Looking Back at 2012: Top 10 Blog Posts of the Year

As 2012 winds down, I thought I'd pull together a list of the 10 most popular Educated Reporter posts of the year. I thought it was interesting that teacher-related topics took four the top spots. And I'm not surprised that STEM came in No. 1, as it's likely to be a huge issue heading into 2013. In the meantime, I want to take this opportunity to thank you for not only reading the blog, but also sharing ideas and  constructive criticism. I appreciate it.

1. Girls and STEM Education: Still Waiting for Liftoff

2. Teacher Job Satisfaction Takes Huge Drop, According to Survey

3. Are Foreign Students More Valuable to U.S. Universities?

4. Did University Professor's Lesson in Public Records Cross the Line

5. The Early Habit of Being Late

6. For-Profit Companies Getting Big Slice of Public Ed Pie, With Mixed Results

7. Will Raising School Attendance Age Lower Dropout Rate?

8. An All-for-One Approach on Teacher Bonus Pay

9. Will Merit Pay Make Teachers More Effective? 

10. New York City Teacher Evaluations Made Public: Will it Help?

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. Follow her on Twitter: @EWAEmily.

Looking Ahead: The Big Education Stories of 2013

When it comes to public education, 2013 is likely to be a year of new thinking, from innovative approaches to classroom technology to a potentially game-changing decision by the Supreme Court on affirmative action.

States and school districts will continue to struggle with the recession’s fiscal fallout, even as demands for more programs and services -- including science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) initiatives, extended learning time and early childhood education -- increase.

I've put together a list of ten education stories to watch for in 2013, including school safety, affirmative action, Common Core State Standards, and affordability and access in higher education. You can find the complete roundup over at The Atlantic.

On Monday, I'll have the Top 10 most popular Educated Reporter posts of 2012, so be sure to check back then.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. Follow her on Twitter: @EWAEmily.

EWA National Awards for Education Reporting: What Were the Best Stories of 2012?

I'm working on the Educated Reporter's annual roundup of the most memorable education journalism of the year. What were the stories that got you thinking, talking, and perhaps even doing? Email me your suggestions to erichmond@ewa.org. I'm looking forward to reading them.

On a related note, EWA is now accepting submissions for its National Awards for Education Reporting. (You can find last year's winners here.) The deadline is Feb. 1, 2013.

There are some new categories this year,  including one group for think tanks and advocacy organizations; another group for education-only news outlets; and a third for magazines and weeklies. EWA has also reconfigured how entries are grouped, basing them now on the size of an organization's newsroom rather than circulation or pageviews.

You can begin the contest entry process here. If you have questions or concerns, EWA contest coordinator Mikhail Zinshteyn can be reached at mzinshteyn@ewa.org.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. Follow her on Twitter: @EWAEmily.

From Doomsday to Revolt, Guessing How to Keep Students Safe

Fears over the Mayan calendar doomsday myth and rumors of threats to student safety were enough to shut down 33 schools in Michigan Thursday, and districts across the country are expected to have increased security on campus today.

Concerns over the rumors, many of which spread rapidly via Twitter and Facebook, prompted investigations by police and school authorities from Maine to Washington state. No credible evidence of danger was found. There were a handful of student arrests in San Antonio, Texas, following allegations of teens making threats against their high school classmates or intentionally spreading false rumors that campuses would be attacked. But the investigations turned up no actual plots.

In Michigan, the rumors swirled so fiercely over the past few days that district officials decided it was better to just send students home early for the winter holiday break. In addition to fears about the Mayan apocalypse, there were also rumors of a supposed “armed student revolt,” officials at the half-dozen districts in Genesee County said. Students had been sharing messages about the supposed revolt online.

“It’s been really nerve-racking to be honest with you," Grand Blanc schools superintendent Norm Abdella told Michigan Public Radio.

On the Genesee Intermediate School District website, the administration cited the intense emotion of the Sandy Hook tragedy as a factor in the decision to start the winter break early:

"Our communities are anxious, parents are concerned about the safety of their children, there are rumors that have multiplied as a result of social media, and there are threats within local districts that bring pause as to whether conducting classes would be appropriate. We have discussed information from local law enforcement, the realities of being able to investigate every threat, information related to district sensitivities, and our concerns about whether a normal instructional day could be achieved. Our conclusion is that canceling school is the appropriate thing to do."

