|
Welcome!
What is
Urban Edge?
Urban Edge is a service that provides CUBE districts
with relevant information to help your awareness of education issues around the
country. We will glean news sources, blogs, research studies, and NSBA's wide range of expertise for timely information that guides CUBE districts in making sound decisions. Around
the nation
Just
two states make Race to the Top final bracket
As March Madness (education edition)
continues, Tennessee and Delaware come out as the
two states granted hundreds of millions of dollars
in federal education funding. Delaware's small
enrollment may have helped them win the $107 million
monies. With just over 126,000 students, the
ability to be somewhat flexible and have more
"face time" helped its application.
Tennessee, earning up to $502 million, had a plan
that was backed by more than 90% of their teachers
unions and ties teacher pay to student performance
on standardized tests. In both states, 100% of
the districts backed the application, which may have
hurt other state's applications.
Link
to Washington Post
3/29/10 (free registration)
Senate panel passes school lunch bill
CUBE districts know the importance that food
plays in urban school achievement and overall
student well-being. In many states, more than
half of the students in schools are eligible for
free and/or reduced lunches (click link to see a map
of all state percentages). The new bill,
titled, "The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of
2010" could give billions to schools and aid in
the safety of food being served by giving the
Department of Agriculture control of the guidelines
for food being served in school cafeterias
(including vending machines). The bill also
loosens the rules for students acquiring Free and
Reduced Lunch status, which may help more students
eat healthier at school and avoid childhood obesity.
Link
to USA Today
3/25/10
Link
to NSBA press release
Latest NAEP scores released
The "nation's report card," the National
Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) shows that
4th and 8th grade students have remained stagnant on
reading levels over the last 17 years. While
math scores have shown gains, the reading tests have
had little upward movement, with the exception of
the nation's worst readers. The bottom 10
percent of readers is getting better, while those in
the top 10 percent have stayed at the same
level. The test, which is given nationwide to
over 300,000 students, is given every few years and
mandated by Congress.
Link
to New York Times 3/24/10
(free registration)
Link
to Center for Public Education's Edifier blog
Texas and textbooks - will it impact everyone?
The Texas State Board of Education agreed to new
standards for textbooks and many around the country
are growing worried that other states will be forced
to use the same books. Controversy around
Thomas Jefferson's legacy, the separation of church
and state, and other changes supported by the State
Board gained national attention because of the fear
that if Texas adopts these textbooks, other states
will be forced to follow due to the publishers
"national editions" of books. But
publishing experts say that textbooks are no longer
national and there is little to worry about. A
representative from the Association of American
Publishers said, "It's gotten to be an
exaggeration, if not an urban legend, about how
curriculum in Texas automatically hops state lines."
Link to Los Angeles Times 3/10/10
Report shows progress for urban districts
A report released last week shows that urban
districts are improving in many major categories of
student achievement, including reading and
math. The study showed that some urban
districts (including many CUBE districts) made
changes to help improve urban student
achievement. In some cases, it was a program
change like unifying a reading curriculum, while
others had to consolidate or pull resources together
in the difficult financial times we are experiencing
as a nation. Regardless, the news is good for
urban districts who have made tough decisions to
impact student achievement in a positive manner.
Link
to EdWeek story 3/22/10
Full
report CUBE
News
CUBE's
Annual Business Meeting will be held on April
9th as part of
CUBE programming with the NSBA Annual Conference in
Chicago, Illinois. An agenda for
the meeting can be found here.
CUBE elects its new Steering Committee members at
this meeting, as well as gaining important
information about CUBE's concerns and direction for
the coming year. In addition,
NSBA's Delegate Assembly members will be meeting
about proposed changes to NSBA's
Policies and Resolutions and the issues they
will be voting on at the annual meeting.
CUBE
is on Twitter-Follow CUBE_Edge (CUBE_Edge)
for daily updates on what's happening in urban
education around the country.
New
Report
The
Center for Public Education released a new
report about charter schools last week called
"Charter Schools: Finding Out the
Facts." In the report, the authors state
that charter schools do about the same as public
schools in terms of student achievement, but show
better gains in elementary reading and middle school
math, while performing worse in high school. A
summary is available here,
and CUBE will be discussing charter schools
at the NSBA Annual Conference in Chicago and
the CUBE Issues Seminar this June in Los Angeles.
Contest
opportunity
Last
Chance! NASA and USA Today announced a new
contest for students titled "No Boundaries,"
to help 7-12th graders explore STEM careers.
This cross-curricular free project includes cash
awards up to $2,000 and a NASA VIP experience for
students. For more information, check their web
site. Deadline for applications
is April 15,
2010.
Program
Note
Did
you know that all previous editions of the Urban
Edge are available on CUBE's web site? If
you missed an issue, wanted to go back to find a
link to a research study we referenced, or need some
information about what other districts are doing,
click here.
Disclaimer
Links
on the Urban Edge are subject to change or
become inactive after a period of time. Please
be aware that CUBE has no control over links to
other organizations or entities.
|