testing

There is no question that a means testing regime ought to be in place, but by what standards and who makes that determination is what must be reexamined and changed.

Our public schools went through a significant change during the Obama years, a change that was met with an unusual amount of criticism from the public, parents, and concerned education professionals.

In today’s edition of the Heartland Daily Podcast, we listen in as project manager for Lennie Jarratt speaks before the Illinois Christian Home Educators Conference in Naperville, Illinois. Jarratt was there to talk about Common Core and its effects on Homeschooling.

Supporters of education reform who advocate for government-funded choice mechanisms, such as vouchers, tend to argue the problems in K–12 schools in the United States are primarily economic matters, not pedagogical. This view is validated by much data, but the concept ought to be extended further to say the economic marketplace in which K–12 education operates needs more than vouchers to become as efficient as it needs to be to deliver a quality education to each and every child.

In today’s edition of The Heartland Daily Podcast, managing editor Heather Kays speaks with Arizona Rep. Mark Finchem. Finchem joins Kays to talk about Common Core and student data privacy.

As high-stakes testing grows in K-12 education, it is no surprise the testing for teacher certifications is also becoming more high-stakes. The problem is, teacher testing is not a good indicator of teacher quality. An MIT study found “state mandated teacher testing is associated with increases in teacher wages, though we find no evidence of a corresponding increase in quality.”

Hillary Clinton liked it when support for Common Core was “bipartisan … or, actually, nonpartisan,” but finds it painful now that the nationalized education standards supposedly have been politicized.

Thousands of parents across the country and here in Illinois are concerned about Common Core standards, PARCC testing on those standards, and the accumulation and storage of their children’s personal data. Thorner, as a citizen and taxpayer living in a community in northern Illinois, is represented by Lake Forest-Lake Bluff school Districts 65, 67 and 115. All have embraced Common Core standards with enthusiasm.

Director of Communications Jim Lakely speaks with Managing editor of School Reform News Heather Kays about the latest Common Core news in today’s Heartland Daily Podcast.

High-profile Republicans are embracing school choice, notably in the current fast-tracked No Child Left Behind rewrite, but in such a way as to anger their most politically effective constituents.

The heat on Common Core was high this spring, but I predict it will be even higher come state legislative sessions this January. It’s the last year states can conceivably avoid joining the train wreck that will be Common Core tests, which are due to replace state tests in March and following. But the earnest moms and dads that comprise the Common Core grassroots have been largely burned by their representatives, who either have responded to serious arguments by relabeling Common Core or diverting blame for it. They’re politicians, man, not representatives.

Amid public outcry, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves (R) have changed their minds about Common Core. Both have spoken out in support of ceasing the use of Common Core State Standards despite that K–12 math and English standards have already been slowly rolled out and partially adopted

The world needs more teachers like Susan Bowles. The kindergarten teacher at Lawton Chiles Elementary School in Gainesville risked her job to stand up for what she believes in.