The rumor mill was also in high gear in schools across the country including North Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin. In Lake County, Fla. the school district put out a statement that "contrary to rumors" classes would indeed be held today, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

As the Free Lance-Star reported in Spotsylvania, Penn., the local school district went so far as to post on its website “How to Talk to Children About Rumors of the World Ending,” directing parents to an online NASA resource that explained why the rumors had no merit.

In a number of districts, the rumors were rampant even before the Dec. 14 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, which claimed the lives of 20 young students and six adults. In the western Chicago suburbs, at least five districts investigated rumors of threats at high schools and found nothing to substantiate them, the Courier-News reported. However, the district's administration still promised to have additional security on campus.

Student chatter about a purported threat at Mountain View High School in central Oregon was so intense last week that the administration of the sent out an electronic bulletin to reassure the community. Administrators and local police investigated the rumors – including those posted via social media – but turned up nothing, the Bend-La Pine School District said on its Facebook page.

It’s not unexpected that school communities are in a heightened state of anxiety given recent events, says Dr. Richard Shadick, a clinical psychologist and professor at Pace University in New York. Also not unexpected, from a psychological standpoint, is the sudden focus on obscure threats.

In fact, as Shaddick explained, what's happening now is a key example of the coping mechanism known as "displacement." It's actually easier for people to be anxious about something less likely to happen – like the Mayans having accurately predicted the end of the world – than something that sadly is now a more realistic possibility, such as a school shooting.

“We’ve been through a number of end-of-the-world incidents, haven’t we," Shadick says.

The decision to close schools early for the winter break is understandable, given that students aren’t the only ones who are probably anxious, Shadick says. For the teachers and administrators, “it’s easier to manage that anxiety if the kids aren’t around,” Shadick says. “You don’t have to worry about protecting them if they’re safe at home.”

But a more productive approach for students might have been to maintain the regular routine of attending school – and perhaps using some of that time to discuss and dispel the rumors, Shadick says. He added that "in the long run it will not only minimize the anxiety, but it’s also good modeling about how to manage one’s fears."

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. Follow her on Twitter: @EWAEmily.

Duncan Praises Sandy Hook Teachers and Staff

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan met privately Wednesday with the staff of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., following last week's shootings which left 26 people dead, including 20 first graders. Duncan also attended a wake for Sandy Hook Principal Dawn Hochsprung, who died in the attack.

In a video message, Duncan praised the "quiet heroism" of Sandy Hook's teachers, administrators and staff, who rushed to hide children in closets, cupboards, and bathrooms as the gunman made his way through the school. Several teachers died shielding their students.

Much is already asked of educators "but no one could possibly ask for this kind of sacrifice,” Duncan said.

On a related note, on Tuesday Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder vetoed a bill that would have allowed individuals to carry concealed weapons in locations where it is currently prohibited, including day care centers, hospitals and schools. The legislation had significant opposition, including from the American Federation of Teachers.

“Gov. Snyder is making the right call by rejecting this dangerous legislation,” Zack Pohl, executive director of Progress Michigan, told the Detroit Free Press. “This is a victory for school safety and common sense. We need more math and science teachers in our classrooms, not more guns."

Similar legislation to allow school personnel to carry concealed weapons is being discussed in other states in the aftermath of Sandy Hook. But the National Association of Elementary School Principals and the National Association of Secondary School Principals joined forces Wednesday to issue a strong statement opposing such proposals:

"It is not reasonable to expect that a school official could intervene in a deadly force incident, even with a modicum of training, quickly and safely enough to save lives. Yet even the slightest hope of saving lives bumps up against another well-researched reality: gun-related violent behavior is closely connected to local access to guns. If we increase the number of guns in schools—no matter how carefully we safeguard them—we can expect an increase in gun violence."

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. Follow her on Twitter: @EWAEmily.

