Education This Week - US Edition



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It Isn't NCLB's Fault! March 26, 2010 WATSON SCOTT SWAIL, President & CEO, Educational Policy Institute On Wednesday, the National Assessment Governing Board released the 2009 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) scores. The findings of the report were used by US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan as proof that No Child Left Behind (NCLB) didn’t work. In fourth-grade reading, scores have remained virtually identical since 2002, when NCLB was passed into law by President Bush. In fact, the scores are virtually the same since 1992 when NAEP was introduced. There have been some slight improvements in scores for Black and Hispanic students, and Asian/Pacific Islanders showed the greatest increases. American Indians/Alaska Natives saw their scores decline, albeit slightly. Eighth-grade scores show almost the same trends (or lack thereof). As reported in Education Week, Steven Paine, West Virginia’s commissioner of education and a member of the National Assessment Governing Board, called the findings “disappointing” given the “considerable amount of effort” devoted to improving reading. So why haven’t NAEP scores changed? Simple. Because we haven’t done anything about school reform! We have done reading programs, but they don't hit all children, or even all children that need it. And they aren't school reform. They just put more time on the clock. READ MORE... The Ultimate Blend: The US and Canada and Higher Education (Starbucks wishes) March 26, 2010 ROSEANN O'REILLY RUNTE, President, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario What are the differences between Canada and the U.S.? This is one of the most frequently asked questions addressed to the cross-border educated. Yet the similarities are perhaps more important and more striking! It is often said that when the U.S. sneezes, Canada catches cold and that when the arctic winds blow ice across the February skies, Canadian Snowbirds take on the responsibility for improving the economic climate in Florida! Trends find their ways across the border notwithstanding regulations and other barriers. When various states began imposing out-of-state fees, Canada’s provinces quickly followed suit. Education is locally funded and belongs to the taxpayer. Yet, discouraging student travel and international exchanges certainly weakens the quality of educational experience we offer our students. If they then cannot travel or have the opportunity to learn by sharing classes with students from abroad, then they miss a vital part of their schooling. READ MORE...


STATISTIC OF THE WEEK
According to data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Completion Survey, thirty-two percent of bachelor’s degrees conferred in 2006 were in the fields of science and engineering. Of this number, half (50.5 percent) were awarded to women. Source: National Science Foundation


THE NEWS
ACADEMIC PREPARATION
Prince William school board approves $760 million budget, job cuts By Michael Alison Chandler, Washington Post The Prince William County School Board adopted a $760 million operating budget Wednesday that will cut more than 200 jobs, freeze salaries and raise class sizes in many grades. Even deeper cuts were anticipated, but the system's fiscal forecast brightened over the past month with an increase in state funding. Superintendent Steven L. Walts outlined what he called an "unprecedented" spending plan last month that included eliminating more than 700 jobs, increasing class sizes to the maximum allowed by the state, and introducing new student fees for sports and Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests. U.S. gets poor grades in nurturing STEM diversity By Erik W. Robelen, Education Week The nation’s K-12 education system gets an average grade of D for the job it does “engaging and nurturing” minorities to pursue careers in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and a D-plus for such performance with girls, based on results released from a survey of female and minority chemists and chemical engineers. Meanwhile, another report out today, developed with support from the National Science Foundation, pulls together “a large and diverse body” of existing research providing evidence that social and environmental factors contribute to the underrepresentation” of women in science and engineering. In Texas curriculum fight, identity politics leans right By Sam Tanehaus, The New York Times The social studies curriculum recently approved by the Texas Board of Education, which will put a conservative stamp on textbooks, was received less as a pedagogical document than as the latest provocation in America’s seemingly endless culture wars. “Why Is Texas Afraid of Thomas Jefferson?” the History News Network asked, referring to the board’s recommendation that Jefferson, who coined the expression “separation of church and state,” be struck from the list of world thinkers who inspired 18th- and 19th-century revolutions.


