Morning Announcements: September 14, 2011

Education Week reports that not even half of the school districts in states that have adopted the common standards are taking essential steps to implement them, and most cite inadequate state guidance as a major problem in moving forward. This information come from a new surevey released today by the Center on Education Policy. The report shows districts are also deeply divided about how rigorous the new standards are and how much they demand new curricula and instructional strategies.

According to the New York Times, President Obama visited a high school in the potentially politically crucial state of Ohio Tuesday in order to pitch his jobs bill. His $447 billion proposal, which includes tax cuts and stimulus projects to improve the economy, also calls for billions to be invested in renovating our nation’s schools. Obama said Tuesday the $25 billion for education construction and improvements in the plan would achieve two goals at once: modernizing American schools and putting construction workers back on the job.

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Afternoon Announcements: August 4, 2011

In a recent Education Week blog post, the author asks, “Are 82 percent of schools ‘failing’ under NCLB, as Duncan warned?” According to the post, so far, most states that have released their results are not coming close to this number.

The New York Times reports that the administration of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, in a blunt acknowledgment that thousands of young black and Latino men are cut off from New York’s civic, educational and economic life, plans to spend nearly $130 million on far-reaching measures to improve their circumstances.

In California and around the United States, the public, private, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors alike are investing resources and forging new partnerships to address America's glaring education crisis in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) (Huffington Post)

Education Week reports that at least twenty-three states have approved cuts to K–12 education for the coming year, reductions that will shrink or eliminate a broad array of school programs and services, particularly those serving the neediest communities.

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Report Round-Up

A new study by University of Michigan economist Brian Jacob finds that when given the authority, principals make dismissal decisions that put a premium on teacher effectiveness and student achievement. The report, Principled Principals, finds that principals are more likely to dismiss teachers who received poor evaluations in prior years; who are frequently absent; and at the elementary level, who had demonstrated less effectiveness in raising student achievement in prior years than their peers who were not dismissed. Teachers who were given a rating of "satisfactory" in the prior academic year were 22.1 percentage points more likely to be dismissed than teachers in the same school who were given the highest rating, "superior." Teachers rated "excellent" were 4.3 percentage points more likely to be dismissed than those rated "superior."

A new report from the National Research Council presents a new framework for K-12 science education that identifies the key scientific ideas and practices all students should learn by the end of high school. The framework will serve as the foundation for new K-12 science education standards, to replace those issued more than a decade ago. The report, Framework for K-12 Science Education, identifies three dimensions that convey the disciplinary core ideas and practices around which science and engineering education in these grades should be built. These three dimensions are: cross-cutting concepts that unify the study of science and engineering through their common application across these fields; scientific and engineering practices; and core ideas in four disciplinary areas: physical sciences, life sciences, earth and space sciences, and engineering, technology, and the applications of science. The overarching goal is for all high school graduates to have sufficient knowledge of science and engineering to engage in public discussions on science-related issues; be careful consumers of scientific and technological information; and have the skills to enter the careers of their choice.

From RAND Corporation, What New York City's Experiment with Schoolwide Performance Bonuses Tells Us About Pay for Performance, finds that, although implemented fairly and smoothly, the voluntary program that provided financial rewards to educators in high-needs elementary, middle, K-8, and high school in New York City, did not improve student achievement or overall school performance and did not affect teachers' reported attitudes and behaviors. Given these findings, the researchers went on to examine potential explanations for the lack of effects and to identify implications for pay-for-performance policies in general.

 

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Stats That Stick: July 20, 2011

As many as four out of five community college students in the United States want to transfer to a four-year institution so they can obtain a bachelor’s degree, according to a College Board report. But many transfer students have taken classes that make the advising process complicated.

According to a new U.S. Department of Commerce study, growth in science, technology, engineering, and math fields (STEM) jobs over the past ten years was three times greater than other occupations and STEM workers earned 26 percent more than their non-STEM counterparts.

Countries in which schools frequently hold back or kick out students with low academic performance tend to have weaker, more expensive, and more socially inequitable education systems overall, according to a new analysis by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). While fewer than 3 percent of students in 13 countries—including Japan, Norway, and the United Kingdom—reported ever repeating a grade, more than 25 percent of students repeated at least once in France, Spain, Brazil, and a dozen others studied. The United States reported more than one in ten students repeating a grade, higher than the OECD average, while the top-performing countries, Finland and Korea, do not allow grade retention. (Education Week)

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Morning Announcements: July 20, 2011

The New York Times writes about a new framework for improving American science education that calls for paring the curriculum in order to focus on core ideas and teaching students more about how to approach and solve problems, rather than just memorizing factual nuggets.

