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Take 5: “Where Have All The Teachers Gone?” and more…

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    Here’s five social innovation links we are clicking on today:

  1. Educators 4 Excellence: Creative Core: How the Common Core supports the arts and where growth is needed “As Governor Cuomo’s educational plans are hotly debated by teachers across New York, in many ways the heart of the conversation is the role of the Common Core standards in our educational future. Regardless of the controversies related to implementation, most teachers agree that Common Core is supporting our students in the climb toward excellence. Currently, however, the standards focus on state-assessed subjects: math and English. But the educators whose voices I always strain to hear – arts teachers – are lost in this sea of ‘tested’ voices. Bringing non-tested subjects into the statewide conversation requires a look at both where Common Core is already connected to our practice, as well as the changes that would make stronger links.” New Profit is a proud funder and partner of Educators 4 Excellence.

  2. New Profit Blog: Statement from America Forward: Applauding the Appointment of David Wilkinson as the New Director of the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation “On the occasion of David Wilkinson’s appointment as the new Director of the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation, America Forward and New Profit commend President Barack Obama, and committed partners across the Obama Administration and Congress, for their ongoing efforts to catalyze new, high-impact solutions to our country’s most pressing challenges, and we applaud the selection of Mr. Wilkinson, a proven strong, visionary, and committed leader of social innovation policy, to head the Office of Social Innovation.”

  3. The Huffington Post: A Whopping 76% Of Teachers Say Kids Come To School Hungry. Here’s What’s Being Done “A recent survey released by No Kid Hungry found that 81 percent of public school teachers reported students coming to school hungry at least once a week. While the study concluded that hunger is on the rise among children in the U.S. and that its consequences are immeasurable, the staff members polled agreed that a solution is already in sight. The advocacy group surveyed more than 1,000 school employees nationwide to uncover the scope of the issue from those who are at the front lines.

  4. EdSurge: PARCC, Common Core, and Testing: Sentiments from the Floor of the Carnegie Summit “Back in the summer of 2014, EdSurge took to the floors of the annual ISTE conference to ask educators: “How do you really feel about Common Core? Do you hate it?” The results were mixed. While the standards were perceived as changing instruction for the better overall, not a single educator EdSurge interviewed at ISTE was 100% comfortable with the relationship between Common Core and testing. As PARCC testing of Common Core has begun in states from Ohio to Maryland, we took advantage of the March 3 Carnegie Foundation Summit on Improvement in Education to return to those questions, polling superintendents, principals, teachers and curriculum experts. And although many administrators said they feel the initial rollouts have been going well, they acknowledge that people who are up to their eyeballs in Common Core testing–namely teachers and (to a lesser extent) parents–have palpable anxieties.”

  5. NPR: Where Have All The Teachers Gone? “This is the canary in the coal mine. Several big states have seen alarming drops in enrollment at teacher training programs. The numbers are grim among some of the nation’s largest producers of new teachers: In California, enrollment is down 53 percent over the past five years. It’s down sharply in New York and Texas as well. In North Carolina, enrollment is down nearly 20 percent in three years. ‘The erosion is steady. That’s a steady downward line on a graph. And there’s no sign that it’s being turned around,’ says Bill McDiarmid, the dean of the University of North Carolina School of Education. Why have the numbers fallen so far, so fast?”
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