The Daily Report Card: ‘Save Our Schools’ in DC, Calumet Schools To Get Pub, Cheater Teacher, IPS ‘Failing’?

Obama administration reaches out to education activists before march – The Answer Sheet A huge march of teachers, parents, and principals critical of the current administration’s education policy is in Washington, D.C., this weekend. The Obama administration is trying to head off the criticism they’re sure to hear from the Save Our Schools crowd by inviting some of the march’s leaders to a discussion… (washingtonpost.com)

Eduflack: Saving Our Schools? …but Eduflack argues these marchers need to develop a more coherent agenda, focused not on information, but on outcomes. (blog.eduflack.com)

Calumet to become a New Tech demonstration site “Hundreds of people from across the country could be visiting Northwest Indiana as Calumet High School is set to become a demonstration site for the New Tech Network.” (nwitimes.com)

Are IPS schools improving or stagnating? Test scores tell conflicting stories – INSchoolMatters Steve Hinnefeld takes a nuanced look at the performance of Indianapolis Public Schools. (inschoolmatters.wordpress.com)

Purdue president accepts a pay hike – The Indianapolis Star Purdue University president France Córdova has accepted a pay increase, which is more modest than the salary bumps for her counterparts at Ball State and IU. (Indianapolis Star)

Confession of a cheating teacher – Philadelphia Public School Notebook We’re looking into allegations of cheating in Indiana schools right now — the state says there were only a handful of instances on the Spring 2011 tests — so the story of a Philadelphia teacher understandably caught our attention. She says she helped her students cheat on standardized tests, telling The Notebook blog, “What I did was wrong, but I don’t feel guilty about it.” (thenotebook.org)

A Temporary, Albeit Tenuous, Reprieve for Pell Grants – Ed Money Watch Pell Grants — an aid program for financially-needy college students — have assumed a pivotal position in the debt ceiling debate. (edmoney.newamerica.net)