January 22, 2015 | Sign up to receive THE TEACHERS EDITION.
 President Obama delivers his 2015 State of the Union speech calling education a must-have.
2015 STATE OF THE UNION
Giving Everyone a Fair Shot
With a focus on “the values at stake in the choices before
us,” President Obama in his 2015 State of the Union speech gave education a
front row seat.
He called on Congress to eliminate inequality by making
education more affordable and giving more students access to higher education
by making the first two years of community college free for most students. Early childhood too, including tax credits for parents to cover childcare costs
are essential, he said, because in today’s economy childcare is "not a nice-to-have—it's a must-have.”
The President
also reminded the country that our high school graduation rate has hit an all-time
high and more Americans than ever before are finishing college. Read the speech
and watch.
 PROVING WHAT'S POSSIBLE
A Teaching Story
from Nepal
While the
nature and scale of challenges differ widely from country to country, educators
all around the world want one thing: to improve learning outcomes.
In
this blog
post, Mariko Shiohata highlights one such effort in Nepal (Global Partnership for Education). She suggests
that the key to quality education is great teaching and great teaching is the
product of feedback and reflection.
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 ESEA REAUTHORIZATION
Disparate Visions
Arne Duncan penned an op-ed published in Sunday’s Washington Post about what he sees as “two very different visions” for fixing NCLB. Here are some highlights:
The Bottom Line: “No Child Left Behind brought valuable attention to the needs of vulnerable student groups, but its prescriptive and punitive interventions have left it reviled by educators. It’s time for a new law.”
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Duncan’s
Vision: “On Monday, I laid out
core ideas for a law that would ensure real opportunity, one that must expand
support and funding for schools and teachers. It must expand access to quality
preschool. It must help to modernize teaching, through improved supports and
preparation. And it must continue to enable parents, educators and communities
to know how much progress students are making — and ensure that where students
are falling behind, and where schools fail students year after year, action
will be taken.”
On
Testing: “To measure student
progress in a useful way, states need an annual statewide assessment. But the
tests — and test preparation — must not take excessive time away from classroom
instruction. Great teaching, not test prep, is what engages students and leads
to higher achievement."
“In many places, too many tests take up
too much time, leaving many educators, families and students feeling
frustrated. That’s why we want to work with Congress to urge states and school
districts to review the tests they give and eliminate redundant and unnecessary
ones. We’ll urge Congress to have states set limits on the amount of time spent
on state- and district-wide standardized testing and notify parents if they
exceed these limits.”
Listen to the Secretary discuss his core
beliefs for reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (known
now as NCLB).
 STUDENT POVERTY
The New Majority
For the first time ever, the majority of public school students living in poverty exceeds 50 percent. Today more than 51 percent of students come from low-income families.
• Most of the states with a majority of low income students are found in the South and the West.
• Thirteen of the 21 states with a majority of low income students in 2013 were located in the South, and six of the other 21 states were in the West.
• Mississippi led the nation with the highest rate: almost three out of every four public school children in Mississippi, 71 percent, were low-income. The nation’s second highest rate was found in New Mexico, where 68 percent of all public school students were low income in 2013.
Read the report, A New Majority Research Bulletin, published by the Southern Education Foundation.
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 Update
LOOKING BEYOND THE FIRST SUMMIT. Kentucky teachers Natalie McCutchen (Simpson County) and Katrina Boone (Shelbyville) share their account of the first Teach to Lead Regional Summit in Louisville, Ky., Dec. 6-7.
DISTRICTS TURN TO TEACHER LEADERSHIP. Denisa Superville penned this interesting article surveying new ways districts are tapping into teacher leadership in ways that utilize teacher experience and distribute the work (EdWeek). Her article profiles teacher leadership in Washington, D.C., Camas, Wash., and teacher leadership organizations and initiatives, such as Teach to Lead.
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FREE SUMMER PD
Primary Sources
The Library of Congress is accepting applications for its five week-long summer programs for K-12 educators. Held
at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., this professional development
opportunity provides tools and resources to effectively
integrate primary sources into K-12 classroom teaching, with an emphasis on
student engagement, critical thinking, and construction of knowledge. Tuition and materials are provided at no cost. Applications are due March 24.
General
Institutes (open to K-12 teachers and school librarians across content areas): June 22-26, July 6-10, July 27-31
Civil
Rights Institute (open to
K-12 teachers and school librarians with teaching responsibilities related to civil
rights): August 3-7
Science
Institute (recommended
for K-12 educators who teach science or collaborate with science teachers): July 20-24
 GLOWS and GROWS
The four-year high school graduation rate rose to its highest rate. Ever.
The four-year high school graduation
rate rose to 81% for the 2012-13 school year, with most states showing increases.
The adjusted cohort graduation rate
measures the percent of high school students in public schools who graduate
with a regular high school diploma in four or fewer years from their first time
in ninth grade. Check out the information
from the National Center for Education
Statistics, which includes the overall rate for the nation, each state and
the District of Columbia for 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13.
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 RESOURCES TO EMPOWER SCHOOLS
What to Say When Students Are Grieving
The Coalition To Support Grieving Students hopes to help
educators learn about the issue of childhood grief and develop an understanding
of how to help. Their website
offers resources to help school communities deal with students who have lost a
loved one. There are modules and videos on talking with children, what not to
say, providing support over time, peer support and more.
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 GALLUP POLL
Engaging the Engagers
A recent Gallup poll found that a majority, 57 percent, of full-time K-12 teachers in the U.S. are "not engaged" in their work.
