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Investing in Innovation Fund - Update
On Monday March 8, 2010, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan released the Department of Education’s (DOE) final priorities for grants under the $650 million Investing in Innovation Fund (i3 grants). The i3 grants are part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and are directed toward individual school districts or groups of school districts and entrepreneurial nonprofits partnering with school districts. Although states are not eligible to apply, there may be ways in which states could assist districts or consortiums with their grant applications. |
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States Weigh Four-Day School Week To Cut Costs (National Public Radio)
Legislation being proposed in many states would change the school week from five days to four. As states fight to balance their budgets amid the recession, they are looking for ways to save money. Mike Griffith, the senior school finance analyst for Education Commission of the States, offers his insight.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124501288 |
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Education Overhaul
Wash. Lawmakers Settle on K-12 Reforms
Washington lawmakers passed major education reforms, including a plan that should help the state compete for Race to the Top. The bill allows the state to intervene in schools that are failing, changes the way principals and teachers are evaluated, bumps automatic tenure rights to three instead of two years and paves the way for nonprofit organizations to issue teacher certifications. A second bill includes a new financing model for "prototypical" schools. A third bill creates a voluntary early learning program for 3- and 4-year-olds, which eventually will become an entitlement for all eligible children. (Seattle Times, 03/11/10)
See all of today's e-Clips stories
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Investing in Innovation Fund
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan released today the Department of Education’s (DOE) final priorities for grants under the $650 million Investing in Innovation Fund (i3 grants). The i3 grants are part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and are directed toward individual school districts or groups of school districts and entrepreneurial nonprofits partnering with school districts. Although states are not eligible to apply, there may be ways in which states could assist districts or consortiums with their grant applications. |
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Race to the Top Finalists Named
Today the United States Department of Education (USDoE) announced 15 states and the District of Columbia as finalists for the first round of the $4 billion Race to the Top (RTTT) competitive grant program. All of the states chosen as first round finalists will be required send a team of up to five people to make a presentation in defense of their applications to the USDoE on the week of March 15th. |
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The Teacher Leadership Exploratory Consortium, representing a broad array of education organizations, state education agencies, teacher leaders, principal leaders and institutions of higher education, has just released for comment draft model standards for teacher leaders. Go to: http://tlstandards.weebly.com/ to provide your feedback by April 15, 2010. |
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Progress of Education Reform: Chronic Early Absence
This issue of The Progress of Education Reform looks at two recent research studies on the issue of chronic early absence and addresses the following: 1) What are the impacts of chronic early absence? 2) Why has it been overlooked? 3) What contributes to chronic early absence? and 4) What can be done to reduce chronic absence in the early grades?
See previous issues of The Progress of Education Reform |
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Transition and Alignment: Two Keys to Assuring Student Success
The Obama administration is calling for more continuity across the education spectrum and providing funding opportunities for states, districts and schools to implement new policy and practice that builds linkages between levels of learning from preschool through higher education and workforce development. This policy brief looks at Transition and Alignment — two key components for creating continuity across early learning and the early grades and provides examples of successful state efforts. |
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Jackson St. Community College wins Bellwether Award
Jackson St. Community College, was awarded the Futures Assembly Bellwether Award for excellence in community college instructional services and programs for its SMART Math developmental studies redesign. Smart Math was one of the six pilots that make up the Tennessee Board of Regents Developmental Studies Redesign program that is co-directed by the Education Commission of the States and funded by the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education. |
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2009 Collections of ECS StateNotes and Policy Briefs
ECS regularly issues useful compilations, summaries and/or comparisons of state policies — enacted or pending — on a wide variety of education topics. Here is the collection of all StateNotes, Policy Briefs, ECS Alerts and Idea Papers that were released in 2009.
Download the PDF (3.5 MB) |
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Revving the Education Engine
This new ECS paper engages education, policy and workforce leaders to explore how to effectively align education, workforce and economic development policy to meet state and regional workforce needs. It provides a comprehensive view of alignment that addresses the various pathways students pursue through the education system and into the workforce. The paper provides examples of promising policies and programs states are employing to create greater alignment, as well as practical steps that state leaders can take in their states to fully leverage their education assets to meet state workforce and economic development goals. |
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ECS Pubs related to ARRA
A list of all ECS pubs related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Also, check out out this U.S. Department of Education Web site for a wide-range of information regarding the Race to the Top Fund and other education programs under the ARRA. http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/index.html |
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Grade 4 Math by the Numbers
In 2009, approximately 91% of 4th graders in large city schools received five or more hours of mathematics instruction per week, as compared to 85% nationally.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2009 Mathematics Assessment.
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Progress of Education Reform: Chronic Early Absence (February 2010)
The Progress of Education Reform - Service Learning (December 2009)
Transfer and Articulation (October 2009)
See previous issues of The Progress of Education Reform |
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See all StateNotes |
Recent StateNotes:
ARRA Update: Proposed State Uses of Stabilization Funding
Maximum P-12 Class-Size Policies
State Policies on Homeschooling
A Light at the End of the Tunnel
K-12 and Postsecondary Alignment
State Initiatives Regarding Electronic or Open-Source Textbooks
Noteworthy State Legislation for Improving Career and Technical Education
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