Writing assignments can improve minority school achievement

A recently published study finds that personal writing assignments can improve both improve GPA and reduce the level of grade remediation. This is particularly effective for low achieving African American students. You can see the full article here.
Geoffrey L. Cohen,^1* Julio Garcia,¹ Valerie Purdie-Vaughns,² Nancy Apfel,³ Patricia Brzustoski³ (2009). Recursive processes in self-affirmation: Intervening to close the minority achievement gap. Science, Vol. 324. no. 5925, pp. 400 - 403

Web resources on Response to Intervention

EDWeek has put together a page of resources called "Spotlight on Response to Intervention."
One of the articles led me to these two additional sites described briefly by Douglas Fuchs, professor and Nicholas Hobbs Chair in Special Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University:
"First, there is a newly established National Center on RTI funded by the U.S. Dept. of Education's Office of Special Education Programs. Its email is: rticenter@air.org. The Web site has important pages and links that will lead you to what you're looking for. Second, there is the RTI Action Network. I highly recommend these sites."
The National Association of State Directors of Special Education also have information on RTI here.

Webinar on 2nd wave of education stimulus funding

Stimulus: The Second Wave

This event is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 20, 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern time. The U.S. Department of Education is gearing up to award $5 billion from the federal economic-stimulus package to school districts, states, and education nonprofit organizations through several competitive grant programs. What are the requirements for Race to the Top, innovation, and other grant programs? How can leaders best compete for those awards? And how can the money be used to drive education reform? Join our guests, two high-level officials from the education department and a state education commissioner, as they discuss the details of the grant competitions and the education reform challenges ahead for K-12 leaders. Presenters: Joanne Weiss, Race to the Top director at the U.S. Department of Education James H. Shelton, assistant deputy secretary for innovation and improvement at the U.S. Department of Education Susan A. Gendron, Maine’s commissioner of education and board president of the Council of Chief State School Officers See registration info here

NCSER issues new reports on alternate assessments

Two new reports are out from the National Center for Special Education Research. The national report is available here: http://ies.ed.gov/ncser/pubs/20093014.asp
The state level reports are available here:
http://ies.ed.gov/ncser/pubs/20093013.asp
The National Study on Alternate Assessments (NSAA)was mandated by Section 664(c) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) to examine alternate assessment systems in 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Black-White achievement gaps persist

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) within the Institute of Education Sciences has released a new report analyzing Black-White achievement gaps at both the national and state levels, using NAEP scores as a common yardstick. The study examines data from all main NAEP mathematics and reading assessments through 2007, supplemented by data from long-term trend NAEP results through 2004. Readers will find context for understanding these gaps, as the report examines both the changes in the performance of Black and White students and the changes in the Black-White achievement gap over time.

Research Funding Webinars from IES

The Institute of Education Sciences conducts online seminars on various aspects of their funding process. The schedule includes some grant writing and application sessions. Transcripts and powerpoint slides from previous sessions are available here.

Follow the money

This map shows "national and state-by-state breakdowns of funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that has been budgeted for distribution by the U.S. Department of Education, based on estimates by the department. These amounts...do not include funds that are to be awarded through competitive grants...

For current news as well as a collection of articles and opinions (blog posts), see EdWeek's "Schools and the Stimulus" page:
http://www.edweek.org/ew/collections/schools-stimulus/index.html