Go Big on Education: Five Big Ideas for the Senate to Put in Federal Education Law (Center for American Progress): “Next week the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee is scheduled to vote on a bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act” and CAP here outlines “five big policy ideas the Senate should put in its bill to ensure the next ESEA is big and bold enough to improve the education system, and thus our nation’s economy.” The fifth and final recommendation? Encourage and reward bold thinking by educators, authorizing “competitive programs such as Race to the Top, the Investing in Innovation Fund, or the Teacher Incentive Fund, to spur states and districts to innovation.” Do you agree?

Teachers increasingly use home visits to connect with students’ families (Washington Post Local): “They were there to fill in the blanks — to conduct a kind of parent-teacher conference on the family’s turf [...] Arlington County teachers were among the small group to pioneer the idea in Northern Virginia several years ago. This year, instructors in the District have followed suit. It’s an effort to connect with even the most withdrawn families, who might have immigration difficulties or perhaps feel spurned by the public school system.” Only so much can happen in the classroom, so engagement with families can be the difference between academic success and struggle. Perhaps such direct outreach is the next, necessary step to achieving that.

Arlington food bank sees record demand (Washington Post via DCentric): “When volunteers open the doors at the Arlington Food Assistance Center these fall mornings, people are always waiting. “We’ve been increasing throughout the summer at the rate of 10 to 15 families a month, and lately we’ve seen a real spike,” said Charles Meng, the food bank’s executive director. [...] What worries Meng most is that he used to be able to predict when demand would increase. Cupboards would empty during the last week of the month, as food stamps, support checks and paychecks ran out.” But now, demand has risen without being spurned by the traditional factors. Learn more about Catalogue organizations combatting hunger right here.