POST SECONDARY ACCESS SUCCESS
Historic victory for student aid is tinged by lost possibilities By Paul Basken, The Chronicle of Higher Education More than a year after President Obama proposed eliminating the bank-based system of distributing federally subsidized student loans and giving the savings to education, Democrats are finally beginning to savor victory. Yet for all the drawn-out battle over the landmark student-loan bill, the measure will result in limited gains, providing only a portion of the money the president had sought for some of his key higher-education goals. Pell Grants, the government's main aid program for financially needy students, got billions of dollars less than expected. Community colleges, seen by the president as key to his hopes for a broad expansion of college attendance and graduation rates, also got a fraction of the intended amount. Other programs fared even worse in the final legislative compromise. College program lures few high-school seniors By Jennifer Smith Richards, The Columbus Dispatch Few students have participated in a new state initiative that sends high-school seniors to class on college campuses. But state officials say the nearly 2-year-old Seniors to Sophomores plan has been successful because it forced colleges and high schools to put their heads together and find new ways to push qualified students into more-rigorous courses. In greater numbers, colleges are creating dual-enrollment options, which allow high-school students to simultaneously earn college credit. More colleges are teaching their courses on high-school campuses or online, cutting tuition deals or holding down textbook costs for high-school students. To the front of the line By David Moltz, InsideHigherEd Months after purchasing the Penn Foster Education Group, a for-profit career training provider, the Princeton Review is entering the distance education market by teaming up with community colleges to offer fast-track allied health-care programs to students who are willing to pay higher tuition to bypass long waiting lists. While the college pioneering the system sees the move as providing an important new option, some faculty members are calling the idea a cash grab that taints the traditional community college commitment to equity.


INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Scottish universities get ‘real term’ funding cut BBC News The Scottish Funding Council has revealed that the 20 Scottish institutions will receive £1.12bn. That represents a 1.2% increase on funding, with universities receiving £15.3m more than in 2009-10. The National Union of Students in Scotland and the University College Union said it was a cut in real terms. However, it welcomed the news that courses and departments would not face cuts. Most universities will receive increased amounts of cash, with only two institutions due to get less money. US campuses chase foreign students Guy Healy, The Australian Scores of cash-strapped US state universities are preparing to open their doors to foreign undergraduates, posing a serious challenge for Australian universities, US Studies Centre chief Geoff Garrett has warned. In the wake of the global financial crisis, US state universities were turning to foreign undergraduates for the first time to compensate for funding cuts, Professor Garrett told the HES. "The obvious implication is the market for foreign students will become more competitive because you will have a lot of large and high-prestige universities competing for the students," he said. As well, the cheaper US dollar, plenty of student accommodation and faster visa approval times should give the US an edge. In Israel, students get a seat at the planning table for higher education By Matthew Kalman, The Chronicle of Higher Education Israeli government ministers, education officials, and students announced on Tuesday the creation of a new joint planning and negotiating mechanism designed to end years of turmoil in the country's higher-education system. "We are talking about a revolutionary reform in higher education," said Boaz Toporovsky, chairman of the National Union of Israeli Students. Under the new arrangement, government, university, and student representatives will sit on permanent committees to jointly plan developments in higher education and reach agreement on tuition rates.


REPORTS WORTH READING
Moving Success From the Shadows: Data Systems That Link Education and Workforce Outcomes A brief by the American Association of Community Colleges examines the current policy landscape surrounding longitudinal data systems and workforce data collection in the states. The brief summarizes federal legislation designed to support the creation of statewide student-unit record systems and explains the current state of workforce data collection, noting that colleges often do not have the same access to data shared by federal and state agencies. It concludes that before the workforce outcomes of educational pursuits can be comprehensively analyzed, federal and state governments need to establish stronger longitudinal data systems, provide colleges with better access to data, and start collecting comprehensive individual-level employment data. Review of the Draft K-12 Common Core Standards The Fordham Institute released a recent review of the draft K-12 Common Core Standards. Expert reviewers have analyzed the draft according to rigorous criteria. Their analysis leads to a grade of A- for the draft mathematics standards and B for those in English language arts.