Embassy of the United States

Education

Education Archive

MEASURING UP: THE PROBLEM OF GRADE INFLATION AND WHAT TRUSTEES CAN DO. American Council of Trustees and Alumni. Web posted February 23, 2009.
Full Text [PDF format, 16 pages]
As study after study continues to find that grade inflation at universities nationwide shows no sign of abating, the short guide helps trustees rein in the A’s. The copies are sent to the boards of more than 500 universities that are responsible for the education of nearly six million students. Harvard professor Harvey C. Mansfield, who has for many years protested grade inflation at his university, endorsed the report in a letter to trustees.
The guide concludes that the first step is to initiate a vigorous campus-wide conversation on the subject, as the University of Colorado recently did with success.
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REWARDING PERSISTENCE: EFFECTS OF A PERFORMANCE-BASED SCHOLARHIP PROGRAM FOR LOW-INCOME PARENTS. [MRDC Research]. Lashawn Richburg-Hayes et al. Web posted February 2009.
Full Text [PDF format, 167 pages]
An investment in postsecondary education has been repeatedly shown to pay high monetary and non-monetary dividends to students and society at large. Despite such benefits, research shows that close to half of all students who matriculate at a community college drop out before graduating and do not complete a degree at any other college or university within a six-year time frame. The reasons for this are many, ranging from weak academic preparation to difficulties balancing work, family, and school obligations. The study shows the effect of supplemental financial aid with an incentive component to encourage academic success and persistence.
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Raising Education Outcomes in Spain. Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development. Andres Fuentes. Web posted on February 18, 2009.
Full Text [PDF format, 39 pages]
Impressive progress has been made in raising participation in early childhood education as well as tertiary educational attainment over the past 30 years in Spain. However, the inflow of poorly educated youth into the labor market is unusually heavy for a high income country.
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THE ACCOUNTABILITY ILLUSION. Thomas B. Fordham Institute. February 19, 2009.
Full Text [HTML format, various paging]
The study looks at the No Child Left Behind Act as implemented and reveals an enormously uneven and misleading system of school accountability. It examines the No Child Left Behind Act system and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) rules for 28 states. Thirty six real schools, half elementary and half middle, that vary by size, achievement, diversity, etc. are selected and determined which of them would or would not make AYP when evaluated under each state's accountability rules.
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PROFESSIONAL LEARNING IN THE LEARNING PROFESSION: A STATUS REPORT ON TEACHER DEVELOPMENT IN THE UNITED STATES AND ABROAD. National Staff Development Council]. Linda Darling-Hammmond et al. February 2009.
Full Text: [PDF format, 36 pages]
The report examines what research has revealed about professional learning that improves teachers’ practice and student learning. The report describes the availability of such opportunities in the United States and high-achieving nations around the world, which have been making substantial and sustained investments in professional learning for teachers over the last two decades.
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AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS IN PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. National Center for Education Statistics. Basmat Parsad and Laurie Lewis. Web posted February 10, 2009.
Full Text [PDF format, 55 pages]
The study provides a national profile of various types of formal after-school programs physically located at public elementary schools in 2008. These programs included stand-alone programs that focus primarily on a single type of service and broad-based programs that provide a combination of services such as academic enrichment and cultural activities.
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BETTER LATE THAN NEVER?: EXAMINING THE LATE HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES. Center for Public Education. February 11, 2009.
Full Text [HTML format, various paging with links]
For a persistent and overlooked group of students, late graduates, was it worth the extra effort for them and their schools? The short answer is yes, according to the report. On-time graduation remains the best prospect for students, and districts should make on-time graduation the first priority for all students. But the extra work late graduates and their schools put toward earning a high school diploma pays off, not only in academic outcomes, but in every aspect of life including work, civic, and health.
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SQUEEZE PLAY 2009: THE PUBLIC’S VIEWS ON COLLEGE COSTS TODAY. Public Agenda. February 6, 2009.
Full Text [PDF format, 12 pages]
Americans see higher education as increasingly unaffordable, at the same time that more Americans view college as essential for middle-class success. In addition, more than half say colleges and universities act more like businesses than educational institutions, according to a national survey of 1,009 adults.
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COURSE CREDIT ACCRUAL AND DROPPING OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL, BY STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS. National Center for Education Statistics. February 2009.
Full Text [PDF format, 16 pages]
The study examines the number of credits earned by high school students and the relationship between course credit accrual and dropping out. Findings indicate that high school dropouts earned fewer credits than did on-time graduates within each year of high school, and the cumulative course credit accrual gap increased with each subsequent year. The pattern of dropouts earning fewer credits than on-time graduates remained across all examined student and school characteristics, student sex, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, school location, and sophomore class size. However, the size of the cumulative course credit accrual gap between on-time graduates and dropouts varied within academic years for males versus females, Blacks and Hispanics versus Whites, and students attending city high schools versus students attending suburban, town, and rural high schools.
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Kristof, Kathy THE GREAT COLLEGE HOAX (Forbes Magazine, February 2, 2009)
Available online
Misguided easy-money policies have encouraged the masses to go into debt to get a higher education, Kristof says. “While the premium that college grads earn over high-schoolers has remained relatively constant over the past five years, the cost of acquiring a degree has risen at twice the rate of inflation, dramatically undermining any value a sheepskin adds,” she writes. Many college grads will work for more than a decade to pay off their student loans and many students have fallen victim to fraudulent lending practices. For those young people (and there are many) who don’t finish college, the situation is worse: they are stuck with the burden of student loans without benefit of the wages a college degree can provide.

 

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Neelakantan, Shailaja A YOUNG UNIVERSITY IN INDIA FOCUSES ON REAL-WORLD INDUSTRY AND SUSTAINABILITY (Chronicle of Higher Education, Vol. 55, No. 18, January 9, 2009, p. A20)
Available online
Rajendra Pachauri, who as chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore, has established a new institution of higher education in India, TERI University. TERI is closely linked to a research institute found by Pachauri in 1974 – the Energy and Resources Institute – and has created academic and research partnerships with Yale, North Carolina State, Michigan State and Brandeis Universities, as well as institutions in Germany and Australia. Although TERI has just 300 students, it has already become known for training specialists who can help companies improve their impact on the environment and adopt sustainable practices. TERI, which offers seven master’s and four doctoral programs and maintains a faculty-student ratio of four to one, puts its students to work on real projects after just one year of course work. Every student during the second year spends a full semester doing a major project in private industry. TERI’s new green campus in New Delhi includes such innovations as a main building cooled by a ventilation tunnel rather than air conditioning. Yale has made a long-term commitment to TERI, backed by multi-million dollar investments to academic partnerships.

 

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT IN THE UNITED STATES: 2007. Current Population Reports, U.S. Census Bureau. January 2009.
Full Text [PDF format, 16 pages]
A larger percentage of foreign-born than native-born residents had a master’s degree or higher in 2007, according to the report. Nationally, 11 percent of foreign-born — people from another country now living in the United States, and 10 percent of U.S.-born residents had an advanced degree.

 

LET THE GAMES BEGIN: A NEW PLATFORM FOR VIRTUAL LEARNING AND SKILL ENHANCEMENT. Deloitte. January 2009.
Full Text [PDF format, 4 pages]
The increasing shortage of a skilled work force is a concern worldwide across most fields. Traditional learning methods have proven to be inadequate to produce the cutting-edge knowledge and complex skills needed to perform 21st century jobs; so savvy businesses are turning to gaming technology to fill the gap. Early successes, such as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ move to launch game based learning (GBL), indicate gaming solutions could address one of the world’s most pressing business needs of nurturing existing talent swiftly and vigorously.
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AMERICA’S YOUTH AT 21: SCHOOL ENROLLMENT, TRAINING, AND EMPLOYMENT TRANSITIONS BETWEEN AGES 20 AND 21 SUMMARY. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. January 23, 2009.
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At age 21, women are more likely to be enrolled in college than men, says the report. Among 21-year-olds not enrolled in college, men are more likely than women to be employed in a civilian job or serving in the military. It focuses on the school enrollment and employment experiences of these individuals from the October when they were age 20 to the October when they were age 21. Respondents were age 20 in October during the years 2000 to 2005 and age 21 in October from 2001 to 2006.
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THE COST OF QUALITY OUT-OF-SCHOOL-TIME PROGRAMS. Wallace Foundation. Jean Baldwin Grossman et al. Web posted January 27, 2009.
Full Text [PDF format, 106 pages]
Out-of-school time (OST) programs are increasingly expected to be of high enough quality to produce real benefits for children, but until now there has been little information on what such quality programming costs. The report provides a data-filled examination of the costs of 111 diverse, quality OST programs in six cities. The report finds that costs vary widely depending on a range of factors from program goals to times of operation and the ages of the children served.
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MATH: WHAT’S THE PROBLEM? National Science Foundation. Web posted January 27, 2009.
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International assessments show U.S. math students outperformed by those in many other countries. The research illuminates the role of teaching, curriculum and technology in math education, and demonstrates the importance of math education to all citizens.
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PROPOSED FUNDING FOR EDUCATION IN THE AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT OF 2009. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress. Rebecca R. Skinner et al. January 22, 2009.
Full Text [PDF format, 34 pages]
The primary purposes of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) focus on promoting economic recovery, assisting those most affected by the recession, improving economic efficiency by spurring technological advances in science and health. The report provides a brief overview of the key provisions related to education programs that are or would be administered by ED that were included in the act under Title IX (Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education) and Title XII (State Fiscal Stabilization Fund).

 

BUILDING TOMORROW’S WORKFORCE: PROMOTING THE EDUCATION AND ADVANCEMENT OF HISPANIC IMMIGRANT WORKERS IN AMERICA. Excelencia in Education. Mary Gershwin et al. January 21, 2009.
Full Text [PDF format, 51 pages]
Strategic partnerships between industry and community colleges that engage younger Hispanic immigrants can boost the economy by training an important proportion of U.S. workers for future jobs. The report looks at six innovative partnerships throughout the country.
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LEARNING SCIENCE IN INFORMAL ENVIRONMENTS: PEOPLE, PLACES, AND PURSUITS. National Research Council. Philip Bell et al. January 2009.
Full Text [HTML format with links to PDF files]
Millions of Americans, young and old, choose to learn about science in informal ways, by visiting museums and aquariums, attending after-school programs, pursuing personal hobbies, and watching TV documentaries, for example. The report notes that experiences in informal settings can significantly improve science learning outcomes for individuals from groups which are historically underrepresented in science, such as women and minorities. Evaluations of museum-based and after-school programs suggest that these programs may also support academic gains for children and youth in these groups.
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MAPPING NEW DIRECTIONS: HIGHER EDUCATION FOR OLDER ADULTS. American Council on Education. Web posted January 16, 2009.
Full Text [PDF format, 48 pages]
Despite successful efforts by some colleges and universities to create lifelong learning programs for adults aged 55 and older, many institutions remain stuck in outmoded, one-dimensional views of this population, according to the report. It offers recommendations to colleges and universities for broadening the participation of older adults who will comprise one-third of the nation’s overall population by 2030.
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TRENDS IN COLLEGE SPENDING: WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM? WHERE DOES TI GO? Delta Cost Project. Jane V. Wellman et al.Web posted January 16, 2009.
Full Text [PDF format, 48 pages]
The report examines revenue and expenditure data for nearly 2,000 public and private non-profit colleges and universities, representing more than 75 percent of higher education enrollment, and analyzes recent trends, focusing on the period from 2002 to 2006. It is the most up-to-date and comprehensive assessment of higher education finance in the nation.
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READING ON THE RISE: A NEW CHAPTER IN AMERICAN LITERACY. National Endowment for the Arts. Web posted January 12, 2009.
Full Text [PDF format, 16 pages]
For the first time in more than 25 years, American adults are reading more literature, according to the study. It documents a definitive increase in rates and numbers of American adults who read literature, with the biggest increases among young adults, ages 18-24. The new growth reverses two decades of downward trends cited previously
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REPOWER AMERICA WITH GREEN EDUCATION, GREEN JOBS, GREEN SCHOOLS. National Wildlife Federation. January 8, 2009.
Fact Sheet: Green Education, Green Jobs, Green Schools [PDF format, 2 pages]
America’s Campuses in 2008 [PDF format, 2 pages]
Economic and education experts join National Wildlife Federation to push for green stimulus investments that would re-power America with green education, green jobs and green schools. Investments in education generate 23.1 jobs per $1 million in spending, nearly five times more jobs created than oil and natural gas sector spending, according to Robert Pollin, Department of Economics and Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
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Robelen, Erik STRATEGY RETOOLED AT GATES (Education Week, Vol. 28, No. 13, November 19, 2008, pp. 1, 10-11)
Available online Over the past eight years, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has spent $4 billion on education, much of it on a school improvement strategy that has not delivered the academic gains the foundation hoped for. The Gates Foundation is focusing on “fewer, clearer, and higher” standards for college readiness, better quality teaching and aiding struggling students. Gates believes the U.S. has put too much emphasis on expanding access to higher education and not enough on college completion. Only about half of U.S. students who enroll in college manage to graduate within six years, and the completion rates for African-American and Hispanic students are only about 20 percent, according to the foundation. The foundation plans to promote common core standards across states, build the public and political will to achieve college readiness for all, work with school districts to retain and compensate effective teachers in the schools that most need them, and foster technological innovations that will help students who have fallen behind.

