Gates Foundation to Give DC Students Push to College
By Theola Labbe, The Washington Post

This week the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced a $122 million investment to create a new crop of high school and college scholars among some of D.C.'s poorest and lowest-achieving students. It is the foundation's largest investment to date in D.C. education and one of the largest grants it has made for education.

For Teachers, Middle School is a Test of Wills
By Elissa Gootman, The New York Times

Faced with increasingly well-documented slumps in learning at a critical age, educators in New York and across the nation are struggling to rethink middle school, particularly in cities, where the challenges of adolescent volatility, spiking violence and lagging academic performance are more acute.

Charter Group Will Enroll More Pupils in Houston
By Tamar Levin, The New York Times

The Knowledge Is Power Program, a charter school network widely praised for its results with low-income students in its 52 schools nationwide, yesterday announced a $100 million plan, financed by private donations, to expand its Houston operations over the next decade to serve about 10 percent of the city’s public school population.

Colleges Advertise for Target Students
By Carol Biliczky, The Beacon Journal

Nationwide, colleges and universities are spending 50 percent more on marketing and communication than in 2000, according to the Council for Advancement and Support of Education in Washington, D.C.

A Culture Put to the Test
By Mary Ann Zehr, Education Week (subscription required)

The Navajo Language Immersion School in the Window Rock Unified School District located on the reservation of the Navajo Nation in Arizona draws on both Navajo tradition and modern accountability tools to improve student achievement.

The Graduation Gap
By Sara Hebel, The Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required)

A college acceptance letter has long been seen as the ticket to the middle class for students from low-income families. But simply getting into college these days is not enough. Where financially needy students enroll makes a difference — sometimes a big difference — in whether they will ever earn a bachelor's degree.

Teachers at California State Vote to Authorize a Walkout
By Lisa Munoz, The New York Times

Faculty members at California State University, the nation’s largest four-year university system, overwhelmingly authorized a strike Wednesday after nearly two years in which they and the administration failed to negotiate a contract succeeding one that expired in July 2005.

Action, Direction Sought at Higher Education Summit
By Mary Beth Marklein, USA Today

Education Secretary Margaret Spellings will convene a summit Thursday aimed at building consensus among higher education stakeholders as they chart a road map for reform.

Brand Extension
By Elia Powers, InsideHigherEd

Cornell has developed a unique MBA program that allows students from across the USand Canada meet three Saturdays a month in real time through cables and high-speed internet access. The program is a solution to the problem of attracting students who are planted in a major city and aren't looking to move.

How to Trim FAFSA's Fat
By Elizabeth Redden, InsideHigherEd

The complexity of the federal financial aid process is among the more obvious, and ostensibly, fixable reasons cited to explain why low-income students are far less likely to attend college than their peers. So far, despite efforts on multiple fronts, the system has proven to be somewhat intractable. But on Tuesday, the movement to simplify the process gained new momentum.

Lawsuit Says Education Department Overcharged on Student Loans
By Amit Paley, The Washington Post

The U.S. Department of Education has overcharged millions of Americans with student loans during the past decade despite repeated warnings that it was breaking the law, according to a lawsuit filed Monday.

Singapore to Scrap Anti-Obesity Program
The Associated Press

Singapore plans to end its anti-obesity program in schools, the Education Ministry said, after parents complained that overweight children were being singled out and teased by classmates.

Row Over Students' Parental Data
BBC

There is controversy over moves to let university admissions tutors in the UK see the educational attainment and occupations of applicants' parents.

University of Moscow to Investigate Student Claims
By C.J. Chivers, The New York Times

Moscow State University, one of Russia’s most prestigious, has opened an investigation into accusations by students that teaching standards and living conditions in one of its academic departments have been severely eroded, students and university officials said in recent days.

196 Professors Murdered in Iraq Since 2003, Government Officials Say
The Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required)

Iraq’s minister of higher education said last week that 196 professors had been murdered, and more than 100 kidnapped, in the four years since a U.S.-led coalition invaded the country, according to a report on Azzaman.com, a news service.

McGuinty Government Launched New Program for Students to Gain Global Experience
CNW Group

Ontario Minister of Small Business and
Entrepreneurship, Harinder Takhar, officially launched Global Edge, a
pilot program that exposes enterprising post-secondary students to the global
marketplace. Professional experience with successful multinational
corporations will give students an early advantage in their careers, and get
them thinking globally.

Aurora College Cuts Diamond-Cutting Program in Half Over Job Slump
CBC News

Aurora College in Yellowknife has cancelled the March session of its diamond-cutting and -polishing program because of a lack of enrolment and a shortage of local jobs for graduates — a shortage the college's director hopes will end soon.

For Low Tuition, Try the Far East
By Rick Conrad, The ChronicleHerald

Students from Nova Scotia are turning to Newfoundland for their postsecondary studies. Their movement is largely based on the lower tuition fees offered by Newfoundland's postsecondary institutions.

Colleges Keeping Pace with Industry
By Nick Stewart, Northern Ontario Business

Many Northern Ontario colleges are feeling increasing pressure from industry and government alike, who are looking more and more to them to produce greater numbers of graduates in the fields of skilled trades.

Record Number of Students Choose Trades Training
Ministry of Education, Ministry of Economic Development, BC

A record 470 secondary school graduates in BC were each awarded $1,000 government scholarships for their success in the Secondary School Apprenticeship (SSA) program this year, am increase of 24 percent over last year. The program allows students to get a head start on their trades career while still completing high school.

Getting Down to the Facts: A Research Project Examining California’s School Governance and Finance Systems
Institute for Research on Education Policy and Practice

"Getting Down to the Facts" is a research project of more than 20 studies designed to provide California’s citizens with comprehensive information about the status of the state’s school finance and governance systems. The overall hypothesis underlying this research project is that improvement to California’s school finance and governance structures could enable its schools to be more effective.

The Educational Policy Institute is an international non-profit think tank dedicated to the study of educational opportunity. The Week in Review is a weekly publication that highlights the top news stories, reports and statistics related to academic preparation and access and success in the US, Canada, and beyond. The publication also features a commentary written by either President Watson Scott Swail, EdD or Vice-President Alex Usher.

To submit comments, news releases, or submissions, please email Dr. Watson Scott Swail at wswail@educationalpolicy.org or call (757) 430-2200.