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THE NEWS
ACADEMIC PREPARATION
Report: More than a third of Florida high schools grads to skip college
By Scott Travis, The Sun Sentinel
About 35 percent of Florida students who graduated in 2009 had no college plans, according to a newly released report from the state Department of Education. That's well behind the national average of about 30 percent. Broward County was slightly worse (about 36 percent); while Palm Beach County did better at 26 percent. Data for 2010 is not yet available. Even though Florida officials have set a goal of having one of the nation's most educated populations, the 2009 numbers were worse than the 33 percent average the year before. Officials, however, blame that on a change in the way they conducted the survey.
Some schools grouping students by skills, not by grade level
By Associated Press, USA Today
Forget about students spending one year in each grade, with the entire class learning the same skills at the same time. Districts from Alaska to Maine are taking a different route. Instead of simply moving kids from one grade to the next as they get older, schools are grouping students by ability. Once they master a subject, they move up a level. Now, in the latest effort to transform the bedraggled Kansas City, Mo. schools, the district is about to become what reform experts say is the largest one to try the approach. Starting this fall officials will begin switching 17,000 students to the new system to turnaround trailing schools and increase abysmal tests scores.
Legislature wants more high school grads
By Raleigh News & Observer
The legislature wants the state Board of Education to figure out how to get all high school students to graduate in four years. Under a measure the Senate approved unanimously Tuesday, the Board of Education must set minimum goals for graduation of 74 percent by 2014, 80 percent by 2016, and 90 percent by 2018. The measure now goes to Gov. Bev Perdue for her signature. The long-term goal, with no date attached, is to have all students graduate.
POSTSECONDARY ACCESS & SUCCESS
TN revamps remedial education
By Jennifer Brooks, The Tennessean
Tennessee higher education is changing its approach to remedial education. This is a state where more than 70 percent of community college students and 40 percent of university students start school unready for college-level math, reading or writing. For years the only solution for a student whose entrance scores fell short of the mark was to enroll in remedial or developmental classes, where they paid college tuition prices to re-take high school-level coursework. That was then. By fall 2011, every public university in Tennessee will have eliminated remedial education classes. Remedial coursework will be offered only at the community college level, leaving colleges to overhaul their curriculum and technology so students can learn the material quickly.
Nevada selected for project aimed at improving college graduation rates
By Lenita Powers, RGJ.com
Nevada has been selected the as first state to take part in a project designed to improve the nation’s dismal college graduation rates, which threaten the country’s economic survival in a global economy. “Educational Equity and Postsecondary Student Success,” a national project funded by the Ford Foundation, will focus on improving college completion rates particularly among minorities, low-income and first-generation students. Minorities, low-income students and students who would be the first in their families to go to college are most at-risk of not entering college after high school or failing to complete their degrees if they do enroll, said Dan Klaich, Chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education.
Picking up the pace
By David Moltz, InsideHigherEd
Community colleges across the country are responding to the call by many education experts to get the lead out and meaningfully decrease their students’ time to degree and program completion. Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College, for example, will change from the semester to a trimester class format this fall. Classes will run for 14 weeks instead of 16 weeks, and the summer term will have just as many course offerings as the fall and spring terms. The new trimester format will complement the college’s existing “fast track” option, which allows students to earn an associate degree in 14-16 months by completing one course at a time every two weeks. About a quarter of the college’s 2,200 students already take advantage of this accelerated option.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
University growth in Brazil is undermined by high dropout rates
By Andrew Downie, The Chronicle of Higher Education
The average cost of tuition at Brazil's private universities has fallen by almost a third over the last 10 years, and the number of students has risen above five million for the first time, according to research by Semesp, an organization of higher-education institutes in the state of São Paulo. However, the positive news is offset by a worrying increase in the number of students who are abandoning classes. Here in the state capital of São Paulo, Brazil's most populous city and the one with the most universities, a dropout rate that oscillated between 14 and 17 percent for most of the decade jumped to 20 percent in 2007 and 24 percent in 2008.
MSU to phase out Dubai program
By Lori Higgins, The Detroit Free Press
Michigan State University is phasing out a 2-year-old undergraduate program in Dubai that had students there taking courses in programs such as business, building construction and engineering. MSU President Lou Anna Simon said in a conference call with reporters this afternoon that the program hasn’t met initial expectations that it would add as many as 100 students per year. Currently, the program enrolls 85 students, about 12 of whom are graduate students. Simon said reports the university has lost millions of dollars are incorrect. However, the MSU Foundation will be providing $3.5 million to cover money the Dubai government was supposed to provide in fiscal year 2010.
International program catches on in U.S. schools
By Tamar Lewin, The New York Times
The alphabet soup of college admissions is getting more complicated as the International Baccalaureate, or I.B., grows in popularity as an alternative to the better-known Advanced Placement program. The College Board’s A.P. program, which offers a long menu of single-subject courses, is still by far the most common option for giving students a head start on college work, and a potential edge in admissions. The lesser-known I.B., a two-year curriculum developed in the 1960s at an international school in Switzerland, first took hold in the United States in private schools. But it is now offered in more than 700 American high schools — more than 90 percent of them public schools — and almost 200 more have begun the long certification process.
REPORTS WORTH READING
Beyond the Rhetoric: Improving College Readiness through Coherent State Policy
This brief addresses the state policy dimensions of college readiness. It identifies the key issues and problems associated with the college readiness gap, which is a major impediment to increasing the numbers of college students who complete certificates or degrees. This policy brief also provides governors, legislators, and state education leaders with specific steps they need to take to close the readiness gaps in their states. These findings and recommendations were prepared by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education and the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB).
Charting the Path from Engagement to Achievement: A Report on the 2009 High School Survey of Student Engagement
The most recent results from the annual High School Survey of Student Engagement (HSSSE) closely resemble past findings, reflecting bored students who say they are not connected to their school. The report presents the latest numbers from the annual survey conducted by the Indiana University Center for Evaluation and Education Policy (CEEP). The survey asked more than 42,000 high school students about their thoughts, beliefs and perceptions in 2009. The 2009 survey covered 103 schools in 27 states. This report also profiles individual schools and districts that are using HSSSE data, showing how schools are using the survey to improve the effectiveness of instruction.
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