The Week in Review / Educational Policy Institute

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Smarten Up!

January 25, 2008

Alex Usher, Vice President, Educational Policy Institute

Browsing through the New Scientist the other day, I came across a statistic to absolutely chill the heart.

The Relevance of Science of Education Project – an international project looking at science education in 20 countries , co-ordinated by Norwegian researchers Camilla Schreiner and Svein Sjoberg – administered a questionnaire about science education to students in 20 countries around the world. Primarily, they asked students about how relevant they felt science education was and how much they enjoyed it. But they also asked students a series of questions about how science related to their personal identity, and in particular, how they felt about getting jobs in the fields of science and technology. ...Read More

Did You Know?

Total enrollment in degree-granting institutions increased 22 percent from 1991 to 2005, a period of 14 years.

...Learn More Here.





	Pittsburgh Superintendent Focuses on Principals to Help Schools AP, Education Week Pittsburgh Superintendent Mark Roosevelt wants to transform principals from building managers—responsible for buses and discipline—into instructional leaders focused on student achievement and held accountable for results. New York Measuring Teachers by Test Scores Jennifer Medina, The New York Times New York City has embarked on an ambitious experiment, yet to be announced, in which some 2,500 teachers are being measured on how much their students improve on annual standardized tests.	Pennsylvania Acts to Bolster High School Requirements Sean D. Hamill, The New York Times A requirement that students pass a series of state exams before being allowed to graduate from Pennsylvania’s public high schools was unanimously approved Thursday by the State Board of Education. The State of Education The Los Angeles Times Supt. Jack O'Connell's plan is sensible, if not revolutionary.


	College Price Cuts Unusual: Few Schools Able To Follow Ivies' Lead Arielle Levin Becker, NACAC Harvard and Yale made a splash in recent weeks with their plans to cut costs for families earning in the low six figures, a group that despite its advantages has nonetheless struggled with the steep costs of college. However, major price cuts for those earning more than $100,000 aren't likely to catch on more widely anytime soon, experts say. Transition to Bilingualism Elizabeth Redden, Inside Higher Education Tuesday at New Jersey’s Fairleigh Dickinson University: 24 Korean-speaking degree-seekers began a new, three-year associate in arts degree program in which they simultaneously enroll in ESL and credit-bearing courses — the latter taught largely in Korean the first year, equally in English and Korean the second, and only in English the third.	The Credit Crunch Takes a Toll Doug Lederman, Inside Higher Education For months, college officials have been nervously eyeing the tumult of the subprime mortgage crisis, the aftermath of the student loan scandal, signs of a coming recession, and other financial indicators, and wondering if, or when, the gathering winds would hit higher education. Tuesday, the first big wave did — blasting only the for-profit sector, for now, but worrying others. Dartmouth Joins Push to Reduce Costs for Middle Class The New York Times Dartmouth College announced on Tuesday that beginning in the fall undergraduates from families with incomes less than $75,000 would receive free tuition.


	Students Out of Class Because of Violence, Karzai Says AP, Education Week Around 300,000 Afghan children cannot attend school because of violence in Afghanistan's southern provinces, President Hamid Karzai told the parliament on its opening day Monday. Diploma warning from universities BBCNews Almost four out of 10 universities are unlikely to accept students applying with the new Diploma qualifications, says a survey of admissions officers.	Israeli Universities Extend Summer Semester as 3-Month Faculty Strike Ends Matthew Kalman, The Chronicle of Higher Education Israeli universities finally began their fall semester on Sunday, three months behind schedule, after the end of a 90-day strike by tenured professors.


	More women choosing non-traditional trades Mandy Ryan, The Gulf News Women are taking advantage of new opportunities in the skilled trades sector, and more of them are signing up for trades program at the local campus of the College of the North Atlantic. Parliamentary Secretary Fletcher announces more than $15 million for the creation of an Aboriginal Health Research Network CIHR Press Release Today the Government of Canada announced an investment of $15.8 million over three years through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to create the Network Environments for Aboriginal Health Research (NEAHR).	Return to bargaining table: minister CBC News Students at the New Brunswick Community College in Woodstock held a press conference on Monday asking the government to resume stalled negotiations with striking school custodians before their campus is forced to close. Human Resources Minister Wally Stiles is asking that the province's striking custodians, corrections officers and human service counsellors return to the bargaining table immediately. St. Thomas union urges faculty to reject offer Elizabeth Church, The Globe and Mail Negotiations have broken off and there is no end in sight to the labour dispute at St. Thomas University that has kept 2,500 students from their classes since the beginning of term.


	Uni fees forecast to rocket Milanda Rout, The Australian UNIVERSITY fees for students are set to skyrocket and could top $26,000 a year in the next three decades, putting an even greater hole in the back pocket of families trying to educate their children. Catholic schools defy trend Anna Patty, the Sydney Morning Herald CATHOLIC schools in Sydney have bucked the national teacher-shortage trend and falling student enrolments.	TAFE teachers set to strike over cuts Anna Patty, The Sydney Morning Herald TAFE teachers are threatening industrial action when they return to work next week. Phil Bradley, the assistant general secretary of the TAFE Teachers Association, said teachers were concerned about cuts in State Government funding for vocational education, commercialisation of courses and a 9 per cent fee increase for students from this year.


	National Institutes of Health: Conflicts of Interest in Extramural Research Report: The Department of Health and Human Services Article: Jeffrey Brainard, The Chronicle of Higher Education The National Institutes of Health has failed to adequately oversee hundreds of financial conflicts of interest among university biomedical researchers, partly because the reports universities sent the agency about the conflicts lacked any details, according to a new audit report. To read the explanation article by The Chronicle of Higher Education, Click Here. To Read the Report by the Department of Health and Human Services, Click Here.


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.