What we’re reading: March 2016

While you’ve been busy completing projects, we’ve been keeping up on education news. Here are some highlights:

The Atlantic: The Reality of Coding Classes
President Obama wants every student to learn computer science. All he needs is a $4 billion check from Congress.

NPR: Education Secretary Calls For Fewer (But Better) Tests
Acting U.S. Education Secretary John B. King Jr. has a vision: Get states and districts to focus on higher-quality tests so students have more time to learning.

Washington Post: Obama to Nominate John B. King Jr. to officially take the role of education secretary
Orphaned by age 12, John B. King Jr. went on to earn degrees from Harvard, Yale and Columbia. Now he’s been nominated by President Obama to officially lead the Department of Education.

InformationWeek: Google Closes Play for Education, Admits Collecting Student Data
Technology issues and fierce criticism caught up with Google, as they decided to close its Play for Education division.

TechCrunch: Sony Plans To Develop An Education And Testing Platform Powered By The Blockchain
The Japanese electronics giant primes itself to build a centralized platform for educational assessment and testing scores.

Why BIll Gates Hypothetically Has More as Much Say on Common Core in America as the Next President
When you give $200 million to a cause, you’re bound to have a lot of influence. Especially if you run a certain computer company.