Governors in several natural resource-dependent states said recently they will have to continue to cut public education funding because prices for oil and coal have not rebounded.

A Smarter Balanced testing vendor has released completion rates in three states that had serious challenges giving the common-core aligned exam.

Advocates have plans to push more state legislatures to pass laws requiring high schoolers to pass a citizenship test in order to graduate in coming years.

Not having to negotiate with federal officials on the finer points of teacher evaluation, rigorous standards, or school turnarounds has made it easier to chart their own paths, some education leaders say.

Some states, such as California, Kentucky and North Dakota plan to use the Every Student Succeeds Act to bolster the decision-making powers of their local school boards in the coming years.

Lawmakers in Michigan, Mississippi, North Dakota, and Utah have all gave previews this to their 2018 fiscal year budget proposals.

Officials in Illinois, Nevada, and Pennsylvania are proposing to close online charter schools over concerns that they're producing subpar academic results for students.

The political landscape for updating school finance systems won’t be any easier in the 2020 legislative season, despite a surging economy, state flexibility under ESSA, and single-party control in many states.

Students returning to schools in Virginia and New York this fall will be required to participate in mental-health education as part of their health and physical education courses.

As some states move to jump-start economies shut down by the coronavirus, most are keeping their school buildings shuttered. What makes schools such an outlier?

Having failed to shape their states' Every Student Succeeds Act plans to their liking, elected officials in a a few places want the U.S. secretary of education to send the plans back or turn them down.

Officials in Illinois, Nevada, and Pennsylvania are proposing to close online charter schools over concerns that they're producing subpar academic results for students.

In Arkansas, Ohio, and Wisconsin, educators and advocates will be on this year's ballot for governor, a position that will inevitably have an outsized role in shaping education policy.

At least three states in the last few months have forked over half a million dollars or more for comprehensive studies of their K-12 finance system, a politically fraught process.

Worried that far too many students have weak reading skills, states are passing new laws that require aspiring teachers—and, increasingly, teachers who are already in the classroom—to master reading instruction that’s solidly grounded in research.

Lisa Duty of The Learning Accelerator, a Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) and Highlander Institute funding partner, outlines the Rhode Islands's commitment to a blended learning future. She describes how the state is developing its new five-year strategic plan that's engaging RIDE's Ambas

Gov. Dannel Malloy will seek to dramatically adjust the way Connecticut distributes more than $4 billion of state aid, he told legislators in his annual address, as the legislature gets back to business for the 2017 session.

Gov. Jack Markell is urging Delaware lawmakers to ease rigid education funding formulas in order to give school leaders the ability to implement their own school improvement plans.

Several states that are heavily dependent on oil revenue had to face the choice of raising taxes, closing tax loop holes or making major cuts to state agencies in order to fill major budget deficits.

As Oklahoma teachers prepare for day four of their statewide walkout, here's a guide to the larger picture of teacher protests.

Governors in several natural resource-dependent states said recently they will have to continue to cut public education funding because prices for oil and coal have not rebounded.

Many state politicians and advocates used U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos' recent feedback as an opportunity to attack their states' approach to the Every Student Succeeds Act.

Worried that far too many students have weak reading skills, states are passing new laws that require aspiring teachers—and, increasingly, teachers who are already in the classroom—to master reading instruction that’s solidly grounded in research.

As growing numbers of states jump on the civics-learning bandwagon, a coalition of 90 national groups warns that some strategies are better than others. Here's a look at three states working toward a comprehensive approach to the topic.

The very first case of corona-virus illness was recorded on 30 January 2020, in India and the number of infected cases, including the death toll, continues to rise. In this paper, we present short-term forecasts of COVID-19 for 28 Indian states and five union territories using real-time data from 30 January to 21 April 2020. Applying Holt's second-order exponential smoothing method and autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model, we generate 10-day ahead forecasts of the likely number of infected cases and deaths in India for 22 April to 1 May 2020. Our results show that the number of cumulative cases in India will rise to 36335.63 [PI 95% (30884.56, 42918.87)], concurrently the number of deaths may increase to 1099.38 [PI 95% (959.77, 1553.76)] by 1 May 2020. Further, we have divided the country into severity zones based on the cumulative cases. According to this analysis, Maharashtra is likely to be the most affected states with around 9787.24 [PI 95% (6949.81, 13757.06)] cumulative cases by 1 May 2020. However, Kerala and Karnataka are likely to shift from the red zone (i.e. highly affected) to the lesser affected region. On the other hand, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh will move to the red zone. These results mark the states where lockdown by 3 May 2020, can be loosened.

