Arizona Education Network

A diverse group of education supporters has been meeting this summer to hash out a people’s initiative to fund public education in Arizona.  Moderated by Susan Carlson of ABEC (Arizona Business and Education Coalition), the groups include AEN, the Arizona Education Association, Teach for America, Stand for Children and  charter school advocates.  The aim of  Continue Reading >

Anyone remotely involved in advocating for public education in this country has come across the Finland comparison. America’s public school system measures in the middle of the international pack in reading, math and science against Finland’s top-of-the-heap results. What are some of the differences? The US is busy trying to reform public education by introducing  Continue Reading >

All public kindergartens in the state are implementing the newly adopted Common Core Standards into their curriculum beginning this school year, resulting in a more rigorous academic program for the state’s youngest students. The Common Core Standards have been voluntarily adopted by 48 states in an effort to standardize the public education curriculum across the  Continue Reading >

A few schools across the state are implementing the Move On When Ready program approved by the Legislature last session. Under the program, high school sophomores take rigorous core subject exams and, in effect, test out of the remaining two years of high school.  Awarded the Grand Canyon diploma, these students can immediately go on  Continue Reading >

Education Next, a journal reporting on school reform efforts, published its 5th Annual PEPG Survey—a snapshot of stakeholder opinion on issues related to public education. The survey indicates the current controversies over public education have not yet altered public opinion, but teachers’ views differ sharply from that of non-teacher respondents.   Click here to read  Continue Reading >

An analysis by the Arizona Education Network of the Arizona Learns 2009-2010 Achievement Profiles for All Schools published by the Arizona Department of Education shows that traditional public schools, once again, performed better than charter schools over the same period.  To see last year’s results, click here.   The report also shows a significant decrease in  Continue Reading >

Author of The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education and member of Ronald Reagan’s education team, Diane Ravitch writes a thorough review of Waiting for “Superman”. Ravitch’s review provides and expands upon facts necessary to have a knowledgeable discussion of the issues surrounding education.

Today’s math curriculum is teaching students to expect–and excel at–paint-by-numbers classwork, robbing kids of a skill more important than solving problems: formulating them. At TEDxNYED, Dan Meyer shows classroom-tested math exercises that prompt students to stop and think. . . . Why you should listen to Dan Meyer: Dan Meyer asks, “How can we design  Continue Reading >

Today (9/12/2010) New York Times columnist, Thomas Friedman discussed parental expectations in his column, “We’re No. 1(1)!” . While reform of our education system is complicated and funding in these difficult economic times is problematic, parental and student behaviors are targets that deserve a closer look. Friedman maintains that highly motivated students driven by high parental expectation were more common in “the greatest generation” and have fallen by the wayside. Moreover, he suggests that these values are the driving factors for education in both India and China.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan today (7/27/10) released the list of finalists for the second round of the Race to the Top federal grant program. Arizona is one of the 19 finalists.

A recent Newsweek article titled “The Creativity Crisis” reported on a William & Mary study by Kyung Hee Kimon showing that creativity in American children is decreasing. According to study, which analyzed almost 300,000 Torrance scores of children and adults, creativity scores have declined since 1990.

The new Common Core Standards created by a panel of members of the National Governor’s Association and the state superintendents of education were released yesterday for public comment. Arizona was an early supporter of the development of these new Common Core Standards and touted its commitment to adopt the standards in their application for the Race to the Top grant.

Monday, Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan announced that Tennessee and Delaware were the only two winners of the phase one Race to the Top Grants. Arizona ranked fortieth out of forty-one applicants with a score of 240.2 out of 500.

On March 13, 2010 the Obama administration released their blueprint for changes to the Elementary & Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The blueprint emphasized many of the same strategies as the Race to the Top grant program including teacher accountability for annual progress.

Doug Lemov and Deborah Loewenberg Ball, education researchers, identify 49 teaching techniques that contribute to excellent student outcomes. In math, students whose teacher got an above-average M.K.T. (Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching) score learned about three more weeks of material over the course of a year than those whose teacher had an average score, a boost equivalent to that of coming from a middle-class family rather than a working-class one.” In essence, an educator just knowing the subject matter is only one contributor to student learning.

