Skoodat mounts pilot in Big Apple

Skoodat, the Chattanooga-based education performance software-as-service venture led by Ken McElrath, will debut its software in New York City this week, if all goes according to plan. Read about it in NewsBits now.

NTC reports IT/SW hiring trends

Nashville Technology Council and Vaco present their latest quarterly summary of IT and software help-wanted postings, showing healthcare the perennial hotspot in town. The accompanying press release is here.

TN education reform advances

The General Assembly and Gov. Phil Bredesen showed what they can do when they're on even-close to the same page. Yesterday, the legislature passed the "First to the Top" bill Bredesen will sign, positioning the state to win some federal "Race to the Top" money, through a grant that would tie teacher retention to student performance. The City Paper reports. Tom Humphrey of the KNS reports. Rick Locker of the CA reports.

Skoodat to Capitol Hill, DC

Chattanooga-based Skoodat, which provides software-as-service offerings to track and analyze K-12 students' academic data, will be among exhibitors descending on a U.S. Senate office building, Jan. 26, in Washington, D.C. VNC reported two months ago on Skoodat's attempts to raise $3MM in private capital to scaleup further.

Peabody's Guthrie: 'Schools deceive'

Peabody Prof. Jim Guthrie (left) and Research Associate Arthur Peng, colleagues at Vanderbilt University's Peabody Center for Education Policy at Peabody College of Education and Human Development, say public school districts 'always have money to spend', and are essentially misleading the public about the 'funding crisis'. Here's the article.

TN Math gain: Zero

Tennessee K-12 students' Math achievement continues to lag most states in the nation, according to the latest report from the Nation's Report Card, and today's story in The Tennessean.