By Andrew Pillow If you know a student in the 21st Century Scholar program, chances are they’re missing out on free tuition. That is because according to new data, most of the students eligible for program have neglected some of the basic requirements. According to their website “Earning the 21st Century Scholarship guarantees you’ll receive…
New Report Highlights Problems in Suburban Schools
By Andrew Pillow Many in Ed-Reform circles have been conditioned to think that all the problems schools face are confined to the inner city, as opposed to the more “affluent” suburbs. This report, will put that notion to bed. The Center on Reinventing Public Education or CRPE, released a report that details some of the challenges…
New Standardized Test Not Likely to Come Soon
By Andrew Pillow A committee of lawmakers gathered to revise the ISTEP, but don’t expect major changes any time soon. The committee is facing a lot of decisions. The main decision is rather to move towards an interim assessment model, or stick with the traditional end of the year summative assessment. The lawmakers, in the…
Check Your School’s ISTEP Passage Rate
By Andrew Pillow Students just took the 2016 ISTEP test, so those scores likely won’t be out for a while. However, parents and other community stake holders can check their local schools passage rate from the 2015 ISTEP scores. The scores, which were delayed by months, have now been uploaded to a user friendly database…
Program Allows Teachers to Mentor Students Outside of School
By Andrew Pillow The ELEVATE program is a new effort to match teachers who double as mentors, with inner city schools. The teachers teach classes like any other teacher would, but also hang out with, and mentor students out of school and over breaks. According to ELEVATE’s website, the program is designed to “break the…
Per Pupil Funding Comparisons for Indianapolis Schools
By Andrew Pillow If you think that the per student funding going to Indianapolis schools is equal, you are mistaken. A consulting firm out of Boston revealed what many in Indianapolis have known for years. The funding for schools is unequal. The data reveals that per pupil funding in the 2014 – 2015 school year…
Restorative Justice: A mindset not a quick fix
by David McGuire We all know that there is an equity problem in schools, and right now the spotlight is on discipline. The education sector is abuzz about the school-to-prison pipeline and the disproportionate suspension rates of black boys compared to other students. To address these concerns, schools are turning to an alternative approach that…
Representative Todd Rokita Wants to Restrict the Free Lunch Program
By Andrew Pillow. According to the Indy-Star, an Indiana congressman would like to make changes to the federal free lunch program. Todd Rokita, R-Indianapolis, has proposed to raise the threshold at which schools qualify for free meals for all students. Currently if a school has at least 40% of the student body receiving free or…
Punitive Discipline does nothing but harm our black boys
by David McGuire I now teach at an alternative middle school, and it should come as no surprise that nearly all of our students are black boys, along with three Latino boys. My students have been pushed out of traditional schools—not for criminal behavior but because of “defiance.” Defiance is a subjective offense that can…
Indianapolis Looking for New Ways to Evaluate Schools
By Andrew Pillow Indianapolis may be implementing a new type of grading system in the near future. The new system will seek to improve on the controversial A-F letter grade system, which critics say is too narrow of a metric to determine school quality. The description of the new effort via Chalkbeat says: Indianapolis Public…