Should Principals Carry Guns on Campus?

Would arming teachers and administrators improve safety at public schools, and potentially even mitigate tragedies like the Sandy Hook shootings, as a Texas congressman has suggested?

I asked Michael Foran, principal of New Britain High School in Connecticut – located about 50 miles from Newtown – whether he would accept an offer of a gun, training and a permit that would allow him to come armed to campus.

“I would absolutely decline,” said Foran, who was named the METLife 2012 principal of the year by the National Association of Secondary School Principals. “I think there are a whole lot of other ways to make both schools and our communities safer, and more guns is not one of them.”

As reported by The Hill, Rep. Louie Gohmert, (R-Texas) said on Fox News that he wished Sandy Hook Principal Dawn Hochsprung— who was shot and killed in last Friday’s rampage – had an M-4 in her office that she could have used to defend herself and her school.

His comments have stirred some outrage, but the possibility of armed school personnel isn’t that far-fetched. Last week in Michigan, just one day before the tragedy in Newtown  – lawmakers passed legislation allowing individuals with concealed weapons permits to undergo extra training to carry guns onto sites that were previously off-limits. Those include places of worships, hospitals, bars – and schools. The American Federation of Teachers has urged Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to veto the bill.

And in South Dakota on Monday, Republican state lawmaker Betty Olson said she planned to introduce legislation that would allow teachers, principals and janitors to carry concealed weapons. She echoed Gohmert's stance that fewer people might have died at Sandy Hook Elementary had the staff been armed.

"Those children and teachers, that was like shooting fish in a barrel," Olson told the Associated Press.
Olson will likely find her proposal a tough sell, especially on the other side of the aisle.

"I'm not sure a janitor is necessarily qualified to take down an armed shooter," South Dakota Senate Democratic Caucus Chairwoman Angie Buhl told the AP. "I have some concerns about that specific proposal."

While the debate over the nation’s gun laws is expected to extend for many weeks and months, school officials like Foran are focusing on the immediate tasks at hand – reassuring parents, reviewing existing safety procedures, and considering what measures should be taken to make campuses safer. And just as importantly, “we’re talking to kids and reassuring them we do everything we can to protect them,” Foran said.

From California to Maine, similar messages have been relayed to families via emails, auto-dial voicemail messages, and letters sent home with students. Principals shared recommendations from school psychologists and experts about how to discuss the shootings with younger children as well as teens. Some districts have opted for more visible security measures. In Knox County, Tenn., the sheriff’s office is providing extra deputies to patrol elementary, middle and high school campuses. In Fredericksburg, Va., the two largest districts in the area will have sheriff’s deputies posted at every school.

The increased police presence on campus is expected to remain in place at least until districts break for the winter holidays. In Newtown, classes are expected to resume as early as this week for the 450 Sandy Hook students who survived the attack, although they will meet in a different location. The school is now a crime scene, and it’s too soon to know the district’s future plans for the site. In prior school shootings, such as Columbine, a massive renovation took place before students returned.

Having students return at some point to the original school could be a “helpful, therapeutic intervention,” said Carrie Epstein, assistant clinical professor at the Yale University School of Medicine and its director of training for the Childhood Violent Trauma Center. But that shouldn’t happen until the facility is restored to its original condition, with no traces remaining of the crime, she said.

“It’s something that we do carefully and mindfully when returning to a school – a place that’s already full of reminders,” Epstein said.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. Follow her on Twitter: @EWAEmily.

EWA Webinar for Journalists: Interviewing Children

At a webinar for journalists on Tuesday, Dec. 18 at 1 p.m. Eastern time, EWA will share information from a forthcoming guide to interviewing children. We'll discuss best practices for before, during, and after the interview, as well as cover concerns about access and privacy. Using social media tools for interviews with teens will also be covered. Click here for more information and to register.

I also spoke with Huffington Post senior media reporter Michael Calderone about the controversy over how the media handled talking with children in the immediate aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting. You can read his take here. My post on this issue is here.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. Follow her on Twitter: @EWAEmily.

