The following resources focus on the educational climate and betterment of those serving the K–12 educational community.
IL – Chicago Students Need a Plan for the Future to Graduate High school students in Chicago may soon have to meet a new requirement before they earn a diploma. (WBTW News13 CBS)
Even with Budget, Schools Could Remain Unfunded Schools in Illinois are owed more than $1 billion for last fiscal year. That money is for categorical payments, which covers things like transportation and special education. The proposed budget bill provides K-12 education with $350 million more in funding, but that funding to language that would only allow that money to be allocated if a new funding formula is passed. The only funding formula bill passed by both chambers, according to Representative William Davis, is Senate Bill 1, of which he is the sponsor.
Contours of the Field: Engaging Parents of English Learners Parents of ELLs are commonly perceived by school staff as not as engaged in their children’s education, according to a report reviewed by New America.
Kids Count Release The Annie E. Casey Foundation released its annual KIDS COUNT Data Book that looks at how children are doing in the US across indicators of child well-being. Education Week’s Christina Samuels writes on this year’s report’s findings.
Is Subsidized Childcare Associated with Lower Risk of Grade Retention? This study investigates whether low-income young children’s experience of Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF)-subsidized childcare is associated with a lower subsequent likelihood of being held back in grades K-12. High-quality childcare has been shown to improve low-income children’s school readiness. However, no previous study has examined the link specifically between subsidized care and grade retention. This research does so by matching information on children from CCDF administrative records to later observations of the same children in the American Community Survey (ACS). The author uses logistic regression to compare the likelihood of grade retention between CCDF-recipient children and non-recipient children who also appear in the ACS in the years 2008-2014 (N=2,284,857). Findings indicate strong evidence for an association between CCDF-subsidized care and lower risk of grade retention, especially among non-Hispanic black children and Hispanic children. Additionally receiving CCDF-subsidized center-based care in particular is associated with a lower risk of being held back than CCDF-subsidized family daycare, babysitter care, or relative care, again with the largest apparent benefit to non-Hispanic black children and Hispanic children. (U.S. Census Bureau)
Study: Holding Kids Back a Grade Doesn’t Necessarily Hold Them Back Our education system has this funny quirk of grouping kids by birth date — rather than, say, intellectual ability or achievement or interest. But developmental pathways are as individual as kids themselves. (NPR)