 

STAYING THE COURSE: ONLINE EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES, 2008. Sloan Consortium. I. Elaine Allen and Jeff Seaman. Web posted November 13, 2008.
Full Text [PDF format, 28 pages]
The study aims to answer some of the fundamental questions about the nature and extent of online education. A collaborative effort between the Babson Survey Research Group, the College Board and the Sloan Consortium and supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation the study is based on responses from more than 2,500 colleges and universities.
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PROMISE LOST: COLLEGE-QUALIFIED STUDENTS WHO DON’T ENROLL IN COLLEGE. Institute for Higher Education Policy. Ryan D. Hahn and Derek Price. November 2008.
Full Text [PDF format, 47 pages]
Despite being academically qualified, many of the nation’s high school students face influential misconceptions and barriers that deter them from pursuing a college education. Some challenges deterring college-qualified students from enrolling may include mixed messages about academic preparation, financial concerns, poor understanding of admission and financial aid application processes, and limited community encouragement. These reasons are especially true for high-achieving students from disadvantaged populations, such as minorities and those with low incomes, who already face additional adversities while on their educational path.
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COMMUNITY SERVICE AND SERVICE-LEARNING IN AMERICA’S SCHOOLS. Corporation for National & Community Service. Kimberley Spring and et al. November 2008.
Full Text [PDF format, 44 pages]
The report shows that community service in America’s schools has reached a new peak, with 68 percent of all K-12 schools offering or recognizing service opportunities for their students. It finds that the prevalence of community service has risen in K-12 schools, up from 64 percent from a similar study conducted in 1999. High schools are especially supportive of community service, with a whopping 86 percent of high schools recognizing student service, up from 83 percent in 1999. While school-based community-service has remained robust, the percentage of schools with service-learning declined from 32 percent in 1999 to 24 percent in 2008. [Note: contains copyrighted material]

 

FINDINGS FROM THE 2008 CGS INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE ADMISSIONS SURVEY: PHASE III: FINALS OFFERS OF ADMISSION AND ENROLLMENT. Council of Graduate Schools. November 2008.
Full Text [PDF format, 11 pages]
The latest in Council of Graduate School’s survey series on international graduate admissions trends found that both first-time and total enrollment of international graduate students increased 3% this fall, compared to 4% and 7% growth last year, respectively.
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ENSURING STUDENT ACCESS TO FEDERAL LOANS. U.S. Department of Education. Web posted November 8, 2008.
Full Text [HTML format, various paging]
The U.S. Department of Education is ensuring students and their families continue to have uninterrupted and timely access to Federal student loans by taking steps to maintain stability in student lending through both the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) and Direct Loan Program. As credit markets for student loans continue to tighten, there is a growing concern among schools, students and lenders about the availability of funds for the 2009-10 academic year.

 

MEASURING SKILLS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY. Education Sector. Elena Silva. November 2008.
Full Text [PDF format, 18 pages]
When ninth-graders at St. Andrew’s School, a private boarding school in Middletown, Delaware, sat down last year to take the school’s College Work and Readiness Assessment (CWRA), they faced the sort of problems that often stump city officials and administrators, but rarely show up on standardized tests, such as how to manage traffic congestion caused by population growth. The intellectual demands of 21st century work, today’s leaders say, require assessments that measure more advanced skills. Today, college students, workers, and citizens must be able to solve multifaceted problems by thinking creatively and generating original ideas from multiple sources of information and tests must measure students’ capacity to do such work.
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Labi, Aisha OBSESSION WITH RANKINGS GOES GLOBAL (Chronicle of Higher Education, Vol. 55, No. 8, October 17, 2008, pp. A27-29)
Full text [HTML format]
In the late 1990s, Chinese university administrators and the Chinese government wanted to know whether all the money being poured into Chinese higher education was producing any results. To satisfy their need for an objective international frame of reference, Nian Cai Liu, a professor at Shanghai Joao Tong University, created a ranking of the world’s top universities. Liu created his rankings by assigning scores on the basis of four factors: quality of education, quality of faculty, research output, and per capita performance. Quality of education, for example, counts the number of alumni who have won Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals. Liu’s rankings, posted on a university Web site in 2003, created a storm because for the first time everyone could easily compare the world’s universities, and officials and educators in many countries were shocked to see their own systems ranked so low. American universities dominate Liu’s list -- 17 of the top 20 in the world are in the U.S., including the top 3 (Harvard, Stanford and the University of California at Berkeley). Liu’s rankings play a major role in the choices made by international students and universities looking for partnerships; they also have had a major impact on governments, which in some cases are only financing scholarships for students who attend universities ranked above a certain cut-off point. Liu’s rankings have also sparked a rival U.K. list, the Times Higher Education List, on which British institutions fare dramatically better. Critics take issue with the Shanghai list’s emphasis on scientific research and the Times Higher Education List’s heavy reliance on peer opinion. Liu welcomes criticism and tries each year to improve his methodology. Meanwhile, the lists have become “an integral part of international higher education,” says Aisha Labi.

 

BACCALAUREATE EDUCATION AND THE EMPLOYMENT DECISION: SELF EMPLOYMENT AND THE CLASS OF 1993. U.S. Small Business Administration. Chad Moutray. Web posted October 27, 2008.
Full Text [PDF format, 37 pages]
The study shows that the self-employed closely resemble the larger population in many ways. Unlike others who pursue wage-and-salary occupations in the not-for-profit or government sectors, students in the class of 1993 who were self-employed in 2003 were less likely to have earned or be currently enrolled in graduate education. Graduates with social science and “other” majors were more likely to be self-employed. In addition, those individuals who chose self-employment had shorter job tenures than others, such as those who now work for government or the military.

 

THE COST OF FAILURE FACTORIES IN AMERICAN HIGHER EDUCATION. American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. Mark Schneider. Web posted October 30, 2008.
Full Text [HTML format, various paging]
American higher education absorbs a larger share of GDP than that of other countries, but it has not produced a particularly high proportion of college graduates. College graduation rates are actually worse than the very low benchmark of high school graduation rates, but higher education institutions are not held accountable.
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COUNTING ON GRADUATION. Education Trust. Web posted October 26, 2008.
Full Text [PDF format, 10 pages]
Among industrialized nations, the United States is the only country in which today’s young people are less likely than their parents to have earned a high school diploma. According to the Trust, the policymakers in many states are setting graduation improvement targets that won’t get our young people ready to compete in the knowledge-driven world of the 21st century. Federal law requires states to set benchmarks for improvements in reading and math achievement and for graduating high school students on time. However, the various methods states use to compute graduation rates obscure the reality that too few students are completing high school on time.<br />
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THE EDUCATION REVIEW (Washington Post Magazine, August 3, 2008)
Available on request
This latest annual education issue focuses on three trends in education in the Washington, DC area that has implications for other school systems. In FAST LEARNERS, Emily Messner looks at a Montgomery County, Maryland, teacher in an acclaimed math and science magnet program who found that many students, although capable of more advanced mathematics classes, were still struggling. In LATE BLOOMER, Susan Sharpe discusses a retired English professor who signed up for a college course in botany and found himself in a familiar environment, but as a student on the other side of the desk. The last story, LESSONS FAR FROM HOME, chronicles the experiences and challenges of teachers hired from the Philippines to work in the Prince George’s County, Maryland school system.

 

 

HIGHER EDUCATION AND COLLEGES: A COMPARISON BETWEEN ENGLAND AND THE USA. Council for Industry and Higher Education. Madeleine King et at. Web posted June 16, 2008.
Full Text: [PDF format, 28 pages]

United Kingdom and United States colleges play distinctive roles in delivering higher level learning that reaches students from diverse backgrounds, focus on meeting local needs and is vocational in its emphasis. In the U.S., this distinctiveness is lauded and forms part of an integrated approach across many States. The success of U.S. Community Colleges is a system of funding by transferable credit which is responsive to local need and which facilitates roll-on roll-off participation. In the U.K., these inherent strengths are less appreciated. In England, this non-linear progression is still viewed as ‘dropping out’ rather than ‘dropping in’. [Note: contains copyrighted material]

 

THE HIGH COST OF HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUTS. Alliance for Excellent Education. June 2008.
Full Text: [PDF format, 6 pages]

If the high school dropouts from the Class of 2008 had instead earned diplomas along with their classmates, the nation’s economy could have benefited from an additional $320 billion in wages, taxes, and productivity over these students’ lifetimes, according to the calculations by the Alliance for Excellent Education. The average annual income for a high school dropout in 2005, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, was almost $10,000 less than for a high school graduate. Raising the numbers of students who graduate, therefore, increases overall earnings potential, which, in turn, benefits each state and the nation with increased purchasing power and higher tax receipts.
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REVITALIZING ARTS EDUCATION THROUGH COMMUNITY-WIDE COORDINATION. Rand Corporation. Susan J. Bodilly et al. June 2008.
Full Text: [PDF format, 109 pages]

Arts education has been a low priority in the nation’s public schools for more than 30 years. Severe fiscal crises in America’s urban centers in those years exacerbated the situation as schools responded by cutting teaching positions, especially none core subject areas. More recently, the general education reforms, such as the No Child Left Behind Act, that hold schools accountable for standardized test scores in mathematics and reading led to neglect of arts education. In a countermovement, some urban centers have developed initiatives aimed at coordinating schools, cultural institutions, community-based organizations, foundations, and/ or government agencies to promote access to arts learning for children in and outside of school.
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Downs, Chris THE LITTLE LEAGUE CHALLENGER DIVISION ENSURES CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES HAVE OPPORTUNITIES TO PLAY BALL (Palaestra, vol. 23, no. 4, Fall 2007, pp. 20-24
Full Text available from your nearest American library

Chris Downs, Media Relations Manager for Little League Baseball and Software, describes the history and operation behind The Challenger, a Little League division which enables boys and girls with mental and physical disabilities to experience the joy of playing the game of baseball just as millions of other children do around the world. Through a “buddy” system, a non-disabled Little Leaguer teams up with a Challenger player to assist him or her with hitting, running, or fielding the ball. The bond between the buddy teams is unique, and enables both members to experience a sense of achievement and increased confidence. “Through the Challenger Division, players can strengthen their self-esteem, while learning life lessons about teamwork, sportsmanship, and fair play – the hallmarks of Little League,” says David James, Little League Challenger Division Director. Established in 1989 and geared for youth ages 5-18, Little League’s Challenger Division now hosts nearly 1,800 teams and more than 26,000 players. Teams are set up according to abilities, rather than age, allowing youth of all talents to participate in a structured, athletic activity in their local communities. Challenger players also have the opportunity to participate in fun-packed weekend Jamboree tournaments geared specifically for them.

 

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Bellamy, G. Thomas; Goodlad, John CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN THE PURSUIT OF A DEMOCRATIC PUBLIC MISSION FOR OUR SCHOOLS (Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 89, no. 8, April 2008, 7 pp.)
Full Text (EbscoHost; password required)

American schools must not be limited to goals with a narrow academic focus or the pursuit of test scores. An essential mission of U.S. schools -– and the one historically that motivated earlier generations to found and support public schools -– is to ensure that each new generation “understands the principles and institutions that support democratic life,” say Bellamy, a professor of education at the University of Washington, and Goodlad, an emeritus professor of education at the same school who is now president of the Institute for Educational Inquiry. In a democracy, schools have special responsibilities, and educators, local public groups and policy makers need to collaborate and to support local deliberative processes if educational renewal is to prove possible. Schools are more like gardens than machines, say Bellamy and Goodlad. For educators, local groups or federal policy makers to try to gain control and impose their once-and-for-all priorities is to miss the garden aspect of education: high-quality schools are most likely to result from “continued small adjustments to goals that emerge from the informal democracy of local dialogue.” The authors describe how a partnership was created with this end in view between the college of education and the departments of the arts and sciences in several universities and a number of nearby elementary and secondary schools that provide student teaching experiences for future teachers. This partnership has led to the creation of the National Network for Educational Renewal (NNER), which seeks simultaneously to re-orient K-12 education towards more thoughtful and informed participation in a democracy and to improve the quality of preparation of educators in public schools.

 

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Carter, Heather; Foulger, Teresa; Ewbank, Ann Dutton HAVE YOU GOOGLED YOUR TEACHER LATELY? TEACHERS’ USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES (Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 89, no. 9, May 2008, 5 pp.)
Full Text (EbscoHost; password required)

Social networking sites have become so popular that some young teachers do not seem to recognize the need to exercise care before they post on popular sites such as MySpace, FaceBook or YouTube. The authors, all of whom are involved in teacher education at Arizona State University, recognize that social networking is a potentially beneficial tool for educators and cite some of the ways in which experienced teachers have used it to enhance instruction, to establish deeper relationships with students or to remind students of deadlines and quizzes. But the inability of some to understand that teachers are held to a higher standard of moral behavior than the general population has resulted in a growing number of incidents that are affecting the entire profession, as careers are ruined by a nude photo, intemperate remarks about professional frustrations, reference to sex or alcohol or use of profanity. State certification procedures often mandate that teachers shall not “engage in conduct which would discredit the teaching profession.” The Ohio Education Association is now strongly discouraging its members from joining social networking sites. U.S. courts, while recognizing the free speech rights of teachers, balance those rights against the ability of the government employer to maintain an efficiently-run organization. The authors want teacher preparation and in-service programs to make all teachers aware of the public nature of the Internet and of the negative impact exposing their personal lives can have on their careers.

