The Week in Review / Educational Policy Institute

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Real Student Engagement

July 4, 2008

Alex Usher, Vice President, Educational Policy Institute

When the word “university” first cropped up in Bologna about 800 years ago, it didn’t refer to knowledge or an institution per se. It just meant the totality of something – in this case, the totality of students, who had banded together to bargain collectively as a kind of guild. They negotiated standard fees for lodgings with the townspeople and laid down rules for lecturers (mainly so the professors couldn’t collect fees and then skip town). In a very concrete historical way, the university really is all about students.

So why don’t students have a bigger say in the way we run higher education?

READ MORE...

Something to chew on along with your barbecue...

Most students lose about two months of grade-level equivalency in mathematical computation skills over the summer months. Low-income students also lose more than two months in reading achievement, while their middle-class peers make slight gains (Cooper, 1996).

SO, what have your kids 'learned' this summer?

Source: Johns Hopkins University, Center for Summer Learning





	Indiana chosen for federal education pilot program Indiana Department of Education Indiana is one of six states selected by the U.S. Department of Education to participate in a new federal Differentiated Accountability Program pilot that targets assistance to under-performing public Title I schools based on their level of need. Reading first program could be on its last legs Greg Toppo, USA Today The Senate Appropriations Committee voted last week to eliminate funding for Reading First, the groundbreaking but controversial Bush administration program that has given states $1 billion a year since 2002 to teach low-income elementary schoolers to read.	Virtual education an option for WCSD students Cami Ox, Hurricane Valley Journal For the past few years, a new educational alternative for elementary and middle school-age children has been gaining steam locally and across the state in WCSD's Washington Online School. Through Washington Online, parents with students in grades kindergarten through eighth can educate their children at home, using the online curriculum and resources as their guide. In contrast to home-schooling alone, schooling through Washington Online gives parents the advantage of school district resources, financing and support as they educate their kids. No break for Alaska on strict education law Megan Holland, Anchorage Daily News Alaska won't get any breaks on meeting a strict federal law designed to improve teaching and student performance nationwide, at least for now. The U.S. Department of Education said this week it has turned down Alaska's request to have flexibility in meeting terms of the No Child Left Behind law.


	Oversight of for-profit trade-schools expires in California Jordan Rau, Los Angeles Times State oversight of for-profit trade schools, which enroll 400,000 Californians a year, was set to vanish Monday, leaving students whose schools go out of business without access to state-arranged tuition refunds. Republicans in the Assembly rejected a measure Monday afternoon that would have replaced a law that expired at midnight. Disagreements among lawmakers, the schools and consumer advocates have led to a stalemate in the Capitol on this issue for more than three years. Pfizer ends direct funding of courses Peter Loftus, Wall Street Journal Pfizer Inc., hoping to temper criticism that it is improperly influencing doctors, is eliminating direct financial support for medical-education courses that are offered by third-party companies.	Commuter colleges go residential, gain enrollment Dorie Turner, USA Today Georgia State and other former night schools across the country are transforming into more traditional college campuses to boost enrollment and gain prestige. And each is creating a thriving community that spills over into surrounding neighborhoods, drawing restaurants and retail into once empty streets. Falling rates give students incentive to take out loans Bill Zlatos, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Congress is giving college students an antidote to the annual tuition increase blues with a drop in interest rates on federal loans that could save some students nearly $2,400 over the life of their loans.


	Higher education equals higher pay holds true for Turkey Todays Zaman (Turkey) Highly educated people earn far more than those with only primary or secondary education in Turkey, a survey by the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat) has shown. Education policy ‘leaving children intellectually impoverished’ Graeme Paton, Telegarph (United Kingdom) The introduction of new-style courses - teaching children how to use English and mathematics in the work place - has been at the expense of academic rigour, said Bernice McCabe, head of the independent North London Collegiate School.	UPA to set in motion middle school scheme Urmi Goswami, The Economic Times (India) Four years after it was advised by the Central Advisory Board of Education to focus on universalising secondary education, the government seems to have taken the first concrete step. In its final lap, the UPA government set in motion the process to ensure that children in the 15 to 16 years age group have access to affordable secondary (classes IX and X) education. E-learning taking root in education institutions Beatrice Gachenge, Business Daily (Kenya) Online homework is now being introduced in some Kenyan schools and online companies such as AccessKenya are cashing in on the concept.


	Minister shares future vision for post-secondary education Ed Doherty, Daily Gleaner Increasing the number of students able to pursue post-secondary education is at the heart of the Government's plans to transform New Brunswick's system. Students today often face daunting challenges when deciding if, or where, to attend college or university. Axworthy wants Ottawa’s help on campus security Mia Rabson, Winnipeg Free Press University of Winnipeg President Lloyd Axworthy is hoping Ottawa will step up to the plate to help improve safety on Canada's university and college campuses. Last fall, in the wake of a security threat at the U of W, Axworthy met with Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day to talk about what happened and discuss what role, if any, Ottawa could have to help all Canadian schools improve security.	French language instruction in NB public schools, too little input too late? Sykos Masters, Digital Journal In a move akin to placing the cart after the horse, pointed in the opposite direction, New Brunswick Minister of Education Kelly Lamrock has begun a series of open-house community meetings to discuss the right age for French language instruction. Canada’s performance lagging, report says Eric Beauchesne, Montreal Gazette Canada, which turns a year older Tuesday, is not aging well, according to an annual report card that finds it is slipping further behind its peers economically, environmentally, and with regard to the health and quality of life of its citizens.


	Bradley warns of ‘brave’ changes Andrew Trounson, The Australian Denise Bradley has put the federal Government on notice that her review of higher education is considering sweeping and brave changes to the sector that may require substantial political will if they are to be implemented. At a Monday night seminar where the vice-chancellors of Canberra and Melbourne universities canvassed the need for universities to specialise and merge, as well as a greater role for market forces, Professor Bradley said the review panel had “a mind to be brave”. TAFE teachers fired up over downgrading Katelin Mcinerney, Illawarra Mercury Members of the NSW TAFE Teachers Association held a one-hour stop-work meeting to confront Minister for the Illawarra David Campbell over a dispute about teaching standards and pay rise offers.	The other education revolution Maralyn Parker, The Daily Telegraph Some of the best minds among public school supporters met in the NSW State Library on Saturday for their own 2020 Education Summit. Its sole purpose was to discuss how to fight the growing divide between Australia's public and private schools. Heads of principal and parent groups, researchers, policy writers, teacher union officials, university professors and public school student leaders gathered to put their prodigious minds together. Govt ‘unable’ to stop childcare fee rise The Age Federal treasurer Wayne Swan admits the government can't stop childcare providers swallowing up increased subsidies by increasing their fees.


	Evaluating Online Learning: Challenges and Strategies for Success United States Department of Education The U.S. Department of Education has released its first guide to the evaluation of online-learning programs in K-12 education. The report is designed to help school leaders gauge the effectiveness of online education, as its use grows rapidly across the United States. This publication features seven evaluations of online learning programs or resources. The evaluations represent variety both in method of evaluation and in the program or resource that was examined. AASHE Digest 2007: A Review of Campus Sustainability News Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education A new publication from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) documents the continued growth in campus sustainability efforts across the US and Canada. AASHE Digest 2007 offers a comprehensive review of campus sustainability efforts from 2007. The 230-page report includes over 800 stories about higher education institutions leading the way to a sustainable future. It is organized into 24 chapters spanning education, research, campus operations, administration, and finance.


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.