Alaska, Hawaii and West Virginia bring NCLB waivers to 38The Department of Education (ED) announced that Alaska, Hawaii, and West Virginia received NCLB waivers, raising the number of states with waivers to 37 plus the District of Columbia. ED noted that 10 applications remain under consideration: Alabama, the Bureau of Indian Education, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Texas, and Wyoming. ED also announced that California "has notified the Department that the state does not plan to request ESEA flexibility for the next school year, and instead will focus on implementing the new Common Core [S}tate [S}tandards." Other states not pursuing waivers are: Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota (request withdrawn), and Vermont (request withdrawn). ED is also continuing its review of the California CORE districts application, which was revised after initial feedback from ED's peer reviewers. ED and HHS release proposed rules for Early Learning Challenge competitionED and the Department of Health and Human Services issued proposed rules for the next Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTTT-ELC) competition. The Departments plan to award $300 million dollars to the winners. The Departments said that the proposed rules are similar to those used in the FY 2011 competition with five substantive exceptions: (1) a revision to the Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA) priority to simplify scoring; (2) a revision and renaming of the priority designed to sustain and build up early learning outcomes from preschool through third grade; (3) a reduction to the maximum grant amounts for which an applicant may apply in order to maximize the number of grantees; (4) a revision to the program requirements requiring states to have an operational State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care with certain specified members; and (5) the addition of a new eligibility requirement excluding states that previously received funding for an RTTT-ELC grant. Comments on the proposed rules are due on June 19, 2013. ED starts Kindergarten Entry Assessment competitionED announced that it is seeking to award two grants in a $9.2 million Kindergarten Entry Assessment competition. According to the announcement, ED is seeking to "support the development or enhancement of a KEA that is aligned with the State's early learning and development standards and that must cover all of the essential domains of school readiness." ED said that it would give priority to states that are working collaboratively to develop the assessment. The deadline for notices of intent to apply is June 24, 2013. Applications are due July 8, 2013. In response to concerns expressed by NEA and others about the use of a KEA for high-stakes decisions, the final rules for the competition discourage the use of a KEA "for purposes for which it has not been validated or as a single measure for high-stakes decisions." NCES assesses the condition of educationThe National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released The Condition of Education 2013, identifying 42 indicators and trends in U.S. education. These indicators focused on population characteristics, participation in education, elementary and secondary education, and postsecondary education. Among the findings highlighted in a cover letter by NCES Commissioner Jack Buckley (drawing from 2011 data): - One in five public schools was considered high poverty (75 percent or more students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch) up from about to one in eight in 2000.
- Almost two-thirds of three- to five-year-olds were enrolled in preschool, about 60 percent of whom were in full-day programs.
- The number of public school students is expected to grow from about 50 million public to 53 million in the next decade.
- Almost two million students attend charter schools.
- The status dropout rate (16- to 24-year-olds not in school and without high school diploma or equivalent) declined from 12 percent in 1990 to 7 percent in 2011.
In addition to the indicators, the report detailed four "spotlights": employment rates by educational attainment; kindergarten entry status (on-time, delayed-entry and repeating kindergartners); the status of rural education; and financing postsecondary education. Arizona receives $10.4 million SIG awardArizona joined 24 states receiving continuation awards under the School Improvement Grants (SIG) program this year, receiving a grant of $10.4 million dollars. In addition to the 25 continuation grants, ED awarded grants to 10 states this year to run new competitions for unfunded schools. "Turning around our lowest-performing schools is hard work but it's our responsibility," said Secretary Duncan in an announcement. According to the announcement, the SIG program has invested up to $2 million per school at more than 1,300 struggling schools. NEA is committed to turning around struggling schools through its Priority Schools Campaign. For information on NEA's Priority Schools Program, visit http://neapriorityschools.org. Take Action: Reauthorization debate may begin soonAccording to press accounts, the House and the Senate may soon take up ESEA reauthorization. Email your Senators and Representative and tell them you support an ESEA reauthorization bill that champions student success, elevates the profession, and fights for social justice. |
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