National Association of Wine Retailers Release Letter Delivered to Attorneys General and Alcohol Regulatory Chiefs Concerning Unconstitutional and Unenforceable Wine Shipping Bans

(PRWeb April 15, 2020)

Read the full story at https://www.prweb.com/releases/wine_retailers_seek_alcohol_shipping_compromise_with_18_states/prweb17050617.htm

Scott Marion, who consults states on testing, talks about why it's important for vendors and public officials to work cooperatively in renegotiating contracts amid assessment cancellations caused by COVID-19.

The post How States, Assessment Companies Can Work Together Amid Coronavirus Testing Cancellations appeared first on Market Brief.

State funding for K-12 is likely to fall sharply, though districts could look to protect essentials like distance-learning support and professional development, says school finance expert Mike Griffith.

The post As States’ Budgets Reel During COVID-19, Districts to Feel the Wrath appeared first on Market Brief.

Nathan B. Cruze, Andreea L. Erciulescu, Balgobin Nandram, Wendy J. Barboza, Linda J. Young.

Source: Statistical Science, Volume 34, Number 2, 301--316.

Abstract:
In the United States, county-level estimates of crop yield, production, and acreage published by the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA NASS) play an important role in determining the value of payments allotted to farmers and ranchers enrolled in several federal programs. Given the importance of these official county-level crop estimates, NASS continually strives to improve its crops county estimates program in terms of accuracy, reliability and coverage. In 2015, NASS engaged a panel of experts convened under the auspices of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) for guidance on implementing models that may synthesize multiple sources of information into a single estimate, provide defensible measures of uncertainty, and potentially increase the number of publishable county estimates. The final report titled Improving Crop Estimates by Integrating Multiple Data Sources was released in 2017. This paper discusses several needs and requirements for NASS county-level crop estimates that were illuminated during the activities of the CNSTAT panel. A motivating example of planted acreage estimation in Illinois illustrates several challenges that NASS faces as it considers adopting any explicit model for official crops county estimates.

Some sites have closed completely, while others are making modifications to promote social distancing

States are adjusting the policies and strategies designed for short- term remote instruction—like snow day plans—to support students for the rest of the school year.

The change to the Title II program will benefit Southern states, while Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania, among others, will see their allocations shrink.

The Education Department wants states to re-submit "equity plans" to ensure that effective teachers are matched with disadvantaged and minority students.

A growing movement to shed Confederate names on public schools has drawn attention in recent years. But public schools named in honor of segregationists haven't drawn the same level of scrutiny.

A new mandate under the Every Student Succeeds Act requires a top-to-bottom look at how such districts deploy their money, staff, and the time used to support improvement.

More than half of the state plans fail to publicly report data on educator equity gaps, the National Council of Teacher Quality found in its analyses.

Dozens of states offer the seal of biliteracy, but more than 80 percent of students who earn the honor are concentrated in just five states, a new report reveals.

A number of studies have examined the early impact of the varicella vaccination program on varicella-related hospitalizations and have found evidence of decline after vaccine implementation.

This study further documents the continued decline in varicella-related hospitalizations during the 1-dose varicella vaccination era and demonstrates statistically significant declines of >65% in all age groups. These data suggest that varicella vaccination prevented ~50 000 hospitalizations from 2000 to 2006. (Read the full article)

Most childhood HIV is acquired through perinatal transmission, some of which is preventable. Practitioners need to understand what proportion of perinatally acquired HIV infections are attributable to missed prevention opportunities.

Missed prevention opportunities include lack of early HIV testing for pregnant women; suboptimal use of antiretroviral medications during pregnancy, labor, or delivery or for the neonate; breastfeeding; and vaginal delivery when maternal viral load was ≥1000 copies/mL. (Read the full article)

Refugee children arriving in the United States have had higher rates of elevated blood lead levels than US-born children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends blood lead screening of all refugee children within 3 months after their arrival in the United States.

This is the first investigation we are aware of to examine and identify risk factors for lead poisoning among US-bound refugee children living in camps overseas, before their arrival in the United States. (Read the full article)

Hepatitis A infection causes severe disease among adolescents and adults. Hepatitis A vaccination (HepA) is recommended universally at 1 year, with vaccination through 18 years based on risk or desire for protection.

This is the first study to evaluate adolescent HepA coverage in the United States using provider-reported vaccination data. HepA coverage was low among adolescents, leaving a large population susceptible to hepatitis A infection maturing into adulthood. (Read the full article)

Secondhand smoke exposure poses a significant health risk to nonsmokers. With the proliferation of comprehensive smoke-free laws prohibiting smoking in worksites and public areas, private areas have become the primary source of secondhand smoke exposure for many individuals, particularly youth.

Secondhand smoke exposure in cars has steadily declined among middle and high school students. However, many remain exposed to secondhand smoke in this environment. Jurisdictions should expand existing comprehensive smoke-free policies to prohibit smoking in vehicles occupied by youth. (Read the full article)