Stats That Stick: October 6, 2011

African-American male students in middle school who have been suspended: 28 percent

Black and Hispanic students are far more likely to be kicked out of school when they break the rules, including some that often have nothing to do with keeping students safe, according to a new report from a civil rights research and advocacy group. Education Week reported school discipline records are too often seen as a measure of how safe a school is and not often enough as a gauge of how healthy a school is academically. Analyzing 2006 data from the U.S. Department of Education’s office for civil rights, Mr. Losen found that more than 28 percent of African-American middle school boys had been suspended at least once, compared with 10 percent of white males nationwide. For girls, it was 18 percent of black students, compared with 4 percent of white students. Read Entire Post

Morning Announcements: October 6, 2011

Education Week reports that if high schools are going to better prepare students for college and careers, experts say they need to track graduates enrolling in higher education, whether they take remedial courses to get up to speed, and whether they earn a degree. At a meeting in Washington Wednesday, politicians from both sides of the aisle, along with educators and nonprofit leaders, discussed the importance of using data to support the college- and career-ready agenda.

Black and Hispanic students are far more likely to be kicked out of school when they break the rules, including some that often have nothing to do with keeping students safe, according to a new report from a civil rights research and advocacy group. Education Week reported school discipline records are too often seen as a measure of how safe a school is and not often enough as a gauge of how healthy a school is academically.

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Morning Announcements: October 3, 2011

Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced the department’s proposed reforms to improve teacher preparation programs and better prepare educators for classroom success, according to Ed.gov. “America’s teachers and America’s children deserve world-class preparation programs that prepare teachers for today’s classrooms and students for today’s information age,” he said.

According to US News & World Report, most high school districts offer some sort of dropout prevention program. A new report released last week by the National Center for Education Statistics shows a majority of high schools (approximately 8 in 10) offer services such as tutoring and remediation classes for students who have fallen behind, but less than half of school districts offer an after-school program for high school students at risk of not graduating.

The New York Times report if no deal is reached by Friday, 716 of New York City’s lowest-paid workers — school aides, parent coordinators and other members of school support staffs — will lose their jobs, the latest victims of budget cuts to the public schools. Nearly 350 schools will be affected, in a scattered pattern, according to a list of layoffs by school, which was obtained and analyzed by The New York Times. The newspaper found the poorest and most struggling schools will be hit the hardest.

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A Dose of Budgetary Reality for Policy Makers and Education Advocates

As we head into the fall, jobs and the budget are at the forefront of national discussion. President Obama has announced and is now campaigning for his jobs plan. The bipartisan, bicameral super committee continues its own discussions on the federal budget. Within this discussion, there is a larger economic debate on how to spur recovery.

One side argues that cutting spending could deepen the recession, while the other side argues that failing to cut spending would deepen the debt and prolong the recession.  Amidst this lose-lose debate, = something is missing that’s more fundamental to the nation’s long-term economic health: how the nation is educating tomorrow’s workforce. Education programs will already see cuts as part of the 10-year trillion dollar cuts to discretionary spending and could be subject to further cuts if the super committee fails to reach an agreement. With this context as a backdrop, both policymakers and education groups need to respond to the realities the nation faces.

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Morning Announcements: September 28, 2011

President Obama took his "pass the jobs bill" campaign to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado yesterday, according to USA Today, telling a crowd at a Denver high school that his plan will put people back to work by building roads, bridges, and other projects that include upgraded schools. "There are construction projects like these all across this country just waiting to get started," Obama told a supportive crowd at Abraham Lincoln High School in Denver. "And there are millions of unemployed construction workers who are looking for jobs." And in his message to students at Washington’s Benjamin Banneker Academic High School, Obama delivered  the message that “the nation is counting on you for the future.”  He encouraged students to work hard in their classes, according to the Associated Press.