Yesterday, the Common Education Data Standards Initiative released its first draft of the second stage of its core data definitions, which is intended to get state data systems talking the same language, as reported by Education Week.

A new study Chicago study finds that when given the authority, principals make dismissal decisions that put a premium on teacher effectiveness and student achievement, reports Education Next.

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Afternoon Announcements: July 18, 2011

Good afternoon! Education news was aplenty this weekend and this morning, so let’s get to it.

Today, President Obama hosts a meeting at the White House with CEOs to try to raise some cash for K-12 education, reports Education Week.

U.S. News & World Report writes that in a country where white students vastly outperform black and Hispanic students on national standardized tests, one education innovator says the performance gap can be eliminated on a school-by-school basis by having honest discussions with teachers about race.

USA Today reports that jobs in science, technology, engineering, and math fields pay an average 26 percent more than other occupations and grew three times faster the past decade, according to a Commerce Department study to be released Thursday.

Easing test pressure won’t save kids, says Jay Mathew’s of the Washington Post.

 

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Afternoon Announcements: July 12, 2011

On Monday, American Federation of Teachers’s President Randi Weingarten called for education reform that emanates from teachers and their communities, rather than from “those who blame teachers for everything,” according to the New York Times.

The New York Times also reports that despite a competitive economy in which success increasingly depends on obtaining a college degree, one in four students in this country does not even finish high school in the usual four years.

According to Education Week, states continue the push to toughen teacher policies and changes are afoot for evaluation, tenure, and collective bargaining.

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Report Round-Up--The July 4th Holiday Edition

Happy Friday! As we close out the week before the Independence Day holiday, here's a quick look at some of the education-related reports that were released this week. If there's a report we missed that you think deserves to be mentioned, feel free to post a link to the report in the comments section.

Not Just Kid Stuff Anymore: the Economic Imperative for More Adults to Complete College, released by the Center for Law and Social Policy. This report says the number of U.S. high school graduates is not projected to increase, regardless of academic improvement, because population demographic trends are pointing to lower numbers of graduates by 2020.

Successful K-12 STEM Education: Identifying Effective Approaches in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, by the National Research Council of the National Academies, seeks to answer the question, "what can schools do to provide all students with access to high-quality education in STEM?" It provides an overview of the landscape of K-12 STEM education by considering different school models, highlighting research on effective STEM education practices, and identifying some conditions that promote and limit school- and student-level success in STEM.

Strained Schools Face Bleak Future: Districts Foresee Budget Cuts, Teacher Layoffs, and a Slowing of Education Reform Efforts, by the Center on Education Policy. This report includes data from a survey of more than 400 school districts and finds that districts are facing a grim financial future and the situation won't get better any time soon.

And, finally, just to get you into that Fourth of July mood (if you're not there already), here's a short highlight video from the 2007 "A Capitol Fourth," PBS's annual coverage of the fantastic fireworks display on the National Mall, including wonderful shots of the Washington Monument, U.S. Capitol, and Lincoln Memorial.

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Stats That Stick: June 29, 2011

Sixteen of the 20 occupations with the largest projected growth in the next decade require STEM-related (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) skills. (National Research Council of the National Academies)

There were about 4,700 fewer teachers and 600 fewer administrators in New Jersey’s public schools this year compared to the year before. (Associated Press/Star Ledger (Newark))

Preliminary findings from a report due out later this summer show that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders increased at a faster rate in the past decade than any other major racial group, 43 percent, to 18.5 million people in 2010. However, the group remains one of the most diverse in the country, including 48 different ethnic groups who speak 380 different languages. Although Asian Americans as a whole are typically among the highest performers, subgroups of these students, including students from Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, do struggle academically but are often overlooked in racial averages. (Education Week)

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Report Round-up

Baseline Analyses of SIG Applications and SIG-Eligible and SIG-Awarded Schools from the American Institutes for Research (AIR). This study finds that states that awarded federal Title I School Improvement Grants (SIG) vary widely in their approach to implementing the grants and in distributing the funds to schools.

Who Wins? Who Pays? The Economic Returns and Costs of a Bachelor’s Degree from the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and Nexus Research and Policy Center (NEXUS). According to his report, taxpayer subsidies that cover the operating costs of most colleges and universities ranges from around $8,000 to more than $100,000 for each bachelor’s degree awarded, with most public institutions averaging more than $60,000 per degree.

Slow Off the Mark: Elementary School Teachers and the Crisis in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Education from the Center for American Progress. This publication urges lawmakers to change current teacher preparation policies so that more elementary teachers are adequately equipped to teach math and science effectively in the classroom.

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