on STAR test results improving for all subjects. Math text scores are still under 60%.

Sacramento Bee link, Mercury News link, Union-Tribune link, and San Francisco Chronicle link.

on the Aristotle Circle company that connects school, testing and admissions experts, who are paid by the hour, with parents eager for authoritative information.

the growth of schools in the state using an alternative to the SOL exam becoming a growing concern.

on subtle school reforms that hope to add up to big changes at schools.

that Senator Dick Durbin has been drawn into the investigation on how some students get admitted to Chicago’s selective-enrollment high schools.

on the local school district that may need some rule changes in order to get a piece of 500 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.