Blog Archive
The New York Times reports on sweeping teacher layoffs across the nation.
The Daily News reports on homeless students in upper Manhattan, NY and the challenges they face in earning an education.
Read Entire Post
Check out this op-ed by Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia, and Edward B. Rust Jr., chairman of the board and chief executive officer of State Farm Mutual® and its principal affiliates.
By: Bob Wise and Edward B. Rust Jr.
Last Tuesday, Vice President Joe Biden issued a call to boost college graduation rates across the country and meet President Obama's goal of the United States having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020. A key component of reaching that goal is graduating more students from high school. Every year, more than one million students leave high school without a diploma.
Most individuals understand the importance of furthering their education. Currently, high school dropouts are over three times more likely to be unemployed than are college graduates. Over the course of his or her lifetime a high school dropout earns, on average, about $260,000 less than a high school graduate. However, results from a new study conducted by the Alliance for Excellent Education and funded by State Farm®, demonstrate that individuals are not the only ones who benefit from better educational outcomes -- we all do.
According to the study, cutting the national high school dropout rate in half for the Class of 2010 would mean these "new graduates" would likely earn an additional $7.6 billion in an average year, which translates to an additional $5.6 billion in spending and another $2 billion in investments across the nation. This increased spending and investments would likely lead to 54,000 new jobs and an annual increase in the gross domestic product (GDP) of $9.6 billion. It is important to remember that these numbers represent the value of decreasing the dropout rate for a single high school class, but the cumulative benefits over a longer period of time would be exponentially greater.
Read Entire Post
On Monday, President Barack Obama said that students should take fewer standardized tests and school performance should be measured in other ways than just exam results. Read more in an Associated Press story.
Education Week reports on the recent International Summit on the Teaching Profession and how education leaders from across the nation gathered to share ideas on improving teaching.
The New York Times reports that amid layoffs, some NYC officials are questioning a spending increase on school technology.
In Kentucky, Superintendent Sheldon Berman maintains that tying teacher evaluations to student performance is no quick fix for failing schools, according to the Courier Journal.
Read Entire PostToday, The Oregonian reported on college enrollment rates in rural parts of Oregon. Eighteen percent of Oregon's rural adults have college degrees, compared with about 31 percent of urban adults, which mirrors national percentages. However, the story discuses a recent shift in college enrollment patterns:
In 2003, about 65 percent of the nation's rural high school graduates attended college, compared with 75 percent of urban and suburban students, federal research shows. By 2008, an OUS report shows, Oregon had narrowed that gap, with 52 percent of rural students attending college, compared with 58 percent for urban. The Oregonian found an even smaller gap in 2009 graduates. The percents enrolling in college were 59 urban, 62 suburban, 58 small town and 60 rural. A larger share of small-town and rural students, however, chose the state's 17 community colleges over its seven public universities. Data was not available for graduates attending out-of-state or private colleges.
According to the story, more rural students are choosing college because high schools are offering more guidance and rigorous classes to prepare students for college. Another reason is that jobs are scarce in economically distressed rural counties.
Check out this student interview with Felipe Pena, a senior at Stanfield High School. He says graduating from high school will be his “biggest accomplishment” yet and has a goal to finish with a 3.5 GPA. His parents are agricultural workers and his girlfriend and teachers are encouraging him to go to school after he graduates. He would like to attend Perry Technical Institute in Yakima, WA to train to be an electrician but has some fears about succeeding there.
Read Entire Post
A group of civil rights and advocacy organizations are calling to keep subgroup mandates in the reauthorization of ESEA, Education Week reports. The Alliance for Excellent Education was among the signers of the letter that was sent to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and lawmakers overseeing reauthorization on Capitol Hill.
Ed Week also reports that some Race to the Top winners are scaling back on ambitious plans and deadlines.
And on the Curriculum Matters blog, Catherine Gewertz reports that a group of school districts in California isn't waiting around for the state to build curriculum frameworks aligned with the common core state standards.
Read Entire Post
Education and the Economy: Boosting the Nation’s Economy by Improving High School Graduation Rates from the Alliance for Excellent Education. This study demonstrates the economic benefits the nation—as well as each state—would likely see if its number of high school dropouts was cut in half. The state-by-state and national findings include the growth in jobs, home ownership, levels of spending and investment, and car sales.
Education as a Data-Driven Enterprise from Alliance for Excellent Education, Civic Enterprises, and the Data Quality Campaign. This publication provides leaders from business, philanthropy, and education with background on data issues; describes challenges that must be overcome; and makes recommendations for moving forward.
Federal Policy, ESEA Reauthorization, and the School-to-Prison Pipeline from the Advancement Project, Education Law Center, Juvenile Law Center, http://naacpldf.org/publication/ldf-70, National Center for Fair & Open Testing, and The Forum for Education and Democracy. This paper looks at testing, school climate and 'zero tolerance' discipline policies as causes of the school to prison pipeline, and makes recommendations on assessment, accountability, discipline and student re-entry to schools.
Read Entire Post
On Tuesday, Vice President Joe Biden issued a call to increase college graduation rates across the meet President Obama’s goal for the United States having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020. Vice President Biden spoke at GradNation, an event sponsored by the America’s Promise Alliance, Alliance for Excellent Education, Civic Enterprises, and the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University. During his remarks, he said:
“Right now we’ve got an education system that works like a funnel when we need it to work like a pipeline. We have to make the same commitment to getting folks across the graduation stage that we did to getting them into the registrar’s office. The dreams and skills of our college graduates will pave the way to a bright economic future for our nation.”
In order to increase college graduation rates we must first help more students earn their high school diploma. A study released by the Alliance for Excellent Education on Tuesday finds that nationwide, an estimated 1.3 million students dropped out from the Class of 2010 without earning a diploma.
Read Entire Post
This Tuesday, the Alliance released Education and the Economy: Boosting the Nation’s Economy by Improving High School Graduation Rates. The study demonstrates the economic benefits the nation—as well as each state—would likely see if its number of high school dropouts was cut in half.
In an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio, Patrick Gasper, spokesman for the state Department of Public Instruction, references the study saying, “At a time when the evidence shows us yet again that we should be investing in education as the tool to improve Wisconsin economy, the governor’s budget includes the highest cut to public education in our state’s history.” And in Maine, The Times Record cites the study findings to support a law adopted by the state legislature last year that requires all Maine high schools to graduate at least 90 percent of their students by 2016. And Morton Kondracke covered the report in his most recent column in Roll Call, writing, “It’s a powerful argument for investment in education and reform.” Read the full piece below:
There’s Hope for Better Schools — if Congress Helps
By Morton M. Kondracke
March 24, 2011
Unless Congress blows it, the United States has the best chance ever to finally make its public education system world class.
There’s widespread awareness — not just among education reformers, but employers and ordinary people — that American schools are second-rate by international standards and that it’s dangerous to the nation’s economic health and national security.
