Report Round-Up: October 21, 2011

Here are a couple of education-related reports that were issued this week. Feel free to add links to reports we missed in the comments section below.

The Hidden Costs of Community Colleges American Institutes for Research

This report finds that federal, state, and local governments spent nearly $4 billion over five years on full-time community college students who dropped out after their first year without completing their certificate or degree programs. According to the report, about a fifth of full-time students who enroll at a community college do not return for a second year.

Built to Succeed? Ranking New Statewide Teacher Evaluation Practices Democrats for Education Reform

This report forecasts the chances for success of nineteen states-all of which either passed laws or changed regulations during 2010 and 2011 to strengthen teacher evaluation systems. It notes that, in many cases, the nineteen have mapped out vastly different paths to what we all hope will be the same place: ensuring that every student has a high-quality teacher at the head of the class. Changes run the gamut from minimal revisions to bold commitments to parents and students that teachers will be evaluated based on whether and how much kids are learning.

The report uses a twenty-one-level rubric that assigned points for what it deems "must-have" elements in a teacher evaluation system. The result is a "preseason" list of the laws which we think are most likely to make the greatest impact in classrooms. Florida ranks first, followed by Tennessee and Colorado.

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Afternoon Announcements: October 20, 2011

According to a new report from Pew Charitable Trusts, Philadelphia’s school closing plan probably won't raise much revenue, writes the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The New York Times reports that he Learning Network is celebrating National Day on Writing today by offering a host of ways for parents, teachers, and students to share their writing.

According to a recent report by the American Institutes for Research, students who drop out of community college before their second year have cost taxpayers nearly $1-billion annually, writes the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Education officials in Tennessee are taking flak from teachers and unions for rushing the implementation of a new teacher-evaluation system that will eventually undergird tenure decisions—a move, some worry, that could undermine redesigns of evaluation in other states, writes Education Week.

The Christian Science Monitor asks, “Can new No Child Left Behind law pass before 2012 elections?”

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Morning Announcements: August 2, 2011

As a vote nears in Congress to lift the federal debt ceiling and stave off a financial default, education advocates are just beginning to take stock of what this will mean for K-12 education, reports Education Week.

A recent Washington Post blog post includes Stanford University Education Professor Linda Darling-Hammond’s speech from last Saturday’s Save Our Schools march in Washington, DC, in which she explains the extent of the trouble public education is in.

According to the New York Times, New York State education officials announced yesterday that they had begun to review the way they detect and prevent cheating on standardized tests, taking a step to avoid the cheating scandals that have engulfed school systems in other states.

A recent Education Week blog post talks about the struggle states are having with linking teacher-student data.

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Afternoon Announcements: July 13, 2011

According to the New York Times, some state education chiefs say that if Congress does not overhaul No Child Left Behind, the main federal law governing public education, by the fall, they may be allowed to propose their own accountability systems as an alternative.

Education leaders, teachers, and their advocates gathered at the American Federation of Teachers national conference this week and expressed deep frustration at the lack of movement to overhaul the vastly unpopular No Child Left Behind education law, reports the Huffington Post.

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Morning Announcements: June 14, 2011

The Chicago Tribune writes about Simpson Academy for Young Women in Chicago and their decision to allow its pregnant students to stay until graduation and take advantage of the constant motivation and camaraderie from peers and staff. Sana Bell, a recent graduate of Simpson Academy explains why graduating was important to her:  "I don't want to be on welfare my whole life. I want to have a salary and my own health insurance. I want to own a car and I want to have my own everything. Graduating from high school and going to college is going to help me give my son a better life.”

In Idaho today, state schools chief Tom Luna kicked off the  first meeting of a new task force that will help determine how to implement new school technology investments, the Spokesman-Review reports. Governors Jeb Bush and Bob Wise were in attendance to discuss the value of digital learning.

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Report Round-Up

Education and the Economy: Boosting the Nation’s Economy by Improving High School Graduation Rates from the Alliance for Excellent Education. This study demonstrates the economic benefits the nation—as well as each state—would likely see if its number of high school dropouts was cut in half. The state-by-state and national findings include the growth in jobs, home ownership, levels of spending and investment, and car sales.

Education as a Data-Driven Enterprise from Alliance for Excellent Education, Civic Enterprises, and the Data Quality Campaign. This publication provides leaders from business, philanthropy, and education with background on data issues; describes challenges that must be overcome; and makes recommendations for moving forward.

Federal Policy, ESEA Reauthorization, and the School-to-Prison Pipeline from the Advancement Project, Education Law Center, Juvenile Law Center, http://naacpldf.org/publication/ldf-70, National Center for Fair & Open Testing, and The Forum for Education and Democracy. This paper looks at testing, school climate and 'zero tolerance' discipline policies as causes of the school to prison pipeline, and makes recommendations on assessment, accountability, discipline and student re-entry to schools.

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Morning Announcements: December 20, 2010

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Dream Act has failed in the senate: The Dream Act—which stands for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors—was aimed at helping people brought into the country illegally when they were 15 or younger. It would have let them obtain citizenship if they attended two years of college or served for two years in the military.

Education Week reporter Catherine Gewertz writes about a new development in the assessment world that could make tests more accessible to students with disabilities and more portable.

The Minnesota Post examines a school district that has switched to a four-day week in order to save money.

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