Gates Foundation to Shift Education Focus

Marking a new chapter in education philanthropy, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will step back from its traditional education reform agenda to instead invest close to $1.7 billion over the next five years on new initiatives that include a focus on building networks of schools...

https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2017-10-19/gates-foundation-pledges-17-billion-to-k-12-education-will-focus-on-building-school-networks

College Board faces rocky path after CEO pushes new vision for SAT

David Coleman spearheaded a sweeping redesign of America's oldest college entrance exam. His plan to act fast – and tie the test to the controversial Common Core - stirred up internal resistance and created new problems.

NEW YORK - Shortly after taking over the College Board in 2012, new CEO David Coleman circulated an internal memo laying out what he called a “beautiful vision.”
It was his 7,800-word plan for transforming the organization’s signature product, the SAT college entrance exam. The path Coleman laid out was detailed, bold and idealistic - a reflection of his personality, say those who know him.
Literary passages for the new SAT should be “memorable and often beautiful,” he wrote, and students should be able to take the test by computer.
Finishing the redesign quickly was essential. If the overhaul were ready by March 2015, he wrote in a later email to senior employees, then the New York-based College Board could win new business and counter the most popular college entrance exam in America, the ACT.
Perhaps the biggest change was the new test’s focus on the Common Core, the controversial set of learning standards that Coleman himself helped create. The new SAT, he wrote, would “show a striking alignment” to the standards, which set expectations for what American students from kindergarten through high school should learn to prepare for college or a career. The standards have been fully adopted by 42 states and the District of Columbia - and are changing how and what millions of children are taught...

http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/college-sat-coleman/

Pearson Blames 'Third Party' Attack for Disrupting Minnesota Online Tests

Minnesota halted its state assessments in science on Wednesday and Thursday due to a lack of confidence "that Pearson's system will operate smoothly," Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius announced.
For the second time this testing season, Minnesota's assessments were disrupted by a "distributed denial-of-service attack," and Pearson, the global education company that designed and is administering the state's tests, told state officials that this was a larger and more sophisticated attack than one that occurred on April 21.
"It is simply unacceptable and unfair to subject students and teachers to this kind of uncertainty in a high-stakes testing environment," Cassellius said in a statement. "I have questions about Pearson's ability to follow through on their assurances." The company holds a three-year contract, valued at $33.8 million, to administer Minnesota's reading, math and science proficiency tests. 
Pearson also released a statement, saying the company had worked throughout the day on Wednesday to mitigate what it described as malicious third-party attacks, in an effort to "minimize the disruptions and return service to normal." The company also said it is actively working to "strengthen our defenses to fend off these attacks," and assured the state that student data was not targeted, or at risk.

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/marketplacek12/2015/05/pearson_blames_third_party_attack_for_disrupting_minnesota_online_tests.html

Hogan Appoints Two from Fordham Institute to State Board of Education

Press Release: State Board Of Education Has Two New Members

The Maryland State Board of Education welcomed two new members today. Chester E. Finn, Jr., Ed.D. of Montgomery County and Andy Smarick of Queen Anne’s County were appointed by Governor Larry Hogan to fill two seats on the 12-member board vacated by the departures of Charlene M. Dukes, Ed.D. and Donna Hill Staton, Esq., whose terms ended in 2014...

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Chester E. Finn, Jr.

Andy Smarick

MCPS PARCC Satire

O’Malley opposes attempt to stop MSA testing next month

O’Malley opposes attempt to stop MSA testing next month

Read more: http://marylandreporter.com/2014/02/12/omalley-opposes-attempt-to-stop-msa-testing-next-month/#ixzz2tVvx65AC 
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution

Feds Give Waiver to Prevent Double Testing of MD Students

The Washington Post:  Maryland students avoid ‘double-testing’