Arizona public school districts are responding to charter school models with innovative programs, and some are offering their own charter schools.

Education Week has recently released its annual Report Card on American public education, and it shows mixed results for Arizona.

. The recent issue of  The Atlantic looks into the hotly debated question of what makes a good teacher.  Proposals in the new Race to the Top standards will require teacher compensation tied to student performance.  Under this teacher accountability model, identifying teacher excellence will be even more important.  The article points out that; “[s]tates must try to identify great teachers, figure  Continue Reading >

New Orleans is now the first major U.S. City with a majority of their students in charter schools (61% of all students in 2009-2010), according to U.S. News & World Report.  The New Orleans public school system was devastated in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and needed to be rebuilt from scratch. Since the pre-Katrina New  Continue Reading >

. AEN members recently participated in a webinar titled “What to Expect: Arizona’s Race to the Top Application,”  presented by Arizona  School Boards Association [ASBA] and the Arizona Association of School Business Officials [AASBO]. The featured speaker was Mesa School District Superintendent Dr. Debra Duvall, who serves as a Special Advisor to Governor Brewer on the  Continue Reading >

The Arizona Education Association is suing to block new rules regarding how teacher contracts are offered and how layoffs are accomplished in Arizona.

Gates Foundation to take a more active role in education.

In response to a warning by Governor Brewer that some services may face cuts or elimination, Senator Russell Pearce suggested specific cuts to education.

The Arizona Board of Regents, university leaders and students in Arizona are engaged in an ongoing effort to revamp the structure of higher education in our state. This week the Arizona Education Network looks at some of the latest statistics and information related to our higher education goals and outlook for the future.

While charter schools like Basis are known for their excelling programs, many other charter schools have not met their promises.

A look into how high schools in the Vail, AZ area are replacing traditional textbooks with multi-media sources.

Education pioneer, Geoffrey Canada’s quest to provide the poorest children in NYC an education that will enable them to compete. An interesting book covering the creation of the Harlem Children’s Zone.

We examine Senate Bill 1437 (Schools; gun safety instructors; certification) as part our education legislation series. There are currently 1,111 bills posted in the Arizona State Legislature – is this one a benefit to the citizens of our state?

Incoming President of Regents Aims to Cut Students’ Costs
FLAGSTAFF – Article excerpt The Arizona Daily Star by Aaron Mackey (6/20/09)
During a presentation to the board, Regent President-elect Ernest Calderón outlined a wide variety of proposals to increase the number of graduates while simultaneously lowering costs to students.

Best Practices – What works? What ideas are out there for improving our schools?
Click this link to read more about top performing schools, effective academic programs, accountability enhancements and what other states and countries are doing to improve their schools.

Recently governors and state commissioners of education across the country have to join a state-led process to develop a common core of state standards in English-language arts and mathematics for grades K-12. Learn more about this initiative here.

Teachers, Performance Pay, and Accountability: What Education Should Learn From Other Sectors Economic Policy Institute, May 2009 Excerpt: “Some school policymakers are promoting a new idea for improving the schools: merit pay plans that would tie teachers’ pay to the scores their students earn on standardized math and reading tests. Advocates of this approach base  Continue Reading >

Lifetime Effects: The HighScope Perry Preschool Study Through Age 40 (2005) Excerpt: This long term study examined the impact of early childhood education on a group of individuals from 1962 through the present day. Excerpt: “From 1962-1967, at ages 3 and 4, the subjects were randomly divided into a program group that received a high-quality  Continue Reading >

Best Evidence Encyclopedia Johns Hopkins University School of Education, Website, 2009 Which research programs have been successfully evaluated in valid research? What works in education? The Best Evidence Encyclopedia (BEE) presents reliable, unbiased reviews of research-proven educational programs to help evaluate academic and structural performance. CSRQ Center Report on Elementary School CSR Models This report  Continue Reading >