Morning Bell: Glenda Ritz’s Statehouse Chances; IU Goes Online

New state superintendent looks past party labels for good ideas – “Immediately after the election, Pence, Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels and House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, acted confrontational toward Ritz… [but] Republican defensiveness in the face of a Democratic interloper seemed to diminish last week after Ritz met with House and Senate leaders and the chairmen of both chambers’ education committees.” The Times of Northwest Indiana

IU eyes global audience in online learning venture – “The $8 million move to massive open online courses, or MOOCs, will offer educational badges to students who complete the courses and master certain skills but don’t enroll in degree programs.” AP

A View Through My Eyes: Wrong way to judge teachers – “Teaching is much more of a qualitative profession making it near impossible to make pinpoint evaluations of how effective a teacher has been or if the learning should be credited to another.” A View Through My Eyes

A different Statehouse tune – While some Republicans are standing their ground on education policy, one pro-Ritz columnist senses caution spreading through the state GOP’s ranks. Learning Curve