K-12 schoolteachers who are "not engaged" or are "actively disengaged" at work miss an estimated 2.3 million more workdays than teachers who are "engaged" in their jobs.
The teachers at ED have been frustrated with these results and talking about them for days. "That means teachers might be satisfied with
their jobs, but they are struggling to remain connected to their work," one teacher said, "and they're
unlikely to have the motivation to go the extra mile to improve outcomes."
Another teacher at ED reminded us, "Teachers have little authority or decision-making power, which makes them feel disengaged." She pointed to a recent article in the Washington Post about schools that are doing well because teachers are running them.
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 Principals took a few minutes to pose for a picture after their meeting with Assistant Secretary Deb Delisle and Principal Ambassador Fellows.
PRINCIPAL CHAT
Principals Tell it Like it Is
A group--more like a force--of 15 principals from all over the nation spent a full day at ED this week. They spent time with a number of senior leaders and learned about ED's priorities, but mostly they shared their experiences and perspectives from the field. Throughout the day, Department staff listened to the discussion along with representatives
from NAESP, NASSP and New
Leaders.
The
principals reported that they were re-energized by the experience and that they
were eager to return to their communities to hold similar meetings with their
colleagues in order to allow additional voices to be heard.
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 Give Core Advice to Policy Makers
If you had the chance to
speak directly with major policy makers about the best way to implement Common
Core, what would you say?
This year the VIVA Common Core Idea
Exchange is bringing teachers across the country together to hear educators’
perspective on positive, action-oriented strategies for implementing the Common
Core State Standards Initiative.
Specifically, the VIVA Teachers want to
know:
● What are the most promising changes in
practices you’ve seen?
● What more needs to be done to ensure
the standards lead to better student outcomes?
Join their effort.
 • RYAN
VERNOSH (2012 Classroom Fellow), Policy and Planning Administrator at Saint Paul Public Schools, shares news
of new policies on gender inclusion that his district is moving forward with to
promote more equitable access to facilities, programming and simply respect for
transgender and gender-nonconforming students. The district’s policy was helped
by ED's statement last year as well as DOJ's recent guidance about gender identity and transgender students being protected under
Title IX and Title VII.
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TEACHERS AND UNDERGRADS
Get Ahead with Summer STEM Grants
The
Commerce Department’s National Institute for Science and Technology (NIST) has
several grant opportunities for middle school science teachers and an
opportunity for undergraduate students to spend a summer working with
internationally recognized NIST researchers.
The NIST Summer Institute for
Middle School Science Teachers program is a two-week workshop in Gaithersburg,
Md. For teachers who have previously completed
the Summer Institute Program, NIST also is announcing grants in the Research
Experience for Teachers (RET) six-week program. Schools can also apply on
behalf of students to the annual NIST Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship
(SURF) program. Deadlines are looming, so check out all the details soon.
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 Tools for Students
AN "F" CAN BE GOOD NEWS. There are some FAQs on the FAFSA that Nicole
Callahan, a Digital Engagement Strategist at Federal Student Aid answers in her latest
blog. One of the first questions she gets
is, “Why do I have to pay to complete the FAFSA?" The answer of course: You never have to
pay to complete the FAFSA. The "F" stands for Free! Get more
resources.
MORE ACRONYMS. After you
submit the FAFSA, there are more things to know. Learn what you need to know
about the SAR, EFC, and other aspects of federal student loans from Sandra Vuong’s blog, 5 Things to Do After
Filing Your FAFSA.
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 Teachers' Notes
• VARIABLES AFFECTING MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT ENGAGEMENT. An interesting study published in the American Educational Research Journal offers insights into the conditions that improve student engagement in middle school. They include students feeling that they belong, having a sense
of their own efficacy, being able to work with some autonomy, and finding
meaning in what they are doing in school.
• TEACHER VOICES ON NCLB. Los Angeles, Calif., teacher Phyllis Hoffman penned this blog about what her colleagues are telling her about NCLB (and why "hate" or "love" are the first words on their lips) (EdWeek).
• FROM NEWS TO YOU.
PBS has some relevant student news and teacher resources for grades 7 – 12 on PBS NewsHour Extra.You
can check out their timely lesson plans addressing Charlie
Hebdo, Selma
and Black
History Month.
• STAYING QUIET ON
IMMIGRATION (OR NOT). Social Studies teacher Marysol Gomez from San Ysidro High School in San Diego, Calif., three miles
north of the U.S.-Mexico border, blogs
about Obama’s immigration initiative in the PBS Teacher’s Lounge.
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 Top 5 Quotes
Wisdom from educators heard by ED
5. "We need to put the fun back into fundamental.” (Principal, Ohio)
4. “When people are stressed, we revert back to the ways we were taught… but we know that the world has changed and we need to change the way we teach.” (Teacher Leader, R.I.)
3. "We don't have time to teach our six-week units because there's always a testing cycle going on." (Principal, Camden, N.J.)
2. "I think there's a teacher gap and a principal gap. We need to talk more about how we get high quality teaching and sound pedagogy." (Principal, Brooklyn, N.Y.)
1. "On Monday, in a 5th grade class, I asked students to make sure to complete their drafts by the end of the class period. We were writing mystery stories. As ever, I was circulating around the room when I saw one young girl working diligently on a drawing.
"'What are you doing?' I asked.
'I'm trying to finish this drawing of the giraffe you asked for by the end of class!'" (Teacher, New Jersey)
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