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The tough choice to open schools during a pandemic or offer distance learning is currently weighing on the minds of every district in the nation. As these districts begin to plan for the new school year, many are weighing their options to ensure the safety of students and faculty. Along with the safety concerns, districts need to address the availability for all students to attend virtual classrooms and the technology they have available at home. 

The UK is planning ahead for educating students in the fall in the face of our current pandemic. Oak National Academy, the UK’s new online school, funded by £4.3m from the government, is recording 10,000 lessons in July, as they prepare an online learning “backup” plan for the upcoming new academic year. Oak National Academy has recruited approximately 300 teachers to create and record this huge bank of video lessons during July and into August, covering the entire national curriculum for both primary and secondary schools! A huge undertaking indeed!!

Alternate assessments provide a way for schools to measure the progress of a small percentage of students with “significant cognitive disabilities” (as defined by the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA). ESSA requires each state to limit those eligible for alternate assessments to one percent of students tested in a given subject. There are many components to alternate assessments, but the general purpose is to achieve educational accountability for every student.

In this section of the EdGate Observer we point our clients to news about districts, states, etc. that may have available funding for curriculum.

This month we highlight three upcoming grants and awards:

Updates to The EdGate Standards Repository include:

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act or CARES Act, earmarks $30.7 billion under an Education Stabilization Fund for states to spend on education, including $13.2 billion for the Elementary and Secondary School Education Relief Fund. States will receive a range of funds and all money must be spent by September 2022.

In Washington State, the Board of Education has recognized that student career goals are not all the same. School districts are now required to implement the "High school and Beyond Plan (HSBP)." According to the Spokesman-Review (Nov.29, 2019), referring to the Education Research and Data Center, "About 34% of Washington students enrolled in a four-year college the year after they graduated, 28% pursued a two-year or technical degree and 38% didn't enroll in a higher education program." HSBP's purpose is to provide a personalized plan that meets every student's future career goals.

The American Academy of Arts & Sciences recently published a report titled "Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century," recommending an increase in funding and education in a subject near and dear to my heart, civics!

In this section of the EdGate Observer we point our clients to news about districts, states, etc. that may have available funding for curriculum.

This month we highlight three upcoming grants and awards:

Updates to The EdGate Standards Repository include: