New York Governor Calling For Common Core Review.

The AP (9/4, Thompson) reports that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is calling for “legislation to change the Common Core program in New York, saying Thursday that he agrees with the goal of the learning standards but the implementation ‘has been deeply flawed.’” Cuomo wants a panel made up of state Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia, lawmakers, and other stakeholders to come up with recommendations by his State of the State address in January.         The Wall Street Journal (9/4, Brody, Subscription Publication) reports that Cuomo cited angst over low test scores, and quotes him saying, “The current Common Core program in New York is not working and must be fixed.”         The Lower Hudson Valley (NY) Journal News (9/3) reports that Cuomo is a “staunch defender” of the Common Core, but has frequently criticized the rollout of the standards in the state. The paper reports that the review plan comes in the wake of “mounting criticism and, in particular, the wave of test refusals among families with children in grades 3-8.”         Other media outlets covering this story include the Syracuse (NY) Post-Standard (9/4), Newsday (NY) (9/4), and the New York Daily News (9/4, Blain).

New Teacher Project Report Outlines Failures Of Traditional Professional Development, Benefits Of New Online Alternatives.

The Education Dive (9/3, Schimel) outlines a report released by The New Teacher Project on professional development programs. The report found that most professional development fail to help teachers improve instruction or student performance, but still come at a high price averaging $18,000 per teacher. More districts are moving to online professional development programs, which could be more cost-effective than traditional programs.

California Testing Out New Science Standards With “Early Implementer” Districts.

EdSource (9/2, Levin) reports 10 California school districts are trying out the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) this school year under the California K-8 NGSS Early Implementation Initiative. The initiative introduces a new curriculum and way of teaching science to elementary and middle school students. Educators hope the “early implementer” districts can share lessons they learn about the new curriculum with other districts before the new standards are implemented statewide. NGSS, sometimes compared to Common Core standards, has only been adopted by 15 states.

More COMMON CORE News

First Delaware SBAC Test Results Show Declining Scores.

The Wilmington (DE) News Journal (9/2, Albright) reports that the first ever results of SBAC testing in Delaware painted “a far bleaker picture than parents have been given in past years,” with around half of students scoring proficient in English and fewer than 40% scoring proficient in math. However, “state leaders say it’s not surprising because the test asks far more of kids.” The article quotes Gov. Jack Markell saying, “The Smarter Assessment is harder and different from any of our past state assessments. Although we raised the bar considerably, our students performed better than anticipated.”

        The AP (9/3, Chase) reports that Delaware’s scores contain “good news and bad news,” noting that state officials said that “students did better than expected,” though overall scores could be perceived as low. Outgoing Education Secretary Mark Murphy said, “Simply put, these assessments that our children took are harder.... It does not mean that our students learned any less.” Murphy and Markell stressed that this iteration is the beginning of a new baseline, and that “the results cannot be easily compared to the previous multiple choice test, known as the Delaware Comprehensive Assessment System, or DCAS.”

        WHYY-FM Philadelphia (9/3) also covers this story, focusing on the “mixed” results. Despite overall low proficiency rates, students outperformed projections based on 2014 SBAC field testing. The piece notes that officials had predicted the declines “on the new test because it is aligned with the tougher Common Core State Standards and because it measures more complex thinking skills.” The Middletown (DE) Transcript (9/2, Paulk) also covers this story.

Report Points To Disconnect Between Common Core, Classwork.

Liana Heitin writes at the Education Week (9/3) “Curriculum Matters” blog that a new report from the Education Trust finds a lack of alignment between “individual classroom assignments” and Common Core literacy standards. The report “found that about 4 in 10 assignments were aligned with their respective, grade-appropriate standard,” with that ratio falling to 3 in 10 in high-poverty schools.

        The Washington Post (9/3, Brown) reports that the report indicates that “teachers are often assigning work that asks far less of students than the Common Core standards require,” and that students “are rarely asked to write more than a few sentences at a time, for example, and are seldom asked to grapple with complex ideas and arguments.” Education Trust said that the findings “raise important questions about potential problems with how Common Core is being implemented nationwide.”

Congress Seeks To Finalize NCLB Rewrite.

The Washington Times (9/3, Howell) reports that despite a busy agenda for the next few weeks, lawmakers “are squeezing in another item that has bedeviled Congress for years – settling on a bipartisan rewrite of the No Child Left Behind education law that can win over the White House.” Both the Senate and House passed a revision in July, and sent it to conference. President Obama has threatened to veto the House version, but the Administration “has said it could live with the Senate bill.”

