Just to let you know: the National Journal is launching the Education Expert Blog on Monday, June 29. Nat Journal folks will pose a different question at the beginning of each week to a group of education experts—including our own Checker Finn—and these connoisseurs will respond throughout the week. The dialogue is sure to be dynamite!

Sometimes we bloggers here at Flypaper have something to say and we literally want to say it, not write it. So today we introduce "Speaking of...," our new, occasional vlog (video blog) series in which we spend a minute or two opining on recent education news and issues. In this first video, Mike Petrilli talks about Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s school turnaround plan. What do you think of "Speaking of..."? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Read more about our new Advanced Placement Program report in this piece in the New York Times. The author, Jacques Steinberg, also has started a lively discussion on the NYT college admission blog, The Choice. Readers are welcomed to join in and share their thoughts!

And…..our AP report is being highlighted by Education Week as well. Check out the story here.

“School” is out in Sheffield, England. The singular term has so many negative connotations that a new school there has dropped the offending noun from its name, according to a report in The Guardian. Instead, the institution will be called a “place for learning,” said headteacher Linda Kingdon.

“We decided from an early stage we didn’t want to use the word ’school’,” she told local newspaper the Sheffield Star. “This is Watercliffe Meadow, a place for learning. One reason was many of the parents of the children here had very negative connotations of school. Instead we want this to a be a place for family learning, where anyone can come.”