Celebration Schools Announced
 Twenty-two schools are being recognized as Celebration schools for their efforts to increase student achievement. Celebration-eligible schools are announced annually. This year, 143 schools applied for the honor. “Minnesotans should be proud of the work going on in our schools. I look forward to continue learning about their successful efforts to ensure all students succeed and sharing that work with other schools across the state," said Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius.
Read news release.
State Library Services Wins Governor’s Award for Continuous Improvement
Last week, MDE’s very own State Library Services division received the 2014 Governor’s Award for Continuous Improvement. Under the leadership of Jen Nelson, the State and Federal Programs Team (Jackie Blagsvedt, Emily Kissane and Jennifer Verbrugge) was recognized for their work in streamlining state and federal grant and aid program administration over the last year.
Read news release.
Read BloggED for more about their work.
Talk, Sing, Read, Write, Play
 Minnesota’s public libraries offer thousands of programs for young children and their families each year. State Library Services is helping to increase the quality of early childhood programs in libraries through training with national literacy experts like Saroj Ghoting. At recent sessions, staff learned a range of ways to help parents and caregivers build reading readiness through singing, talking, playing, writing and reading.
Celebrate Minnesota Schools That Do Things Right
Some are having success closing disparities gap. Some of the schools receive volunteer help. Others go the extra mile to engage families and help them connect with social services. And most have teachers and administrators who collaborate and use student data to focus instruction on what students need most.
They are 22 “celebration’’ schools recently named by the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) for making progress on narrowing troubling learning disparities among state students. Read complete editorial in Star Tribune.
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Minneapolis Public Schools Wins $88K Farm To School Grant
Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) will be getting almost $88,000 over two years to help purchase food from local farmers, the school district announced Tuesday. Read more at CBS Minnesota.
Dual-Credit Courses Proving Popular in St. Paul
Enrollment in courses allowing students to earn college credits while in high school has nearly quintupled in the past three years at six schools... Read complete story at Star Tribune.
U.S. Education Department Releases Details on New College Ratings System
Today the Education Department released long-awaited details on a plan to hold colleges accountable for their performance on several key indicators. Read more at NPR.
Student Books Heading from Minnesota to Liberia
More than 22,000 books are on their way from Minnesota to Liberian students out of school because of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Visit MPRnews for more.
Minnesota’s Exceptional Teachers!
 Recently a number of teachers around the state were honored with an Exceptional Teacher award. BloggED was fortunate to catch up with two of the awardees, Rachel Mettille and Brittan Chamberlin, who were willing to share what they are doing in the classroom to engage students and differentiate and improve learning through the creative use of technology. Read complete blog post.
Ever Wondered, “What Can I Do With a Major in…?”
ISEEK, an online resource to careers, education and job information, launched a new college major profile to help you easily answer that question. Replacing the previous “Field of Study” profiles, the new college major profiles include: • Which careers a major will prepare you for, • Schools that offer each major, • Programs included within the major and • Typical degrees offered and number of recent graduates. Visit the iseek website, and explore the new majors profile. You can browse all major titles or search by keyword or career cluster.
2014 Draws to a Close
Thank you for a great year of sharing your stories of educational achievements, new challenges, fresh starts, new innovations and improved outcomes for all kids in Minnesota. Happy New Year from the Minnesota Department of Education. See you in the New Year!
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