T he Foundation for Excellence in Education, also known as ExcelinEd, released its annual Digital Learning Report Card today. Digital Learning Now, an initiative of ExcelinEd, bases the report card on “Ten Elements of High-Quality Digital Learning” that identify specific policies and issues states need to pursue regarding digital learning. Included in these elements are student eligibility, student access, personalized learning, advancement, quality content and instruction, choice, assessment, funding and delivery. The Digital Learning Report Card examines what states are doing to advance digital learning by gauging 42 actionable metrics related to these elements.This 2014 report assigns a letter grade to each state based on those metrics. The states of Florida and Utah each received an “A” grade. Fifty percent of the states improved their grades overall, and nine states improved from their previous “F” grades. The report cites overall progress nationwide, but also acknowledges that states have been busy at work implementing the more than 400 digital learning laws enacted in the past four years.In addition to the grades, the report examines related issues such as data privacy, course access and E-rate, and summarizes major state policy initiatives related to digital learning.The Foundation for Excellence in Education was founded in 2009 by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. The Digital Learning Council, which created the Ten Elements cited above, was convened a year later and co-chaired by Jeb Bush and former West Virginia Governor Bob Wise.You can read the entire 2014 Digital Learning Report Card here.

by M. Alex Johnson I n what’s believed to be the biggest shutdown in the history of higher education in the United States, Corinthian Colleges said Sunday it’s closing its remaining 28 for-profit schools effective immediately, kicking about 16,000 students out of school.Corinthian, based in Santa Ana, California, said in a statement and an email to students that it would lean on government agencies and other institutions to place the students, who were enrolled at Heald College locations in California, Hawaii and Oregon and at Everest and WyoTech locations in California, Arizona and New York.Read the rest of the story at NBC News.

by Mike Anderson

D r. Jenny Rankin illustrates why data used with high-stakes consequences should always be made “over-the-counter” (embedding guidance for users) to best ensure the data is understood, analyzed appropriately, and used effectively. Look for an upcoming op-ed from Dr. Rankin on edCircuit.

N o living person is more closely linked with the concept of business leadership than Jack Welch. Even for those who have never put a foot on the corporate ladder, who couldn’t tell Six Sigma from Six Flags, Welch’s name is instantly recognizable. During his time as CEO of GE — a two-decade span that started in 1981 — he took it from a $14 billion company that was thought of mostly as fine but lumbering to a $500 billion one that was fast, full of talent and willing to take risks (though GE is now unwinding some of those big bets).

Districts rejuvenate specialized, themed programs to promote student success by Mackenzie Ryan A t Nashville’s Pearl-Cohn Entertainment Magnet High School, a female student distressed by the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, wrote rap lyrics that became the song “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot.”With the help of her teachers and classmates—and Pearl-Cohn’s recording studio—the student, Queen McElrath, starred in a music video that has since been viewed 124,000 times on the school’s YouTube channel. In a television-style interview with another student, McElrath says: “I decided to write this song so that we could unite, so that young people could have a voice.”Read the rest of the story at District Administration.