Monthly Archives: July 2013

Strengthening America’s Schools Act of 2013

Educational News
  ASCD  JULY 16, 2013

Student Success Act Advances Toward House Floor

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to consider legislation that overhauls the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). This marks the first time an NCLB rewrite has reached the full House or Senate floor since the law expired almost six years ago. The House education committee approved the new legislation, the Student Success Act (H.R. 5), on a party-line vote last month.The bill dramatically reduces the federal influence in education, particularly in the areas of school accountability and improvement. Key provisions of the bill include

  • Completely replacing NCLB’s adequate yearly progress (AYP) and school improvement requirements with state-determined accountability systems that annually measure student achievement, assess school performance, and include state-selected interventions for underperforming Title I schools.
  • Swapping NCLB’s highly qualified teacher requirements—which focus on education credentials and teacher licensure status—with locally designed teacher evaluation systems that incorporate student achievement data as one factor of teacher effectiveness and are used to make personnel decisions such as hiring and firing.
  • Providing districts with more flexibility in their use of federal Title I funds by allowing them to prioritize among programs for migrant students, neglected and delinquent students, English language learners, rural students, and American Indian students.
  • Eliminating 70 individual programs, many of which support well-rounded education, such as civics education, Arts in Education, Physical Education Program, and Elementary and Secondary School Counseling.
See the letter (PDF) ASCD sent to the House education committee as it considered the bill.Even with the proposed legislation’s reduced federal footprint, it’s unclear whether the Student Success Act will appease some of the more conservative members of the Republican caucus who have called for the abolishment of the U.S. Department of Education. On the other hand, House Democrats believe the bill’s loosened accountability requirements—particularly its lack of achievement goals for student subgroups—go too far, and they claim the legislation turns back the clock on providing all students with a high-quality and equitable education.

Meanwhile, the Senate education committee approved its own NCLB rewrite (PDF) in June. Senate leaders hope to bring that bill to a vote on the Senate floor this fall.

Don’t miss next week’s Capitol Connection, which will detail the House bill’s progress and implications for educators.
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Vermont’s Landmark College Workshop for College Ready Students at Berkeley!

Advice, Educational Resources

Five-Day Intensive Workshop at UC Berkeley

Landmark College will offer a week-long Intensive Workshop for Success in College at the University of California Berkeley campus beginning August 5th.

Do your learning differences cause you to struggle with:

  • Recalling information for a test that you spent hours studying for
  • Organizing your thoughts and putting them into a clearly written paper
  • Focusing on reading/retaining what you’ve read
  • Managing your time and materials
  • Starting or finishing a task

If this sounds like you, don’t miss Landmark College’s five-day workshop:

Summer Intensive Workshop for Success in College
(for new & continuing college students who learn differently)
August 5 – 9, 2013 — University of California Berkeley
Cost $1,750

This non-residential* workshop will help you feel better prepared and more confident as you begin or return to college this fall…

Landmark College is the college of choice for students with learning disabilities, ADHD and ASD. In this workshop, our experienced faculty will help you discover:

What science shows us about what we can do to improve our attention, memory and motivation.
Specific strategies and technologies that can support your skills in note-taking, reading, writing, memory and organization as a successful college student.
Application & Brochure

* Single occupancy on-campus housing is available beginning Sunday, August 4th until Friday, August 9th for an additional fee of $550. This fee includes two on-campus meals a day; breakfast and lunch. Housing is available for enrolled students who are 18 years old or older and prepared for an independent living situation.

Questions?
802.387.6718
admissions@landmark.edu

– See more at: http://www.landmark.edu/academics/summer-and-january-programs/non-residental-intensive-programs/#sthash.Soe7HLyM.dpuf