A daily dose of education news around the nation – just in time for a little mid-day break!
At-risk youth: A teacher reflects on teaching at a detention facility in Alaska. (Associated Press via Albany Times Union)
Curriculum: A middle school teacher in Washington state finds a way to combine his love of teaching with his love of motorcycles. (Associated Press via Teacher Magazine)
Education reform: President Obama spoke to the National Urban League yesterday in defense of education reform and said “education is an economic issue.” (Colorlines)
(Associated Press via YouTube)
Online education: With education budgets under fire, school districts are turning to e-learning for students to make up courses they’ve failed. (Fortune)
Promise neighborhoods: Even though funding is at stake, people in Athens, Georgia will do “whatever it takes” to ensure all of their kids go to college. (YouthToday and Athens Banner Herald)
A total of 339 grants for “promise neighbhorhoods” are under review. (EdMoney Watch via New America Foundation)
Data.ed.gov designed an interactive map that shows the 69 applicants from rural and tribal areas. (EquityBlog)
School accountability: State accountability ratings were released today in Texas. Schools found out how well they performed last year. One reporter broke the embargo, she-a culpa. (The Dallas Morning News)
School turnaround: Still in Texas, we were keeping an eye on Pearce Middle School, where test scores failed to meet state standards five years in a row. (weareaustin.com)
Pearce was rated “Academically Acceptable” for 2010, so the district will move forward with its approved plan for redesign, according to Kathy Anthony, a public information officer for the Austin Independent School District.
Teacher effectiveness: In Chicago, teachers’ union president Karen Lewis asked the district to cancel a contract with Teach For America. (WBEZ91.5)
