Here are some recent useful posts and articles on educational policy issues (You might also be interested in The Best Articles, Videos & Posts On Education Policy In 2016 – Part Two):

Five key trends in U.S. student performance is from The Economic Policy Institute.

California union dues case dies, but another rises up is from The Sacramento Bee. I’m adding it to The Best Resources On The Awful Friedrichs Case.

Kansas Supreme Court Upholds Law Ending Teacher Tenure comes via Paul Bruno.

The Unit of Education is from Learning Spy. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Understanding How To Interpret Education Research.

As just about everybody knows, Betsy Devos’ confirmation hearing was a disaster this week (see Betsy DeVos Confirmation Hearing Indicates It’s Going To Be A Very Long Four Years For Schools).  One of the many issues that arose was her not understanding the difference between “growth” and “proficiency.”  Here are some related articles posted this week (I’ll add them to The Best Resources For Learning About Our New U.S. Secretary of Education) :

Delving Into One of the Questions Betsy DeVos Couldn’t Answer

Proficiency or Growth? An Exploration of Two Approaches for Writing Student Learning Targets is from The American Institutes For Research.

When Proficient Isn’t Good is from Usable Knowledge.

To just about no teacher’s surprise, a new study has found the School Improvement Grant federal strategy was a failure. Here are some reports on the research I’m adding to The Best Resources For Learning About The Four School Improvement Grant Models:

Billions in School Improvement Spending But Not Much Student Improvement is from Ed Week.

Federal School Improvement Grant Program Had No Significant Impact on Student Achievement is from The American Institutes For Research.

Obama administration spent billions to fix failing schools, and it didn’t work is from The Washington Post.