The Education Evolving Blog

Bewildered by the unrelenting demands of the job, and not impermeable to the demoralized banter of my colleagues, I left my 5th grade teaching post—and the teaching profession—after just two years. Strangely, I even insisted to my now-husband that he not let me teach again. Somehow I knew that I would want to.

Deanna Hron—a kindergarten teacher at King Elementary School in rural Deer River, MN—received the Educator Leadership Award at the Community Schools National Forum in Baltimore last week, in recognition of her “strong leadership in advocating for community schools.” But Hron's journey was not without struggle.

Last week, MDE held the last meeting of their Reporting and Recognition Committee, which was formed after they submitted the state’s ESSA plan to USDE in September 2017. This post will discuss the recommendations from the committee, how Minnesota will deal with a new ESSA provision around fiscal transparency, and some important dates regarding implementation.

During the 2017 legislative session, Education Evolving led a coalition that worked with legislators to successfully pass the IRZ Pilot Program. The purpose of the legislation was to “allow school districts and charter schools to research and implement innovative education programming models designed to better prepare students for the world of the 21st century.” This post includes detailed descriptions of each IRZ, as well as future plans Education Evolving has to improve the legislation.