Supporting High Quality Charter Schools and Their Success

Supporting high quality charter schools and their success

By: Anna Hinton, PhD, Director, Charter Schools Program, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

The U.S. Department of Education is committed to ensuring that all its programs are implemented in ways that increase educational opportunity for students and address inequities in our education system. In keeping with this commitment, today, the Department issued notices inviting applications for two programs authorized under the Expanding Opportunity Through Quality Charter School Programs (CSP) – the Grants to State Entities and the Grants to Charter School Developers for the Opening of New Charter Schools and for the Replication and Expansion of High-Quality Charter Schools programs. Together, these programs will provide an estimated $77 million in new funds to support high-quality charter schools. Every student should have access to a high-quality public education, and we believe high-quality public charter schools play an important role in that access.

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Helping Students, Families, and Communities Access the Internet and Technology-Enabled Learning Opportunities

Helping Students, Families, and Communities Access the Internet and Technology-Enabled Learning Opportunities

By: Office of Educational Technology

One of the most critical challenges illuminated by the recent period of emergency remote learning has been providing access to reliable, high-speed internet and connected devices to facilitate everywhere, all-the-time learning. Data clearly show the lack of these essential technologies impact communities of color and low-income communities to a disproportionate extent. As schools recover from the pandemic, several federal agencies and the Office of Educational Technology (OET) are stepping up to provide resources to close the digital divide.

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Changing Perspectives: How I Define Myself as a Teacher Leader

Changing Perspectives: How I Define Myself As A Teacher Leader

By: Misael Gonzalez, High School English Language Arts teacher, Miami, Florida

In many ways, my definition of teacher leadership was shaped by dramatized Hollywood portrayals of real accounts: a heroic singular leader fighting the system to make a change, a school in a “rough part of town” with a high minority-student population, and a challenge that had been thought a lost cause by everyone else I have come to realize that teacher leadership is not a case of catching lighting in a bottle. Through research, reading, and learning in my doctoral program, I’ve come to understand teacher leadership relies on collaborative efforts in and out of the classroom, requires a unique set of skills, and needs the right culture to truly grow. Here is what I’ve learned:

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Focusing Efforts for Educational System Improvements in Puerto Rico

Focusing efforts for educational system improvements in Puerto Rico

By: Chris Soto, Senior Advisor, Office of the Secretary

The Puerto Rico education system is at a pivotal moment with many influences converging to help accelerate positive change for the Puerto Rico Department of Education, and ultimately the students it serves. The combination of the influx of federal relief dollars, a strengthened relationship with the U.S. Department of Education, and an island-wide recognition of the urgency for structural changes that address root causes and prioritize student outcomes, provides an opportunity to take a proactive approach towards addressing long-standing challenges.

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New ED-Commissioned Study on ESEA Provisions that Protect Students

New ED-commissioned study on ESEA provisions that protect students

By: Ruth Ryder, Deputy Assistant Secretary

Education leaders have no greater responsibility than ensuring student safety and well-being in school. Across the nation, these leaders have worked tirelessly over the past two years to maintain services that are vital for student wellness; to safely reopen schools; and to set conditions for a strong, equitable academic recovery. It’s been the Department of Education’s privilege to partner every step of the way in this effort.

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Funding Available to Support Native Language Revitalization

Funding Available To Support Native Language Revitalization

By: Julian Guerrero, Director, Office of Indian Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

Haa Maruaweka (“Hello everyone,” in Comanche language)

Advancing its commitment to maintaining, protecting, and revitalizing Native American languages – the U.S. Department of Education has announced approximately $1 million in grant funding available for Native American Language (NAL@ED) projects. Native American language learning is fundamentally connected to the well-being and sustainability of Tribal sovereignty and self-determination. A major emphasis of this program is to fund both partial and full immersion programs in addition to developing new or expanding existing language programs.

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Growing Pathways to Success for ALL Students

A Call to Action featuring Education, Labor, and Commerce Secretaries June 1, 1:30 p.m. ET

By: Amy Loyd, Senior Advisor

This is our moment to truly reimagine education. This is our moment to lift our students, our education system, and our country to a level never before seen. As the great Congressman Lewis said, “If not us, who? If not now, when?”

-Secretary Cardona’s Vision for Education in America (2022)

Imagine a high school in which every single student is energized, excited, and engaged in powerful learning that connects them to their communities, nurtures their career aspirations, and provides them with a head start on college. These students are thriving in rigorous academics, earning several college credits before graduating from high school—including their first college math and English classes, and two classes connected to their possible future careers. These students, along with their families, receive personalized and ongoing career and college advising and navigation supports so that they make informed decisions about the classes they take, the pathways they pursue, and the goals they set for their lives.

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CCAMPIS: Investing in the Futures of Student Parents in Higher Education

By: Michelle Asha Cooper, Ph.D., Acting Assistant Secretary, Office of Postsecondary Education

The COVID-19 pandemic proved to all of us just how important access to childcare and early childhood education is not only for children, but for parents and caretakers. I know I felt that tension, personally, as I too juggled childcare responsibilities for my daughter and work at the beginning of the pandemic. Eventually, I was able to enroll her in a universal pre-K program. However, due to pandemic policies, that was only four hours per day, and balancing work, virtual school, and the need for additional childcare was a complicated mix.

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Announcing the Next Generation of Federal Student Loan Servicing

Announcing the next generation of federal student loan servicing

By: Richard Cordray, Chief Operating Officer, U.S. Department of Education’s office of Federal Student Aid

Today, I’m pleased to announce that Federal Student Aid (FSA) posted the solicitation for what we’re calling the Unified Servicing and Data Solution (USDS). The USDS is the long-term loan servicing solution designed to provide federal student loan borrowers with a 21st-century customer experience. Building on lessons learned from past loan servicing efforts, FSA and the U.S. Department of Education are committed to holding USDS servicers accountable for a high level of performance and focusing on key objectives like reducing borrower delinquency and default.

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The Power Moves to Retain Teachers Amid the Pandemic

The Power Moves to Retain Teachers Amid the Pandemic

By: Neven Holland, Treadwell Elementary, Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS), Tennessee

“It’s the difficulty that keeps me here. It’s the opportunity to give my students in an underserved neighborhood with limited resources the high-quality teachers they deserve,” says my teacher colleague Armani Alexander. Despite all the difficulties of pandemic teaching, there is still this culture to grit and grind like our hometown Memphis Grizzlies in the profession we love with respect and knowledge of our urban community (Emdin, 2016).

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