Education Department takes a preliminary step toward revamping its research and statistics arm - Oct 15 Deadline for public to comment

 From The Hechinger Report. Full story is here.

The Public has until October 15th to weigh in.

In his first two months in office, President Donald Trump ordered the closing of the Education Department and fired half of its staff. The department’s research and statistics division, called the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), was particularly hard hit. About 90 percent of its staff lost their jobs and more than 100 federal contracts to conduct its primary activities were canceled.

But now there are signs that the Trump administration is partially reversing course and wants the federal government to retain a role in generating education statistics and evidence for what works in classrooms — at least to some extent. On Sept. 25, the department posted a notice in the Federal Register asking the public to submit feedback by Oct. 15 on reforming IES to make research more relevant to student learning. The department also asked for suggestions on how to collect data more efficiently.

Elon Musk’s Team Decimates Education Department Arm That Tracks National School Performance

From ProPublica, reporters Jodi S. Cohen and Jennifer Smith Richards. The full story is here.

The Trump administration canceled $900 million in contracts overseen by the Institute of Education Sciences, which partners with scientists and education companies to compile and make public data about schools each year.

The Trump administration has terminated more than $900 million in Education Department contracts, taking away a key source of data on the quality and performance of the nation’s schools.

The cuts were made at the behest of Elon Musk’s cost-cutting crew, the Department of Government Efficiency, and were disclosed on X, the social media platform Musk owns, shortly after ProPublica posed questions to U.S. Department of Education staff about the decision to decimate the agency’s research and statistics arm, the Institute of Education Sciences.

A spokesperson for the department, Madi Biedermann, said that the standardized test known as the nation’s report card, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, would not be affected. Neither would the College Scorecard, which allows people to search for and compare information about colleges, she said.

IES is one of the country’s largest funders of education research, and the slashing of contracts could mean a significant loss of public knowledge about schools. The institute maintains a massive database of education statistics and contracts with scientists and education companies to compile and make data public about schools each year, such as information about school crime and safety and high school science course completion.

Its total annual budget is about $815 million, or roughly 1% of the Education Department’s overall budget of $82 billion this fiscal year. The $900 million in contracts the department is canceling includes multiyear agreements.

The vast trove of data represents much of what we know about the state of America’s roughly 130,000 schools, and without a national repository of data and statistics, it will be harder for parents and educators to track schools or compare the achievement of students across states.

Delaware K-12 school promises changes in response to federal probe of antisemitic bullying

The agreement followed a U.S. Department of Education investigation into how Red Clay Consolidated School handled a complaint from last June

From The Forward, by reporter Andrew Lapin. Full article here.

A Delaware public school district will send staff to anti-harassment training and compensate the family of a Jewish student who alleged antisemitic bullying.

The agreement followed a U.S. Department of Education investigation into how Red Clay Consolidated School District handled allegations of antisemitic incidents, detailed in a complaint to the agency last June. 

The agreement marks the first time in nine months that the education department announced the closure of an antisemitism-related investigation filed under Title VI, the clause of the Civil Rights Act that prohibits discrimination on the basis of “shared ancestry” or “national origin.”

It comes as the department embarks on a wave of antisemitism investigations at schools and colleges in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, which has triggered widespread allegations of antisemitism on campuses. What happened in Red Clay, the department said, should be seen as a model for its work.

“This important agreement requires the Red Clay Consolidated District to fulfill its federal civil rights obligation to ensure that all of its students, including Jewish students, can learn safely and without discriminatory harassment in its schools,” Catherine Lhamon, assistant secretary for civil rights in the department, said in a statement announcing the resolution. “We look forward to active work with this district going forward to protect Jewish students, and all students, from targeted discrimination that impedes their equal access to education.”

The department said that a student in the district, which includes parts of Wilmington and its suburbs, was targeted by her classmates for being Jewish. Classmates had written “Blood of the Jews” and drawn swastikas on paper airplanes, and raised their arms in Heil Hitler salutes at the student. 

US Dept of Education work with WXY on Brooklyn School District 15

...The Department of Education worked with the urban planning and design firm WXY Studio and the D15 community to develop the D15 Diversity Plan over the 2017-2018 school year. Brooklyn’s School District 15 (Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Fort Greene, Gowanus, Kensington, Park Slope, Sunset Park, Red Hook, and Windsor Terrace) is a choice school district for middle schools—there are no zoned middle schools in the district, which means that its 11 middle schools do not serve a specific geographic area within District 15. Ten of these middle schools use a screened admissions method, which means they consider students’ grades, test scores, attendance, and/or other factors when making matches...

http://d15diversityplan.com/

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some Brooklyn Parents Pull Kids Into Private School As Integration Plan Gets Underway

Middle schools in Brooklyn’s District 15 may look very different next fall, as a result of the community’s new integration plan, and not everyone is happy about it.

