Dr. Stephen Fink is the executive director of the University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership (CEL), and affiliate associate professor of educational leadership and policy studies in the University of Washington College of Education.Dr. Fink is co-author of Leading for Instructional Improvement: How Successful Leaders Develop Teaching and Learning Expertise.

by James Marshall Crotty M y late mother had a pet peeve about the proper use of “me” and “I.” She measured your mental acuity, not to mention your socioeconomic standing, by whether you implicitly understood when to say either.Incorrect: Mark Williams and me are going to see Southside Johnny at the Music Box Correct: Mark Williams and I are going to see Southside Johnny at the Music Box.Looking back, I don’t blame mom. No other aspect of cultural capital more readily marks an educated person than his or her ability to consistently speak and write grammatically correct English.As the author of How To Talk American (Houghton Mifflin), I am all about spicing up one’s speaking and writing from a wide vernacular palette. However, if you say “we wuz” or “I be” without your learned tongue planted firmly in cheek, then you will struggle to maintain credibility in all but the most mercenary …

Richard Gerver, former educator and principal from England, shines a bright light on educational leadership and vision. I first met Richard after I had interviewed his mentor, Sir Ken Robinson, on Facebook. I was immediately surprised at his giving nature to someone he had yet to meet. We Skyped and shared email conversations about our visions for education.en.

I had the opportunity to spend time with NEA president Lily Eskelsen Garcia. We spent almost an hour talking about everything from her roots in education to the upcoming election cycle and the opportunity education has to inform future directives.

By Michael Stratford – WASHINGTON — DC T he U.S. Department of Education plans to name the colleges whose access to federal money it has restricted because of concerns about the risk they pose to students and taxpayers. And most of the institutions placed on those financial sanctions in recent years have been for-profit colleges, newly disclosed federal records show.Officials will release the list of colleges currently subject to extra scrutiny known as heightened cash monitoring at some point next week, according to Dorie Nolt, the department’s press secretary. Read the rest of the story

by Jennifer Chambers D etroit can’t keep its schoolchildren: Each day, an estimated 25,000 school-age children go to suburban districts, leaving seats empty in classrooms citywide.More than 8,000 attend traditional districts in Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties, while 17,000 are in suburban charters, state data from 2013-14 show.Some suburban districts, especially those in financial distress, now rely on Detroit’s children — and the state aid they bring with them — to survive.These reciprocal ties played out publicly this past week when East Detroit Public Schools, just north of Detroit’s Eight Mile border, reversed its decision to end participation in the state Schools of Choice program for students outside Macomb County.Read the rest of the story at the Detroit News

In regard to children’s physical activity, educational institutions should prioritize quality over quantity in their exercise programs.

Aaron Sams has become synonymous with Flipped Learning around the world. An award winning educator who speaks and consults on new learning designs took time to debunk myths and update us on how Flipped Learning is becoming common practice in schools all over the world. Dr. Berger: From the outside Flipped Learning appears to have been generated from the educator and in response to antiquated delivery systems and experiences in the classroom for both teacher and student. How can we include administrators, in the process, so that the entire school embraces new methods for educating students? Aaron Sams: You are right. much of the Flipped Learning wave has come from the ground up. From teachers in classrooms. However, we are reaching the point where the early adopters and innovators are soaring, and these teachers are the ones who often try new things in their classrooms without seeking support from outside sources …

By Kristin Decarr

EI Days experts talk about the challenges edtech entrepreneurs face in education.

The University of Phoenix probably wishes the students were just cutting class. But many aren’t even enrolled anymore.Enrollment at America’s largest for-profit university was about 460,000 students five years ago. Now it’s 213,000.The University of Phoenix’s parent company, Apollo Education Group (APOL), announced more losses Wednesday. Its revenues and enrollment both sank roughly 14% in its latest quarter compared to a year ago.Apollo CEO Greg Cappelli tried to strike an optimistic tone, but investors gave the stock an “F” for falling. The stock tanked almost 30% Wednesday. Read the rest of the story on CNN Money.

by Maureen SullivanWith a speech at Liberty University in Virginia on Monday, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) became the first candidate to declare for the 2016 presidential election. Just about every chance he gets he says he believes school choice is the civil rights issue of the 21st century. Here’s a look at some of his other views on education issues:Common Core State Standards:“We need to repeal Common Core,” he told the Heritage Foundation’s Conservative Policy Summit in January. “We need to get the federal government out of the business of dictating educational standards. Education is far too important for it to be governed by unelected bureaucrats in Washington. It should be at the state level or even better at the local level.”Read the rest of the story at Forutune

by Maggie HabermanThe last time she ran for president, Hillary Rodham Clinton did not have to take a position on the Common Core, Race to the Top or teacher evaluations in tenure decisions.She won the endorsement of one of the nation’s largest teachers’ unions in 2007 after deploring the use of standardized tests and the underfunding of the No Child Left Behind law by President George W. Bush’s administration.Now, as she prepares for a likely second run at the White House, Mrs. Clinton — who largely avoided domestic policy when she was secretary of state — is re-entering the fray like a Rip Van Winkle for whom the terrain on education standards has shifted markedly, with deep new fissures in the Democratic Party. Read the rest of the article on the New York Times website.

Online learning platforms like edX and Udacity began by offering free education but have become significant rivals in enhancing careers.

By: Matt Zalaznick District Administration, March 2015 N inth graders in North Carolina take all their classes on the campus of a major state university. Early-college high school students in Connecticut can gain an inside track to one of the world’s largest tech companies. Online and blended learners in Michigan can spend a fifth year in high school and graduate with an associate’s degree.Aside from providing a money-saving jump-start on college, the rapid spread of early-college high school programs is spurring closer collaboration between K12 and higher ed around preparing students for the rigors of college life and coursework.“This definitely provides a really good opportunity for K12 and college partners to be more explicit about their shared expectations for students,” says Joel Vargas, vice president of Jobs for the Future, a nonprofit that, among other initiatives, helps districts design early-college programs. “They have figured out a way to share responsibility for providing …