So far, around 35 states have adopted the Common Core K-12 academic standards written by the National Governor’s Association and the Council of Chief State School Officials. But, will these standards be better than the statewide versions? Experts disagree, and it may be too soon to tell.

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Tags: Education Policy, Public Policy, Research on Learning

Congress approved and President Obama signed a $26.1-billion package of state aid that would help keep nearly 140,000 teachers nationwide on the job and continue extra funding to provide healthcare services to low-income households during the recession. The final vote in the House was 247-161, largely along party lines.

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Tags: Public Policy

With three months off in the summer, American students suffer a learning loss — and that’s particularly true of low-income students, who have few options for productive activities. With all U.S. students losing out to their international peers, engaging and fun summer programs may be the answer.

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Education Secretary Arne Duncan has named 18 states and the District of Columbia as finalists in a contest to show the best school reform plans. Winners – there could be 10 to 15 – will share up to $3.4 billion.

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President Obama rode into the White House on a wave of support that included America’s two largest teachers unions. But more recently, the administration’s relations with the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers have soured.

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High school graduates from low- to middle-income families are finding it harder to enroll in four-year, public universities because the costs of attending the schools are rising well beyond what federal, state, and institutional grants will cover, the Department of Education reports.

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A bipartisan group of senators is pressing to give states a financial incentive to incorporate engineering education in K-12 curricula, letting them compete for grants from the U.S. Department of Education.

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A growing number of cash-strapped U.S. school districts are opting for 4-day weeks to cope with tight budgets. Some districts say it’s that or laying off teachers. For some districts, the shorter week has proved a boon: test scores went up, as did student and teacher attendance.

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The long-awaited set of national academic standards — The Common Core State Standards — was released this month, indicating which math and English skills students should master during their K-12 years. Written by the National Governors Association and the country’s state school chiefs, the voluntary standards are expected to be adopted by 40 states by year’s end. Yet some lawmakers protest that the standards are an unneeded federal intrusion into local schools.

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Tags: Education Policy, Public Policy, STEM education