In 2004, minorities made up 42% of public prekindergarten through secondary school enrollment in the United States. . . Learn More Here.

Come Back, Mr. Chips
Julie Scelfo, Newsweek
Stereotyping, low pay, lack of role models; why the number of men teaching in schools is at a 40-year low.  According to the National Education Association, the number of male schoolteachers is hovering at a 40-year low.

School Can Resume Lessons in Hebrew
Associated Press
A charter school can resume teaching in Hebrew, three weeks after the lessons were halted over concerns that the Jewish faith was seeping into public classrooms, the school board voted Tuesday. Broward County board members said that close monitoring of the country’s first Hebrew-language charter school was still necessary, but that its administrators had cleared up major concerns.

Proposed NCLB Rule on 'Salary Comparability' Draws Scrutiny
Bess Keller, Education Week
A draft provision for the No Child Left Behind Act that would provide more money to schools with the least experienced teachers at the expense of schools with more senior ones is likely to face stiff opposition if the proposed change becomes part of the bill that goes before Congress.

Teachers and Rights Groups Oppose Education Measure
Diana Jean Schemo, NY Times
The draft House bill to renew the federal No Child Left Behind law came under sharp attack on Monday from civil rights groups and the nation’s largest teachers unions, the latest sign of how difficult it may be for Congress to pass the law this fall.

Master’s Degrees Abound as Universities and Students See a Windfall
Hannah Fairfield, NY Times
The number of students in the University of Chicago program that bestows a Master of Arts degree in social sciences has quadrupled since 1989, jumping to 160 from 40, and despite a tuition price tag of $37,000, every year more students clamor for admittance.

A Prominent Public Targets Faculty Retention
Eli Powers, Inside Higher Ed
With state support for higher education sagging or growing slowly in parts of the country, and with private institutions doing more and more to lure top professors, faculty retention has become a hot-button issue for the most competitive public universities. In an effort to keep some of its top talent and attract others, the University of California at Berkeley announced this week that the largest private gift in its history will go toward creating 100 endowed chairs.

College Capacity Grows
Doug Lederman, Inside Higher Ed
Report after report portrays the American higher education system as facing a major crisis in its inability to ramp up how many Americans they educate, as the number of high-school-age and adult students grows — and their academic preparation is perceived as declining. While the system may not be growing fast enough to satisfy those concerns, data continue to suggest that the capacity of America’s colleges is expanding.

Congress Passes Student Aid Overhaul
Nicole Gaouette, Los Angeles Times
Congress on Friday approved the largest overhaul of education funding in more than 60 years, a $20.9-billion program that would boost financial aid to students and reduce interest payments on their loans. Students who enter certain public sector jobs would have their debts erased under the plan, the total cost of which would be offset by slashing government subsidies to lenders.

First Hindu State School to Open
BBC News
The first Hindu state school in Britain is set to open next year in west London.  Hindu group the I-Foundation plans to open a new £10m primary school for pupils in Edgware next September.

Students Bemoan Lack of Feedback
BBC News
A secondary school culture in which students resit exams to improve scores may be making them dissatisfied with higher education. In the annual National Student Survey, 81% of final year UK undergraduates were happy with their courses overall, but 62% with assessment and feedback.

College Squeeze Drives Students Online
Deborah Tetley, Calgary Herald
As thousands of students face being rejected from traditional college and university campuses in Calgary this fall, a record number of Albertans -- many hoping to avoid cramped classrooms and higher expenses -- have turned to online learning to earn their credentials.

Ontario NDP Promises to Freeze Tuition
The Canadian
The NDP Fair Deal for Students would freeze tuition fees at pre-McGuinty levels. For the average Ontario undergraduate university student, this will mean a reduction in annual tuition of about $460. In 2005-2006, the average undergraduate tuition was $4,900.

Private uni bonanza
Catherine Armitage and Milanda Rout, The Australian
Of 375 new teaching places announced by federal Education, Science and Training Minister Julie Bishop yesterday, more than 50 per cent went to Christian institutions including Avondale College (NSW), Tabor College (Adelaide and Melbourne), the University of Notre Dame (Sydney and Perth) and the Christian Heritage College (Brisbane).

Academic Queries ARC Appeals
Bernard Lane, The Australian
The Australian Research Council's appeal system for unsuccessful grant applicants seems to do little more than rubber stamp rejections already decided by ARC officers, according to a senior academic.

Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Minorities
This report profiles current conditions and recent trends in the education of minority students. It presents a selection of indicators that illustrate the educational achievement and attainment of Hispanic, Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander students compared with each other and with White students.

Beyond the Open Door: Increasing Student Success in the California Community Colleges
This report is one of two technical reports that describe in more detail the analyses summarized in the policy brief, "Rules of the Game," released earlier this year. Following a comprehensive review of the literature to identify probable factors in student success, the report describes analyses of success and completion among California community college students, identifies student characteristics and patterns of enrollment that are related to higher levels of success and completion, and offers broad outlines of new policy directions aimed at increasing student success. The report includes a qualitative analysis of the system’s assessment and placement process.

Education Pays 2007: The Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and Society
A college education pays in more ways than one, according to a report released by the College Board on Wednesday. In addition to higher personal earnings for the graduates themselves, the report says, society at large benefits. College graduates are more likely to volunteer, vote, and donate blood, according to the report, and they have a higher tolerance of differing views.

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.