[Weekly EdNews Round Up] As Government Shutdown Continues, Schools Step Up

No one knows better than educators about the importance of staying up-to-date. In Edmentum’s Weekly News Round Up, you’ll find the latest and most interesting education news, all in one place.

As the government shutdown continues, school districts are stepping up to help ease the strain on impacted families. Read all about this story, the end of the teacher’s strike in LA, how to help students with ADHD in class, and more in this week’s EdNews Round Up.

Shutdown Day 32: School Districts Step Up to Help Students and Families
EdWeek
With federal workers feeling squeezed from not receiving a paycheck during the longest shutdown of the federal government in history, school districts are stepping up to help families make ends meet.

'We’re in Uncharted Waters.' Schools Brace for Lunch Funding Challenges If Shutdown Continues
TIME
Some high-poverty school districts are bracing for the fact that federally funded lunch programs could become a casualty of the government shutdown if it drags on for another month.

SEL Goals Not Universal in Schools
Education Dive
About 60% of teachers and principals report setting goals for students' social-emotional learning (SEL), according to new survey data.

Teachers Vote Yes On Deal To End Los Angeles Strike
npr
After six days out of the classroom, union members voted yes on a proposed contract, which means teachers will be back in schools Wednesday.

Denver Teachers Poised to Strike
U.S. News
A labor action would mark the second in a major U.S. city this year, erasing any question of whether the teacher unrest that headlined 2018 had dissolved.

Colleges Provide Tuition Relief To Furloughed Workers
npr
Going without pay is challenging. Try adding a tuition bill. Colleges in Maryland are offering some workarounds.

Five Ways to Help Children with ADHD Develop Their Strengths
MindShift
Dr. Sharon Saline focuses on self-Control, Compassion, Collaboration, Consistency and Celebration as a roadmap for reducing family stress and equipping children with ADHD with the skills they need to thrive.

Education policy is often a topic of conversation in state and federal legislatures. Stay in-the-know with this week’s top stories regarding education reform.

How Are States Measuring Student Growth Under ESSA?
Edweek
Almost every state is rating schools in part on student growth in test-scores under the Every Student Succeeds Act. (The exceptions: California and Kansas). But that doesn't look the same everywhere and the differences matter to parents and policymakers, says the Data Quality Campaign, a research and advocacy organization.

Bad math: Software Error Tweaks Grades in North Carolina schools
Star Tribune
A software error caused public school students around North Carolina to receive incorrect end-of-term grades this school year, state education officials said.

Tennessee’s next education chief starts in February. Here’s how she’s prepping.
Chalkbeat
Penny Schwinn is scheduled on Feb. 4 to take the reins of Tennessee’s education department, where she’ll oversee 600 full-time employees and work on new Gov. Bill Lee’s agenda for public education.

Will Texas’ attempt to shake up school finance lead to higher stakes for standardized tests?
KCBD
Top Texas lawmakers this year are proposing allocating billions of more dollars for public schools, but a portion of those dollars will likely have strings attached. And some education advocates worry the strings will lead to an even greater emphasis being placed on standardized tests in the state.

Partnerships key in federal 5-year plan for STEM workforce
edscoop
A recent federal report on STEM education is giving experts hope that the government is strengthening its role in directing technology-related education policy.