NJ Spotlight--Assembly Pulls PARCC Bill in Response to Worried Calls from Parents
Mothers and fathers jump on unclear language that makes it sound as if more than one exam can be administered to high school students
Legislators have responded to a deluge of passionate phone calls from parents urging them to reject a bill they say would allow unlimited testing of students for years to come.
Carly Sitrin | February 26, 2019
Chalkbeat--Pollution is bad for your health and the environment. It’s also bad for schools, two recent studies show.
Late last year, the Trump administration moved to roll back Obama-era regulations designed to improve air quality and limit pollution. No one thought of it as an education story.
But new research suggests it is, at least in part. While the health risks of air pollution have long been documented, two recent studies are among the first to directly connect two different forms of pollution to lower test scores and higher absence rates among exposed schoolchildren.
Schools across the country — particularly those serving more low-income students of color — are often located near hotbeds of pollution, like highways.
https://chalkbeat.org/posts/us/2019/02/25/pollution-harm-schools-research/
Matt Barnum| February 25, 2019
Education Week--Debunking the Myth That Rich Parents Don't Want Tech for Their Kids
It's an idea that won't go away: Wealthy parents don't want their children exposed to technology in school.
"The digital gap between rich and poor kids is not what we expected," the New York Times proclaimed last October. "The rich are banning screens from class altogether."
The problem?
Such sweeping assertions are supported by neither available evidence nor what's happening in some of America's wealthiest school districts.
Instead, the "new digital divide" is complicated and difficult to pin down, Education Week found when reviewing research, talking to experts, and interviewing parents and school officials…
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2019/02/13/debunking-the-myth-that-rich-parents-dont.html
Benjamin Herold| February 12, 2019