creative assignments, the school required them to write expository essays and diagram sentences. Within two years, the school's pass rates for the English Regents test and the global-history exam were soaring. The school's drop-out rate — 40 percent in 2006 — has fallen to 20 percent.
The experiment suggests that the trend toward teaching creative writing was hurting American students. In a debate about Tyre's story, we asked a range of experts, from policymakers to Freedom Writers founder Erin Gruwell, to share their thoughts on Tyre's story. (from The Atlantic)

Poetry ambassadors announced

An arts partnership that boasts the blessing of the White House has chosen five talented high school students as its inaugural class of student literary ambassadors.
The new National Student Poets program, announced last November, spotlights promising young poets, harnessing their talent and energy to inspire and encourage their peers.(Catherine Gewertz at Education Week)

Got sticky notes?

This week, I watched a science teacher use sticky notes in a very creative way. To check for understanding, the teacher gave each student a sticky note and asked each of her science students to give concrete examples of the vocabulary that they had learned in class. As the students exited the classroom, they placed the sticky note on the door. After the students all left the classroom, the teacher collected the sticky notes and was able to tell right away which students understood the concepts and which ones needed some targeted assistance. (Ben Johnson at Edutopia)

Partnerships could replace single studies

Long-term partnerships, rather than one-off studies, may become the new norm for researchers looking for access and districts looking for answers.A forthcoming study commissioned by the William T. Grant Foundation, of New York City, finds more districts are developing long-term, structured relationships with researchers. It says the trend is driven by tight local budgets and an increased federal focus on making education research usable. (Sarah D. Sparks at Education Week)

A reminder about TED-Ed

What makes schools improve?

What makes one low-performing school turn around and build momentum over time, while another, seemingly similar school tries the same strategies but continues to struggle?
It's not just particular programs or practices, but the interplay of school implementation with district policies and support, according to the Institute of Education Sciences' Turning Around Low-Performing Schools project—the most comprehensive federal research on such schools to date. (Sarah D. Sparks at Education Week)

Library of Congress's poetry resources

This site is a comprehensive guide to locating poetry resources available on the Library of Congress's Web site. Major areas of the Library's Web site that include poetry resources are listed at the right. Select a link to view a description of and links to poetry resources available through each area. (from the Library of Congress)

To learn more, click the above hyperlinked text.

NAEP shows some students still lack writing skills

After decades of paper-and-pencil tests, the new results from the “nation’s report card” in writing come from a computer-based assessment for the first time, but only about one-quarter of the 8th and 12th graders performed at the proficient level or higher. And the proficiency rates were far lower for black and Hispanic students.
With the new National Assessment of Educational Progress in writing, students not only responded to questions and composed their essays on laptop computers, but also were evaluated on how frequently they used word-processing review tools like “spell check” and editing tools such as copying and cutting text. Some prompts also featured multimedia components. (Nora Fleming at Education Week)

Common Core instructional materials

Nearly all states are developing curricular and supplemental materials to help districts and schools implement the common-core state standards, but far fewer are approving or certifying lists of materials, according to a new report from a Washington-based research and advocacy group. And just four states—Delaware, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Nebraska—said they are requiring that districts use materials aligned to the common standards in English/language arts and mathematics. (Erik Robelen at Education Week)

Teacher resources at PBS

PBS Teachers is PBS' national web destination for high-quality preK-12 educational resources. Here you'll find classroom materials suitable for a wide range of subjects and grade levels. We provide thousands of lesson plans, teaching activities, on-demand video assets, and interactive games and simulations. These resources are correlated to state and national educational standards and are tied to PBS' award-winning on-air and online programming like NOVA, Nature, Cyberchase, Between the Lions and more. (from the about page at PBS Teachers)

ND to apply for NCLB waiver

North Dakota has applied for a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
 State Superintendent of Public Instruction Wayne Sanstead approved the waiver application in time for the Sept. 6 deadline, saying it is “clearly the right thing to do.”
“The waiver’s merits exceed any shortcomings ... I think this puts us in a forward, positive movement,” Sanstead said Monday. (Mara Van Ells at the Bismarck Tribune)

Yes...from the old standby: Free Technology for Teachers

Earlier this week I recommended Pixlr to someone who needed a quick way to resize and change the colors of an image. Pixlr offers a large set of image creation and editing tools. One of the tools that can be quite handy is Pixlr Grabber. Pixlr Grabber is Pixlr's screen capture tool. Pixlr Grabber is available as an extension for Chrome or Firefox. Using Pixlr Grabber you can capture your screen, crop the screen image, and print what you like. You can also send the image to Pixlr Editor for further editing options. (from Free Technology for Teachers)

Common Core and the classroom

One of the groups designing tests aligned to the Common Core State Standards has launched a major effort to help state teams of educators understand—and be able to translate for their peers—what the new assessments will entail for classroom instruction. (Stephen Sawchuk at Education Week)