 

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Anonymous IN THE BASEMENT OF THE IVORY TOWER (Atlantic Monthly, vol. 301, no. 5, June 2008, pp. 68-73)
Full Text [html format]

An English professor, who wishes to remain anonymous, explains the travails he suffers teaching adults at a small private college and at a community college. Most of his students have families, and more than one job. And most of them, this professor says, are utterly unprepared for college-level work. He writes, “Sending everyone under the sun to college is a noble initiative ... America, ever-idealistic, seems wary of the vocational-education track.” He notes that the higher education system has a vested interest in having large attendance -- evening and adult education is a substantial profit center for many colleges. He admits that he, too, “subscribes to the American ideal” of universal higher education –- however, “unfortunately, it is with me and my red pen that that ideal crashes and burns.” He questions the morality of admitting so many students to classes they cannot possibly pass.

 

ACCESS, ADEQUACY, AND EQUITY IN EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY.
National Education Association. Web posted June 11, 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 72 pages]

Over the past decade, the public education system has made great strides in infusing technology into the classroom. Evidence shows that technology improves efficiency among educators and increases motivation in students. The study examines the distribution of technology and emphasizes the need for education policymakers and administrators to remain committed to the implementation of technology in schools. The findings for various demographic groupings also highlight the disparities found in different community types, school levels, and career stages of educators on their technology and support. Recommendations are offered to help guide policymakers in all levels of administration toward ensuring that educators and students have adequate opportunities to use technology effectively as an instructional tool.

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PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF POTENTIAL SCHOOL-BASED VIOLENCE: INFORMATION STUDENTS LEARN MAY PREVENT A TARGETED ATTACK.
U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Department of Education. May 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 15 pages]

One of the most significant findings from the Safe School Initiative (SSI) is that prior to most school attacks, other children knew what was going to happen. In collaboration with the Department of Education and McLean Hospital, a Harvard Medical School affiliate, National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) interviewed friends, classmates, siblings and others in whom school shooters confided their ideas and plans prior to their incidents. Other interviews included students who came forward with information regarding a planned school based attack, and are believed to have prevented an attack from happening. The goal of the study was to provide information to school administrators and educators regarding possible barriers that may prevent children who have information about a potential incident from reporting that information to a responsible adult.

 

WHERE THE GIRLS ARE: THE FACTS ABOUT GENDER EQUITY IN EDUCATION.
American Association of University Women. Christianne Corbett et al. May 2008.
http://www.aauw.org/research/upload/whereGirlsAre.pdf

The authors examine a comprehensive look at girls’ educational achievement during the past 35 years, paying special attention to the relationship between girls’ and boys’ progress. Analyses of results from national standardized tests and other measures of educational achievement provide an overall picture of trends in gender equity from elementary school to college and beyond. These analyses support three overarching facts about gender equity in schools today. Girls’ successes don’t come at boys’ expense. On average, girls’ and boys’ educational performance has improved. The authors note that the real crisis is that of the African American, Hispanic, and low-income children.

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IRANIAN TEXTBOOKS: CONTENT AND CONTEXT.
Science Applications International Corporation. Web posted May 31, 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 17 pages]

The study assesses 85 textbooks of the Islamic Republic of Iran for grade school, middle school and high school students. All of the textbooks have been posted by the Iranian government on the Internet. After reviewing the content of Iranian textbooks, the study concludes that all of the textbooks reveal a clear, extreme emphasis on Islam. The books aim to indoctrinate students in the logic of the dominant clerics of the ruling Shiite sect, including teachings on jihad and martyrdom.

[Note: contains copyrighted material]

 

THE AMERICA COMPETES ACT AND THE FY2009 BUDGET.
Congressional Research Service, RL34396, Library of Congress. Deborah D. Stine. Web posted May 9, 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 21 pages]

The America COMPETES Act (P.L. 110-69) responds to concerns that the United States may not be able to compete economically with other nations in the future due to insufficient investment today in science and technology research and in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. In March 2008, both the House and Senate included, in their budget resolutions, support for the America COMPETES Act. The act authorizes increases in the nation’s investment in science and engineering research at the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) laboratories, and the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science.

 

AA08165
Mathews, Jay BAD RAP ON THE SCHOOLS (Wilson Quarterly, vol. 32, no. 2, Spring 2008, pp. 15-20)
Full Text [html format]

Mathews, an education reporter and columnist at The Washington Post, disputes a recently aired documentary called Two Million Minutes that suggests American students don’t study as long and as hard as their counterparts in India and China, and, as a result, the U.S. may be losing the economic race to these countries. Mathews acknowledges that U.S. businesses are having trouble hiring skilled people and must often go abroad to find more, and that American high schools have not shown much improvement in math and reading in the last 30 years. However, Mathews notes that the U.S. school system is greatly superior to those in China and India -- the real problem is the bottom 30 percent of U.S. schools in urban and rural communities full of low-income children. “Not only are we denying the children who attend them the equal education that is their right, but we are squandering almost a third of our intellectual capital,” he writes.

 

AA08166
Zehr, Mary Ann SCHOOLS BRACE FOR BHUTANESE WAVE (Education Week, Vol. 27, No. 35, April 30, 2008, pp. 1, 14-15)
Full Text (EbscoHost; password required)

In the early 1990s, about 100,000 members of a Nepalese-speaking, primarily Hindu minority fled or were expelled by the Buddhist-majority nation of Bhutan. The refugees, known as the Lhotshampas, or “People of the South,” have lived ever since in refugee camps in eastern Nepal. The U.S. State Department is now interviewing 60,000 or more of the refugees with the aim of resettling an undetermined number in the U.S. Schools are bracing for the linguistic and cultural challenges of this latest immigrant group. In Syracuse, New York, for example, the first two Bhutanese children have enrolled in a school in which 300 of the 720 students are English-language learners and the principal accepts all the refugees she can because she believes it is good for the American children. A State Department spokesman told the author that 5,000 Bhutanese refugees are expected in the U.S. by the end of September. Although they are trying to learn all they can about Bhutanese culture and language, teachers and principals say they typically don’t know what to expect until the children of refugee families arrive at the schoolhouse door.

 

THE IMPACT OF EMPLOYMENT DURING SCHOOL ON COLLEGE STUDENT ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE.
National Bureau of Economic Research. Jeffrey S. DeSimone. May 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 40 pages]

Many high school and college students work part-time. Employment during school could improve grades if working fosters industriousness or time management skills, or instead reduce grades by constraining time and energy available for schoolwork. These results are consistent with what some college instructors regularly experience: students who blame their class tardiness and absence, failure to submit assignments and poor exam performance on their employment obligations. The study also suggests that the negative outcomes are not simply attributable to less academically motivated students working long hours. The lackluster students would not necessarily perform better academically if they were prevented from working. Instead, students who spend longer hours in paid labor because of preferences or budget constraints ultimately perform worse in school than they otherwise would.

[Note: contains copyrighted material]

 

A MATTER OF DEGREE INITIATIVE TO REDUCE BINGE DRINKING AT COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Web posted May 17, 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 13 pages]

Universities work with surrounding communities to gauge the effectiveness of an environmental approach to alcohol abuse prevention and reduce negative consequences of high-risk drinking. The initiative was conducted across 10 university-community sites to reduce campus alcohol abuse and related outcomes. The environmental model used in this study increased awareness on campuses and in communities that collaboration could bring about change in alcohol abuse on campus. The study recommends bringing higher-level leaders from the campus and community into the initiative, the recruitment and retention of project staff, and advocacy with media and applying communication techniques.

[Note: contains copyrighted material]

 

DOES MORE MEAN BETTER? SIBLING SEX COMPOSITION AND THE LINK BETWEEN FAMILY SIZE AND CHILDREN'S QUALITY.
Javier E. Baez. Institute for the Study of Labor. Web posted May 9, 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 42 pages]

The conclusion from Colombia data suggests that family size has negative effects on average child quality. Children from larger families have almost one year less of education. They are less likely to enroll in school and about twice as likely to be held back in school. They are also more likely to be physically or psychologically affected by domestic violence within the household. The oldest children are more likely to engage in labor activities or domestic chores. Even though the findings are results of data from Colombia, they reflect possible effects of fertility on economic circumstance of people in countries with similar constraints.

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EDUCATION AND TECH ENTREPRENEURSHIP.
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Vivek Wadhwa et al. May 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 16 pages]

The popular image of American tech entrepreneurs is that they come from elite universities. Some graduate and start companies in their garages, while others drop out of college to start their business careers. The dot-com boom reinforced the image of technology CEOs being young and brash. But, even though Bill Gates and Steve Jobs founded two of the world’s most successful companies, they are not representative of technology and engineering company founders. A larger proportion of tech founders are middle-aged, well- educated in business or technical disciplines, with degrees from a wide assortment of schools.

[Note: contains copyrighted material.]

 

A NATION ACCOUNTABLE: TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AFTER A NATION AT RISK.
U.S. Department of Education. Web posted May 2, 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 25 pages]

In 1983, the landmark U.S. Department of Education report, A Nation at Risk, found that about 13 percent of 17-year-olds were functionally illiterate, SAT scores were dropping, and students needed more remedial courses in college. Such trends threatened both our children’s opportunities and our collective future. Twenty-five years later, U.S. remains a nation at risk but is also now a nation more informed, accountable, with recognition that there is much work to be done. By leveraging this information, work needs to be done to achieve better results.

 

AN OUTCOME EVALUATION OF THE SPIRITUALITY FOR KIDS PROGRAM.
Rand Corporation. May 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 71 pages]

The report presents results from a multi site, quantitative evaluation of the international Spirituality for Kids (SFK), a nonreligious, after-school program. The SFK program focuses on spiritual development, with emphasis on outcomes related to resilience rather than academics. The authors found that the program had beneficial effects on adaptive skills, behavioral problems, and school problems. In addition, the program positively affected school-related outcomes, even though it is not an academic intervention. A major strength of the program appears to be its careful attention to uniformity of program delivery, the standardized curriculum, the use of experienced teachers, and formal teacher-training program.

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ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN HIGHER EDUCATION, ESPECIALLY WITHIN NON-BUSINESS STUDIES.
Enterprise and Industry Directorate-General, European Commission. March 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 69 pages]

The report stresses Europe’s need to stimulate the entrepreneurial mindsets, encourage creative business start-ups, and foster a culture that is friendlier to the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises. The benefits of entrepreneurship education can expand an individual’s ability to turn ideas into action and is therefore a key competence for all, helping young people to be more creative and self-confident in whatever they set out to accomplish.

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AA08127
Carnevale, Anthony COLLEGE FOR ALL? (Change, vol. 40, no. 1, January/February 2008, pp. 23-29)
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The American belief in “college for all” stems from our egalitarian nature, and is rooted in parents’ desire in upward mobility for their children. The author notes that a post-secondary education does make a significant difference in salary of a worker; between 1979 and 1999, the earnings differential between a high-school diploma and a college degree rose from 43% to 73%. The lower the education level of the worker, the lower is the proportion of jobs available to those job seekers. Carnevale writes that the popularity of post-secondary education in America is that it “has become our workforce-development system, in part because it has taken on a strong occupational and professional profile.” College in America is increasingly moving away from a purely liberal arts education, and is more focused in giving graduates specific skills that can be used in their future careers. Yet, Carnevale notes, “a liberal-arts degree topped off with a graduate or professional degree still brings the highest returns, especially when both degrees come from the most-selective postsecondary institutions.” The challenge for the United States now is that, in the face of the increasing expense of post-secondary institutions, the “college for all” promise develops into reality.

 

THE NATION'S REPORT CARD: WRITING 2007.
National Center for Education Statistics. Deborah Salahu-Din, et. al. Web posted April 3, 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 72 pages]

Nationally representative samples of more than 165,000 eighth- and twelfth-graders participated in the 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) writing assessment. Comparing the results of the 2007 writing assessment to results from previous years shows the progress eighth- and twelfth-graders are making in improving writing skills.

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WHO WILL SAVE AMERICA'S URBAN CATHOLIC SCHOOLS?
Thomas B. Fordham Institute. Scott W. Hamilton, Ed., April 10, 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 122 pages]

Over 1,300 Catholic parochial schools in the United States have shut down since 1990, mostly in large cities. As a result, some 300,000 students have been forced to attend other public, private, or parochial schools. The cost to taxpayers has been more than $20 billion to accommodate the additional students that public schools have had to absorb. This report examines the decline over time and makes several recommendations for reversing the decline.

[Note: contains copyrighted material].

 

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT: EDUCATION ACTIONS COULD IMPROVE THE TARGETING OF SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT FUNDS TO SCHOOLS MOST IN NEED OF ASSISTANCE.
Government Accountability Office, GAO-08-380. Web posted March 25, 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 61 pages]

A statutory requirement known as a “hold-harmless provision” has limited some states’ ability to target certain funds for school improvement to low-performing schools. The Department of Education has proposed repealing the hold-harmless provision but the GAO has recommended a change in the monitoring procedure to insure that the provision is the actual cause of the limitations. This report discusses the problem and the recommendations.

 

Supiano, Beckie IN COLLEGE GYMS, A TIME FOR WOMEN ONLY (Chronicle of Higher Education, March 21, 2008)
Full Text available from your nearest American Library

Harvard University’s recent decision to offer women-only gym hours drew considerable media attention because it was requested by a handful of Muslim women. Supiano places this development in a broader context. Religion is often a factor behind requests for women-only workout areas, but is not the only one.

