Education

The Importance of Quality School Options for Military Children Lexington's Don Soifer interviewed on The Kojo Nnamdi Show on WAMU 88.5 FM in Washington DC.  Along with Education Week correspondent Kavitha Cardoza, he discusses the specific educational challenges facing the nation's 1.2 million military-connected s ...
Colorado’s Opportunity To Improve Educational Outcomes For Military-Connected Students Over one million school-age children have a parent serving in active duty in the U.S. military, with three out of four under age twelve. For these families, transition is the near-constant in their educational experience. It is common for military-conn ...
The Achievement School District Model Supports Rigorous Public School Accountability It is crucial that all students, including those served by the lowest-performing five percent of schools, have real opportunities for academic success. Nevada’s Achievement School District has a vital role to play in the New Nevada Plan through the State Turnaround process. The regulations proposed by the Department of Education hold promising potential to benefit families served by those eligible schools selected by the State Board of Education for conversion to achievement charter schools, entering into a performance compact under the New Nevada Plan, or through the petition process articulated in the Department’s proposed regulations.
Timing Is Everything: Seizing The Opportunity For Personalized Learning (From Forbes) It’s a good time to be a state or local education policymaker. Federal school mandates are being ratcheted back and the driving force in Washington is to ensure policy setting is firmly local. I have written a commentary on this topic for Forbes here.
How Virginia Can Improve Education for Military Families For Virginia, home to more than 122,000 active-duty military personnel and 73,000 military-connected children, the connection between quality of education for military families and our nation’s military readiness has become increasingly important. A new report by the Lexington Institute and the Collaborative for Student Success found that the commonwealth has made powerful strides in meeting the education needs of military families, but still has room to make significant improvements. In fact, a recent national poll of military families published in connection with this report found that more than one-third of current and former military felt that dissatisfaction with their child’s education would be a significant factor in deciding whether or not to continue their military service. Similarly, two out of five in the Military Times poll said they have, or would, decline a career-advancing job at another installation because of differences in school quality.
Opportunity Knocks as Bill Arrives to Governor McAuliffe’s Desk Virginia’s Governor McAuliffe has an important opportunity, both to provide new educational options for Virginia’s most underserved families and to cement a meaningful legacy of supporting public school opportunities, by signing and enacting this plan. The commonwealth has largely missed out on the growth of vibrant, diverse and high-performing charter school sectors that its mid-Atlantic neighbors have experienced. Its families are well positioned now to benefit from the best school models and authorizing practices that have evolved in the decades since it first passed its original charter law.
Virginia’s New ‘School Divisions of Innovation’ Plan Eyes the Future of Learning A new law passed by Virginia’s legislature and expected to be signed this month by Governor Terry McAuliffe presents an important opportunity for the commonwealth to support the work of its most cutting-edge school divisions. Authored by Delegate Tag G ...
Military-Connected Students Face Educational Challenges For military families, who are often required to move to five or six different school districts by the time their children graduate high school because of changing deployments, their satisfaction with the quality of their children’s education has become a major factor in deciding how long to continue their military careers. This means education has implications for our nation’s military readiness. In a new survey of military families conducted by Military Times, more than one in three reported that dissatisfaction with their children’s education would be a significant factor in deciding whether or not to continue their military careers. Almost half said they were prepared to turn down a career-advancing job at a different installation if the schools were better at their current assignment, if they had that opportunity.
Governor McAuliffe’s Powerful Education Opportunity In a few days, Governor McAuliffe will have the chance to fully embrace the spirit of his words by signing important legislation greatly improving the academic opportunities for students of color and in poverty. The plan, passed by the legislature with bipartisan support and sponsored by Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, and Del. Steve Landes, R-Verona, will open Virginia to quality, innovative public charter schools focused on improving the prospects of students who are being ill-served by their current schools and who have been historically underserved by Virginia’s public schools.
Improving Educational Opportunities for Military Families From the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot The satisfaction of military-connected families with the educational experiences of their children affects where service members desire to be posted and whether they continue with their military careers. A new Lexington Institute report examines how the children of active-duty military personnel frequently face shortages of high-quality educational options. That impedes academic achievement and can even reduce a family’s satisfaction with a military career. The report, “Better Serving Those Who Serve: Improving the Educational Opportunities of Military-Connected Students,” looks at four states, including Virginia, in depth. It also found that inconsistencies in content and achievement standards can significantly affect the education of military-connected children.
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