Sandy Hook Tragedy: Trying to Explain the Unimaginable

“This is a teachable moment: It’s one of the unfortunate realities of life,” Richard Shadick, a clinical psychologist and professor at Pace University in New York said of the Friday morning shooting that left 27 dead —including 20 children—at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.“Sometimes there are tragic circumstances that happen in the safest and most unexpected places."

Across the country, education reporters are assembling reaction stories – localized articles on the safety practices of their local campuses, comments from the district’s police chief, and reaction from school staff and parents about their own fears and concerns. There will be questions about what, if anything, could have been done to prevent this senseless, unfathomable tragedy. Some of the toughest conversations – many of which will be taking place in schools across the country -- are still to come.

For adults – parents, teachers, and school administrators – it’s important to consider a child’s developmental age when dealing with the aftermath of a traumatic event, Shadick said.

“How much they can handle is the first thing,” Shadick told me. “There’s less of a need to provide information to a kindergartener than to someone in seventh grade where access to the media is much greater.”

But it’s also important that there be two-way communication – “A child should be allowed to talk about their concerns, and their questions should be answered,” Shadick said.

With younger children, the central message should be that they are safe, that what happened is extremely unusual, and that trustworthy adults are there to protect them, according to Shadick. The focus should be on instilling a sense of security and normalcy.

At the same time, adults – including teachers, coaches, and school administrators – need to be monitoring how children are processing the information. Kids who have experienced violence at home, or have “an excessive diet of media violence" should be monitored more closely to see if they are expressing anger or anxiety,” Shadick said.

For Aisha Sultan, who writes about parenting and family life for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the most important thing to do right now is reassure her children – a 7-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter – that they are safe at school.

“It’s your worst nightmare – you drop your kids off but you’re not going to pick them up at the end of the day,” Sultan said.  “There’s an element of trust and faith that this is where they go to learn from people who are going to protect them. That anything else will happen is something you don’t even allow yourself to imagine.”

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. Follow her on Twitter: @EWAEmily.

Teacher Pension Plans: The $390 Billion Problem

The National Council on Teacher Quality contends in a new report that teacher pensions represent about $390 billion* in unfunded liabilities for states, and that a massive overhaul of the public benefits system is required.

While Congress debates sequestration and the fiscal cliff, NCTQ warns that there's a sizeable financial hit looming ahead for states, as well.

"The thing we can't underscore enough is that the pension crisis is real," said Sandi Jacobs, vice president of NCTQ, in a call with reporters Wednesday.

NCTQ is a national advocacy and research organization that has recently drawn heat for its calls for better evaluation models to measure teacher performance, and for its plans to produce rankings for teacher colleges. NCTQ's new pension recommendations include: shoring up pension funds to meet existing commitments; basing retirement eligibility on age, rather than years of service; and lowering the number of years teachers must work before they can vest in their pension plans.

The organization's report didn't sit well with the National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers union.

Traditional pension systems are a better deal for both taxpayers and educators, says Dennis Van Roekel, NEA's president. Pension plans are less risky than 401(k) plans, and when given the option teachers "overwhelmingly" choose the more traditional route to retirement savings, Van Roekel said. He pointed to West Virginia, which recently switched back to a traditional pension plan in order to save money.

"Educators contribute to their pension plans with every paycheck -- and they never miss a payment. But some politicians haven’t held up their side of the deal and refuse to pay their contributions," Van Roekel said. "Rather than debate whether or not to take a proven, valuable benefit away from our nation’s educators, let’s focus on what really matters – ensuring that all Americans have a secure retirement that allows them to grow old with dignity."

NCTQ argues that many states structure their pension funds in ways that are actually unfair to teachers. In the past four years, 27 states have upped the amount teachers are required to contribute to their pensions. And 15 states make teachers wait 10 years to vest in their pension plans, up from nine states in 2009.

At the same time, state pension systems are being premised on what Jacobs called "unrealistic assumptions and projections" on the return on investment. The assumed rate of return for teacher pension funds typically runs 7 to 8 percent, according to NCTQ. California's fund earned less than two percent last year, and Maryland's rate was even lower, Jacobs said.