 

AA08106
Krieger, Zvika DESERT BLOOM: START-UP UNIVERSITIES IN THE OIL-RICH PERSIAN GULF ARE LURING SCHOLARS FROM LESS-STABLE ARAB NATIONS (Chronicle of Higher Education, Vol. 54, No. 29, March 28, 2008, pp. B7-B11)
Full Text available from your nearest American Library

The intellectual landscape of the Middle East is changing dramatically as Persian Gulf countries pour more than $20 billion annually into cultural and educational projects and more than a dozen American universities open branches and campuses there. Qatar’s Education City has attracted branches of Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Georgetown and Northwestern, while Dubai’s Academic City has attracted Harvard, Boston University and Michigan State. Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaymah and Sharjah have attracted Johns Hopkins, MIT, New York University, George Mason, and American University. The Arab World’s best and brightest faculty and intellectuals are moving to the Gulf in droves, according to Krieger, a former Middle East correspondent for Newsweek, as is the Arab media and publishing world. Even before the Gulf’s bid to become the region’s intellectual and academic center, Arab doctors, engineers, teachers and intellectuals were fleeing the repression and/or violence in such traditional centers as Cairo, Beirut and Baghdad, most of them emigrating to Europe or the United States. A second article by Kreiger, “An Academic Building Boom Transforms the Gulf,” looks at the competition between the several emirates to lure top American universities.

 

AA08108
Zehr, Mary Ann CONSULTANTS HELP MODERNIZE ARAB SCHOOLS (Education Week, Vol. 27, No. 29, March 26, 2008, pp. 1, 12-13)
Full Text available from your nearest American Library

U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings has accepted an invitation to visit the United Arab Emirates in mid-May 2008 in order to learn more about reform efforts in which U.S. educational consultants are playing a large role. A number of Arab countries are interested in certain aspects of the American educational model including standards-based reform, child-centered teaching methods, and decentralization of top-down bureaucracies. Vincent Ferrandino, the former executive director of the National Association of Elementary School Principals, has a five-year contract to help the UAE develop school improvement plans, focusing particularly on what it takes for principals to raise the level of instruction and to identify and serve children with disabilities. Qatar, relying on advice from the Rand Corporation, is establishing a system of charter schools parallel to its traditional schools run by the Education Ministry. Hanif Hassan, the UAE’s Education Minister, told author Mary Ann Zehr his country is not restricted to one model. “We’re trying to take international best practices and bring them here.”

 

SCHOOL PRAYER, MOMENT OF SILENCE, OTHER POLICIES CONCERNING RELIGION.
Education Commission of the States. Michael Colasanti. Web posted April 7, 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 10 pages]

Religion in public schools is generally is analyzed through the lens of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The government is prohibited from establishing a religion or favoring specific religious expression, and controversies are typically analyzed by the courts using what is known as the “Lemon test”, established in the Supreme Court case of Lemon vs. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602. This document examines, state by state, current legislation and practices with regard to public prayer in American schools.

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SOCIAL EXCLUSION AND THE GENDER GAP IN EDUCATION.
World Bank, WPS4562. Maureen Lewis, et. al. Web posted March 20, 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 40 pages]

Despite a sharp increase in the share of girls who enroll in, attend, and complete various levels of schooling, an educational gender gap remains in some countries. This paper argues that one explanation for this gender gap is the degree of social exclusion within these countries, as indicated by ethno-linguistic heterogeneity, which triggers both economic and psycho-social mechanisms to limit girls' schooling.

[Note: Contains copyrighted material].

 

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: WHILE EARLY REFORM EFFORTS TACKLE CRITICAL MANAGEMENT ISSUES, A DISTRICT-WIDE STRATEGIC EDUCATION PLAN WOULD HELP GUIDE LONG-TERM EFFORTS.
Government Accountability Office, GAO-08-549T, Testimony before Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Cornelia M. Ashby. March 14, 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 27 pages]

In response to long-standing problems with student academic performance, the condition of school facilities, and the overall management of the D.C. public school system, the D.C. Council approved the Public Education Reform Amendment Act of 2007 which made major changes to the operations and governance of the system, giving the Mayor authority over public schools, including curricula, personnel, and school facilities.

The broad management reforms also included the transfer of many functions from D.C. public schools into a new office of the state superintendent, which could allow for more effective oversight of the District’s education programs.

 

FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: FEDERAL AID UNDER TITLE VI OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT.
Congressional Research Service, RL31625, Library of Congress. Jeffrey Kuenzi. Updated January 9, 2008. Web posted March 13, 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 19 pages]

Title VI of the Higher Education Act (HEA) authorizes International Education Programs and a variety of support grants to institutions of higher education. Some 60% of all Title VI funds are allocated to grants designed to promote and enhance instruction in the two areas of foreign language and area studies. Title VI is one of the oldest U.S. Department of Education programs of support to higher education, having been initiated as part of the National Defense Education Act of 1958.

 

FIRST-TIME, FULL-TIME GRADUATE STUDENT ENROLLMENT IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING INCREASES IN 2006, ESPECIALLY AMONG FOREIGN STUDENTS.
InfoBrief, Science Resources Statistics, NSF 08-302, National Science Foundation. Julia Oliver. Web posted January 28, 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 6 pages]

After two years of decline, US enrollment of foreign graduate students in science and engineering increased in 2006. This report examines the 16% jump over 2005 levels and looks at the effects of first-time, full-time enrollment.

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HIGHER EDUCATION AND THE FUTURE OF IRAQ.
Imad Harb. Special Report, U.S. Institute of Peace. Web posted December 21, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 16 pages]

This report examines the past, current, and potential of higher education in Iraq. Historically, Iraqis value intellectual achievement; but the legacy of Baathist rule and the current instability are crippling the universities. The author argues that Iraqi universities could become leading players in the country’s civil society by providing opportunities to students and faculties to resolve social and political conflicts, promoting political stability and economic growth, building institutional infrastructure, and safeguarding human rights. However, in order to accomplish this, universities must reform their curriculum development, faculty education, and administrative procedures.

 

FOREIGN STUDENTS IN THE UNITED STATES: POLICIES AND LEGISLATION.
Chad C. Haddal. Congressional Research Service (CRS), Library of Congress. Updated December 10, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 26 pages]

More than six years after 9/11, the security concerns over foreign student visas are being weighed against competitiveness concerns. Foreign students must “satisfy Department of State (DOS) consular officers abroad and immigration inspectors upon entry . . . that they are not ineligible for visas under the so-called ‘grounds for inadmissibility’ of the Immigration and Nationality Act . . .”; consequently, student visa debates have expanded to include both security issues and market-based discussions.

These diverse sets of issues have raised concerns with universities and advocacy groups while bills before Congress have focused on attracting foreign students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. This report provides an update on these issues.

 

HOW WELL ARE AMERICAN STUDENTS LEARNING? WITH SECTIONS ON THE NATION’S ACHIEVEMENT, THE MYSTERIES OF PRIVATE SCHOOL ENROLLMENT, AND THE IMPACT OF TIME ON LEARNING.
Tom Loveless. Brown Center on Education Policy, Brookings Institution. Web posted December 11, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 32 pages]

This seventh edition of the Brown Center Report consists of three sections. The first section examines the latest test scores on math and reading achievement. The second section explores general themes or trends in education such as enrollment patterns in private and public schools. The third section studies international test data to determine whether there is a relationship between national math scores and the amount of time students spend on math.

For the first time, this report investigates some phenomena that “do not make sense”; e.g., why students performing at the “proficient” level on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are routinely cited as “underperforming.”

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OVERVIEW OF EDUCATION ISSUES AND PROGRAMS IN LATIN AMERICA.
Clare Ribando Seelke. Congressional Research Service (CRS), Library of Congress. December 19, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 6 pages]

“The United States has long supported education programs in Latin America, and has a vested interest in promoting educational progress in the region. In the last 20 years, most Latin American countries have taken significant steps to improve their education systems, but major challenges remain. Those challenges include unequal access to education, high dropout and repetition rates, poor teacher quality, and uneven assessments and accountability systems. Regional and bilateral education assistance programs administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have sought to help countries address many of those challenges. At the same time, the State Department’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs (ECA) has supported educational exchange and scholarship programs for Latin American students and teachers. This report provides an overview of the current level of educational attainment in Latin America, U.S. education programs in the region, and related legislative proposals. It will not be updated.”

 

GRADUATE ENROLLMENT AND DEGREES: 1996 TO 2006.
Kenneth E. Redd. Office of Research and Policy Analysis, Council of Graduate School. Web posted December 1, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 66 pages]

This report provides information from a recent survey on graduate student enrollment, applications, and degrees conferred. The survey was sent to 764 colleges and universities and responses were received from 680 institutions. The report is divided into two chapters. Chapter 1 profiles graduate enrollment by institution type, gender, field of study, citizenship status, and race/ethnicity. It also includes the number of applications received and the acceptance rates by field of study. Chapter 2 reflects trends in graduate enrollment and degrees awarded.

[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]

 

COLLEGE COSTS AND PRICES: ISSUES FOR REAUTHORIZATION OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT.
Rebecca R. Skinner and Blake Alan Naughton. Congressional Research Service (CRS), Library of Congress. October 30, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 44 pages]

The cost of attending U.S. colleges and universities is a growing concern. Many Americans believe that college is now out of financial reach for most students. Federal policymakers are concerned about affordability, access for low-income students, and financial aid. This report presents the current status and the historical trends of college costs. The report concludes with an overview of the relevant issues related to the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965.

 

Popescu, Roxana NO CHILD OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM (Newsweek, Feb 11, 2008. Vol. 151, Iss. 06; pg. 12)
Full Text [html format]

Discusses an unintended side-effect of the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act, the federal government’s landmark overhaul of US schools: a drop in class trips. Museums are now trying to lure schools back.

 

Lorentzen, Laura A CALL FOR STP: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND POLITICS (Phi Kappa Phi Forum. Baton Rouge: Fall 2007. Vol. 87, Iss. 4; pg. 24, 2 pgs)
Full Text [html format]

Science and Technology abilities for the future are of utmost importance. This article explores ways to develop these abilities in today’s students. Individuals as well as Institutions all need to work together to be able to rise to this challenge.

 

EXPERIENCES THAT MATTER: ENHANCING STUDENT LEARNING AND SUCCESS: ANNUAL REPORT 2007.
National Survey of Student Engagement, Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, Indiana University. Web posted November 5, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 60 pages]

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This survey finds that taking part in activities during college increases a student's performance in many areas, such as thinking critically, solving real world problems, and working with others. The survey also found that students who talk frequently with their parents and follow their advice participate more in educational activities and are more satisfied.

This report is based on data from 313,000 randomly selected first-year and senior students at 610 colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada.

 

BEYOND GREY PINSTRIPES: 2007-2008.
Center for Business Education, The Aspen Institute. Web posted October 10, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 3 pages]

[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]

This survey ranks Masters in Business Administration programs, but "success" is defined as how well prepared graduates "are to guide a company through the complex relationship of business and society, where issues relating to the environment or the well-being of a community can impact a company's performance and reputation." The survey includes 40 thousand pages of data collected from 111 schools, of which 71 are U.S. institutions and 40 are international schools in 18 countries.

 

INTO THE EYE OF THE STORM: ASSESSING THE EVIDENCE ON SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING EDUCATION, QUALITY, AND WORKFORCE DEMAND.
B. Lindsay Lowell and Hal Salzman. Urban Institute. Web posted October 29, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 51 pages]

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Many experts believe that the U.S.'s preeminence in science and engineering is threatened, that there is a decline in the supply of high quality students, and that there is a decline in interest among American students in science and engineering careers. This report does not support these presumptions. The data reviewed indicate "increases in absolute numbers of secondary school graduates and increases in their math and science performance levels." The analysis suggests that the education system actually produces an excess of qualified graduates in these disciplines.

 

AA07373
Delbanco, Andrew ACADEMIC BUSINESS (New York Times Magazine, September 30, 2007, pp. 25//30)
Full text [html format]

The author, director of American studies at Columbia University, questions whether the modern university has become just another corporation. To maintain their tax-exempt status, hospitals are required to care for indigent patients and charitable foundations are required to give away a hefty percentage of their money but what exactly are colleges doing to justify their public subsidies? Private colleges and universities pay no taxes on tuition revenues or on income from their endowments, of which Harvard boasts the largest ($35 billion). Driven by big science and global competition, top universities now compete for "market share" and "brand-name positioning," employ teams of consultants and lobbyists, furnish their campuses with luxuries to attract paying "customers" and earn royalties from technologies developed with the help of government grants, thanks to the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act which permitted patents on discoveries made with public funds.

MINORITIES IN HIGHER EDUCATION: TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL STATUS REPORT: 2007 SUPPLEMENT. Bryan J. Cook and Diana J. Cόrdova. American Council on Education. September 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 26 pages]

From 1994 to 2004, enrollment in higher education in the U.S. increased by 3 million students. During this period, minority students increased by more than 1.6 million. Despite these substantial increases, African Americans and Hispanics trail whites in the percentage of high school graduates enrolled in college. This report also addresses minority high school completion rates, college participation, college enrollment; and degrees conferred.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AND VISITING SCHOLARS: TRENDS, BARRIERS, AND IMPLICATIONS FOR AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES AND U.S. FOREIGN POLICY. Joint Hearing, Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Education and Labor, U.S. House of Representatives. June 29, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 122 pages]

International students and scholars strengthen the U.S. economy by bringing in their dollars and their creativity. They also gain skills that allow them to confront poverty and promote economic growth in their home countries that in turn creates political stability and increases opportunities for trade and investment for the U.S. Additionally, students from other countries create familiarity and bonds of mutual respect. Under Secretary of State Karen Hughes testified that "having foreign students at American universities is one of the most powerful tools we have in our arsenal of public diplomacy."

