This week in education news, new state tests show more than 50 percent of Alaska students are not proficient in science; new science standards come to NY schools; President Trump nominates Jim Bridenstine to lead NASA; teacher effectiveness is an essential factor to ensure that each student is achieving their highest potential; lawmakers reject Trump teacher-funding cut and school choice proposals; to judge teacher effectiveness, parents must look at the environment in which that teacher is teaching; Nebraska State Board of Education to vote on new science standards that include climate change; and new ACT report reveals underserved learners lag far behind their peers in college and career readiness.

Alaska’s Students Failing, State Tests Show

More than half of Alaska’s schoolchildren are not proficient in math, science and English, according to the results of the state’s new standardized tests. According to advance figures released to reporters Wednesday, 68.2 percent of students were rated “below proficient” or “far below proficient” in math, 61.6 percent of students were in those two categories in English, and 53.5 percent were in those two categories in science. Read the article featured in the Peninsula Clarion.

New Science Standards Come To NYS Schools, Including New Approach To Climate Change Education

The organization representing more than 600 public school boards across the state says how science is taught in the classroom will influence how a generation of students think about climate change. Starting this fall, new standards for teaching science go into effect in New York. They put a much more specific emphasis on the role of human activity in global warming. Read the article by WXXI AM News.

Jim Bridenstine To Be Nominated By Trump To Lead NASA

Representative Jim Bridenstine, Republican of Oklahoma, will be nominated by President Trump to serve as NASA’s next administrator, the White House said. If confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Bridenstine would be the first elected official to hold that job. Read the article featured in The New York Times.

The 2 Stages Of Successful Early STEM Education

Working alongside teachers and helping their students with rapidly evolving technology is an incredible experience. Each year has been slightly different because students and teachers are, of course, different, and each year we move at the pace they need while building upon the skills from the previous year. We emphasize two learning stages to build fluid STEM integration from kindergarten to 4th grade. Read the article featured in eSchool News.

How To Build Community Leaders Of Today—And Tomorrow—Through Student Genius Hours

When it comes to personalized learning in the classroom, no single thing has been as powerful as Genius Hour for my students. Genius Hour has its early foundations at companies like Google which gave their employees 20 percent of their work week to study and implement innovative ideas that would better the company. Ideas like Gmail, Google News, and Adsense were born from this time. It’s not a bad model for teachers to emulate, either. Read the article featured in EdSurge.

How To Have A Coach For Every Teacher, Without Breaking The Bank

Every good athlete needs a coach to help them improve their practice, from student athletes to superstars like LeBron James and Serena Williams. This same principle can—and should—be applied to our teachers. Teacher effectiveness is an essential factor to ensure that each student is achieving their highest potential in school. Read the article featured in eSchool News.

Senate Panel Rejects Trump Teacher-Funding Cut, School Choice Proposals

Lawmakers overseeing education spending dealt a big blow to the Trump administration’s K-12 budget asks in a spending bill approved by a bipartisan vote Wednesday. The legislation would leave intact the main federal programs aimed at teacher training and after-school funding. And it would seek to bar the U.S. Department of Education from moving forward with two school choice initiatives it pitched in its request for fiscal year 2018, which begins Oct. 1. Read the article featured in Education Week.

To Judge Teacher Effectiveness, Parents Must Look At The Whole School

As a former teacher, I often find that parents’ initial reactions lead me into long conversations about what it means for their child to have access to good teaching. Policymakers, too, are grappling with how to measure good teaching, driven in part by the new federal education law requiring every state to define the term “ineffective teacher” and ensure students have equal access to effective teaching. Whether I’m talking to a parent or a policymaker, here’s what I say: Whether your child is going to learn and grow, feel safe and nurtured, love and succeed in school depends in part on their individual teacher(s), but perhaps even more on the environment in which that teacher is teaching. Read the article featured in EdSource.

Experts Tout Importance Of Interdisciplinary Approach To STEM

In the first Education Dive #DiveIntoSTEM Twitter chat Thursday, experts from the National Science Teachers Association, the National Science Foundation and Gallup Higher Education discussed the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to STEM education in both K-12 and higher ed settings. Read the timeline by Education DIVE.

Nebraska State Board of Education To Vote On New Science Standards That Include Climate Change

After months of public debate, the Nebraska State Board of Education is poised to add climate change to state science standards. The final version of the proposed standards would introduce climate change in high school science classes. Read the article featured in the Omaha World-Herald.

Underserved Learners Lag Far Behind Peers In College &Career Readiness According To 2017 ACT Score Results

Underserved students lag far behind their peers when it comes to college and career readiness, and the more underserved characteristics that students possess, the less likely they are to be ready. These findings are reported in The Condition of College & Career Readiness 2017, ACT’s annual score report, which was released today. Read the press release for more information about the ACT report.

Stay tuned for next week’s top education news stories.

The Communication, Legislative & Public Affairs (CLPA) team strives to keep NSTA members, teachers, science education leaders, and the general public informed about NSTA programs, products, and services and key science education issues and legislation. In the association’s role as the national voice for science education, its CLPA team actively promotes NSTA’s positions on science education issues and communicates key NSTA messages to essential audiences.

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

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