At a congressional hearing, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan answered questions about the common core and competitive grants, while testifying about his $68.6 billion budget request for the U.S. Department of Education.

With movement stalled on big, politically charged pieces of legislation, such as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, lawmakers are instead tackling targeted issues where it's easier to garner bipartisan support.

Ten Republican senators don't want to see another dime of federal money going to states in exchange for adopting certain academic standards.

Winners of the largest $7 million grants include New York City, Denver, Los Angeles, Pike Township in Indianapolis, and Prince George's County in Maryland.

A bipartisan rewrite of the Education Sciences Reform Act says that no funds can be used to "coerce [states'] curriculum or academic standards or assessments," a GOP summary says.

The bill would call for educators to have a seat at the table in setting research policy, bolster state longitudinal data systems, and protect student privacy.

The inspector general for the U.S. Department of Education found weaknesses in test security, monitoring, and risk analysis in an audit of five state testing systems.

Rep. Mark Takano, a former teacher from Riverside, Calif., has been tapped to serve on the House Education and the Workforce Committee.

States and districts would be encouraged to help grow high-quality charter schools—and ensure that they enroll and retain English-language learners and students in special education—under a bipartisan bill in Congress.

At Education Week's "Leaders to Learn From" live event in Washington, top federal policymakers discussed their role in school improvement.