Last year, the district got rid of selective admissions “screens” for all of its middle schools and switched to a lottery. Instead of granting admission based on grades and tests scores, it gave priority to students from low-income families and English Language Learners. When the new admissions numbers came out in April, demographics had changed dramatically. Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza praised the community for its “bold action,” and headlines declared the district’s desegregation plan might actually be working.

But over the past month, unhappy parents from this swath of brownstone Brooklyn have been lighting up local listservs with concerns about their assigned schools and questions about the process...

https://gothamist.com/news/some-brooklyn-parents-pull-kids-into-private-school-as-integration-plan-gets-underway

Let's Read! Let's Move!

Parents’ Coalition was honored to be invited to the Department of Education’s annual summer event, Let’s Read! Let’s Move! which took place this past week, on July 11^th.  The event started off with games, with the kids all playing 'Simon Says,' and 'Hot Potato,'  Then we all settled down and listened to a few good books.  US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan (left in photo) hosted special guests Samuel Kass (center in photo), WH Chef, and the Obamas’ trainer, Cornell McClellan (right in photo).  Chef Kass read, ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar,’ and Mr. McClellan read ‘Froggy Learns to Swim’ to the children.  Mr. McClellan stressed how important it is that everyone know how to swim.  Afterwards the kids all had lots of questions.  To Chef Kass: what is your favorite meal? His answer: spaghettis and tacos.  What is his favorite food? Vegetables! Lots and lots of vegetables. And some fish.  Both Sec Duncan and Mr. McClellan echoed that. Vegetables! was the word of the day.  Chef Kass emphasized that it takes a long time to learn a skill and involves lots of failures.  You just need to keep working at it.  What does he like to cook? 'Green beans, corn, fish, foods that are in season.'   Other questions were, what exercises does Mr. McClellan do with the Obamas? His answer, ‘lots of different kinds of exercises.  Jump rope, jumping jacks, and boxing.’  He said, 'it's important to just move.  Almost any activity you do' is exercise.  Also, sports is another way of getting exercise, and the Obamas play all different kids of sports, like basketball, soccer, and swimming.  And, how much exercise should we do? Answer: at least 30 minutes every day.  So, go for it!

After reading and talking about the books, we all went outside to play games like relay races, and basketball.  Thanks to Target, all the kids chose a book to take home, and received a backpack with snacks and treats.  A special shout-out to Target, which is focused on early childhood learning and reading.

What fun! Thanks so much to Michelle Draughn and Juliette Rizzo for working so hard to organize this event and getting the message across to our children: Let’s Read! And Let’s Move!

Summer Seminars at Six: An Introduction to Education Policy

The U.S. Department of Education is offering free evening seminars on federal education policy.

These seminars are designed to share information about education policy that will help teachers to be engaged and participate in policy discussions at the federal, state and district level. Led by teachers working at the Department, along with other staff, there will be opportunities for questions and discussion both in person and online.

Dates: Every other Thursday: July 14, July 28, August 11 and August 25.
Time: 6:00 PM ET-7:00 PM ET
Location: U.S. Department of Education’s LBJ Building (400 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20202) and online through U-Stream.

Topics:

An ED 101 Primer, Thursday, July 14. Questions to be answered include:
What is the mission or purpose of the U.S. Department of Education?
How is education funded in the United States?
What is the organizational structure of ED, and where can I go for help with my issue?
What is Title I and how does it work?

Who’s on First? State and Federal Roles and Responsibilities for Education, Thursday, July 28. Questions to be answered include:
What are the states’ and the federal government’s responsibilities for education?
What is the Common Core?
What are the primary ED funding streams and competitive programs?
What is Race to the Top and how does it support teachers and students?

Fixing What’s Broken in No Child Left Behind, Thursday, August, 11. Questions to be answered include:
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act and No Child Left Behind—same or different?
What problems are teachers, schools, and states having with NCLB?
In their Blueprint for Reform, what do President Obama and Secretary Duncan propose to do to fix what is not working in NCLB?
What does the Blueprint propose with regard to testing?
What is the federal School Improvement Grant program for low-performing schools and how might it affect my school or state?

Leading Their Profession: Teachers and Education Policy, Thursday, August 25. Questions to be answered include:
What are ED’s proposals for strengthening teaching and supporting teachers?
What does the Blueprint say about teacher evaluations?
What can teachers do to get involved in educational issues both at the national level and in their state or district?
What are the Teacher Incentive Fund and Title II?
Register to attend the Summer Seminars at the U.S. Department of Education or to view the Summer Seminars online through U-Stream