owl blast.png August 27, 2014 FROM THE OEP New Policy Brief: Schools of Innovation In this policy brief, we discuss the “school of innovation” model, the research behind similar models in other states, the application and approval process, the 2014-15 Arkansas schools of innovation, and the role of the Office of Innovation for Education in supporting schools of innovation. New Blog Post: Schools of Innovation Update In this blog post, the OEP discusses the differences between schools of innovation and district conversion charter schools, analyzes the characteristics of successful applications, and shares advice for schools looking to apply to become schools of innovation for the 2015-16 school year. News from Around the Natural State Education panel OKs 4 childrens school of choice The Arkansas Board of Education on Thursday said four children from two families living outside the Bentonville School District can attend Bentonville schools this school year over the objections of district leaders. The Arkansas Public School Choice Act of 2013 permits parents to transfer their children to a school in a district in which they do not reside under conditions that include whether the desired school has the capacity to accommodate the transfer student. The school board in each district can set policy on the definition of capacity. The same law includes a process by which parents who are denied permission to transfer their children to a nonresident school can appeal the denial to the state Education Board. In a special meeting, the state Education Board voted 4-0 to grant the appeal made by Annette and Curtis Zaage for their 11th-grade daughter to continue to attend Bentonville High. Ruling finalizes desegregation pact A federal judge on Thursday issued a consent judgment that incorporates the Jan. 13 settlement agreement, dismisses some of the parties and describes the courts role going forward in the long-running Pulaski County school desegregation lawsuit. U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. noted in the three-page order that he had already approved the multimillion-dollar January agreement in which the state will make desegregation payments to the three Pulaski County school districts through the 2017-18 school year. 6 districts seek end to racial standard Six of seven Garland County school districts asked a federal judge Monday to end a 22-year-old consent decree that uses race-based criteria to restrict student transfers within the districts, arguing that the law it was based on has been repealed and the practice is no longer just or equitable. The 1992 consent decree stemmed from a lawsuit that the six districts -- Lake Hamilton, Lakeside, Cutter-Morning Star, Jessieville, Fountain Lake and Mountain Pine -- filed in 1989 against the Hot Springs School District. The decree incorporated race-based student assignment provisions from the 1989 Public School Choice Act, but in 2012 the statute was deemed unconstitutional because of the race restriction. That led legislators to replace the law with the School Choice Act of 2013, which eliminated the race restriction and created rules for districts to claim exemptions. Despite the 1989 law being struck down as unconstitutional, the Garland County school districts have continued to be ruled by its language because the consent decree remains in force. News from Around the Nation States Given a Reprieve on Ratings of Teachers Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced on Thursday that states could delay the use of test results in teacher-performance ratings by another year, an acknowledgment, in effect, of the enormous pressures mounting on the nation’s teachers because of new academic standards and more rigorous standardized testing. U.S. School Enrollment Hits Majority-Minority Milestone Americas public schools are on the cusp of a new demographic era. This fall, for the first time, the overall number of Latino, African-American, and Asian students in public K-12 classrooms is expected to surpass the number of non-Hispanic whites. The new collective majority of minority schoolchildren—projected to be 50.3 percent by the National Center for Education Statistics—is driven largely by dramatic growth in the Latino population and a decline in the white population, and, to a lesser degree, by a steady rise in the number of Asian-Americans. African-American growth has been mostly flat. Mark Your Calendar Monday, September 8: Joint meeting of the House and Senate Interim Education Committees, 10:00 a.m., Agenda Tuesday, September 9: Joint meeting of the House and Senate Interim Education Committees, 9:00 a.m., Agenda Thursday, September 11: State Board of Education meeting, 10:00 a.m., Agenda Friday, September 12: State Board of Education meeting, 9:00 a.m, Agenda Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter! facebook.png facebook/OfficeForEducationPolicy twitter.png twitter/Office4EdPolicy The Office for Education Policy University of Arkansas Director: Gary Ritter, Ph.D. Managing Director: Jennifer Ash Research Staff: Kaitlin Anderson Sarah Burks Michael Crouch Charlene Reid Prairey Walkling
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 04:27:00 +0000