D.C. Schools Insider - Emma Brown chronicles the District public schools.

Posted at 06:16 PM ET, 10/03/2011

Anne Chambers Gay remembered

By Bill Turque

Family and friends said Gay, who died in March at age 63, inspired trust in those she worked with at DCPS and as founder of the District of Columbia Association for Special Education.

By Bill Turque | 06:16 PM ET, 10/03/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 11:50 AM ET, 09/30/2011

Passions on charter schools surface quickly at ed finance commission

By Bill Turque

The District’s new education finance commission meets to begin a politically fraught mission: sorting out questions of equity on D.C. schools.

By Bill Turque | 11:50 AM ET, 09/30/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 12:00 PM ET, 09/29/2011

School closings not a question of ‘if’ but ‘how big’

By Bill Turque

Survey data at D.C. Council middle school hearing had the effect of obscuring a crucial take-away: that a new round of school closings is not a question of if, but only how extensive.

By Bill Turque | 12:00 PM ET, 09/29/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 01:00 PM ET, 09/28/2011

Obama’s back-to-school speech: Live tweets and video

By Katie Rogers

Among Obama’s prepared remarks: “You guys are growing up faster and interacting with the wider world in a way that old folks like me didn’t have to.”

By Katie Rogers | 01:00 PM ET, 09/28/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 10:34 AM ET, 09/28/2011

Obama’s ‘back to school’ speech at D.C.’s Banneker will urge students to work hard, dream big

By Bill Turque

He will urge students to be the best they can be — and that doesn’t necessarily mean always earning straight As.

By Bill Turque | 10:34 AM ET, 09/28/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 09:27 PM ET, 09/27/2011

Middle school survey: sex, fear and suicide attempts

By Bill Turque

DCPS officials weigh sobering results

By Bill Turque | 09:27 PM ET, 09/27/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 09:42 AM ET, 09/27/2011

In care and feeding of donors, education fundraisers leave no FAQ unanswered

By Bill Turque

Getting wealthy people to part with their money can be a sensitive business.

By Bill Turque | 09:42 AM ET, 09/27/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 02:05 PM ET, 09/26/2011

Membership set for D.C. school finance panel

By Bill Turque

The commission that will study D.C. school funding has a full list of members, put together by the firm handling public outreach.

By Bill Turque | 02:05 PM ET, 09/26/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 01:09 PM ET, 09/26/2011

Rory Pullens, Duke Ellington head, off to L.A.

By Bill Turque

Rory Pullens, head of school at Duke Ellington School of the Arts, is headed to L.A., where he will run a performing arts school for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

By Bill Turque | 01:09 PM ET, 09/26/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 07:43 PM ET, 09/21/2011

Education finance commission finally forming

By Bill Turque

Two firms have been hired to study possible inequities in the funding of public and public charter schools.

By Bill Turque | 07:43 PM ET, 09/21/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 09:33 AM ET, 09/20/2011

D.C. Teachers get their “Standing Ovation”

By Bill Turque

She promised to be more composed this year. But it was hard for anyone at the Kennedy Center to avoid getting just a little verklempt at the second annual “Ovation,” honoring the 663 teachers--16 percent of the city’s public school teaching corps--who reached “highly effective” ratings on the IMPACT evaluation system.

By Bill Turque | 09:33 AM ET, 09/20/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 04:22 PM ET, 09/19/2011

Teachers’ union vice president ousted in dispute with president Saunders

By Bill Turque

Candi Peterson was removed at the behest of Washington Teachers’ Union president Nathan Saunders.

By Bill Turque | 04:22 PM ET, 09/19/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 06:05 PM ET, 09/16/2011

D.C. ed reformers toast Brill

By Bill Turque

By Bill Turque | 06:05 PM ET, 09/16/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 01:34 PM ET, 09/16/2011

Charter board’s search for director back to square one

By Bill Turque

The board offered the job to Thurgood Marshall Academy co-founder Joshua Kern, but the two sides could not come to terms.

