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Trump Taps a Nebraska Education Official for Rehabilitative Services Post

President Donald Trump has tapped Mark Schultz, a deputy commissioner of education in Nebraska, to serve as commissioner of the rehabilitation services administration at the Education Department.




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Civics-Test Bills Hit State Legislatures Again in 2016

A bill in Nebraska would require high school students to take a civics examination before graduating.




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Heavy Response to Nebraska Restraint Bill Illuminates Teachers' Frustrations

A Nebraska senator introduced a bill that would give teachers legal cover to physically restraint disruptive students, prompting a strong positive response from members of the state teachers' union.




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Betsy DeVos Greenlights ESSA Plans for Nebraska and North Carolina

U.S. Ed Secretary DeVos has approved plans for 46 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Still waiting: California, Florida, Oklahoma, and Utah.




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Nebraska School Cook Who Served Kangaroo Meat to Students Is Fired

A school cook in Nebraska was canned after he mixed kangaroo meat into chili made for students.




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Why Is Fidelity Always Seen as the New Four-Letter Word?

Fidelity is often seen as a bad word in school, but it doesn't have to be that way. In this guest blog by George Toman, the concept of fidelity is explained and defended.




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Educational Opportunities and Performance in Nebraska

This Quality Counts 2019 Highlights Report captures all the data you need to assess your state's performance on key educational outcomes.




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New Public Data Tool Lets You See What Curricula Schools in Nebraska Are Using

Nebraska's education department released an interactive instructional materials map last week, showing what curricula districts have adopted for English-language arts, math, and K-8 science.




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Educational Opportunities and Performance in Nebraska

This Quality Counts 2020 Highlights Report captures all the data you need to assess your state's performance on key educational outcomes.




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Iconic Teacher Leader on Coronavirus Response

"Educators are completely redesigning instructional delivery while constantly being thrown new rules. It's like 'flying the plane as you build it,'" says Maddie Fennell.




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This Pandemic Is No Time to Backtrack on Special Education

It's worth remembering how far we've come on educating students with disabilities, writes Nebraska's education commissioner Matthew L. Blomstedt.




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Official: Nebraska schools should be able to reopen on time




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Alabama Issues Draft ESSA Plan Amid Tensions Between State Chief, Board

Michael Sentance, who would oversee ESSA implementation as state superintendent, is less than a year into the job and under fire by the state board for his communication and leadership style.




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Alabama's First Charter School Gets Green Light to Open

Alabama lawmakers passed a charter school law last year, becoming the 43rd state to adopt one.




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Alabama Will Keep Its Common Core Standards--For Now

Board members didn't act on a resolution to revoke Alabama's version of the Common Core State Standards.




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Alabama State Chief Quits Just Days Before ESSA Plan Due

Michael Sentance abruptly resigns less than a year after being hired to oversee Alabama's schools and as board members were preparing to decide his fate after a brutal evaluation.




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Alabama

State of the States: Latest governor's address before the legislature.




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Lessons From a 'Hidden Gem' in Alabama

A rural Southern school with a predominantly Native American population engages the whole community in its continued quest for improvement.




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Alabama

In his 2008 State of the State speech, Gov. Riley urged lawmakers to expand the state’s prekindergarten program and protect some of his K-12 initiatives from budget cuts.




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Alabama




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Alabama Board Taps Superintendents' Group Leader As Next State Chief

The state's last superintendent resigned under pressure after he attempted to take over Montgomery's school system and figure out a way to grade the state's schools.




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Opening of New Charter School Brings Integration to County in Alabama

A K-8 charter school has opened in Livingston, Ala., that is making history.




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Alabama School Board Members Weigh In on Plan to Replace Them

State Board of Education members weighed in today about a proposal to eliminate their elected positions and replace the board with an appointed commission.




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Educational Opportunities and Performance in Alabama

This Quality Counts 2019 Highlights Report captures all the data you need to assess your state's performance on key educational outcomes.




