July 31, 2000 - State education officials and testing experts say additional oversight might be needed to prevent another testing snafu in Minnesota. Members of the Senate K-12 Finance Committee held a hearing today to find out how thousands of students were wrongly told they had failed this year's Basic Standards Test in mathematics. Lawmakers say they want assurances it won't happen again. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports...
August 1, 2000 - Republican convention on the net. Cable television and the internet are picking up the slack that standard television channels are dropping. The internet is covering indepth information regarding the convention.
August 1, 2000 - School districts across the state are managing the aftermath of the grading mistake. In Minneapolis, school officials are holding meetings and handling phone calls from parents who want to know the status of their children's education. David Heistad, Director of Research, Evaluation, and Assessment for the Minneapolis Public Schools, comments.
August 4, 2000 - Food safety is the focus of much public debate and academic research but the subject has only recently become available for study at the undergraduate level. At North Dakota State University in Fargo the Great Plains Summer Institute of Food Safety has developed a special series of courses in food safety. Officials at NDSU say they're the first in the nation to offer students a minor in the subject. Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Reha reports.
August 8, 2000 -
August 8, 2000 - The St. Paul school board voted unanimously Monday to terminate its sponsorship of the Right Step Academy charter school. The board says because of its financial mismanagement the school lacks the means to implement its own improvement plan. Academy officials asked the board to keep its doors open, and teachers and students testified the school has succeeded with hard-to-serve students. But board members say with school just weeks away, they lack confidence the school could repair its problems in time. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports.
August 8, 2000 - MPR’s Lynette Nyman reports on a unique new Minneapolis bookstore.
August 9, 2000 -
August 15, 2000 - State education officials now say only about 50 high school seniors were wrongly denied diplomas this spring due to test scoring errors, and only a few were kept out of graduation ceremonies. Representatives of the Department of Children, Families and Learning revised the number during testimony before the House Education Policy Committee. Legislators are looking for ways to prevent future test mistakes and to make sure taxpayers don't end up paying the bill. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports...
August 15, 2000 - Today (TUESDAY) is the deadline for Minnesota school districts to report to the state about how they'll change the Profile of Learning in their schools. The profile is the show-what-you-know system that requires students to complete 24 projects to graduate. At the end of last session, the state legislature gave districts the power to temporarily reduce the number of standards students are required to complete. The Department of Children, Families, and Learning will produce a report of each district's plan at the end of the month. Jessie Montano (mon-TAHN-yoh) is Assistant Commissioner for Teaching and Learning. She's on the line now.