Recently, Mashea Ashton, CEO of Newark Charter School Fund (NCSF) wrote a blog for the Huffington Post advocating for the reform of teacher tenure laws.

The Common Core tests aren’t in their final form yet, but next week students across the country will still sit down in front of computers to take them.  This is happening as part of the nationwide field testing between PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium.

At the end of this month, the grassroots movement known as National School Choice Week will once again take shape in schools, districts, and cities across the country. From January 26th to February 1st, 2014, school choice advocates across the nation will gather to demonstrate their belief that parents should be empowered to choose the best educational environments for their children. KANAAE is proud to be a partner in this unprecedented opportunity to shine a positive spotlight on the need for effective education options for all students and teachers.

Teachers have been a part of the blogging scene since the very beginning.  Blogging has always been an easy way for professionals in an often isolating and misunderstood practice to share the thoughts, feelings, and challenges of their everyday life.  Today, teacher blogs have proliferated across the internet and have even become a subset of blogging in their own right.

As support grows for environmentally conscious food programs, schools are beginning to catch on to the growing movement. Anyone who has been in to a school cafeteria knows how much food often goes to waste. Now urban school cafeterias, including those in Miami-Dade County, are leading the way toward a sustainable and environmentally aware lunch program.

To anyone interested in the teaching of social studies and civics, it is no surprise that the public has mixed opinions when it comes to this highly important subject.  On one hand, people seem to be growing more and more distressed at the lack of civics and history knowledge among the population. It seems that almost every week there’s some sort of news article or study pointing out how much Americans don’t know, soon followed by a cry for more civics education in schools.

While many schools may be tempted to cut music programs to conserve funds, these classes prove to be worth the investment according to recent reports. Anew study released by the Society of Neuroscience corroborates the idea that music training produces many positive results in students.

According to the recently released NAEP scores, or the "Nation's Report Card," reading and mathematics achievement for American 8th graders has improved in the last two years. However, 4th graders' achievement has remained sub par. Overall, there have been gains in both subjects since the assessments in the early 1990s.

As October and Connected Educator Month draw to a close, it’s never too late to get connected! Here are ten simple tips for "connecting,” derived from anEdutopia blog by Elana Leoni.

After a tumultuous introduction to the new school year, Indiana continues to face challenges as many are questioning why A-F school grades have yet to be revealed to the public. Indiana was once leading the charge among states to rank schools via easy-to-understand letter grading.

A study was released yesterday that’s making big news: US adults score below other developed countries in math, literacy, and problem solving abilities.  Perhaps it’s because the technology we’ve been embracing is distracting us, or because we’re teaching study skills that don’t work, or maybe just because we don’t value our teachers as much.  Maybe if we start taking more field trips to art museums, we might see our skills rise.  All of these topics, and many more, have been addressed in research studies released in the past few months.  Read on to learn more about these studies:

On March 28, 2013, Michigan's Right-to-Work law went into full effect, finally providing Michigan teachers and other workers the freedom to choose whether they want to be a member of a union. Since its inception, AAE has seen a large increase in Michigan teachers searching for professional benefits without the partisan politics of the Michigan Education Association (MEA). However, due to the mass exodus of members, Michigan union leaders are doing everything in their power to keep workers in the fold.

As technology continues to evolve and expand, it is rare to hear of a school moving away from the use of new devices and programs. However, the South Bend School District, near Houston, Texas, recently abandoned a $16 million plan to incorporate iPads into classrooms.

Americans have been taking a long hard look at debt for years. According to estimates, the average American owes roughly $15,000 in personal debt, and the United States as a whole is $11.3 trillion dollars in debt. American teenagers are the largest consumer group, with an annual income of just $91.1 billion, and an averaging spending rate of $208.7 billion.

With tight budgets and changing requirements, teachers are always excited to hear about ways to save money on professional development and certifications. Recently, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) announced a $600 decrease in the price of certification. The change is designed to save teachers money and make certification easier to obtain.

In addition to the $600 decrease, NBPTS will also reduce the application fee for teachers– a savings largely achieved through advancements in electronic submission of candidates’ portfolios. Teachers will also be permitted to complete the process using a pay-as-you-go approach. Due partly to a 3.7 million dollar grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the price drop accompanies further modifications. Teachers will be given greater flexibility in completing required assessments and the program will begin to integrate new information into the certification process, including student surveys and measures of students’ academic progress.

Recently, a Phi Delta Kappa survey revealed 59% of Americans would expand mental health services in schools, whereas only 33% would opt for hiring more security guards.  In light of recent high-profile school shootings and fiscal realities facing districts, the ability to foster social and emotional learning is more critical than ever.

The equal treatment of special education students continues to be a focus of Secretary Duncan and the Department of Education. For special education students, current No Child Left Behind provisions permitted 2% of students per state to learn a curriculum based on “modified” objectives and be measured on an aligned test. These separate requirements for special needs students raised questions among disability advocates.

Following an eventful 2013 annual conference, the NEA's official membership numbers have hit the internet. According to the Education Intelligence Agency, the NEA has lost over 9% of its members nationwide. The 2011-12 school year absorbed the sharpest decline, with almost 104,000 fewer members in the ranks from the previous year. However, the losses continued by more than 41,000 members in the just-concluded 2012-13 school year.

Our great nation is known for the constant pursuit of equality and for “offering every citizen “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” In education, while there is an increasing focus on minority achievement, especially for African American and Hispanic students, few people are acknowledging the growing disparity in gender achievement in the United States.