Online Teacher-Certification Program Planning Large, Rapid Expansion.

Education Week (9/2, Brenneman) reports TEACH-NOW Educatore School of Education, an online teacher-certification program, is “planning a rapid expansion after meeting with initial success.” Emily Feistritzer founded the program in 2011, and the first class began in March 2013. The program takes at least nine months to complete and has already started or finish training more than 600 people. Feistritzer announced that she plans to prepare 10,000 new teachers over the next five years and establish an online master’s degree program.

Opinion: US Needs More Minority Teachers In Schools And Colleges.

In an opinion piece in Education Week (9/2, Lynch), Matthew Lynch, the dean of Virginia Union University’s school of education outlines why schools and colleges need more minority instructors. First, the diversity of students should be reflected in the diversity of instructors. Second, minority students will perform better with more minority instructors. Third, minority instructors will help shape a more diverse campus culture. Fourth, white students will have a better understanding of people of other races if they are taught by more minority instructors.

Missouri Has Youngest Teachers In The Nation.

According to the ED, WBUR-FM Boston (9/2) reports that Missouri has the youngest teachers in the country. This is part of a larger national trend of students being taught by “younger and less experienced” teachers this year than in the past.

Pennsylvania Judge Orders Injunction Blocking Teachers Strike

The AP (9/3) reports Judge Robert Mazzoni in Pennsylvania ordered a temporary injunction against a planned teachers’ strike in the Scranton Area School District. Teachers had planned to walk out on Thursday, the first day of school, because they disagree with the district about salaries, benefits, and class sizes.

Missouri Has Youngest Teachers In The Nation

According to the ED, WBUR-FM Boston (9/2) reports that Missouri has the youngest teachers in the country. This is part of a larger national trend of students being taught by “younger and less experienced” teachers this year than in the past.

SAT Scores At Lowest Level Since 2005

The Washington Post (9/3, Anderson) reports the College Board said Thursday that SAT scores “have sunk to the lowest level since the college admission test was overhauled in 2005.” The average score “for the Class of 2015 was 1490 out of a maximum 2400,” down seven points since last year. The Post says the “steady decline in SAT scores and generally stagnant results from high schools on federal tests and other measures reflect a troubling shortcoming of education-reform efforts.”

Dallas Engineers Volunteer To Help Students With Science Projects

The Dallas Morning News (9/1, Tsiaperas) reports the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas organized an after-school program at Santa Clara Community Center that pairs local engineers with students to work on science projects. The engineers are volunteers from Fluor Corp. who help students build and design different projects. Students worked with the engineers to design roller coasters, build catapults out of popsicle sticks, and conduct chemistry experiments.

Arizona High Schools Turning To Fundraisers For Athletics Programs.

The Arizona Republic (9/1, Freader) reports that Arizona high schools are increasingly depending on fundraisers to cover the costs of athletics programs, which are growing more expensive while state education funding “continues to be squeezed.” Arizona Interscholastic Association executive director Harold Slemmer is quoted as saying, “Years ago the easy way to fund high school athletics was through the regular school maintenance and operation budget,” but now schools that want “to continue having good, well-developed programs” must turn to outside funding. The Republic notes that Coolidge Unified School District is among those charging student athletes a fee under a “pay-to-play” system to help “pay for athletic trainers...transportation and many other parts of an overall district athletic budget.”

Mississippi Lawmakers Refuse To Release Correspondence On Education Funding Initiative.

Mississippi Public Broadcasting (9/1, Boger) reports in its blog that Philip Gunn, speaker of the Mississippi House, and Lieutenant Governor Tate Reeves are refusing to comply with a request to turn over their correspondence concerning an education funding proposal called Initiative 42, which “allows the legislature to be taken to court if they fail to fully fund the state’s public schools.” Patsy Brumfield with the 42 For Better Schools campaign wondered how far lawmakers would go to defeat the measure, and said, “The public deserves to know what its elected officials are doing on state time to oppose a citizen’s ballot initiative.” The piece notes that Gunn and Reeves have also been asked to release correspondence regarding the measure’s legislative alternative, 42-A, which would not provide the right to sue the legislature.

Chester Upland Teachers To Start Work Without Pay.

The Christian Science Monitor (9/1) reports that teachers in Pennsylvania’s troubled Chester Upland School District have voted to work despite “the prospect of weeks – perhaps even months – without a paycheck.” The piece explains that the district “has struggled with economic and academic problems for years, but now a budget impasse in the state capital, combined with the explosive growth of public charter schools in the district, have conspired to put it on the brink of insolvency.”