Photo of Georgetown University by F Delventhal on Flickr.

From DC General to Georgetown U: The valedictorian at Anacostia High School, who lives in the homeless shelter at the former hospital, is going to Georgetown on a full scholarship. (Post)

Going to college with a posse: Sending low-income students to colleges in groups can help them make it through to graduation. (Ed Week)

The way to prevent dropouts: A relative handful of schools in the US are “dropout factories,” and they need to be reorganized to support struggling students (especially boys) at critical junctures. (NYT)

Some students get suspended more than others: Students who are black, male, in foster care, homeless, or who have mental health needs are more likely to be suspended or expelled from DC schools. (DCist)

No funding for new scholarship program: DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton praised the DC Council’s decision not to establish the DC Promise program, which she says could have threatened an existing college aid program, DCTAG. (Current)

Making good on a promise: The DC Promise Neighborhood Initiative, centered on the area around two schools in Kenilworth-Parkside, is making slow progress in transforming a troubled community. (Washington Informer)

Georgetown Day expanding: The school is buying a Safeway and a car dealership in Tenleytown in order to consolidate all its students on one campus. (Post)

Good and bad news on Maryland teens: Compared to 2005, more of them feel their teachers care about them. But more of them have used a needle to inject illegal drugs. (WTOP)

Gates and the Common Core: Did Bill Gates and his foundation exert too much influence on states to adopt the new curriculum standards? (Post)

Common Core setbacks: The new standards were supposed to create a national basis of comparison, but only 42% of US students will be taking tests designed by one of the two federally funded consortia, PARCC and Smarter Balanced. Meanwhile, two more states have pulled out of the Common Core entirely. (Ed Week, Post)

No coddling: Rather than using the Common Core as a scapegoat for academic difficulties, parents need to teach children that struggle is a part of learning, says one teacher. (Post)

Wasted time: A class action lawsuit in California charges that schools make bad use of instructional time by, for instance, having too many substitute teachers and requiring students to do busy work such as sorting mail. (Post)

Writing revolution?: A new nonprofit is bringing analytical writing and thinking skills to schools in DC and elsewhere. (Disclosure: I’m on the board of the nonprofit.) (Spark Action)

San Francisco rethinking its school assignment system: Parents have been frustrated by a city-wide lottery that can make it tough to get into a school that’s close to home. (SFGate)

Charters in New Orleans: As the city moves to an all-charter system, opinions are divided on how well it’s working. (PBS NewsHour)

Gifted and talented programs: Should schools funnel high-performing students into special programs? The New York Times hosts a 4-way debate.

Schools, data, and privacy: Is the push to collect data on students just a way to track what’s working and which students need more support? Or is it a sinister invasion of privacy? (Politico)

Teachers and MA degrees: Most school districts pay teachers who have master’s degrees more, even though there’s no evidence that makes them better teachers. And to recoup the cost of tuition, teachers need to stay in the classroom for at least 10 years. (Education Next)