Every weekday (except yesterday, during which I got swamped), I am sharing the day’s top education stories locally and nationally. Today: Hawaii’s student test scores went up this year, one-third of Hawaii’s schools are in the final stage of federal sanctions for underperformance and Maryland may include environmental literacy in its graduation requirements.

• Against all odds, Hawaii’s student test scores continued a four-year climb, Civil Beat reported yesterday.

• Despite continually rising student scores and a greater number of schools meeting federal requirements, Hawaii still has 92 schools eligible for “Restructuring” under No Child Left Behind guidelines, Civil Beat reported yesterday. More to come on what that means and how much it will cost.

• Maryland may be the first state to include environmental literacy as a requirement for high school graduation, Education Week reported today.

• New Jersey is proposing caps on school superintendents’ salaries, The Associated Press reported today. And the caps are generous — which makes one wonder just how high these salaries have been getting without caps. Hawaii’s Gov. Linda Lingle last week vetoed a bill that would have raised caps on salaries for the schools superintendent and other education leaders.

• Connecticut’s student test scores show minority and low-income students in Hartford are performing much better after the district’s overhaul of many of its schools, The Connecticut Mirror reported today.

• Looks like California’s board of education is implementing at least one accountability measure recommended in the No Child Left Behind Act: allowing students to transfer from low-performing schools to those with better academic records. The Monterey County Herald reported on the board’s decision today. Civil Beat is interested in learning what the Hawaii State Board of Education has done to comply with NCLB recommendations and guidelines when it comes to low-performing schools.

• Online courses may not be as effective as face-to-face ones, despite conclusions from the U.S. Department of Education stating otherwise, Inside Higher Ed reported today.

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