Learning Where They Teach
Erik. W. Robelen, Education Week

Pursuing its own vision of classroom quality, a charter school chain is staking out turf on the teacher-training terrain.

Much of Learning Gap Blamed on Summer
Scott J. Cech, Education Week (subscription required)

It's been a truism for decades that students' learning slips during the summer, and that low-income children fall farther behind than their classmates, but no one had connected the longitudinal data dots to show just what the cumulative consequences of the summer slide might be. Until now.

College Board Tries to Police Use of 'Advanced Placement' Label
Tamar Lewin, New York Times

The College Board is creating a list of classes each school is authorized to call AP and reviewing the syllabuses for those classes. The list, expected in November, is both an effort to protect the College Board brand and an attempt to ensure that Advanced Placement classes cover what college freshmen learn, so colleges can safely award credit to students who do well on AP exams.

NCLB Seen as Curbing Low, High Achievers' Gains
Debra Viadero, Education Week (subscription required)

A new study of Chicago students suggests that the federal No Child Left Behind Act may indeed be leaving behind students at the far ends of the academic ability spectrum - the least able students and those who are gifted.

In California, Community College Graduation Rates Disappoint
Justin Pope, Washington Post

California's community college system is the country's largest. It's also cheap. The system has no problem getting students into school, but getting them to graduate is another story.

Going Global 101
J. Michael Adams and Angelo Carfagna, InsideHigherEd.com

"Global" is the buzzword on campuses throughout the country. With greater recognition of the threads connecting countries and cultures, educators are increasingly scrambling to integrate global lessons. But how can we properly prepare students to succeed in the global economy and to face challenges that cross borders? How can we prepare world citizens who can collaborate across cultures and countries and make a difference anywhere in the world?

Using the 'Beauties of Physics' to Conquer Science Illiteracy
Claudia Dreifus, New York Times

In the halls of academia, it is the rare senior professor who volunteers to teach basic science courses to undergraduates. But Eric Mazur, a professor at Harvard, wants his students to understand concepts, not regurgitate facts. He hopes to end science illiteracy among college students by mentally engaging them in what he's teaching.

Do We Really Have a College Access Problem?
Cliff Adelman, Change Magazine

Adelman offers four definitions of "access," and theorizes that the problem partly lies in what we mean by "access." The sloganistic use of the term implies that someone, somewhere, is preventing somebody from doing something in postsecondary education. But what is that "something"?

Enrollment Growing Faster in State's Private Colleges
The Associated Press, knoxnews.com

Lottery scholarships in Tennessee are making college more affordable for students and its having a significant effect on private school enrollment numbers.

Challenges for Black Colleges' Brightest in the Lab
Samuel G. Freedman, New York Times

At the Joint Indiana University-Perdue University, a program aims to produce more black graduates in science, technology, engineering and math, fields in which black students are woefully underrepresented.

Profit and Loss
Louise Tickle,The Guardian

As fear of debt prompts more students to live at home, a report reveals the hidden disadvantages that could be damaging young people's social skills and employability.

New Manuals Push a Putin's-Eye View in Russian Schools
Peter Finn, Washington Post

With two new manuals for high school history and social studies teachers, written in part by Kremlin political consultants, Russian authorities are attempting to imbue classroom debate with a nationalist outlook.

U of West Indies Upgrades Admissions Policy
Trinidad & Tobago's Newsday

Applicants who demonstrate participation in extra-curricular activities or have experience working in health related and charitable institutions now stand a better chance of gaining admission into the Faculty of Medical Campus at the University of the West Indies.

Student Loan Borrowers Bring Complaints to MPs
Erin Milar, MacLeans.ca

A significant number of student loan borrowers are bringing complaints about the Canada Student Loan Program directly to their MPs after not being able to resolve them.

Rural Students to Benefit from Improved Distance Learning Opportunities
News Release, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

An investment of $1.5 million over three years will provide an increase in the number of courses available through distance education offered by Memorial University for students in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

Keeping At-Risk Youth on the Right Path
Anthony Reinhart, Globe and Mail

Pathways to Education, a stay-in-school initiative in Toronto, has reduced the high school dropout rate and quadrupled PSE participation in the city's toughest neighborhood by offering tutoring, support workers, career mentors, free transit tickets, and PSE bursaries. Now other cities plan implement the program.

Government Won't Reopen Trade School Tenders
Sydney Morning Herald

Australian Technical Colleges are struggling to meet enrollment targets across the country, according to the New South Wales government.

Focus Shifts to Teaching
Dorothy Illing, The Australian

Two universities, including a member of the research-intensive Group of Eight, are breaking with tradition by creating new academic positions that focus on teaching, not research.

The School Readiness and Academic Achievement in Reading and Mathematics of Young Hispanic Children in the United States
National Task Force on Early Childhood Education for Hispanics

This policy brief presents data on the reading and mathematics readiness of Hispanic children at the start of kindergarten and their reading and math achievement at the end of the fifth grade. It is widely recognized that, relative to non-Hispanic Whites, Hispanics have much lower academic achievement, on average, over the K-12 years. Most reports describe achievement patterns for Hispanics as a whole, despite the diversity of the Hispanic population. In contrast, this policy brief presents school readiness and achievement information not only for Hispanic children as a whole, but also for several segments of Hispanic youngsters.

Sustaining Science: University Science in the Twenty-First Century
Australian Council of Deans of Science

A report, entitled Sustaining Science: University Science in the Twenty-First Century , commissioned by the Australian Council of Deans of Science and written by the Educational Policy Institute's Australian chief Ian Dobson was released this week. The report shows that although the declining in participation in the enabling sciences has bottomed out this century, the proportion of university students taking physics had dropped to one-third what it had been in 1989. The proportion of students enrolling in chemistry and mathematics had dropped was now about half what it had been in 1989.

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.