This hearing discusses some of the difficulties international students have encountered since 9/11.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN SCHOOLS: THE BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS SCHOOL-BASED MENTORING IMPACT STUDY. Carla Herrera, Jean Baldwin Grossman, Tina J. Kauh, Amy F. Feldman, Jennifer McMaken, and Linda Z. Jucovy. Public/Private Ventures and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA). Web posted August 8, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 16 pages]

School-based mentoring (SBM) has become popular. SBM benefits children by providing additional adult support and guidance. Additionally, it requires very little school staff time.

Ten Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA) agencies serving over 126,000 children were surveyed on measurable benefits of the mentoring programs. The data show that after one year, overall academic performance improved, truancy dropped, and out-of-school misconduct improved, e.g., drug and alcohol use declined.

THE NATION'S REPORT CARD: ECONOMICS 2006: NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS AT GRADE 12. National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. August 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 32 pages]

The National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) prepares an assessment of U.S. students in the subjects of reading, mathematics, science, writing, U.S. history, civics, geography, and several other subjects. The NAEP assessment has become an integral part of evaluating the condition and progress of education. The report reflects the first NAEP assessment of economics at grade 12. 79 percent of the students performed at the Basic achievement level or higher and 42 percent performed at the Proficient level or higher.

RECONFIGURING THE FEDERAL PELL GRANT PROGRAM: EFFECT OF SELECTED CHANGES ON PROGRAM COSTS AND ON STUDENTS IN DIFFERENT INCOME GROUPS. Charmaine Mercer. Congressional Research Service (CRS), Library of Congress. July 9, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 33 pages]

Congress debates annually whether the Pell Grant should be increased to make college more affordable especially for low-income students. It is estimated that a $100 increase in maximum appropriated grant award would increase the cost of the program by approximately $400 million; consequently, it is unusual for Congress to enact an increase.

This report models several changes in the Pell Grant program and examines the impact of these changes on the program costs. The report also studies the effects of the following changes: (1) increasing the maximum award; (2) increasing the minimum award; and (3) increasing the income eligibility. The final analysis examines the combined effect of simultaneously changing groups of award rules.

GIVING CHILDREN A BETTER START: PRESCHOOL ATTENDANCE AND SCHOOL-AGE PROFILES. Marco Manacorda, Sebastian Galiani, and Samuel Berlinski. Impact Evaluation Series, Policy Working Paper, World Bank. Web posted June 1, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 39 pages]

This study looked at the effect of pre-primary education based on preschool attendance. The authors found that the impact of school attendance at early ages magnified as the children grew. By age 15, children who attended pre-primary classes had "accumulated 0.8 extra years of education and are 27 percentage points more likely to be in school compared to their untreated siblings." The authors conclude that pre-primary education appears to be a "successful policy option to prevent early grade failure and its long lasting consequences."

[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]

COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP FRAUD PREVENTION ACT OF 2000: ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS. U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Education, and U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Web posted June 1, 2007.
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"Every year, millions of high school graduates seek creative ways to finance the costs of a college education." In the process, graduates may encounter scholarship or financial aid scams. Consequently, in 2000, Congress passed the College Scholarship Fraud Prevention Act that established stricter sentencing for financial aid fraud. The U.S. Departments of Justice, Education, and the Federal Trade Commission are required to submit a report to Congress on the year's activity under this Act.

SQUEEZE PLAY: HOW PARENTS AND THE PUBLIC LOOK AT HIGHER EDUCATION TODAY. John Immerwahr, Jean Johnson, Paul Gasbarra, Amber Ott, and Jonathan Rochkind. National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, Public Agenda, and Reinvesting in College Access and Success. Web posted May 31, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 59 pages]

The U.S. educational system has been the envy of countries around the world for its high quality, accessibility, ability to train skilled workers, and its contribution to the creation of the middle class. For the past several years, higher education in America has experienced new pressures—more students are seeking admission while public funding has been severely strained.

The Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education called for greater accountability and more productivity. This report, based on a random sample survey of 1,001 Americans, five focus groups, and interviews with corporations, media, philanthropic organizations, and legislative leaders, explores the American public's perception of higher education today.

[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]

ADMITTEDLY UNEQUAL. Kingsbury, Alex. U.S.News & World Report, June 25, 2007. p.50-53
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Many colleges are rejecting women at rates drastically higher than those for men.

Evaluating- ‘No child left behind'. Darling-Hammond, L. The Nation. Vol. 284, Number 20, p 11-21, May 21, 2007
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As Congress begins to consider reauthorization of the Bush Administration's 2002 No child left behind Act, The Nation asked Linda Darling- Hammond, a leading education expert, to examine the law, its consequences and the prospects for improving the legislation.

SUBSIDIZING HIGHER EDUCATION THROUGH TAX AND SPENDING PROGRAMS. Elaine Maag, David Mundel, Lois Dickson Rice, and Kim Rueben. Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, Brookings Institution. Web posted May 29, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 8 pages]

In 1997 Congress enacted a number of tax benefits programs directed at the middle- and upper-middle income groups to help with rising college costs. This brief analyzes who benefits from Pell grants, tax subsidies that resemble grants, the Hope and Lifetime Learning credits, and the tuition tax deduction. This brief also assesses the potential impacts of these programs on the "affordability of college and the college-going rates of potential students."

PROFILES OF THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: VOLUME II: RELIGIOUS BELIEFS & BEHAVIOR OF COLLEGE FACULTY. Gary A. Tobin and Aryeh K. Weinberg. Institute for Jewish & Community Research. Web posted May 9, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 97 pages]

American universities are often described as "ivory towers"; which means that the environment is separated from realities. A number of studies have shown how faculties differ politically from the general public, and a number of critics have argued that higher education has become too secular. This study analyzes these notions and offers a broad overview of American university faculties and their religious beliefs.

The survey confirms that faculties are less religious than the general population; additionally, most faculties believe that universities should not foster religion. The study also explores how faculties approach religion in their personal lives and how they regard religion in others. "This research raises many questions."

See Also:A Profile of American College Faculty: Volume I: Political Beliefs & Behavior. 2006 [pdf format, 93 pages]

LEADING LADY: SALLIE MAE AND THE ORIGINS OF TODAY'S STUDENT LOAN CONTROVERSY. Erin Dillon. Education Sector. May 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 18 pages]

This report provides background information on the $85-billion-a-year student loan industry. In March 2007, the Attorney General of New York opened an investigation of the lending practices between the leading lending companies and college financial aid officers. The largest and most influential player in this industry is SLM Corporation, better known as Sallie Mae. The author maintains that since Congress created Sallie Mae, it "has an opportunity to strike a new balance in student lending, one that serves the interests of students, taxpayers, and the industry in more equal measures."

JOB SATISFACTION IN THE UNITED STATES.
Tom W. Smith. National Opinion Research Center (NORC), University of Chicago. April 17, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 9 pages]

Job satisfaction is an important component in overall well-being both physically and mentally. Since work occupies a large part of each day, it becomes a main source of social standing and helps to define a person. Surprisingly, perhaps, education professionals are among the most satisfied in their jobs.

This paper provides a variation of job satisfaction and well-being across occupations. The most satisfying professions are those involved in caring for others, protecting others, or creative pursuits. Members of the clergy are the most satisfied; healing professionals are second; third are firefighters; and fourth are educational occupations. The least satisfying jobs are in the low-skill, manual, and service occupations especially involving customer service.

EDUCATION UNDER ATTACK: A GLOBAL STUDY ON TARGETED POLITICAL AND MILITARY VIOLENCE AGAINST EDUCATION STAFF, STUDENTS, TEACHERS, UNION AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, AND INSTITUTIONS.
Brendan O'Malley. Education Sector, Division for the Coordination of United Nations Priorities in Education, UNESCO. April 27, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 45 pages]

UNESCO conducted this worldwide study of violence directed at educational personnel to determine what could be done to improve their safety and security. The objective was to raise "awareness and understanding of the extent to which those involved in education, whether students, teaching staff, trade unionists, administrators or officials, are facing violent attacks, and what can and should be done about the problem." The study focused on targeted attacks that were carried out for political, military, ideological, sectarian, ethnic, or religious reasons. The report also includes information on attacks on educational buildings.

COLLEGE ENROLLMENT AND WORK ACTIVITY OF 2006 HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. April 26, 2007.
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This report provides an overview of students who graduated from high school in 2006. Of the 2.5 million graduates, 65.8 percent were enrolled in college—this rate has been trending upward since 2001. The college enrollment rate for women was 66.0 percent and 65.5 percent for men. Asians were more likely than whites, blacks, and Hispanics to enroll in college.

Of those not enrolled in college, most were part of the labor force. The unemployment rate for this group was 25.0 percent. Between October 2005 and October 2006; 444,000 students dropped out of high school. The unemployment rate of the high school dropouts was 23.1 percent.

AA07212
Bell, David A. CASUALTY OF WAR (New Republic, Vol. 236, No. 15, May 7, 2007, pp. 44-52)
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The author urges more government and private funding to promote the study of military history at the university level. While robust History Book Club sales and popular History Channel broadcasts show that military history is very popular with the public, many leading universities have nonetheless abandoned the subject. Many major universities, such as Harvard or Johns Hopkins, have a single military historian among its history faculty. Bell attributes this development to a broad shift away from narrative history toward a social science model grounded in a liberal, Enlightenment-era thinking that dismisses war as primitive, irrational, and alien to modern civilization. Also many historians -- as a group politically well to the Left of the general public -- condemn military history as inherently "conservative." Even so, a broader, more rigorous intellectual knowledge of war is now a matter of civic interest.

MILLION DOLLAR BABIES: WHY INFANTS CAN'T BE HARDWIRED FOR SUCCESS.
Sara Mead. Education Sector. April 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 8 pages]

Over the past ten years, conventional wisdom in educational has been that if a child has sufficient stimulation in the first three years of his/her life, the brain will be hardwired for success. This paper argues that the basis of this belief is "on misinterpretation and misapplications of brain research. While neural connections in babies' brains grow rapidly in the early years, adults can't make newborns smarter or more successful by having them listen to Beethoven or play with Einstein-inspired blocks. Nor is their any neuroscience evidence that suggests that the earliest years are a singular window for growth that slams shut once children turn three." Research shows that the strongest evidence of positive long-term impacts of childhood success comes from high-quality preschool programs.

THE RACE TO ATTRACT INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS.
Abdul Kargbo and Margie Yeager. Education Sector. March 22, 2007.
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The U.S. has long been a magnet for the world's top college students; but after 9/11, with heightened security and travel restrictions, the number of F1 visas issued declined significantly. In 2005-06 the Department of State granted 273,870 student visas (from 196 countries) or 20,000 less than 2000-01. The authors contend that "to retain its position as the destination of the greatest number of foreign students—and the advantage that such students afford in the battle for global economic competitiveness—the U.S. will have to be increasingly proactive in international marketing, simplify visa processing and increase affordable educational opportunities."

THE TOP AMERICAN RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES: 2006 ANNUAL REPORT.
John V. Lombardi, Elizabeth D. Capaldi and Craig W. Abbey. The Center for Measuring University Performance, Arizona State University. Web posted March 20, 2007.
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This is the seventh edition of The Top American Research Universities (TARU). It contains comparative tables of performance of campuses based on nine criteria. The authors agree that it is extremely difficult to rank research universities in one list since there is no standardization of university campuses. Most research campuses contain discipline-based departments (schools) that are critical competitive elements in the TARU ranking. The primary usefulness of the TARU ranking comes from "the publication of the tables in their consistent format over time," and the core value of the report remains the data collected.

STATE TAKEOVER, SCHOOL RESTRUCTURING, PRIVATE MANAGEMENT, AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT IN PHILADELPHIA.
Brian Gill, Ron Zimmer, Jolley Christman, and Suzanne Blanc. RAND Education, RAND Corporation. Web posted February 1, 2007.
Full text [pdf format, 66 pages]

In 2002 the state of Pennsylvania took over the School District of Philadelphia. This takeover became a test case for private management of public schools. This report examines student achievement outcomes based on annual assessments in reading and mathematics for the district as a whole and for the privately managed and district-managed "restructured" schools four years after the takeover. This monograph does not provide a comprehensive assessment on all aspects of Philadelphia's schools.

AA07146
Kingsbury, Alex. THE MEASURE OF LEARNING
(U.S. News and World Report, March 12, 2007)
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The author notes that there is growing concern about the quality of education and the vagueness of stated educational goals at most U.S. universities and colleges. Kingsbury writes that the federal government is proposing to test U.S. higher educational programs, noting that Secretary of Education Margaret Spelling has plans to develop one or more standardized tests that would assess the success or failure of the colleges. The article delineates the concerns expressed by colleges about any plan to try to quantify educational outcomes, goes into further detail about the reasons for the concerns on each side (colleges versus government and other critics) and how this effort relates to more federal government standards for elementary and secondary education, and discusses various existing and proposed evaluation measures.

AA07147
Rawe, Julie. THE RANKINGS REVOLT
(Time, vol. 169, no. 14, April 2, 2007, p. 49)
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The practice of ranking colleges and universities has long rankled some educators and administrators who believe an education is hard to quantify in the ranking formats of the most influential sources (such as U.S. News and World Report). But any single school that chose not to participate or complete the survey or that otherwise tried to alter the practice, found itself saddled with a ranking based on non-answers, rather than no ranking. This article describes a new group effort of colleges banding together and trying to change the ranking system with less risk to individual institutions.