The New York Times reports on a new study that found ignorance  by American students of the basic history of the civil rights movement has not changed — in fact, it has worsened, according to a new report by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The report says that states’ academic standards for public schools are one major cause of the problem. The report assigns letter grades to each state based on how extensively its academic standards address the civil rights movement. Thirty-five states got an F because their standards require little or no mention of the movement, it says.

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Morning Announcements: September 27, 2011

According to the New York Times, a report that is set to be released on Tuesday shows the percentage of students making it to the finish line at college is barely budging despite ever-increasing enrollment in college. The group, Complete College America, is a nonprofit founded two years ago with financing from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Lumina Foundation and others. Its report, which had the cooperation of 33 governors, showed how many of the students in states completed their degrees, broken down into different categories, including whether enrollment is full- or part-time, or at a two- or four-year institution.

Over objections from Republicans on Capitol Hill, President Obama is making it clear he will proceed with his blueprint education reform and an overhaul of the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law. And this time, Mr. Obama will have some bipartisan cover, as many Republican governors are backing his approach, according to the Washington Times.

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Morning Announcements: September 26, 2011

The New York Times reports that “parent trigger laws” are facing challenges. Such legislation -- which is being considered by several states -- would allow, if enough parents signed a petition, their children’s struggling school to be shut down and replaced with a charter school. Similar legislation has passed in Texas, Ohio and Connecticut and is being considered in nearly a dozen more states — but California, the earliest adopter, is furthest along.

With his declaration on Friday that he would waive the most contentious provisions of a federal education law, President Obama effectively rerouted the nation’s education history  after a turbulent decade of overwhelming federal influence, reports Education Week. Obama decried the state of American education, calling the law an admirable but flawed effort that has hurt students instead of helping them.

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President Announces Waivers For No Child Left Behind, Time For Congress To Get Back In The Boxing Ring

President Barack Obama announced today sweeping changes in his administration’s plan for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, commonly known as Child Left Behind. He unveiled that the Department of Education will begin to issue waivers to states from NCLB if they follow general guidelines.

In his latest video, Alliance President Bob Wise — former governor of West Virginia — compares Obama’s latest move to a punch in a boxing ring. Obama said he is allowing waivers because Congress has refused to act.

Wise said waivers are a step forward but the only real solution is for Congress to pass full legislation necessary for education reform.

“The Executive Branch has chosen to move forward with waivers because Congress hasn’t acted,” Wise said. “So here's the challenge — Congress, climb back in the ring, duke it out. Pass the legislation that truly leads to education reform and takes away the need for waivers. When you do that, you score a knock out for our kids. There's still time'

 

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Morning Announcements: September 23, 2011

The New York Times reports President Obama on Friday will offer to waive central provisions of the No Child Left Behind law for states that embrace his educational agenda, essentially ending his predecessor’s signature accountability measure. In a White House speech, Mr. Obama plans to invite states that agree to overhaul low-performing schools and adopt more rigorous teacher evaluation systems to apply for relief from the Bush-era law’s 2014 deadline for bringing all students to proficiency in reading and math, as well as other unpopular provisions, senior administration officials said Thursday, according to the Times.

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander wants Education Secretary Arne Duncan to show restraint in granting waivers to states on the No Child Left Behind Law, according to the Republic. Duncan announced the waivers last month and said in order to get one, states must agree to education reforms the White House favors — from tougher evaluation systems for teachers and principals to programs helping minority students.

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Morning Announcements: September 22, 2011

President Obama is poised to broaden federal influence in local schools by scrapping key elements of No Child Left Behind, the Bush administration’s signature education law, and substituting his own brand of school reform, according to the Washington Post. While unpopular with Republicans in Congress and some in the educational establishment, the move is drawing applause from governors around the country struggling to meet the demands of the nine-year-old law.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced it will fund more charter school-district collaborations, benefiting schools in Boston, Central Falls, R.I., and Sacramento, Calif, among others.The districts still have to formally apply for the Gates funding, but they can win up to $100,000 once they do, according to Education Week.

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