After being approved in the House, the Senate devoted the entire week to discussions about HR 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The debate was chaotic and contentious as senators struggled to perfect what many saw as a bill that would spend more money than originally intended and perhaps not stimulate the return they hoped. While support for the bill waned, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) met with a bipartisan group of senators from both sides of the aisle to discuss a proposal that would reduce the overall cost of the package by as much as $100 billion.

Collins and Nelson also met individually with President Obama on Feb. 4 to express their concerns and seek his support for the development of a less partisan, alternative bill. Although the president didn't endorse any new plan, at a meeting later in the day with Senate Democrats, he told them they should compromise on the overall size of the bill to secure Republican support. The willingness expressed by the president to compromise, rumors that as many as 20 senators were dissatisfied with HR 1 and the consideration of a Collins-Nelson alternative that would not include many of the education and research spending proposals of the House bill, set off a lobbying frenzy on Capitol Hill that will continue.

On the Senate floor, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) tried to work through the nearly 300 amendments to the bill that had been filed. Ironically, the bill continued to grow during the Senate debate as expressions of dismay over the size and scope of the measure grew louder off the Senate floor. Reid made an offer to the Republicans to require 60 votes to pass the bill in an effort to avert the time-intensive cloture procedure that must be invoked when a filibuster is underway. Reid had hoped to have such a vote on final passage completed on Thursday but soon realized that a deal was not in the offing. At that point he announced a rare Sunday session to encourage compromise among his colleagues.

While the Senate debate heated up, efforts in the House of Representatives to finally adopt an FY 2009 budget for the government were put on ice for another few weeks. In spite of Rep. David Obey's (D-Wis.) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer's (D-Md.) best efforts, the Senate persuaded the House that passage of the Omnibus Conference Report prior to completing action on the stimulus plan would be a mistake. On Feb. 5, House Democrats left the Capitol aboard a private train for their two-day retreat at a resort in West Virginia, leaving the Senate to work its will on HR 1.

On Feb. 5, At the close of a two-day forum focused on creating a new consensus vision of what an American education should look like in the 21st century and how it can be achieved in this era of economic uncertainty, the HOPE Foundation held a press conference to detail its recommendations and plan of action for the new administration and the 111th Congress. The foundation brought together key leaders of top education organizations, policy makers and business leaders from around the country to discuss and develop recommendations for improving American education.

At the event, former Gov. Bob Wise (D-W.Va.), now with the Alliance for Excellent Education, unveiled the group's recommendations. The following recommendations focus on changes in the K-12 system, but also touch on early education and postsecondary study: assure readiness; provide rich learning environments for all students; improve overall standard curriculum, instruction and assessment; improve overall teacher quality; ensure the development of 21st century school leaders; and generate and use research effectively.

These recommendations will be sent to the administration and Congress immediately, according to Wise. He closed his remarks with some sobering data: the thousands of students who dropped out of high school and did not graduate with the Class of 2008 will cost the United States more than $300 billion in social services over their lifetimes. Therefore, referring to the current Capitol Hill debate of a large stimulus bill, Wise argued that the best economic stimulus package is to promote "education for all."

On Feb. 4, the National Staff Development Council (NSDC) held a briefing to release its new report, "Professional Learning in the Learning Profession: A Status Report on Teacher Development in the United States and Abroad." The report examines what research reveals about effective professional development in improving teachers' practice and student learning. The report also describes the opportunities for professional development that are available in the United States and abroad.

The report's author, Linda Darling-Hammond, presented the findings and noted that the report is part of a multiyear effort that will track state progress over time and identify model professional development policies and practices. She emphasized that the driving point behind the study was the need for teachers to be effective and acquire the skills they need to adapt to the ever-changing classroom and student needs.

According to Darling-Hammond, research shows that professional development focused on specific curriculum content; organized around real problems teachers face in the classroom; and that is intensive, sustained and continuous over time has the greatest impact on teachers. The report shows that U.S. teachers participate in short-term professional development programs at similar levels as teachers in other nations; however, the United States is far behind in providing public school teachers with opportunities to participate in extended learning opportunities and collaborative practices. For example, in most countries, 15-20 hours per week is spent on tasks related to teaching (including preparing lesions, meeting with students, working with colleagues), while in the United States, teachers have about 3-5 hours a week for lesson planning, which is done independently.

Speaking about the states' perspective on professional development, Gene Wilhoit, executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers, said that in too many cases across the country, teachers are asked to do professional development activities after working hours, to pay for it themselves and to drive miles to get to the program. Wilhoit believes this is unacceptable. He noted, however, that some states are beginning to move away from this model and are offering mentoring programs for new teachers, scheduling collaboration among teachers on issues of instruction and integrating peer observations as part of the professional development model.

Gregg Leaves Help Committee for Commerce Department: President Obama has nominated Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) as his secretary of commerce. Obama initially had tapped New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) for the position, but Richardson withdrew his nomination. Acknowledging ideological differences with his newest adviser, Obama nevertheless said he and Gregg share a concern with the economic problems facing the nation and the need to do something about them. Gregg will leave his Senate seat if he is confirmed to the cabinet. As former chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Gregg worked with Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) to introduce a bipartisan bill for IDEA reauthorization. Gregg also helped gather bipartisan support to pass the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001. He stepped down from the HELP chairmanship in 2004 to chair the Budget Committee.

Michelle Obama Visits Department of Education: On Feb. 2, First Lady Michelle Obama visited the Department of Education in the first of her planned visits to federal agencies. She said the department will "be at the forefront of many of the things that we have to do in this administration," including agenda items such as renovating and modernizing schools, increasing Pell Grants and providing tuition tax credits to college students. She noted that money in the economic stimulus bill would help prevent teacher layoffs and preserve early childhood education. "Investments from the stimulus also will help fund innovative approaches to teaching, such as teacher quality initiatives, school turnaround programs and charter schools," she said. More info.

NAGB Holds Public Hearing: On Feb. 4, the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) ad-hoc committee held a public hearing to receive comments on policy options for testing and reporting scores for students with disabilities and English-language learners (ELLs) on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). There were no public comments on ELLs. The committee heard comments from the National Center for Learning Disabilities, the National Education Association and the National Down Syndrome Society on the topic of policy changes to the NAEP requirements that would have an impact on students with disabilities who are excluded from the testing. A representative from the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) stressed the importance of inclusion in NAEP testing of students with disabilities, particularly given the significant variances in exclusion rates across jurisdictions. The National Education Association (NEA) shared comments that largely echoed NCLD's concerns, supporting the inclusion of students with disabilities in national assessments. It is NEA's position that NAEP must reflect the full range of student performance across the country, but NEA acknowledges this is not a simple matter to fix. The last public witness was a representative from the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS). One of NDSS' recommendations is that an alternate NAEP assessment be produced for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities; this alternative assessment would not be on the NAEP scale. The committee members shared that the next steps would be that their recommendations (based partly on the information heard in this public hearing) would be put into writing, and NAGB would solicit public comment on those recommendations. More info.