Sunday Leftovers

The Asbury Park Press’s front page article today is on resistance to the PARCC tests.

Gov. Christie has appointed a diverse group to the new committee charged with studying state testing. See NJ Spotlight and The Record.

The Star-Ledger and NJ Spotlight examine Sen. Dick  Cody’s new bill that proposes later start times for middle and high school students. The Star Ledger Editorial Board is a fan of the bill.

The Governor’s Advisory Commission on NJ Gaming, Sports and Entertainment, reports the Press of Atlantic City, has recommended that Atlantic City public schools district cut its current annual cost per pupil, now $25,676, to about $18,000:  “Atlantic City school officials are planning drastic cuts starting now and into the next school year that Superintendent Donna Haye said Friday will affect every school and every program in the district...She is very worried that the severe cuts expected by the state to reduce costs in the district could destroy the progress that has been made over the past decade. That will destroy us,’ she said.”

The School Development Authority, which manages construction and renovation for poor urban districts, says it is out of money. (The Record)

School district consolidation is working in South Hunterdon. (Hunterdon County Democrat)

"Trenton Superintendent Francisco Duran on Friday issued an immediate freeze on the purchasing of school materials unless the spending is specifically supported by a grant.” Trenton typically enacts a freeze in December, but this year it’s a month early because, reports the Trenton Times, a higher-than-expected number of students opted for charter schools.

Jersey Journal: "A three-to-one edge in Jersey City's Bergen-Lafayette and Greenville communities helped the local teachers union's slate of school board candidates to clobber their competition in last week's Board of Education race."

Mark Weber responds to criticism of his report on charter school demographics, co-written with Save Our Schools-NJ founder Julia Sass Rubin.

Across the river, reports the Philly Daily News, "more than 100 advocates rallied yesterday outside the district's headquarters calling for more school choice." 

"The Obama administration is directing states to show how they will ensure that all students have equal access to high-quality teachers, with a sharp focus on schools with a high proportion of the poor and racial minorities." (New York Times)

The National Center on Teacher Quality has a valuable new report out on the quality of America's teaching colleges. The two "takeaways":

• Using evidence from more than 500 higher education institutions that turn out nearly half of the nation’s new teachers each year, we find that in a majority of institutions (58 percent), grading standards for teacher candidates are much lower than for students in other majors on the same campus. 
• Second, we find a strong link between high grades and a lack of rigorous coursework, with the primary cause being assignments that fail to develop the critical skills and knowledge every new teacher needs.