No Expectations: Harmful Treaties in Community Colleges

In his classic book, Horace’s Compromise, the late educator Ted Sizer wrote that high school teachers and students enact “treaties” with one another: the students agree not to cause trouble, and the teachers agree not to push the students too hard. The result, all too often, is that students don’t learn very much.

A new study by the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) shows that community colleges and their students appear to engage in similar negotiations, with similar results for students. The cost is much higher than it was three decades ago, when Sizer wrote his book, though, because the need for higher levels of knowledge and skill is much greater now.

The NCEE study looked closely at entry-level mathematics and English courses in seven community colleges. The researchers examined the textbooks used, the assignments given to students, and the tests teachers administered. What they found was disturbing. Read Entire Post

Afternoon Announcements: An Argument in Favor of Gap Years

Many countries have long touted the usefulness of a “gap” year spent living abroad between finishing high school and entering college, but the U.S. has never been one. That thinking may be changing as more students take a year off and extoll the virtues of learning more about themselves and their interests before entering college. USA Today

Lawmakers on the House education committee are trying to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act, which hasn’t been renewed for more than six years. The last renewal attempt was thwarted by partisan divisions, and the same may happen this time. Politics K-12

According to a survey from the Maryland State Education Association, teachers in the state feel unprepared to teach the Common Core Standards are asking for more time to meet the demands of the new evaluation system and higher standards. Washington Post

The broke Buena Vista School District in Michigan is closed for a few days this week because it can’t pay its teachers. The district has laid off staff. “I know everybody is hurt. We’re trying to get these answers. Our hands are pretty much tied. We’re trying to go after every option we have,” school board President Randy L. Jackson said. Education Week Read Entire Post

Afternoon Announcements: PBS Special Looks at Deeper Learning in Action

An increasing number of assessments will be taken digitally in the coming years, and the ACT college admissions exam joined the list today. Starting in the spring of 2015 the test will be administered online. “We are moving to a computer-based version, but for the foreseeable future, we will also have the paper and pencil test as an option for schools that don’t have the technological capability,” said Jon Erickson, the president of ACT’s Education Division. New York Times

Buena Vista School District in Michigan might be small, but its teachers are mighty. The school district has run out of funds to pay its 27 teachers, but they voted to continue teaching until the end of the year on June 23rd. Huffington Post

Speaking of teacher pay, a new report released this week shows a large majority of teachers in the nation’s largest school districts took pay cuts or say their pay frozen at least one year between 2008 and 2012. New York Times

The PBS NewsHour special, "Problem Solvers" aired last night. Special correspondent John Tulenko of Learning Matters reported on a public middle school in Portland, Maine that takes a unique approach to teaching. Teachers incorporate deeper learning competencies - focusing on comprehensive science curriculum that emphasizes problem-solving. The video and transcript are available online. PBS NewsHour

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Afternoon Announcements: 18 Myths About Education

A new infographic debunks 18 popular myths about education. Open Colleges

College graduates have endured the recession better than most individuals, data from the Labor Department reveals. The unemployment rate for college graduates in April was 3.9 percent, compared to 7.5 percent for the work force as a whole. Throughout the entire recession, college graduates have maintained a lower unemployment rate than the workforce as a whole. New York Times

The 2013 graduating class at Ohio State University got one of the best commencement speakers this season: President Obama. He aimed to inspire the students to value individual rights and community responsibilities. New York Times

The American Federation of Teachers polled 800 teachers and found that educators don’t feel prepared to teach math and reading to the Common Core State Standards. Seventy-five percent of the teachers surveyed said they support the Common Core, but less than one-third said they have received the training and resources needed to teach to the standards. Washington Post Read Entire Post

Govs. Huckabee and Engler Praise Common Core State Standards

Amid misinformation campaigns against the Common Core State Standards, former Republican governors Mike Huckabee (Arkansas) and John Engler (Michigan) repeatedly praised the Common Core State Standards as good for the country and rebutted criticism of the standards during a May 1 radio broadcast of the Mike Huckabee Show.

Saying that education standards were “near and dear” to his heart, Huckabee noted that the Common Core State Standards were “very carefully thought through” as a way to “elevate education in the country.”

Pointing to the need for the Common Core, Engler, who is current president of the Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies, noted that far too many of the nation’s students are not currently reading at a proficient level. “If anyone wants to dumb anything down, I think they’ve already succeeded,” Engler said. “What I’m trying to do is reverse the trend.”

Throughout their conversation, Huckabee and Engler repeatedly stressed the state-owned nature of the Common Core State Standards, making clear that the federal government was not involved in their development. And, as Engler noted, conversations about the standards were already going on when “Barack Obama was a senator from Illinois.”

