9 Jan, 2012
As usual, ace Politics K-12 reporter Alyson Klein does a great job outlining the contours of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act proposals recently put out by House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline. And as usual, I will follow in her footsteps to offer analysis of the bill’s teacher-quality provisions, which would make some big changes to provisions to the current No Child Left Behind. Here we go!
Teacher Evaluation
The bill would require school districts to put new teacher-evaluation systems into place (or to adopt a statewide model), and would give parents the “right to know” about evaluation results for their child’s teachers.
This is a bit of a surprise, because it arguably expands federal teacher quality oversight, something that is certainly not in vogue among Republicans these days.
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2 Jan, 2012
Close Opportunities Set
Don’t miss out on these great opportunities set to close soon. To check them out, simply go to www.zagtrax.net, search with ID# and you are set to go! Good luck and happy hunting Zags….
30 Dec, 2011
Tax Tax Preparers
Time is running out for renewal of paid tax preparer registration. Every experienced tax return professional must renew a Preparer Tax Identification Number before December 31. People beginning in the tax profession for the 2012 tax season can obtain a new PTIN after the year begins.
A PTIN is assigned to each person performing substantial work on tax returns. It is not an identity process for an entire tax preparation business. Therefore, an enrolled agent must have a PTIN plus obtain one for every employee that prepares tax returns. A PTIN is required of tax preparers even if they don’t sign any returns. But they cannot use the title of Registered Tax Return Preparer before passing the competency exam.
Tax preparers have until December 31, 2013, to take the RTRP examination. T
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17 Dec, 2011
2012 Qr Codes
The Business School and Bournemouth University, in partnership with the Higher Education Academy (HEA) is pleased to announce a workshop on January 31st, 2012, on Using QR Codes in Higher Education, along with Dr. Milena Bobeva of Bournemouth University and Andy Ramsden of University Campus Suffolk.
The workshop is
designed to take you on a journey of discovery, tailored to your own QR-experience. It is suitable for both people who are new to the QR-concept and those who have substantial experience and would like to build a network to extend the use of QR Codes in education through collaboration in joint projects.
Funding from the HE Academy (HEA), as part of their funding call in 2011, has made it possible to offer the opportunity for knowledge transfer and development of new skills and ideas through networking with people interested in QR Codes as a new form of communication channel.
David and Milena will be joined by other respected QR experts such as Andy Ramsden of University Campus Suffolk to discuss with you the challenges and good practice in using the codes effectively.
Tickets are limited and are based on a first-come basis and tickets can be obtained (for free) from the Workshop website .
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17 Dec, 2011
George Mason Mason
A new leader for George Mason University was announced early Thursday morning, following President Alan Merten’s announcement in March that he planned to retire at the end of this school year.
Angel Cabrera, 44, is currently the president of Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona. He’ll take the reins in Fairfax this summer, becoming the sixth president in GMU’s 39-year history.
Merten had been president since 1996, overseeing an enrollment increase from 24,000 to more than 33,000, and watching the admissions rate drop from 75 percent to 50 percent in that time.
Cabrera, a native of Spain, was a professor and dean at IE Business School in Madrid from 1998 to 2004, when he joined Thunderbird.
He earned doctorate and master’s degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology, attending as a Fullbright Scholar.
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