THANKS OBAMA
Many observers found Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s recent admonishment of testing to be a puzzling change of direction. However, it now appears that his motivation may have been executive in nature. Alyson Klein writes that President Obama’s new position on testing likely influenced Secretary Duncan. What has made the President rethink the issue is not as clear.
MO' MONEY, REFRESHINGLY FEWER PROBLEMS
A new study from Mathematica Policy Research lends credence to a somewhat intuitive notion: If you pay teachers more, educational outcomes will improve. The case in question is that of Manhattan’s Equity Project, a mostly Hispanic charter school in Washington Heights that pays its teachers roughly $125,000 annually. Eighth graders at the school have experienced gains in math performance comparable to an extra year and a half of instruction at a district school.
HERO AMIDST TRAGEDY
Details continue to emerge surrounding Friday morning’s deadly school shooting at Washington’s Marysville-Pilchuck High School. While the fourteen-year-old shooter’s motives and state of mind remain a mystery, the New York Times reports that a heroic member of the school’s faculty may have saved countless lives by intervening during the crisis.
RUSH FOR PRESCHOOL GRANT MONEY
Thirty-six states have applied to compete for some $250 million in preschool program grants made available by the Department of Education, Politics K–12 reports. The list includes five states that had originally not intended to apply, but possibly changed direction after the grant money became politicized locally.