Given that the nation is slowly rebounding from the recession, “people might say the economy is going to get better and there’s reason to be optimistic," Jacobs said. However, economists are not predicting significantly higher rates of return to happen for a number of years. The longer states premise the pension funds on the higher rates of return, "the more we allow these systems to get out of balance," Jacobs said.

Only the District of Columbia and nine states -- Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, New York, North Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Washington and Wisconsin -- were identified by NCTQ as having well-funded teacher pension systems.

Another significant concern: early retirements. All but 12 states base retirement eligibility on years of service, rather than age. In Kentucky, teachers can retire with full benefits after 27 years. If a teacher starts at 22 and retires at 49, NCTQ estimates it will cost the state nearly $800,000 in additional benefits by the time that individual reaches a more traditional retirement age of 65. States are beginning to "wake up" that early retirements are too costly, and are making adjustments, Jacobs said.

Because of pension changes in Ohio, 41-year-old teacher Tracy Radich will have work an additional eight years to earn full retirement benefits, the Wall St. Journal's Stephanie Banchero reported.

"I worry I will get worn down and not have the energies that I have now to do all I need to do for my students," Radich said.

*This post has been updated to reflect a change in the amount of the unfunded liabilities for states, after the NCTQ reported an error in its report and revised its calculations.
Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. Follow her on Twitter: @EWAEmily.

Measuring Up: District Race to the Top Winners and International Test Scores

The U.S. Department of Education has announced the 16 district-level winners that will receive between $10 million and $40 million each to fund school improvement efforts. There were 372 applications nationwide. The winners represent 55 school districts (smaller districts were encouraged to join forces) in 11 states and the District of Columbia.
 
Among the winners is Nevada's Carson City School District, which will use its $10 million grant to hire new teachers and implement a new data system aimed at making it easier for parents to track their children's academic progress.

I'm still interested in answers to Politics K-12's Five Unanswered Questions about the selection process. Hopefully those are forthcoming.

**
The latest results from an international exam shows that American students did better than average -- when compared to some of their global peers -- in reading and mathematics, although the United States continues to lag behind some Asian and European nations in critical areas. On the upside, America's fourth graders were ranked high on reading.

The results come from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS). TIMSS is given every four years to a representative sampling of students in grades 4 and 8. PIRLS is given to fourth graders every five years. 

You can find the full results for TIMSS here, and PIRLS is here.  EdMedia Commons also has a digest of news coverage of this year's results.

 
Some fine print worth remembering: The exams are snapshots of student performance, and not definitive litmus tests. International comparisons are also difficult to make, given the vast differences in how the countries structure their public school systems.

At the same time, it's interesting to note just how far behind the United States appears to be when it comes to students who are proficient in higher-level math. That doesn't bode well for the country's global competitiveness down the road.

"Given the vital role that science, technology, engineering, and math play in stimulating innovation and economic growth, it is particularly troubling that eighth-grade science achievement is stagnant and that students in Singapore and Korea are far more likely to perform at advanced levels in science than U.S. students," said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. "A number of nations are out-educating us today in the STEM disciplines—and if we as a nation don’t turn that around, those nations will soon be out-competing us in a knowledge-based, global economy.”

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. Follow her on Twitter: @EWAEmily.

Word on the Beat No. 3: Differentiated Instruction

Each week, The Educated Reporter will feature a buzzword or phrase that You Need To Know (yes, this designation is highly subjective but we're giving it a shot). Send your Word on the Beat suggestions to erichmond@ewa.org.

Word on the Beat: Differentiated instruction.

What it means: Differentiated instruction is when a teacher adjusts the content, instructional process, and even the physical environment of a classroom to respond to variances among student learners. In some cases that can mean using separate vocabulary or spelling lists matched to each student’s degree of readiness, re-teaching skills to remedial students in small groups, or providing opportunities for more advanced students to delve deeper into a topic when the fundamentals have been mastered.
Differentiated instruction has become a popular catchphrase, but definitions – and applications – can vary widely at the state, district, campus and classroom level. That’s made it difficult for researchers to compare approaches and identify best practices.  

