READ MORE AT ….
************
Senate passes overhaul of No Child Left Behind
Supporters
of the Senate bill said the overhaul gets rid of the teach-to-the-test
mentality that they argue has dominated public schools since No Child Left
Behind's inception.
The Hill - By Jordain Carney July 16, 2015
The Senate on Thursday passed an overhaul of the No Child
Left Behind education law, an action that senators on both sides of the aisle
agreed was long overdue.
Senators voted 81-17 to pass the Every Child Achieves Act,
which transfers more decision-making power to state and local authorities.
While No
Child Left Behind was passed under former President George W. Bush, the
weeklong debate in the Senate over changes to the law was among the least
divisive of Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) six-month
tenure as majority leader.
He touted the legislation as the latest example that his
party has been able to get the Senate working again ahead of the 2016
elections.
"The
pundits told us it would never happen. Republicans and Democrats will never
agree on a way to replace No Child Left Behind, they said. But a new
Senate that’s back to work is proving them wrong," McConnell said.
Read the full story here.
************
Investing in what works for education | TheHill
By Sens. Orrin
Hatch (R-Utah) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.)
Jul 7, 2015
- America’s
students face stiff competition from classmates and from around the world.
Today’s job market is shaped by an increasingly competitive global economy, and
government budgets at all levels are under increased pressure to do more with
less. With all of these challenges, how do we best prepare American students
for success?
We believe America must
invest in what works. Across the country, there are brilliant students,
dedicated teachers, and groundbreaking schools making real progress. We should
support their accomplishments by helping all schools and districts innovate and
adopt approaches that enable American students to succeed. By supporting
measures that increase the availability and use of data-driven solutions to our
schools’ most pressing problems, federal lawmakers can help encourage our
nation’s educators to find the most successful, impactful ways to increase
student learning.
Continue
reading at ….. http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/education/246945-investing-in-what-works-for-education
************
Congress must not reverse course on education | TheHill
By former Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) and Celine Coggins - 07/06/15
This week,
both the U.S. House of
Representatives and the U.S.
Senate may vote on the rewrite of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
(ESEA). First passed in 1965, it is now commonly known as the No Child Left
Behind Act, signed into law in 2002. The next chapter in the story of American
education is about to be written. We may represent the polar ends of the
education system — a former chairman of the House Education Committee and a
former classroom teacher — but we have a shared belief that now is the
opportunity to get it right.
In 1965, the
federal government got involved because the political pressures at all levels
of education worked against poor and minority children. Unfortunately,
political pressures in education still work against poor and minority children
— in terms of access to rigorous curriculum, effective teachers, funding, fair
discipline policies, college and wrap-around services.
Teachers know acutely how all of the current systems and political pressures
work most profoundly against the students for whom the ESEA was meant in the
first place.
Continue
reading at …..
http://thehill.com/opinion/op-ed/247004-congress-must-not-reverse-course-on-education
************
Online classrooms resetting education | TheHill
Online
courses aren’t just happening at the college level, as the virtual classroom is
increasingly being used to educate elementary and secondary school students.
By Ramsey Cox - 06/02/14
06:01 AM EDT
Lawmakers
are singing the praises of new online courses that are reducing costs and
freeing students from the constraints of the classroom.
The increase in online courses has been particularly pronounced at colleges and
universities, which are using new technology to attract non-traditional
students who need the ability to juggle other responsibilities.
Continue
reading at ….. http://thehill.com/policy/technology/technology/207785-online-classrooms-resetting-education