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Reading Instruction: A Flurry of New State Laws

Many states have recently enacted laws or rules designed to ensure that teachers are well versed in evidence-based reading instruction. Here are some highlights.




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School Quality a Critical Family Issue for Military

Concerns about local school systems can pose recruitment and retention hurdles for the armed services as they seek to meet the needs of military families.




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Educational Opportunities and Performance in Alabama

This Quality Counts 2020 Highlights Report captures all the data you need to assess your state's performance on key educational outcomes.




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Republican Senate leader seeks COVID-19 money for broadband




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Alabama student names NASA's first Mars helicopter




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Alabama lawmakers advance pared down budgets amid COVID-19




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Alabama official outlines phased plan to reopen schools




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'It's Our Time': Maryland Teachers March for School Funding

Thousands of teachers marched in Annapolis on Monday evening, pushing for higher pay and more resources for their students.




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Audit: Maryland Dept. Did Not Properly Store Data for 1.4 Million Students

The Maryland State Department of Education "inappropriately stored" personal information of 1.4 million students and more than 230,000 teachers, leaving them vulnerable to potential bad actors, according to an audit published earlier this month.




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Educational Opportunities and Performance in Maryland

This Quality Counts 2019 Highlights Report captures all the data you need to assess your state's performance on key educational outcomes.




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Maryland Ranks Fourth on Quality Counts Annual Report Card

The state, which earned a B, saw its educational strength buoyed by strong performance in areas that measure socioeconomic factors that can affect the educational environment.




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Briefly Stated: Stories You May Have Missed

A collection of short news stories from this week.




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States Gear Up to Overhaul K-12 Funding in 2020

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.




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Mining for Gifted Students in Untapped Places

An internationally known gifted-education center is scouting—and helping to develop—gifted students in after-school programs and pullout classes in one of Maryland’s most challenged school districts.




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Rapid Deployment of Remote Learning: Lessons From 4 Districts

Chief technology officers are facing an unprecedented test of digital preparedness due to the coronavirus pandemic, struggling with shortfalls of available learning devices and huge Wi-Fi access challenges.




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Here's Why a Maryland School Finance Overhaul Could Prove Groundbreaking

Maryland's legislature has proposed a unique way to fund schools and also wants to hold school districts more accountable for how they spend their money as part of a new funding formula.




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Educational Opportunities and Performance in Maryland

This Quality Counts 2020 Highlights Report captures all the data you need to assess your state's performance on key educational outcomes.




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School Closures May Go Into the Fall If Coronavirus Resurges, State Chiefs Warn

Schools may have to continue closures in the fall if the coronavirus resurges, state schools chiefs in Maryland and Washington said. The warnings came the same week thata key federal official predicted schools would be able to reopen for the 2020-21 school year.




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Teachers Without Internet Work in Parking Lots, Empty School Buildings During COVID-19

While most teachers have online access at home, internet service for many educators in rural areas is spotty, expensive, or nonexistent.




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Maryland extends school closings through May 15 due to virus




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Maryland educators, students aim to adapt to closures




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Who's Afraid of Math? Turns Out, Lots of Students

A program in Howard County, Md., is built on the insight that children can have strong emotions around academics, and those emotions can sabotage learning.




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Hogan vetoes major education bill, cites virus budget impact




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New York Plans to Seek ESSA Waivers on Testing

New York, which has had a politically contentious history assessing its students, will seek three waivers from how the Every Student Succeeds Act requires states to test students.




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New York Pre-K Tops Out At Over 68,500 Children

The city's prekindergarten program is approaching universal access, which was a campaign promise of Mayor Bill de Blasio, who convinced the state legislature to provide $300 million to help launch it.




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New York Proposes Increased Flexibility to Teacher Certification Process

To give districts more flexibility in the face of teacher shortages, New York's education department is proposing to modify its regulations on teacher certifications.