Stats That Stick

In the first year of DC public school’s IMPACT system, an effectiveness assessment system for school-based personnel, 662 teachers, or 16 percent of the District's teaching force, were rated highly effective. –The Washington Post 

Ninety seven percent of American schools and nearly all public libraries have Internet access, but nearly 80 percent of E-Rate recipients have reported they need faster connections, because several still have dial-up. -Federal Communications Commission

The Rural Trust studied graduation rates in 616 of the nation’s poorest rural districts and found that the graduation rate of just over 60 percent in those districts was nearly 10 percentage points lower than the rate for other rural districts (70 percent), and nearly seven points below the rate for nonrural districts (67 percent). These 616 high-poverty spend $7,731 per pupil compared to $8,134 for all other rural districts and $9,611 for nonrural districts nationally. -Center for American Progress

More students with disabilities have pursued postsecondary education. Forty-six percent of students with disabilities in 2005 were reported ever to have enrolled in a postsecondary school, compared with 26 percent in
1990. -Education Department’s Institute of Education Sciences

Morning Announcements: September 22, 2010

The Federal Communications Commission is expected to approve an overhaul of the $2.25 billion E-Rate program to give schools more options for faster Internet service, allow for community Internet service and to begin pilot programs for digital textbooks, according to the New York Times.  The program will mostly serve schools in poor and rural areas.

In the Curriculum Matters blog, Education Week reporter Erik Robelen discusses a new report from the Alliance for Excellent Education that calls for the federal government to substantially step up its role in promoting strong literacy skills at the middle and high school levels.

Teacher performance pay alone does not raise student test scores, according to a new study released today by the Vanderbilt University's Peabody College.

Democrats' dreams of passing an immigration bill before the midterm elections died Tuesday, when Senate Republicans blocked a measure that could have carried legislation benefiting undocumented college student, reports the Chronicle for Higher Education.

Inside Higher Ed reports that the Hope Scholarship, a merit based program in Georgia, will most likely come to a close by the end by fiscal year 2013 due to an increase in the number of participating students and a decrease in the lottery funds that support the program.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and his wife, Alma write about the  “'100 Best' places fighting dropout crisis” in an opinion piece on CNN.

In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Deborah Kenny, founder and CEO of Harlem Village Academies, asks “What happens to bright teachers stuck in schools that don't have the right to hire by performance and build a culture of excellence?”