Slightly more Indianapolis families opt for in-person learning for 2nd semester
More families are rethinking at-home learning because it isn’t going well for their children or they’re worried about negative long-term learning effects.
Education & Workforce Development
Articles
Left out of referendums, Indiana charter schools push for more funding
Charter schools miss out on about $3,300 per student in local funding because they don’t get the property tax money that traditional districts use to pay for buildings, transportation, and technology.
Lawmakers seek to address funding gap between virtual, in-person instruction
Lawmakers in the Indiana Senate and House are reviewing bills that would fully fund virtual students and protect schools from losing state funding—at least through July 2021.
IPS seats two new board members, strengthening charter support
Indianapolis Public Schools swore in two new board members and two incumbents Monday night. All four have the backing of pro-school choice political action committees.
Ed-tech startup aims to identify student challenges
Invoke Learning offers a cloud-based artificial intelligence system that tracks student behavior from a variety of data sources gathered from the school and other publicly available outlets.
Purdue joins research alliance as part of effort to land Space Command in Nebraska
Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska is one of six finalists to become the headquarters of the new Space Command, which would offer the alliance new opportunities for academic and research programs.
Can IU keep Coach Allen when big schools call?
The much-beloved leader of the No. 7-ranked Hoosiers has become the hottest coaching commodity in college football, and the headhunters are circling.
U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear NCAA athlete compensation case
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to review a court decision that the NCAA has said blurred “the line between student-athletes and professionals” by removing caps on education-related money certain football and basketball players can receive.
City partners on pilot network connecting students to high-speed internet
If proven successful in the pilot stage, the Marion County Dedicated Network Pilot could be expanded to serve public school students countywide as soon as early 2022.
Indiana sees 5,050 more COVID-19 cases, 35 additional deaths
The Indiana State Department of Health on Monday reported the latest figures related to schools, students, teachers and staff.
Teacher pay commission says $600M needed to address pay shortfalls
The Teacher Pay Commission released its findings Monday in a 183-page report that includes 13 recommendations for school corporations and 24 steps state government can take to improve teacher pay.
Lilly Endowment grant to fund expansion of community e-learning sites
Currently, there are 26 community learning site locations across the city with the capacity to serve more than 880 students. The $500,000 grant could help up to 400 more.
Public health department says Marion County schools can reopen Jan. 4
County schools can reopen for in-person instruction 11 days sooner than the previously set date of Jan. 15, the Marion County Public Health Department announced Thursday.
Schools confront ‘off the rails’ numbers of failing grades
School districts from coast to coast have reported the number of students failing classes has risen by as many as two or three times—with English language learners and disabled and disadvantaged students suffering the most.
Indiana teachers to be part of second phase of vaccinations
The secondary group is expansive, including such people as firefighters, police, and retail workers, according to a preliminary state plan.
Study: Students falling behind in math during pandemic
Overall, NWEA’s fall assessments showed elementary and middle school students have fallen measurably behind in math, while most appear to be progressing at a normal pace in reading since schools were forced to abruptly close in March and work online.
Indiana teacher, substitute shortage worsened by COVID-19
At least 1,755 schools across the state have reported at least one positive case of COVID-19, according to the Indiana State Department of Health, involving more than 15,000 students, teachers and staff.
Carmel startup harnesses sun to help schools
Sun FundED specializes in providing what amounts to turnkey services for school systems that want to install solar-power systems, but lack either the funds or the know-how to handle it themselves.
New Indiana law puts pressure on high schools to reduce home-school withdrawals
The state will review more than 100 schools under a new law that aims to stem the tide of students who leave without diplomas but are not counted as dropping out.
Marion County parents question school closures, urge county to reconsider
A coalition of parents is pushing back on Marion County’s recent public health order that will close schools to in-person instruction for about eight weeks, especially when bars and restaurants are allowed to remain open.