- The Obama administration seemed a likely champion of school diversity initiatives. It’s taken only baby steps. (The American Prospect)
- Chicago parents are continuing their hunger strike over the future of Dyett High School even after the city agreed to keep the school open. (Catalyst)
- The new head of Democrats for Education Reform is Shavar Jeffries, a Newark native who is black, like many students in the charter schools the group supports. (L.A. Times)
- Stanford professor and former Obama advisor Linda Darling-Hammond is starting a policy think tank to tackle on-the-ground educators’ immediate questions. (Huffington Post)
- Charter schools are often criticized for depleting school districts’ enrollment. Their toll on parochial schools might be worse. (The Atlantic)
- The last educator convicted in Atlanta’s school cheating scandal was sentenced to a year in prison. (District Dossier)
- The Common Core was supposed to let us compare student performance across states. That isn’t happening. (U.S. News)
- A former teacher at a school for young adults with severe disabilities shares what he wishes people had known about his students. (Vox)
- Teachers and grit helped a Denver-area student facing long odds make it to Yale University.(Huffington Post)
- In an world of highly specialized magnet schools, one with a focus on “competent education” is a unique (and satirical) option. (The Onion)
- A Danish company found that the public’s appetite for learning games doesn’t extend to slave-ship Tetris. (TakePart)
- A former principal pens a letter with advice to her son’s kindergarten teacher. (This Week in Middle Schools)
- The principal who turned around a Massachusetts technical high school said the key was making courses more challenging. (Hechinger Report)
- As we move into Labor Day weekend (have a great one!), here are some resources for teaching kids about workers and their history. (Tablet)