By Bill Turque | 01:34 PM ET, 09/16/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 12:05 PM ET, 09/15/2011

New details on the health/sex test

By Bill Turque

Individual students and teachers will not receive scores, unlike other DC CAS tests.

By Bill Turque | 12:05 PM ET, 09/15/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 10:04 PM ET, 09/14/2011

Quiz: Test yourself against health, sex-education questions meant for students

By Washington Post Staff

Education leaders are pushing schools to pay more attention to how much students learn about various health issues, including sex education.

By Washington Post Staff | 10:04 PM ET, 09/14/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 03:50 PM ET, 09/13/2011

Ward 5 schools meeting set for Sept. 29

By Bill Turque

A meeting for what the District is calling the “Ward 5 Great Schools Initiative” will be held on Sept. 29 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Luke C. Moore High School, 1001 Monroe St. NE.

By Bill Turque | 03:50 PM ET, 09/13/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 09:47 PM ET, 09/09/2011

Senior management moves at DCPS

By Bill Turque

Chancellor Kaya Henderson announced a series of top-level management changes late today, including the departure of a key figure from the Michelle Rhee era.

By Bill Turque | 09:47 PM ET, 09/09/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 04:27 PM ET, 09/09/2011

Civil rights icon Robert Moses promotes middle school algebra

By Bill Turque

Robert Moses, the legendary SNCC organizer, came to town to advocate for the cause that has taken up much of his last 30 years: algebra as a civil right for kids.

By Bill Turque | 04:27 PM ET, 09/09/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 12:22 PM ET, 09/09/2011

Which schools feed Banneker and Walls?

By Bill Turque

Last year’s ninth-grade classes at the two top application-only high schools in D.C. Public Schools had distinctly different profiles.

By Bill Turque | 12:22 PM ET, 09/09/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 06:13 PM ET, 09/08/2011

Wells to Ward 5: Don’t ‘demagogue by demographics’

By Bill Turque

Race and class resentments surrounding the D.C. middle school debate were in full view at Wednesday’s D.C. Council roundtable.

By Bill Turque | 06:13 PM ET, 09/08/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 01:44 PM ET, 09/08/2011

Middle schools: What successful charters do

By Bill Turque

At a D.C. Council roundtable, leaders of public charters describe the elements they believe make their programs effective.

By Bill Turque | 01:44 PM ET, 09/08/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 08:49 PM ET, 09/07/2011

Can D.C. keep middle schoolers from ‘teetering on the ninth-grade cliff’?

By Bill Turque

More than half of D.C. students who leave school do so in ninth grade, which means that their experience in middle school laid the groundwork for their early exit.

By Bill Turque | 08:49 PM ET, 09/07/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 06:04 PM ET, 09/06/2011

DCPS eases IMPACT for highly effective teachers

By Bill Turque

D.C. schools officials have made their most significant modification yet to the IMPACT teacher evaluation system, one that allows educators who score consistently in the highly effective range to skip the final three of their five annual classroom observations.

By Bill Turque | 06:04 PM ET, 09/06/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 11:32 AM ET, 09/06/2011

Middle school roundtable set for Wednesday

By Bill Turque

On Wednesday morning D.C. Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown will hold the first of two hearings on D.C. middle schools. Thirty-three witnesses, a mix of parents, teachers, principals, researchers and advocates, are scheduled to speak.

By Bill Turque | 11:32 AM ET, 09/06/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 04:36 PM ET, 09/01/2011

DCPS shows ‘great leadership’ in effort to change school culture for LGBTQ students

By Bill Turque

DCPS schools is winning praise for recent steps it has taken to change the school environment for LGBTQ students, according to a recent piece in the Washington Blade.

By Bill Turque | 04:36 PM ET, 09/01/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

D.C. Schools Insider: October, 2011