READING FIRST: STATES REPORT IMPROVEMENTS IN READING INSTRUCTION, BUT ADDITIONAL PROCEDURES WOULD CLARIFY EDUCATION'S ROLE IN ENSURING PROPER IMPLEMENTATION BY STATES.
U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO). Web posted March 23, 2007.
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The Reading First program was established to help students in kindergarten through the third grade develop strong reading skills. The General Accountability Office (GAO) examined the program to see what changes have occurred in reading instruction, what criteria the states used to award grants to school districts, and what guidance and assistance was offered by the U.S. Department of Education (Education).

GAO recommends that Education establish better control procedures for government officials and contractors and suggests that Education also should establish a clearer monitoring process for the program.

EIGHT FOR 2008: EDUCATION IDEAS FOR THE NEXT PRESIDENT.
Independent Analysis, Education Sector. February 2007.
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Educational reform has been a prominent part of presidential agendas for the past two decades— every presidential candidate has offered some type of educational reform in his platform for the past twenty years. The commitment to academic standards, accountability, and choice is not a partisan issue; and the American people consistently rate education as one of their top ten concerns.

The No Child Left Behind Act has increased the federal government's influence and responsibility in local schools. Consequently, Education Sector, an independent policy think tank devoted to educational problems, offers eight educational ideas for the 2008 presidential campaign. These recommendations range from the very large to very small and from preschool to higher education.

AN EDUCATION STRATEGY TO PROMOTE OPPORTUNITY, PROSPERITY, AND GROWTH.
Strategy Paper, The Hamilton Project, The Brookings Institution. Web posted February 20, 2007.
Full text [pdf format, 25 pages]

This paper offers a framework for educational policy from early childhood to post-secondary education. Evidence shows that education is critical to economic growth and an investment in education returns benefits to society and individuals. America's educational system is not in crisis nor is it reaching its full potential. This paper outlines a strategy for new investments in early education and suggests structural reforms such as a teacher tenure system. A proposed early educational program for disadvantaged children and federally-funded student financial aid systems are also addressed.

SUCCESS BY TEN: INTERVENING EARLY, OFTEN, AND EFFECTIVELY IN THE EDUCATION OF YOUNG CHILDREN.
Jens Ludwig and Isabel Sawhill. Discussion Paper, The Hamilton Project, The Brookings Institution. Web posted February 20, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 37 pages]

"Success by Ten" is a proposed program based on the principle that early intervention is imperative because of the brain's unusual "plasticity" during these years. This proposal is based on findings from studies of early childhood and elementary school programs which suggest that early intervention substantially improves a child's chance for higher education and greater success in the labor market. "Success by Ten" calls for a major expansion and intensification of the Head Start and Early Head Start programs and that Title I funds be devoted to instructional programs with an emphasis on reading.

MATH AND SCIENCE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM: NATIONAL IMPACT REPORT.
Directorate for Education and Human Resources, National Science Foundation. Web posted January 27, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 11 pages]

The Math and Science Partnership (MSP) program has funded 52 partnerships in 150 institutions over the past four years. These partnerships include:

• Summer Teacher Institutes which deepen teacher understanding of math and science;
• Learning Communities which include K-12 teachers and higher-education faculty who teach science, technology, engineering and math;
• Teacher Institutes for the 21st Century enables experienced teachers to gain more expertise in math and science; and
• Other Venues which included "externships" in higher education and business, mentoring/cognitive coaching, and training.

"The most recent analysis of 123 schools participating in the MSP program shows improvements in student proficiency in mathematics and science at the elementary, middle and high school levels over a 3-year period."

A COLLEGE ACCESS CONTRACT.
Michael Dannenberg. New America Foundation. February 1, 2007.
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"America's financial aid system imposes too much debt on college graduates, provides too much taxpayer support to banks making college loans, and demands too little of students assuming them." The author offers a plan which would allow low-income students to graduate from college with no federal loan debt and permit middle-class students interest-free federal loans.

YOUTHBUILD PROGRAM: ANALYSIS OF OUTCOME DATA NEEDED TO DETERMINE LONG-TERM BENEFITS.
U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO). Web posted February 28, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 42 pages]

In 1993, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provided funds for YouthBuild which is a competitive grant program that trains and educates disadvantaged youth and helps build low-income housing. This program was transferred to the U.S. Department of Labor in 2006. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to assess the program and HUD's post-program performance to determine the long-term benefits of this program.

MANDATORY TESTING AND NEWS IN THE SCHOOLS: IMPLICATIONS FOR CIVIC EDUCATION: A REPORT FROM THE CARNEGIE-KNIGHT TASK FORCE ON THE FUTURE OF JOURNALISM EDUCATION.
Thomas E. Patterson. Carnegie-Knight Task Force on the Future of Journalism Education, Carnegie Corporation of New York. Web posted January 31, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 16 pages]

Public schools have been charged with educating students and turning them into citizens. Some believe that civil education has been compromised by mandatory student testing emphasizing language, math, and science. This report, based on a national survey of 1,262 teachers, examines the effect of mandatory testing on classroom use of current affairs news. The results show that tests do inhibit classroom discussions particularly in classrooms with lower-income students and/or students in English-as-a-second language classes. The report recommends how teachers, administrators and policymakers can mitigate the effects of mandatory testing.

Improving "Head Start" for America's Children [Congressional committee hearing].
Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education Subcommittee. U.S. House of Representatives. February 28, 2007
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Head Start is a pre-school program of the United States Department of Health and Human Services that focuses on assisting children from low-income families. Created in 1965, Head Start is the longest-running program for stopping the cycle of poverty in the United States. It provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families. As of late 2005, more than 22 million pre-school aged children have participated in Head Start.

A useful model for South African communities which struggle to provide a sound foundation for educational achievement? A developmental physcologist and Head Start managers present compelling scientific argument and findings, case studies and data that highlight its benefits in the USA.

DOES REDUCING COLLEGE COSTS IMPROVE EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES FOR UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS? EVIDENCE FROM STATE LAWS PERMITTING UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS TO PAY IN-STATE TUITION AT STATE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES.
Aimee Chin and Chinhui Juhn. The James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University. January 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 39 pages]

Ten states have passed laws allowing undocumented students to pay in-state tuition to public universities and colleges. This study looked at the effects of these laws and educational outcomes of Hispanic immigrants who are not U.S. citizens. The result showed a positive effect of the law on college attendance of older Mexican men. The authors emphasize that there are two important factors of the study which need to be taken into consideration: (1) that little time has elapsed since the state laws were passed; and (2) that the federal policy on financial aid and legalization has not changed.

COLLEGE GRANTS ON A POSTCARD: A PROPOSAL FOR SIMPLE AND PREDICTABLE FEDERAL STUDENT AID.
Susan M. Dynarski and Judith E. Scott-Clayton. Discussion Paper, The Hamilton Project, The Brookings Institution. Web posted February 20, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 56 pages]

"The federal system of student financial aid is broken." The application process can be simplified, the application form shortened, and the aid eligibility can be determined in a timely manner. The authors propose combining "Pell Grants and the Hope and Lifetime Learning tax credits for undergraduates into a single, streamlined grant administered through the Department of Education. . .eligibility can be explained on a postcard."

WHY WE FIGHT: HOW PUBLIC SCHOOLS CAUSE SOCIAL CONFLICT.
Neal McCluskey. Policy Analysis, Center for Educational Freedom, Cato Institute. January 23, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 60 pages]

It is thought that public education is the "foundation of Democracy." Public education has taken people of varied ethnic, religious, and racial backgrounds and made them unified and free. The author, however, believes that reality is very different from these assumptions. Public schooling in fact forces people of "disparate backgrounds and beliefs into political combat." This study examined 150 such conflicts over the 2005-06 school year. The author's conclusion is that the educational system must be transformed from one established and controlled by the government to one where parents are empowered.

AMERICA'S PERFECT STORM: THREE FORCES CHANGING OUR NATION'S FUTURE.
Irwin Kirsch, Henry Braun, Kentaro Yamamoto, and Andrew Sum. Policy Information Report, Educational Testing Service. January 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 34 pages]

The three forces comprising this "perfect storm" are divergent skill distributions, the changing economy and demographic trends. First, there is a wide disparity in literacy and math skills among school-age and adult populations. These groups do not have "sufficient literacy and numeracy [sic] skills to fully participate in an increasingly competitive work environment." Secondly, there have been huge changes in the economy primarily driven by technology and globalization resulting in a shift between capital and labor. Consequently, the shift in "composition of jobs in our country has been increasing economic returns to schooling and skills." Lastly, there will be sweeping demographic changes where the labor force is projected to grow more slowly over the next 20 years and none of the predicted growth will come from native-born workers—more than half of these immigrants lack a high school diploma.

The authors believe that our overall levels of learning and skills must be increased to overcome these disparities.

THE INSIDERS: HOW PRINCIPALS AND SUPERINTENDENTS SEE PUBLIC EDUCATION TODAY.
Jean Johnson, Ana Maria Arumi and Amber Ott. Issue No. 4, Education Insights, Public Agenda. Web posted January 11, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 29 pages]

Most public school superintendents say local schools are in good shape. Most superintendents (77%) and principals (79%) believe low academic standards are not a serious problem and feel that students are learning enough math and science. However, the public, parents, and teachers see serious problems in local schools.

This survey of 252 public school principals and 254 public school superintendents made an effort to identify priorities and concerns on a local level.

SCHOOL READINESS, FULL-DAY KINDERGARTEN, AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION.
Vi-Nhuan Le, Shelia Nataraj Kirby, Heather Barney, Claude Messan Setodji, and Daniel Gershwin. RAND Education, RAND Corporation. Web posted January 9, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 79 pages]

Recent research shows that skill gaps exist before children enter kindergarten; e.g., minority children have lower literacy skills and less social development than do white children. Some studies show academic benefits for full-day kindergarten; however, the costs and uncertainty of long-term benefits of implementing such a program may out weigh the benefits.

"This study uses data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (ECLS-K) to examine how children's skills and knowledge at kindergarten entry predict their achievement in later grades." The study found "after controlling for nonacademic readiness at kindergarten, children who had attended a full-day program at kindergarten showed poorer mathematics performance in fifth grade than did children who had attended a part-day kindergarten program." The authors recommend further studies to explore other variables concerning full-day kindergarten.

WHAT DOES PERFORMANCE IN GRADUATE SCHOOL PREDICT? GRADUATE ECONOMICS EDUCATION AND STUDENT OUTCOMES.
Susan Athey, Lawrence F. Katz, Alan B. Krueger, Steven Levitt and James Poterba. American Economic Association. Web posted January 9, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 16 pages]

"Our results indicate that students' grades in required core courses are highly correlated across subjects. The Ph.D. admissions committee's evaluation of a student predicts first-year grades and Ph.D. completion, but not job placement. First-year performance is a strong predictor of Ph.D. completion. Most importantly, we find that first-year Micro and Macro grades are statistically significant predictors of student job placement, even conditional on Ph.D. completion. Conditional on first-year grades, GRE scores, foreign citizenship, sex and having a prior Masters degree do not predict job placement. Students who attended elite undergraduate universities and liberal arts colleges are more likely to be placed in top ranked academic jobs."

FUNDING GAPS, 2006: HOW THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MAKES RICH STATES RICHER.
Goodwin Liu. The Education Trust. Web posted December 27, 2006.
Full Text [pdf format, 16 pages]

The U.S. has led the world in extending free public education to all children, but not all children arrive at school with equal opportunity for success. Low-income and minority students are most frequently taught by teachers who are less experienced and have less education. The poor and minority students also have a less rigorous curriculum and the facilities are of a lower quality.

This paper looks at funding on the federal, state, and school district levels and how this funding is not equally shared among schools. The paper first analyses how federal funds for low-income students are distributed to the states—rich states receive more federal aid than poor states. It then looks at how states fund the various school districts—poverty-stricken and minority school districts receive less. Lastly, the paper looks at the inequities within school districts—less money to schools serving disadvantaged students.

This report was produced with the hope that the information provided would generate new policy choices at all levels so all students have a fair chance.

TRENDS IN COLLEGE PRICES.
Sandy Baum and Kathleen Payea. Trends in Higher Education Series, College Board. October 2006.
Full Text [pdf format, 28 pages]

This report is based on the Annual Survey of Colleges, and the detailed data are based on two-year and four-year public and nonprofit institutions for the 2005-06 academic year. The tuition, fees, and other charges apply to full-time students, and the room and board charges are based on residential students, living costs for commuter students, and other components of student budgets. The information reported is "a best approximation of trends in college charges over time."

TRENDS IN STUDENT AID.
Sandy Baum and Kathleen Payea. Trends in Higher Education Series, College Board. October 2006.
Full Text [pdf format, 28 pages]

This publication presents the annual data on the amount of financial assistance through grants, loans, work-study, and education tax benefits students receive to help pay for postsecondary education. The most recent data are for the 2004-05 academic year. This report along with Trends in College Pricing 2005 are used to show how much colleges and universities charge and what part of these charges are paid by students. Student aid in this report includes funds for undergraduate and graduate students. The report also includes grant aid from private sources and loans involving any federal funding (primarily Stafford Loan Program). For the first time, this report includes information on student debt.

Students pay only a fraction of the cost of higher education. The balance comes from a variety of sources. Student aid is defined as grants from all sources, loans, and work-study assistance. As the price of attending college has increased, family incomes, grant aid, and federal loans have not been able to keep up with the increased cost. Consequently, student loans have skyrocketed.