Carol Ann Tomlinson, a professor at the University of Virginia Curry School of Education, has been called the architect of differentiated instruction. Her website describes differentiated instruction as a means of accommodating different learners, with "a hefty dose of common sense, as well as sturdy support in the research and theory of education." In a summary for the Educational Resources Information Center Digest, Tomlinson describes differentiated instruction at the elementary level as including: high-quality curriculum, closely aligned assessments, “respectful activities for all students,” and “flexible grouping” of students, to make sure individual children are given the chance to work in a variety of settings, and with a variety of their peers.

Why it matters: The U.S. Department of Education has said that differentiated instruction is a key component of what 21st Century Learning Should Look Like. Differentiated instruction has also become a popular buzzword in discussions of how to best enact school reform and turnaround efforts at campuses nationwide. But the practice isn’t without controversy or critics. In Education Week in 2010, education consultant Mike Schmoker who contended differentiated instruction was too demanding for a single teacher to successfully implement, and had “corrupted both curriculum and effective teaching.”

Who’s talking about it: Educators, policymakers, reform advocates. In Fairfax County, Va., schools superintendent Jack D. Dale credited differentiated instruction with an increase in students both taking – and passing – Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams. States which have received waivers from some requirements of No Child Left Behind are required to have improvement plans for the lowest-achieving campuses. A number of those states, including Indiana, Virginia and Washington, intend to use differentiated instruction as a means of boosting student achievement. In Connecticut, teachers will receive training in how to use differentiated instruction to implement the new Common Core State Standards.

Want to know more? The Curry School of Education maintains Differentiation Central, an online resource. The Harvard Education Letter also had a thoughtful overview of the debate last year, written by the talented Laura Pappano.


Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. Follow her on Twitter: @EWAEmily.

Pearl Harbor Day: How Are Schools Remembering?

When I was in middle school in the 1980s, Pearl Harbor day almost always meant a special assembly or classroom visit featuring veterans sharing their stories. Today, the National World War II Museum estimates that 14 million veterans who survived World War II have since died. The remaining 2 million veterans are dying at a rate of about 900 per day.

To some students today, Sept. 11 is considered ancient history. So how are the events leading up to the United States entering World War II taught by schools, and made relatable?

Schools from California to Florida have remembrance ceremonies scheduled for today, with flags to be flown at half-mast in front of the campuses. But some World War II veterans have expressed concern that students aren't more aware of the significance of the anniversary.

"We don't seem to be educating our children about what happened," Melvin Kuehle, 89, told the Southeast Missourian. "The attack changed everything forever, and it's tragic that more and more young people don't know much about it, if anything."

I found plenty of interesting materials online to help classroom teachers with their lesson plans (click here for Scholastic's comprehensive site). The National Geographic's education channel offers an interesting interactive attack map. There's also a large collection of resources from U.S. federal agencies, which can be found by clicking here.

How is Pearl Harbor being taught in your local schools? Is the 71st anniversary of the attack being observed?

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. Follow her on Twitter: @EWAEmily.

Five States to Pilot Extended Learning Time For Students

Schools in Colorado, Massachusetts, New York and  Tennessee will add 300 hours of instruction and enrichment programs to the academic year, using a combination of state and federal funds, the U.S. Department of Education has announced.

The pilot program is potentially "the kernels of a national movement," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said earlier this week. “I’m convinced the kind of results we’ll see over the next couple of years I think will compel the country to act in a very different way."

The National Center on Time & Learning has been tracking a steady increase in public schools that have extended learning time. For more, check out the center's report on Mapping the Field. You can also search the center's database to determine how many hours and days students in your area are spending in school, and which campuses are providing extra learning opportunities beyond the basics. 

Earlier this summer I wrote about whether more time in school meant more learning. You can read that post here. I've also written about the role community organizations -- like The After School Corporation -- play in helping schools extend learning time. The Wallace Foundation has done extensive research on extended learning, and you can find their latest reports here.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. Follow her on Twitter: @EWAEmily.