 

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Afternoon Announcements: Arne Duncan Says Criticism Against Standardized Testing is "Merited"

Coursera, an online education platform, plans to offer massive open online courses (MOOCs) for teachers. The courses would aim to help teaches improve their technique and would have offerings from teaching experts and premier museums and universities. Washington Post

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said that there are serious flaws in standardized testing at a meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). He said that criticism about the tests is “merited.” Huffington Post

Arizona has implemented a national college-readiness program called Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) that teaches students strategies for taking notes, applying for scholarships, and how to study for college-entrance exams. The goal of the program is to narrow the college-readiness gap in the state. AZ Central

High school graduates in North Carolina will soon receive a seal on their diploma denoting whether they are ready for work or college as part of a new criteria the State Board of Education adopted this week. The three paths students can take to earn a seal are career, community college, and four-year university. Charlotte Observer Read Entire Post

Afternoon Announcements: Why Don't More Students Finish College?

Virginia’s largest full-time statewide virtual school is likely to close, affecting more than 350 students in the next school year. The decision comes as the Carroll County School Board plans to end its partnership with the contractor that operates the virtual school. Washington Post

A Georgetown sociology class on hip-hop got a surprise when Jay-Z called in from Europe. The class was studying the artist’s life and work and his role in black culture. “He’se a friend of mine, so teaching this class on him was an exercise in both the critical engagement with a towering icon and an attempt to understand the nature of his craft and his appeal in the world,” class professor Michael Eric Dyson said. Washingtonian

Some students in Indiana, Oklahoma, and Minnesota have extra time to study for end of year high-stakes tests because of computer glitches that occurred the first, and regularly scheduled, time they were administered. The students have been kicked offline when they attempt to take the assessments. New York Times

Too many students who enter college do not complete their program. A new infographic looks at the statistics. Civitas Learning Read Entire Post

Afternoon Announcements: MRIs Can Predict Student Receptiveness to Math Tutoring, Study Finds

Indiana’s NCLB waiver eligibility is under question now that is has announced a ‘pause’ on implementing the Common Core State Standards. The state filed for its waiver saying it had adopted the Standards and joined a consortium developing aligned assessments. Politics K-12

The newest group of critics attacking the Common Core Standards are conservatives railing against the costs and impediment to local education decision-making. Some union leaders have come out against the Standards as well because of their perceived implications on teacher evaluations. Wall Street Journal

An interesting study at Stanford University School of Medicine finds that the size of certain areas of children’s brains predict how they’ll respond to math tutoring. The study found that the children’s IQ and math scores did not predict tutoring outcomes but brain scans from MRIs that measured the size of different areas of the brain, could. Pasadena Star News

The recent National Association of Federal Education Program Administrators Conference included a discussion on how to improve learning and student outcomes for English language learners. While the number of ELLs continues to grow, their progress stagnates in part because of a lack of access to the same courses and teachers as their English-speaking peers. Education Daily Read Entire Post

Afternoon Announcements: NYC Students Will Have Longer School Days

Debate still rages around the adoption and implementation of the Common Core State Standards in multiple states. Critics claim the cost to implement is too high, while others are skeptical of the exams that will accompany the Standards. Washington Post

Speaking of states with the loudest Common Core debates, the Indiana state legislature voted to “halt” implementation of the Standards this weekend. The Governor is positioned to view the measure this week, which calls for more analysis of costs, among other things. Washington Times

Students in Utah will no longer take fill-in-the-bubble tests as of next year. The state has adopted a new computer testing system called SAGE (Student Assessment of Growth and Excellence) that caters to the students’ strengths and weaknesses. The Salt Lake Tribune

Students in 20 middle schools throughout New York City will experience school days that are 2.5 hours longer than usual next fall. The city is experimenting with how more time in class will improve student achievement and outcomes. The extra time will be devoted to reading tutoring and “other educational activities.” Education Week Read Entire Post

Bob Wise Touts Equitable, Quality Education as Means to Improve Economy

In his monthly Huffington Post column, Alliance for Excellent Education president and former West Virginia governor Bob Wise discusses the moral - and economic - imperative of a quality, equitable education. Citing a recent Alliance report, Inseparable Imperatives: Equity in Education and the Future of the American Economy, he points out the current achievement and opportunity gaps between white and affluent students and students of color, Native American students, and low-income students. Over the next decade, he says, minority students will become the majority in a number of school districts and states. If they are not receiving the best education available while they prepare to enter college and a career, it will have negative consequences for the U.S. economy. On the flip side, by addressing these outstanding gaps in high school graduation rates between white students and students of color, the nation could see ecnomic growth, while also improving the lives of millions of young Americans. Read Entire Post