High School Failing to Teach Right Subjects
By Sherry Saavedra, The San Diego Union-Tribune

What students learn in high school doesn't match with what they need to know as college freshmen, according to a national study realeased by ACT this week.

Making the Grade - Harder
By Daarel Burnette II, The Courier-Journal

Some districts in Kentucky eliminated the grade "D" from the grading system in order to improve student performance. As a result, one district has seen its failure rate drop and its standardized test scores rise.

Troubled Schools Turn Around by Shrinking
By Larry Abramson, NPR

Forty years ago, former Harvard President James Bryant Conant advocated creating big, comprehensive high schools to educate hordes of baby boomers headed for high school and college. These days school districts are moving in the opposite direction in an effort to make schools smaller and more specialized.

Caution in Use of College-Entry Tests Urged
By Lynn Olson, Education Week (subscription required)

In an effort to raise high school graduation standards, some states are incorporating college-admissions or -placement tests into their testing programs. But a new analysis urges the states to proceed with caution.

Usefulness of Education Research Questioned
By Greg Toppo, USA Today

As the 88th annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) takes place this week in Chicago, critics say the USA's huge community of education researchers - 14,000 are attending - often studies topics that do little to help schools solve practical problems such as how to train teachers, how to raise skills, how to lower dropout rates and whether smaller classes really make a difference.

Rankings Face Backlash from College Presidents
By Mary Beth Marklein, USA Today

What if they created a college rankings system and nobody participated? That question is growing increasingly relevant as a burgeoning number of college presidents say they are fed up with U.S. News & World Report's popular annual feature.

Kluge Gives $400 Million to Columbia University
The Associated Press

Billionaire media entrepreneur John Werner Kluge is giving $400 million to Columbia University for financial aid, one of the largest gifts ever to an American university, the university announced Wednesday.

Gays Often Struggle at Black Colleges
By Dionne Walker, The Boston Globe

Students at the nation's more than 100 historically black colleges and universities say that a broad suspicion of homosexuality keeps gays in the shadows at these tradition-heavy schools.

Cutting College Costs
By Brenda Buote, The Boston Globe

With tuition and fees at many schools spiraling faster than the rate of inflation, education expenses can be a heavy burden, families are adopting creative strategies for slashing the price of a bachelor's degree.

In-Flight Education
The Guardian

Student eurocommuters are defined as people who study at a UK university during the week and takes the first economy flight home to Europe at weekends and they are fast becoming a familiar sight on campus.

English as Language of Global Education
By Doreen Carvajal, The New York Times

In the shifting universe of global academia, English is becoming as commonplace as creeping ivy and mortarboards.

More Students Opt for Australian Education
The Peninsula

The number of overseas students attending Australian universities could double to more than 300,000 by 2010. The largest predicted growth in demand is from China and India, feel the officials from various Australian universities and IDP Education.

$15.2 Million Thompson Rivers Campus Officially Opens
Government of British Columbia News Release

Thompson Rivers University officials and community members attended the official opening of the institution’s new $15.2-million campus in Williams Lake, providing space for more than 1,000 students. The students attending this campus can learn, live and work in Williams Lake, building the local economy with vital skills like nursing, child and youth care and the trades.

Rotman School Launches World's First Morning MBA Program
By Ken McGuffin, The University of Toronto

For the first time, MBA students in the Toronto area, who are also working professionals, will be able to pursue their studies early in the morning before heading to their jobs. The Morning MBA at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management is designed for those looking for a complete MBA experience without sacrificing their professional or personal lives.

Strike at Laval University Jeopardizes Semester
CBC News

Students at Laval University in Quebec City are facing an extended spring semester as a labour dispute between lecturers and the school reached another impasse this week.

Profs Growing Targets for Student Marks-manship
By Keith Gerein, The Edmonton Journal

These days, students are more likely to confront professors when they receive lower grades than they feel they deserve. The pressure to excel from parents combined with the current demographics of academia are largely to blame.

Opening the Door to the American Dream: Increasing Higher Education Access and Success for Immigrants
Institute for Higher Education Policy

Opening the Door to the American Dream: Increasing Higher Education Access and Success for Immigrants, a groundbreaking study by the Institute for Higher Education Policy, exposes the systemic barriers that prevent immigrants from entering college and/or completing bachelors degrees education, and whose needs are not met when they do enter the university system. It also anticipates that failure to address these deficiencies will significantly threaten the nation's ability to remain globally competitive in less than 10 years.

The American Freshman - Forty Year Trends
Cooperative Institutional Research Program, The University of California, Los Angeles

The report, "American Freshmen: Forty-Year Trends 1966–2006," documents the values and characteristics of college freshmen nationwide and is part of the Cooperative Institutional
Research Program administered by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA's Graduate School of Education & Information Studies. The CIRP "Forty-Year Trend Report" examines data culled from 1966 to 2006 and documents the changing nature of students' characteristics, values, attitudes and behaviors. The data have helped shape public opinion about key issues related to the concerns of college youth and contribute to critical policy considerations in education.

Pathways for Youth to the Labour Market: An Overview of High School Initiatives
CPRN-RCRPP

A new report from CPRN has found that governments could be doing much more to help young people get on the right path to a good job. The report, Pathways for Youth to the Labour Market: An Overview of High School Initiatives, looks at programs and policies that help or hinder young people in finding rewarding work. Four provinces were studied: British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Newfoundland/Labrador. Information from the State of Queensland, Australia is also included to allow international comparison.

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.