A College Parking Lot, Deficit Reduction, and Public Investment

Last week I spent two days visiting the University of California-Berkeley, one of the nation's most prestigious higher education and research institutions. Walking the campus linked UCB's major accomplishments - ranging from STEM to public policy - with the buildings that housed the people that created them. The throngs of passing students were a United Nations in languages and dress.

This is a public university, created and run by the state of California and funded by the taxpayer. Rivaling well- known private selective institutions, UCB produces state, national, and international leaders in almost every field. This is a publicly-funded institution where the physics building's parking lot has six prime spots "Reserved for Nobel Laureates."

Yet even this major institution that has created much of California's intellectual infrastructure and resulting economic growth has seen reductions in state investment in past years. Against the backdrop of my walk, I replayed the constant political refrain that ending deficit spending is the most important issue facing the nation. Read Entire Post

Representative George Miller and Alliance President Bob Wise Agree: Students Need a 21st-Century Education

It's not every day that a member of Congress teams up with a non-profit organization to further a bipartisan goal, but that's what happened when Representative George Miller (D-CA) and Alliance President and former West Virginia governor Bob Wise co-wrote an editorial for Politico. Both Rep. Miller and Gov. Wise champion educational transformation, and they both believe in the power of digital technology to increase accessibility, opportunity, and achievement for all students, everywhere. 

Earlier this year, Rep. Miller introduced the "Transforming Education Through Technology Act," which would "update and modernize learning systems by supporting teachers and principals in the use of new technology to redesign curricula, incorporate technology into classrooms and provide assistance with real-time data and assessments," as the op-ed explains. If passed, this bill has the power to expand technology innovation that can transform teaching and learning, just as onlnie ordering has changed the way we eat.

At the same time, Gov. Wise has led the Alliance for Excellent Education's Project 24, a district-level initiative to connect school districts to planning and resource materials to aid them in the transition and implementation of digital technology. 

"Over the next 24 months, the Alliance will help school districts to implement a strategic plan for strengthening education outcomes through the use of technology at no cost," the joint op-ed reads. "The Alliance will help participating districts through a comprehensive planning process around seven interconnected areas where technology and digital learning can improve student achievement: teaching and professional learning, use of time, budget and resources, data systems and online assessments, curriculum and instruction, technology and infrastructure, and academic support and resources."

Rep. Miller and Gov. Wise share a common goal: to ensure that every student everywhere has the opportunity to learn. They share the vision that upgrading digital technology in schools around the nation can achieve that goal. 

"Families can order dinner with the click of a button on a smartphone or computer, but teachers are still wiping chalk off blackboards. Newspapers and magazines are delivered to tablets every morning, but students study from texts that become outdated as soon as they are released," Rep. Miller and Gov. Wise write. "No single solution exists for these problems, but an effective use of technology can be a tool to increasing access to educational opportunities for disadvantaged students and closing the achievement gap. It can also empower teachers to design an educational experience that extends beyond the four walls of the classroom."

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Afternoon announcements: Don't confuse the TNTP report with TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

A new report from The New Teacher Project (TNTP) analyzes DC’s teacher retention. It finds the best teachers stay at nearly twice the rate of the District’s lowest performers. The report raises a few questions. Washington Post

Marion Brandy gives his take on education reform in an editorial. You might find his side a little different than many education reformers’ positions. Washington Post

20 schools are set to close in DC, Chancellor Kaya Henderson said on Tuesday. The goal is to move resources towards other schools to boost academic programs. Washington Post

Have you ever audited a free online course from a university? Many universities, including elite schools, now offer these types of courses. Up until now, students of those courses took them for personal enrichment. But that could change. The American Council on Education is reviewing multiple of these online courses and may recommend that colleges grant credit for them. The Chronicle of Higher Education

Despite charter schools being a hot-button topic among educators, policymakers, parents and students, enrollment in them continues to rise. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools reports that enrollment in charter schools has increased almost 13 percent between 2010-11 and 2011-2012. New York Times

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In State of the Union Address, Obama Stresses Education, Calls for Mandatory School Attendance Until Age 18

During his State of the Union address on January 24, President Obama stressed the importance of education in driving the U.S. economy and called on states to require that all students stay in high school until they graduate or turn eighteen.

"When students aren't allowed to walk away from their education, more of them walk the stage to get their diploma," Obama said. 

Although he did not directly mention a revamp of the No Child Left Behind Act, he did discuss more flexibility for states and changes to testing.

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State of the Union Bingo 2012: Download Your Bingo Card and Watch the State of the Union Address on January 24

On Tuesday, January 24, at 9:00 p.m. EST, President Barack Obama will give the 2012 State of the Union address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress.

The State of the Union address allows the president to report on the condition of the nation, but also gives him a national stage on which to outline his legislative agenda for the coming year.

Will President Obama's legislative agenda in 2012 include education reform? The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), currently known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), is ten years old and is long overdue for a revamp. Both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives are considering legislation to rewrite NCLB, but few people expect a final bill to reach the president's desk in 2012.

Will the president use the State of the Union address to urge Congress to speed up its work on revamping NCLB? Or will he stick to more general themes linking education to better outcomes for individuals and the nation? Will he even mention education at all? (We're betting that he will.)

To help you keep track of these and other issues, the Alliance for Excellent Education has brought back its popular State of the Union Bingo cards.

Click "Read entire post" below to access the Bingo cards.

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Afternoon Announcements--November 30, 2011

Here are today's top education headlines, brought to you by Alliance Policy Intern Bill DeBaun.

Good afternoon and welcome to your Wednesday edition of afternoon announcements! While you're more than halfway to the weekend, you're 100% of the way to arriving at today's education news!

A town hall featuring U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and other local and state education leaders agreed that education is the key to fixing the nation's economy, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Secretary Duncan noted, "Jobs are going to go to where the knowledge workers are." Nevada, which faces a poor economy and an education system held in low esteem by many surveys, can improve quickly despite these hurdles, according to the Secretary. For a more national angle on this story, check out the Associated Press's take, via the Las Vegas Sun.

US News and World Report tackles dropout factories, an issue that the Alliance has been raising awareness of for years. The article's discussion notes that while the number of dropout factories nationally has decreased in the last decade, tens of thousands of students are still failing to graduate from these schools. The article identifies a number of areas where many dropout factories struggle, including having "a hamstrung principal," "high suspension rates," "overwhelmed students," and a "lack of technical training." For more information on the dropout crisis, check out some of the Alliance's reports and publications on the topic.

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Stats That Stick: October 12, 2011

Numbers of pages in new No Child Left Behind Act bill: 865
Senior Senate Democrat Tom Harkin of Iowa released a draft of a sprawling revision of the No Child Left Behind education law on Tuesday that would dismantle the provisions of the law that used standardized test scores in reading and math to label tens of thousands of public schools as failing. The 865-page bill, filed by Senator Harkin, who heads the Senate education committee, became the first comprehensive piece of legislation overhauling the law to reach either Congressional chamber since President George W. Bush signed it in 2002. Mr. Harkin made his draft bill public 18 days after President Obama announced that he would use executive authority to waive the most onerous provisions of the law, because he had all but given up hope that Congress could fix the law’s flaws any time soon. Read Entire Post