Has everyone already heard about the great, new bicycle option in Google maps’ directions?  I’m a day behind.

Google admits these particular directions will take time to refine, since cyclists also must consider topography and street traffic when deciding a route, but with time they hope to refine routes for “hundreds of major U.S. cities”.

A quick look at directions from Decatur Square to the AJC building downtown looks promising.  It keeps you off DeKalb Avenue and recognizes the Freedom Path as a viable route.  Not bad.

Back in August 2009, the City Schools of Decatur adopted a new grading policy (see Action Item C), which would increase the use of International Baccalaureate assessment for learning in Decatur’s school district.

The new methodology contains many components, including a new, vast evaluation method, which assesses a student’s performance on a wide variety of tasks (compositions, essays, research, presentations, etc.), teacher assessments (observation, selected response, collected response, etc) – and the use IB rubrics, anecdotal records,  models and checklists to evaluate student achievement, among others.

However, one piece of this vast puzzle of acronyms and educational buzzwords has received a majority of the attention in the halls of Decatur High School.

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Got ours in yesterday’s mail along with our 2010 Census.  Who else out there has been tapped?

How would you evaluate Decatur’s overall performance and amenities today vs. two years ago?