Campus Talk: Grants, Common Core And Early Childhood Education

Editor’s note: Each Tuesday, Talk Business & Politics provides “Campus Talk,” a recap and deep-dive into education topics in our email newsletter, which you can sign up to receive daily for free here.

AEDC’s DIVISION OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY LANDS $20 MILLION GRANT: The Arkansas Economic Development Commission will receive a $20 million grant to support research and workforce development training opportunities, Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s office said Monday. AEDC’s Division of Science and Technology will receive $20 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) over five years in money that will flow to 10 colleges and universities throughout Arkansas. Read more of how the money will be used at this link.

COMMON CORE PANEL MAKES UNANIMOUS RECOMMENDATIONS, BALL IN GOVERNOR’S COURT: A 17-member panel charged with making recommendations regarding Common Core State Standards (CCSS) has submitted 21 of them to Gov. Asa Hutchinson to consider. Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin, who led the Council on Common Core Review, said earlier in the week that Common Core – a group of common standards in math and English Language Arts – should be made more rigorous and be renamed. A report issued Thursday (July 30) by the Council outlined concerns and highlighted changes to be made. Read more here.

ASU TO HOLD STATEWIDE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION CONFERENCE: Arkansas State University in Jonesboro is currently holding a statewide early childhood education conference at the Convocation Center and Fowler Center on the Jonesboro campus. Approximately 300 registrants and 80 presenters are expected. Speakers include several national consultants, including the keynote speaker Cynthia Jackson Small, Director of Center Programs with the Child Care Group serving Head Start programs in Dallas County, Texas. The conference is among the longest running for early childhood education professionals in Arkansas.

ROCHELLE TO STEP DOWN AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE RAZORBACK FOUNDATION: Sean Rochelle is stepping down as executive director of the Razorback Foundation effective Sept. 1, 2015, to become the new executive director of Vold Vision, PLLC, a privately owned company based in Fayetteville. Rochelle has been with the Razorback Foundation since 2008, including serving in the executive director role since February 2013.

STUDENTS BUILD RETRO ARCADE GAME CONSOLE THIS SUMMER: The Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub has hosted several Summer Camps this year and one of those camps, The Crucible, built a retro arcade game console. The Crucible is a Summer Camp for ages 14-16 that has been meeting on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 2 p.m. – 6 p.m. for a total of six weeks throughout the summer. Students in the self-led class with adults facilitating wanted to learn more about how video games work and the coding surrounding it. So they did. Read more at this link.