A NEW WAY ON SCHOOL INTEGRATION.
Richard D. Kahlenberg. The Century Foundation. Web posted December 6, 2006.
Full Text [pdf format, 16 pages]

The U.S. Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of voluntary racial integration plans in two school districts—one in Seattle, Washington and the other in Louisville, Kentucky. Hundreds of districts across the United States now employ some type of racial integration plan. Proponents of the integration plans argue that racial integration is important because integration produces higher academic achievement and fosters better relations, dialogue, and understanding. Opponents of the voluntary racial integration plans argue that the plans violate the Constitution's equal protection clause.

The Supreme Court should render its decision by July 2007.

This paper presents a new integration plan that roughly forty percent of the school districts nationwide have implemented. This plan uses socioeconomic or income-based school integration. Proponents claim this plan provides a better academic achievement record than racial integration. However, racial integration should be used if social integration does not provide a racial balance.

MEETING THE CHALLENGES OF SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LATIN AMERICA AND EAST ASIA.
Emanuela di Gropello, Editor. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, The World Bank. Web posted November 27, 2006.
Full text [pdf format, 375 pages]

In many developing countries, primary school enrollment has increased dramatically, but the number of children seeking secondary education has soared. Unfortunately, a shortage of schools has slowed the expansion of secondary education and the quality of that education is often poor.

In Latin America and East Asia, secondary education has long been neglected; however, both regions have been pushing expansion of secondary education based on supply-side policies. This report centers on access, quality and equity issues for secondary education while identifying the main constraints to its expansion and improvement. The report focuses on a few countries that have been successful in addressing multiple challenges and analyzes their policies.

HOW SCHOOLS CAN HELP STUDENTS RECOVER FROM TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCES: A TOOL KIT FOR SUPPORTING LONG-TERM RECOVERY.
Lisa H. Jaycox, Lindsey K. Morse, Terri Tanielian, Bradley D. Stein. RAND. October 24, 2006.
Full report [pdf format, 75 pages]

This guide explains how to provide school-based mental health programs for students exposed to violence, natural disasters and other traumatic events. Although many schools have developed good capacity as "early responders" to support communities in the aftermath of disasters or crises, they have much less experience in how to support the longer term mental health issues of students and staff members.

Originally developed a few months after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the toolkit has been expanded to include national and international mental health programs for treating other experiences such as sexual abuse and assault, the sudden death of family members, terrorism incidents, and trauma experienced by refugees.

The toolkit compares 24 trauma-focused programs that have been developed and used by schools across the United States and countries that have experienced ongoing wars and acts of terror. The guide assesses these programs based upon the potential needs of students and provides school officials with estimates of the time, funding, training, and other resources needed to put the programs into place. The authors stress that trauma-focused programs developed specifically for use in schools can reduce emotional and behavioral problems while also fostering students' resilience for future events.

ABSTINENCE EDUCATION: EFFORTS TO ASSESS THE ACCURACY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF FEDERALLY FUNDED PROGRAMS.
United States Government Accountability Office (GAO). November 15, 2006.
Full text [pdf format, 62 pages]

Abstinence-until-marriage education programs, also referred to as abstinence-only education programs, teach adolescents to abstain from sexual activity until marriage in order to avoid risks of unintended pregnancy, sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs), and related health problems. The content of federally funded abstinence-until-marriage programs is required to be consistent with several principles, such as teaching that a mutually faithful monogamous relationship in the context of marriage is the expected standard of human sexual activity, and that abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain way to avoid STDs. Abstinence-until-marriage education programs are delivered by a variety of entities, including schools, human service agencies, faith-based organizations, youth development groups, and pregnancy crisis centers. Instructors can incorporate a variety of educational materials into their abstinence-until-marriage education programs, including textbooks, student manuals, brochures, slide presentations, and videos.

In this report, GAO is evaluates 1) efforts by HHS and states to assess the scientific accuracy of materials used in these programs and 2) efforts by HHS, states, and researchers to assess the effectiveness of these programs. GAO reviewed documents and interviewed Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Office of Population Affairs (OPA) that award grants for these program.

GAO found that efforts by HHS and states to assess the scientific accuracy of materials used in abstinence-until-marriage education programs have been limited. This is because HHS's ACF-which awards grants to two programs that account for the largest portion of federal spending on abstinence-until-marriage education-does not review its grantees' education materials for scientific accuracy and does not require grantees of either program to review their own materials for scientific accuracy. In contrast, OPA does review the scientific accuracy of grantees' proposed educational materials. GAO recommends that the Secretary of HHS develop procedures to help assure the accuracy of such materials used in programs administered by ACF.

SUMMIT OF EDUCATIONAL GAMES: HARNESSING THE POWER OF VIDEO GAMES FOR LEARNING.
Federation of American Scientists (FAS); Entertainment Software Association (ESA); National Science Foundation (NSF). October 17, 2006.
Full report [pdf format, 53 pages]

The Federation of American Scientists, the Entertainment Software Association, and the National Science Foundation convened a National Summit on Educational Games on October 25, 2005, in Washington, DC. The Summit brought together nearly 100 experts to discuss ways to accelerate the development, commercialization, and deployment of new generation games for learning.

Among the findings of the experts are the following:

• Many video games require players to master skills in demand by today's employers.
• There are several attributes of games that would be useful for application in learning. These include contextual bridging (i.e., closing the gap between what is learned in theory and its use); high time-on-task; motivation and goal orientation, even after failure; providing learners with cues, hints, and partial solutions to keep them progressing through learning; personalization of learning; and infinite patience.
• There are differences between games for education and games for entertainment. This means that developers of an educational game must target the desired learning outcome, and then design a game to achieve that target. Educational games must be built on the science of learning.
• A robust program of research and experimentation is needed to enhance development of educational games by stimulating transfer of the art and technologies of video games to education and learning systems.

U.S. DOCTORATES IN THE 20TH CENTURY.
Lori Thurgood, Mary J. Golladay, and Susan T. Hill. National Science Foundation (NSF). June 2006; Web-posted October 10, 2006.
Full Report [pdf format, 143 pages]Table of Contents [sections in html format, various pagings]

The report is based on the Survey of Earned Doctorates, which had a 95 percent response rate. Some of the report's major findings include:

• Men received 73 percent of all doctorates awarded in the 20th century, but in the 1990s, women made significant gains, receiving over 40 percent of all doctorates.
• Foreign nationals held less than 10 percent of all doctorates before 1960 but received more than a third of all science and engineering (S&E) doctorates by 1999, and 17 percent of non-S&E doctorates.
• Two-year colleges vastly increased their role in educating those who go on to pursue a Ph.D. In the century's final 5 years, 1995-1999, one-fifth of all American Indians/Alaska Natives who received doctorates had attended two-year colleges. One-sixth of all Hispanic Ph.D. recipients also reported having attended two-year colleges.
• From 1995-1999, almost a third of African-American Ph.D. recipients reported receiving an undergraduate degree from a Historically Black College or University (HBCU).
• In 1999, for the first time, more than half of all graduating doctorates reported debt from their undergraduate and graduate education.
• In non-S&E fields, doctorates owing more than $20,000 from education loans quadrupled between the late 1980s and late 1990s. The corresponding percentage for science and engineering doctorates owing more than $20,000 was also significant, more than doubling during the same period.

SCHOOL AND PARENT INTERACTION BY HOUSEHOLD LANGUAGE AND POVERTY STATUS: 2002-03.
United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). September 2006.
Download [pdf format, 4 pages]

Language minority parents face a number of challenges when trying to communicate or become involved with their child's school. This issue brief describes school-to-home communication practices and opportunities for parent involvement at school, as reported by parents of U.S. school-age students from primarily English- and primarily Spanish-speaking households during the 2002-03 school year. Data are drawn from the Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey of the 2003 National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES). The latter included English and Spanish language surveys of parents' perceptions of school communication practices and opportunities for parent involvement.

This summary report finds that a greater percentage of students in English-speaking households than in Spanish-speaking households had parents who reported:

• receiving personal notes or e-mails about the student
• receiving newsletters, memos, or notices addressed to all parents
• opportunities to attend general meetings
• opportunities to attend school events
• chances to volunteer

Differences were still apparent after taking poverty status into account.

Curriculum Focal Points for Prekindergarten through Grade 8 Mathematics: A Quest for Coherence.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Released Sept. 2006
View on Council's website

Curriculum Focal Points provides "descriptions of the most significant mathematical concepts and skills at each grade level. Organizing a curriculum around these described focal points-communication, reasoning, representation, connections, and, particularly, problem solving-can provide students with a connected, coherent, ever expanding body of mathematical knowledge and ways of thinking. Such a comprehensive mathematics experience can prepare students for whatever career or professional path they may choose as well as equip them to solve many problems that they will face in the future."

"The curriculum focal points presented here offer both immediate and long-term opportunities for improving the teaching and learning of mathematics. They provide ideas that may kindle fruitful discussions among teacher leaders and teachers about areas to emphasize as they consider the developmental needs of their students and examine a year's program of instruction. Teachers might also see opportunities to develop or select lessons that bring together related topics in meaningful contexts to reinforce or extend the most important connections, understandings, and skills. The long-term opportunity, however, is for mathematics leaders at every level to use Curriculum Focal Points for Prekindergarten through Grade 8 Mathematics to launch an ongoing, far-reaching, significant discussion with the potential to guide the thinking of the profession in the development of the next generation of curriculum standards, textbooks, and tests. This work may assist in the creation and eventual development of new models for defining curriculum, organizing instruction, developing materials, and creating meaningful assessments that can help students learn critical mathematical skills, processes, and ways of thinking and can measure and communicate what students know about the mathematics that we expect them to learn."

"Curriculum Focal Points for Prekindergarten through Grade 8 Mathematics thus represents an important, initial step in advancing collaborative discussions about what mathematics students should know and be able to do. Use the focal points presented here to guide discussions as you review, refine, and revise mathematics curricula. Take this opportunity to share the best that we know as we work together to produce improved tools that support our shared goal of a high-quality mathematics education for every student."

Note: the abstract is from the text of the "Introduction"

EDUCATION AT A GLANCE 2006: HIGHLIGHTS.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Web-posted September 12, 2006.
Executive summary [ pdf format, 61 pages]Brief summary [6-7 pages]

This report notes that more than one third of students across OECD countries now obtain university degrees. However, a persistently large share of young people do not complete secondary school -- today's baseline for successful entry into the labor market. On average across OECD countries, only 56 percent of adults without upper secondary qualifications are employed. Of those who are employed, 26 percent earn one-half or less than one-half of the national median earnings. While many countries have seen steeply rising benefits from university education, people who have not completed upper secondary school, and particularly women, continue to face serious labor-market penalties.

The report urges OECD countries to scale back inherently class-biased and often regressive ways of funding educational opportunities -- the effects of which often show up in educational attainment measurements. On average across OECD countries, for example, students from the most socio-economically disadvantaged quartile of the population are 3.5 times more likely than their peers to be in the bottom quartile of mathematics performers.

PROJECTIONS OF EDUCATION STATISTICS TO 2015.
William J. Hussar and Tabitha M. Bailey. United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Web-posted September 14, 2006.
Download [pdf format, 164 pages]

This publication provides projections for key data concerning education in the United States. It includes statistics on enrollment, graduates, teachers, and expenditures in elementary and secondary schools. Also incorporated are statistics on the enrollment, degrees conferred, and current-fund expenditures of degree-granting institutions.

The tables, figures, and text contain data on enrollment, teachers, graduates, and expenditures for the past 14 years, and projections to the year 2015. For the 50 States and the District of Columbia, data are included on the projections of public elementary and secondary enrollment, and public high school graduates to the year 2015. In addition, the report includes a methodology section describing models and assumptions used to develop national and state-level projections.

REWRITE THE FUTURE: EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN IN CONFLICT-AFFECTED COUNTRIES.
International Save the Children Alliance. September 2006.
Download [pdf format, 48 pages]

This report details the consequences of armed conflict on education in 30 countries, 18 of which face ongoing violence. In many cases, schools have been destroyed, appropriated by armed groups, or used as shelter for those who have been displaced; students have been forcibly recruited; and teachers have been killed or forced to flee due to their status as government representatives.

The countries with the largest number of children out of primary school are Nigeria and Pakistan -- -- nearly eight million in each. Both countries have been affected by internal and external conflicts in recent years. Outside of sub-Saharan Africa, and South and West Asia, the conflict-ridden countries with the greatest enrollment problems include:

• Haiti and Colombia, which each have around half a million primary-aged children who are not in school
• Burma/Myanmar, with nearly one million absentees
• Iraq, where some 800,000 children are not receiving an education

When children are not in school, say the authors of the report, children are much more susceptible to recruitment by armies and militias, or vulnerable to other forms of exploitation. The report estimates that donors will have to increase their spending on primary education from the current two billion dollars a year to some 12 billion dollars a year in order to close the gap. Of the additional 10 billion dollars a year, 5.8 billion dollars should be earmarked for countries affected by, or recovering from, violent conflicts.

COMPUTER AND INTERNET USE BY STUDENTS IN 2003.
Matthew DeBell and Chris Chapman. United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). September 2006.
Download [pdf format, 72 pages]

This report examines the use of computers and the Internet by U.S. children enrolled in nursery school, and students in kindergarten through grade 12. It examines the overall rate of use (the percentage of individuals in the population who are users); the ways in which students use the technologies; where the use occurs (home, school, and other locations); and the relationships of computer and Internet use to demographic and socioeconomic characteristics such as students' age, race and ethnicity, and their parents' education and family income.