Common Core State Standards: Confusion Reigns Over What Students Should Read

The Washington Post's Lyndsey Layton has a thoughtful -- and fresh -- take on the implementation of the Common Core State Standards, detailing how educators seem to be misinterpreting the new requirement that non-fiction texts eventually make up 70 percent of a student's classroom reading.

This is a wrinkle I haven't yet seen reported, and it certainly raises a lot of questions. Here's a couple of mine: If the expectation is really that non-fiction texts will be used by teachers in all subject areas, and not just English class, why are those critical instructions buried in a footnote in a 60-plus page primer on the Common Core -- as Layton pointed out? If English teachers are indeed abandoning literature in favor of non-fiction in a misguided attempt to comply with the new standards, shouldn't somebody be calling a staff meeting?

This is a critical juncture for the Common Core initiative, which has been adopted in some form by 46 states and the District of Columbia. States are currently aligning their student assessments to the new expectations, and it will take several years for the initiative to be fully incorporated. That doesn't mean everyone is on board. Common Core has no shortage of detractors, many of them Republicans. (Mitt Romney had pledged that the program would receive no federal funding if he won the presidency.) I'm interested to see how policymakers respond to Layton's reporting, and whether this turns out to be a short-term bump in the road or indicative of the need for a shift in implementation.

For more on why it's important for students to be well-rounded readers, take a few minutes to listen to Benjamin Herold's thoughtful piece for the Philadelphia Public School Notebook and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. You can also catch the kick-off session from EWA's 65th National Seminar, held in May at the University of Pennsylvania: What's in Store for the Common Core?

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. Follow her on Twitter: @EWAEmily.

Word on the Beat No. 2: DACA

Each week, The Educated Reporter will feature a buzzword or phrase that You Need To Know (yes, this designation is highly subjective but we're giving it a shot). Send your Word on the Beat suggestions to erichmond@ewa.org.

Word on the Beat No. 2: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

What it means: DACA represents the Obama administration’s aggressive attempt to overhaul the nation’s policies toward undocumented immigrants. For an estimated 1.7 million teens and young adults under age 31, DACA offers a potential means of staying legally in the United States to work or attend school, for up to two years. In order to qualify, the individual must either be in school or have graduated high school, and have no record of serious criminal behavior.

Why it matters: This year’s presidential election results showed Latino voter turnout reached record levels. As a result, immigration issues will almost certainly be at the forefront of the national policy debate in coming months. Interestingly, a number of Republicans – including some high-profile pundits – have reversed their long-held positions opposing routes to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already in the United States.

Who’s talking about it: Students, young adults, policymakers and educators. While DACA is a stopgap measure rather than a path to citizenship (unlike the long-stalled Dream Act) it could still have profound implications for multiple generations of families. DACA does not include eligibility for federal financial aid. However, it could still produce a new stream of higher education students for the nation’s colleges and universities. Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick recently announced that students who are approved for DACA will be eligible for reduced tuition at state colleges and universities.

A 19-year-old native of Brazil, who has been struggling to pay for classes at Massachusetts Bay Community College where his tuition is twice the rate of in-state residents, told the Boston Globe that “My life is about to get a lot better, just the fact that I can go to college in peace.”

When DACA was announced over the summer, there were plenty of news stories of young adults who were holding off on submitting applications until after the presidential election. Some individuals expressed concerns that if Republican nominee Mitt Romney won, the applications would be converted into a roster of illegal immigrants targeted for deportation. With Obama re-elected, immigration officials are bracing for a wave of new inquiries.

Hiroko Kusuda, an assistant clinic professor at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, told the Washington Post that she had been advising clients to hold off on applying for DACA until after the election. She is now encouraging them to move forward, in part because "Republicans have changed their minds; they have decided that immigrants are a very important part of their constituency.”

Want to know more? As of Nov. 15, a total of 298,834 DACA requests had been filed with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, with 53,273 already approved. The top 10 states generating DACA requests are California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Arizona, New Jersey, Georgia and Virginia. The most common countries of origin were Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Peru. Interestingly, South Korea came in at No. 6. (The federal website explaining DACA offers answers to FAQ in Korean.)

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. Follow her on Twitter: @EWAEmily.