After providing an online survey on the subject this month, the DC State Board of Education (SBOE) will hold hour-long public meetings throughout June in each ward on the new federal law that replaces No Child Left Behind. That law, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), gives more latitude to school systems to determine accountability beyond required annual … Continue reading State Board to Hold Community Meetings on ESSA

Next Wednesday June 1, at 6:30 pm at McKinley Tech HS (151 T St. NE), Dan Willingham, a cognitive scientist at the University of Virginia, will speak about the importance of a rich curriculum from the youngest ages. Willingham writes the “Ask the Cognitive Scientist” column for American Educator magazine and will discuss how deep … Continue reading Why Knowledge (and Curriculum) Matter

[Ed Note: The city just learned that DCPS wants to contract for food services for most of its schools with Sodexo. The contract is not yet publicly available for scrutiny. To ensure that the contract and its terms are throughly disinfected by public sunshine, the good folks at the DC School Food Project are asking … Continue reading DCPS (New) Food Services Contract–Same as the Old One?

So, after months of internal discussions, DCPS is apparently getting public input into its new and improved educational specifications, which will guide future modernizations and renovations of schools. Well, sort of: Tonight, Tuesday May 24, at the SHAAPE meeting (Senior High Alliance of Parents, Principals, and Educators; Dunbar HS, 6 pm), DCPS officials will be … Continue reading Erm, Meet the New Ed Specs–Maybe

According to testimony provided by our deputy mayor for education (DME) last week for the state board of education, the city's department of energy and the environment (DOEE) is hosting a number of blood screenings for lead as a result of the ongoing crisis of confidence in the city's testing and reporting of lead in … Continue reading Lead in Water, Part 3 (of an ongoing series)

In Part 1 of this series, I looked at David Grosso’s contributors to his current campaign. Grosso is chair of the council’s education committee and thus wields influence over public education policy in DC. Here, I took a look at recent donations of $100 or more to DC politicians from education advocacy organizations and people … Continue reading DC Education Leaders and Campaign Money, Part 2: Lucrative Influences

The new federal law to replace No Child Left Behind, called "Every Student Succeeds" (or ESSA, for short), gives more latitude to school systems to determine accountability beyond required annual standardized testing. The new law goes into effect in the 2017/18 school year, so in the meantime, our state board of education is seeking feedback … Continue reading Weigh In On ESSA Implementation

In any election year, who is giving money (and how much) tells a story. This election year is no different. As a start to seeing that story among DC education leaders and elected officials, I focused on donations to David Grosso of $100 or more, recorded by the DC Office of Campaign Finance from October … Continue reading DC Education Leaders and Campaign Money, Part 1: David Grosso

to testify at the next meeting of the state board of education on Wednesday May 18 at 5:30 pm. The deputy mayor for education, Jennifer Niles, will be there to discuss the mayor's plan for modernizing DCPS schools as well as address lead in water issues. Sign up to testify by calling (202) 741-0888 or emailing sboe@dc.gov … Continue reading Just a Few Hours to Sign Up . . .

Two updates as of today, Monday May 16: The city council--specifically, the education committee and the committee on transportation and the environment--will be holding a hearing about lead in school water on Wednesday June 22, 10 am, at our city hall (1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW). To sign up to testify, you can do so electronically … Continue reading Lead in Water, Part 2 (of an unfortunately ongoing series)