Top Stories

Representative Jerry N. Govan, Jr. of Orangeburg, SC, is this year's winner of the Governor and Mrs. Richard W. Riley Award for Excellence in Dropout Prevention. Read on.

Sound Connections

On his recent visit to the NDPC to participate in the January Solutions broadcast, we spoke with Terry Pickeral, consultant with the National School Climate Center, about the relationship of school climate and dropout prevention. Listen to the interview.

Videos

The author, Tom Loveless, of the 2012 Brown Center Report on American Education, shares a visual synopsis of the three highlights of the report. How Well Are American Students Learning discusses the effect of common core state standards on student achievement, measuring achievement gaps, and misinterpreting international test scores.

Policy Updates

Are retention policies detrimental to students? Education Week writer Nancy Flanagan cites research that says holding students back in school is arguably a symptom of an "unworkable system" in which students are grouped by age rather than ability.

The American Youth Policy Forum’s brief discusses: Making Every Diploma Count: Using Extended-Year Graduation Rates to Measure Student Success.

International

Education Week’s "Virtual World of Learning." The United States has many lessons it can learn from how other countries are deploying virtual education and how it might partner with those countries in different ways to offer a wider range of educational and cultural experiences to its students.

What enables some countries' education systems to become global high performers? In a two-part series from Education Week, Vivien Stewart, presents "Top Ten Ways to Become a High-Performing System" (Part One) (Part Two), and offers advice to districts and states based on the lessons in her new book, A World-Class Education: Lessons from International Models of Excellence and Innovation.

Students go 'Global thanks to technology. In The Charlotte Observer, read how elementary students in Charlotte, NC, are using social media to connect with students in schools across the world.

Effective Strategies

Individualized Instruction
What is the relationship between tech and personalized learning? By marrying the principles of personalized learning with the tools of technology, some educators believe they have a chance to create the best kind of customized learning environment.

This new study, published in the American Sociological Review and highlighted in the Chicago Tribune, considers why some students do not speak up in class.

According to the New York Times, software connects tutors with students in disadvantaged schools.

Professional Development
High Standards for Professional Learning. Learning Forward is raising the bar for effective professional learning for educators. Recently, Learning Forward released new Standards for Professional Learning which align well with Success at the Core's Theory of Action.

This report from the Center for American Progress outlines evidence-based approaches to professional development. In particular, see the conclusions for policy implications.

Students with Disabilities

The Regional Resource Center Program's Student Performance and Achievement Priority Team has developed an informational brief that addresses the state of Georgia's GraduateFIRST program. The brief also describes NDPC-SD's Dropout Prevention Intervention Framework and discusses the role the Center played in shaping Georgia's statewide initiative

Funding Sources

· Doodle 4 Google: Kids can win a $30,000 scholarship and a technology grant for their school.
· Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation: Christopher Columbus Awards
· LEGO: Children's Fund Grants
· After-School Advantage Grants
· The Fund for Teachers - Deadlines vary by state
· Ben & Jerry's Foundation: Grassroots Grant Program
· Brown Rudnick Charitable Foundation: Grants to Help Inner-City Educators
· $25K and technology tools for outstanding educators
· ACTE: Cliff Weiss Essay Award - March 9
· Kohl's Corporation: Kohl's Cares Scholarship Program - March 15
· NABT: Evolution Education Award - March 15
· Ezra Jack Keats Minigrants - March 15
· Ecology/Environmental Science Teaching Award – March 15
· Pathways Within Roads to Reading - March 30
· McCarthey Dressman Education Foundation: Teacher Development Grants - April 15
· The YSA organization will begin accepting applications for the 2012-2013 program year in May.
· Captain Planet Environment Grants - May 31
· Humane Society of the United States: Education Mini-grant - November 30

Resources & Tools

Microsoft is seeking innovative examples of how technology is impacting student learning to be shared at the US Forum which is open to all K-12 educators. The intent is to showcase examples of classroom innovation. Apply today for this unique professional learning experience, share ideas, and collaborate with inspiring educators from across the country. Teachers who are selected have their travel and expenses covered to attend the two-day professional development event.

Education Week presents Ideas on differentiating instruction to meet students’ needs.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Federal Communications Chairman Julius Genachowski unveiled the 67-page "Digital Textbook Playbook," a handbook for educators on transitioning to electronic resources designed by the Digital Textbook Collaborative.

U.S. Department of Justice launches Web site to improve outcomes for at-risk and delinquent girls.

Workshop presentations, speaker biographies, and additional content from the recent 2012 National Mentoring Summit in Washington, D.C. — Invest in the Future: Mentor a Child — are now posted online.

Feedback

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