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Discover who is truly responsible for bad data use in education and how better data systems and clear reporting can improve decision-making for educators.

by Katrina Schwartz S andwiched between preschool and first grade, kindergarteners often start school at very different stages of development depending on their exposure to preschool, home environments and biology. For states adopting Common Core, the standards apply to kindergarten, laying out what students should be able to do by the end of the grade.* Kindergartners are expected to know basic phonics and word recognition as well as read beginner texts, skills some childhood development experts argue are developmentally inappropriate.“There’s a wide age range for learning to read,” said Nancy Carlsson-Paige on KQED’s Forum program. Carlsson-Paige is professor emerita of education at Lesley University and co-author of the study “Reading Instruction in Kindergarten: Little to Gain and Much to Lose,” which criticizes the Common Core standards for kindergarten.Read the rest of the story at KQED News.

by Elissa Nadworny

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 Mike Anderson

After-school activities shape 21st-century learners. These five rules help schools and parents create safe, fun, and equitable programs for every student.

by Kate Taylor and Motoko Rich

Across New York state this week, some students are refusing to take a test, and they’re not getting punished for it. The test is the Common Core-aligned, federally mandated test, and students, parents and educators are part of what they’re calling the opt-out movement.Opt outs made news last week in several states: Colorado, Florida, Oregon, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, to name a few. The objections are similar everywhere. But no state is posting numbers like New York.According to the advocates’ own tally, about 175,000 opted out in several hundred New York districts. That’s big for a protest, but pretty small compared with the millions of students enrolled in public school in the state.Read the rest of the story on nprEd.

Nancie Atwell’s advice for young people to “work in the private sector” reflects how testing and mandates have drained public education’s spirit.