The following are some of the report's salient findings:

• Computer and Internet use by students is widespread and begins at an early age. About nine in ten students use computers, and more than half use the Internet. Computer use is more common at lower grade levels than Internet use, but by grades 9-12 more than three quarters of youth are online.
• Children and adolescents commonly use computers for playing games, completing school assignments, word processing, e-mail, and connecting to the Internet. Online, the most frequent activities are school work, e-mail, games, and finding news and product information.
• Schools appear to help narrow computer-use disparities among different types of students. Differences in the rates of computer use are smaller at school than they are at home, when considering such characteristics as race and ethnicity, family income, and parental education.

DIGEST OF EDUCATION STATISTICS, 2005.
Thomas D. Snyder, Alexandra G. Tan, and Charlene M. Hoffman.United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). July 2006; Web-posted August 10, 2006.
Full Report [zipped pdf file, 788 pages]Table of Contents [sections in pdf format, various pagings]

The first chapter of this annual compendium of education statistics is an overview of "All Levels of Education." Succeeding chapters cover Elementary and Secondary Education; Postsecondary Education; Federal Programs for Education and Related Activities; and Learning Resources and Technology. Enrollment rates, teachers, types of learning institutions, regulations, and education financing are among the topics covered in each section. Most of the content is in the form of data tables, charts and other graphics, with narrative introductions to provide overviews and context.

Among the highlights of this year's report: "Enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools rose 22 percent between 1985 and 2005. The fastest public school growth occurred in the elementary grades (pre-kindergarten through grade 8), where enrollment rose 24 percent over this period, from 27.0 million to 33.5 million. Public secondary school enrollment declined 8 percent from 1985 to 1990, but then rose 31 percent from 1990 to 2005, for a net increase of 20 percent. The number of public school teachers has risen faster than the number of students over the past 10 years, resulting in declines in the pupil/teacher ratio. Between 1994 and 2004, the number of full-time college students increased by 30 percent compared to an 8 percent increase in part-time students. During the same time period, the number of men enrolled rose 16 percent, while the number of women enrolled increased by 25 percent."

FORGIVE US OUR STUDENT DEBTS
Jon Gertner. New York Times Magazine. June 11, 2006

Full text available from your nearest American Library

Over the last two decades students and their families have born an increasing share of the cost of tertiary education as government subsidies decreased and the cost of tuition rose. Most students finance their at least a proportion of their studies by borrowing from financial institutions. While entry into high paying professions permits student debt to be quickly settled by some, many in professions such as teaching and social work face heavy student-debt loads which impact significantly on their quality of life.

The article discusses the social implications of student-debt, examines government programs which offer debt relief to graduates in exchange for employment in certain fields and geographic areas where their professional skills are scarce and looks at how governments of countries such as Australia effectively deal with the financing of education and repayment of loans.

DEBT EDUCATION: BAD FOR THE YOUNG, BAD FOR AMERICA
Jeffrey J. Williams. Dissent. Summer 2006
View on publisher's website

The author's perspective is very much one of education as a "public good" when he states "Gone are the days when state university was as cheap as a laptop and was considered a right, like secondary education. Now higher education is, like most social services, a largely privatized venture, and loans are the chief way that the majority of individuals pay for it"

Cost of education has shifted from the public tax base to the individual. Not only has there been this shift in policy and its implementation, but tuition fees have increased at three times the rate of inflation. This high cost makes "working ones way" through college a practical impossibility and loans provide the only practical solution. Federal Government assistance to students includes paying loan interest to financial institutions for the period of study. This benefits the banks rather than students, with Sallie Mae (formerly a federal nonprofit lender, but now privatized) posting a profit of 37% in 2004.

He provides an historical overview of public policy towards tertiary education funding over the last century and discusses solutions ranging from free higher education to programs offering debt relief for individuals willing to provide services where there is a shortfall, such as in community colleges.

A companion article"Higher Education, Inequality, and the Public Good" by Stuart Tannock explores the related topic of the university's role is contributing to the wealth gap in American society.

RATIONING EDUCATION IN AN ERA OF ACCOUNTABILITY.
Jennifer Booher-Jennings. Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 87, no. 10, June 2006.
View on publisher's website

An interesting overview of U.S. policy aimed at improving academic results for all learners at school and the problems caused when reporting favorable results that demonstrate school accountability outweight the need to assist struggling students.

The push for accountability was originally cast as a way to ensure that schools would leave no child behind. Ironically, as Ms. Booher-Jennings points out, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) system of requiring schools to demonstrate adequate yearly progress through test scores has created incentives to neglect the very students who need the most help.

While using regular testing to determine which students require remedial intervention is rational and objective, the implementation of intervention is not always equitable.

WORLD HUNGER SERIES (2006): HUNGER AND LEARNING.
World Food Programme and Stanford University Press. July 12, 2006.
Summary [English-language version, pdf format, 16 pages]

This is the first edition of the World Food Programme's new World Hunger Series, an annual publication that will focus on practical strategies to end hunger. The 2006 publication focuses on the relationship between hunger and learning.

Over 300 million children worldwide are regularly hungry and approximately 100 million of these are school-aged children who don't go to school because their parents are too poor. This report addresses how learning and hunger are entwined - even if they do manage to go to school, undernourished children are unable to concentrate on their lessons. The report presents options for policy makers to move forward, including basic steps to implement effective strategies to fight hunger and inadequate learning.

[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]

FROM SCHOOLING ACCESS TO LEARNING OUTCOMES: AN UNFINISHED AGENDA.
An Evaluation of World Bank Support to Primary Education. World Bank, Independent Evaluation Group. July 2006.
Download [pdf format, 164 pages]

This report by the World Bank's Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) finds that in developing countries over the past 15 years, high priority was accorded to increasing enrollments in primary schools, but much less attention was directed to the crucial issue of whether children are learning adequately.

According to this report, only 20 percent of primary education projects funded by the World Bank have an explicit objective to help children improve learning outcomes including such basic skills as reading and writing. Some 90 percent of the projects support quality improvements, usually in terms of better educational inputs such as books and teacher training, but only about 35 percent target and track improved student learning as made evident by, for example, better reading, writing and mathematical skills.

The IEG recommends that developing countries, the World Bank and development partners give the same emphasis to learning outcomes as to access, so that the world's increasing investments in primary education have a far greater impact on poverty reduction and national development.

[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]

THE ECONOMIC PROMISE OF INVESTING IN HIGH-QUALITY PRESCHOOL: USING EARLY EDUCATION TO IMPROVE ECONOMIC GROWTH AND THE FISCAL SUSTAINABILITY OF STATES AND THE NATION.
Committee for Economic Development (CED). June 28, 2006.
Download [pdf format, 74 pages]

While American children are the prime beneficiaries of early childhood education, the United States' economy and society can greatly profit from expanded child education programs, according to this report. Preschool programs not only prepare students for early educational success, but investing in high-quality early education also has long-lasting effects, improving students' outcomes well into their adolescent and adult years.

Economically, the long-term impacts of preschool programs translate into significant public and private benefits, with returns far exceeding the costs. Generating the expected returns requires investments in high-quality programs employing well-trained teachers that help children develop their academic, social, emotional, and physical skills. The report finds that implementing preschool programs for all students whose parents want them to participate is expected to generate significant public and private benefits, by producing $2 to $4 in net present-value benefits for every dollar invested, and by having a positive impact on state budgets and boosting long-term economic growth.

[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]

WHAT WE KNOW AND DON'T KNOW ABOUT IMPROVING LOW-PERFORMING SCHOOLS
Daniel L. Duke. Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 87, no. 10, June 2006

Full text available from your nearest IRC
Note:Selected articles are available on publisher's site

A number of states have implemented steps to improve low-performing schools. Steps range from sending teams to identify sources of low performance to assigning veteran educators with proven track records to assist or replace headmasters of these schools. The common feature of these programs is the reliance on experienced educators who may or may not be appropriate for the particular school and community. The author suggests that experience be combined with education research and cites five recent studies of 'school turnarounds'. He identifies eleven features of successful programs. These include:

• Assistance: Prompt assistance for learners experiencing problems.
• Collaboration: Teachers working together to plan, monitor and assist in the process.
• Data-driven decision making: Learner achievement data as basis for decisions on resource allocation, student needs and teacher effectiveness.
• Leadership: Actions of principals and teachers set the tone for improvement.
• Staff development: Teacher training on a continuing basis.
• Alignment: Tests, curriculum content and instruction closely aligned.
• High expectations: Teachers insist that learners have academic potential.
• Parent involvement: Outreach to parents to appraise them of their children's progress.

Finally the author identifies topics where more research is needed. These include understanding the process of school decline, examining teamwork, assessing interventions and identifying unintended consequences of programs.

UNITE OR DIVIDE? THE CHALLENGES OF TEACHING HISTORY IN SOCIETIES EMERGING FROM VIOLENT CONFLICT.
Elizabeth A. Cole and Judy Barsalou. United States Institute of Peace. June 2006.
Download [pdf format, 16 pages]

In November 2005, the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), with assistance from the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs (CCEIA), hosted a three-day conference, "Unite or Divide? The Challenges of Teaching History in Societies Emerging from Violent Conflict." Participants included 28 teachers, education ministry officials, academic historians, transitional justice experts, and social scientists from around the world. The conference explored how divided societies recovering from violent conflict can teach the conflict's history, so as not to re-ignite it or contribute to future cycles of violence, and to participate in a larger process of social reconstruction and reconciliation.

The report's authors note: "In deeply divided societies, contending groups' historical narratives -- especially the official versions presented most often in state-run schools -- are intimately connected to the groups' identities and sense of victimization. Such narratives are often contradictory and controversial. History taught in schools is highly susceptible to simplified and biased presentations, and this is even more likely after conflicts that end through international intervention. How schools navigate and promote historical narratives through history education partly determines the roles they, and those who control the schools, play in promoting conflict or social reconstruction. Among the greatest challenges in developing post-conflict history curricula are:

• "Hidden agendas" and residual structures in schools that reproduce divisions even after violence ends;
• Insecure environments in which teachers feel unsafe to address controversial subjects;
• Ubiquitous politicization of the history curriculum;
• Negative influences outside school walls (the media, religious institutions, popular culture, parents, etc.) promoting conflict;
• Low priority of history education in contrast to the focus on math and science;
• Short attention span of the international community;
• Inadequate efforts to measure long-term impact.

The report argues on behalf of more research into curricula development and pedagogical techniques to counter these influences.

THE CONDITION OF EDUCATION 2006. U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). June 1, 2006.
Full Report: [pdf format, 409 pages]Brief Report [pdf format, 26 pages]

The Condition of Education is a congressionally mandated report that provides an annual statistical portrait of education in the United States. The report is issued by U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The 50 indicators included in the report cover all aspects of education, from student achievement to school environment and from early childhood through postsecondary education.

The report shows that U. S. public schools now have the most diverse student population in their history. In addition, more individuals are enrolling in postsecondary education, and more bachelor's degrees have been awarded than in the past.

One of the major findings in the 2006 report is that high school students in the United States are consistently outperformed by those from Asian and some European countries on international assessments of mathematics and science. In contrast, fourth-graders score as well or better than most of their international peers, although their counterparts in other countries are gaining ground.

Other highlights include:

• Nineteen percent of children ages 5-17 speak a language other than English at home.
• Minority students make up 43 percent of public school enrollment.
• Female college enrollment passed male enrollment in 1978. The gender gap has widened and is expected to grow.

Dudig, Gene A. WRITING: A NECESSARY TOOL. (Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 87, no. 9, May 2006)

Full text (1 page) available from your nearest IRC

America's colleges have long been concerned about the number of high school graduates beginning their college education with inadequate writing skills. Business leaders are now expressing similar dissatisfaction with the writing skills of college graduates.

A survey of American business leaders by College Board's National Commission on Writing reported that a significant percentage of companies assess writing ability when hiring, two thirds of employees of large corporations have writing responsibilities and 40% of firms find it necessary to prescribe remedial training. Remedial action could be costing business as much as $3,3 billion per annum. Given this situation, the author wonders whether the private sector would provide colleges with funding to address these deficiencies in communication skills, particularly as improvements in technology demand improved writing skills.

Theresults of the survey and related reports may be accessed on theCommission's website

AMERICA'S BEST GRADUATE SCHOOLS. (U.S. News and World Report, vol. 140, no. 9, April 10, 2006)

Full text available from your nearest IRC orview selected articles on publisher's website

U.S. News focuses on graduate education in the latest of its well known features which profile and rank American institutions. Apart from the ranking tables for schools of business, education, engineering, law, and medicine, short articles address the issues of blogging in graduate study and campus life, increasing the number of female M.B.A. students and anachronistic law education.

THE GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY REVOLUTION 2020, IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS: Bio/Nano/Materials/Information Trends, Drivers, Barriers, and Social Implications. Richard Silberglitt et al. Rand Organization. June 1, 2006
View on publisher's website

"People in advanced nations will gain the greatest economic and quality of life benefits from major progress in technology in the next 14 years, while people in the least advanced countries will benefit only if they can overcome barriers to technology implementation, according to a RAND Corporation report issued today. The study examined 29 countries selected to represent global variations in size, region of the world, and social, economic and political conditions. Researchers labeled each country's scientific ability as fitting into one of four categories: advanced, proficient, developing or lagging." [Rand Organizationpress release]

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) EDUCATION ISSUES AND LEGISLATIVE OPTIONS.
Jeffrey J. Kuenzi, Christine M. Matthews, and Bonnie F. Mangan. Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service. May 22, 2006.
Download [pdf format, 35 pages]

There is growing concern that the United States is not preparing a sufficient number of students, teachers, and practitioners in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). A large majority of secondary school students fail to reach proficiency in math and science, and many are taught by teachers lacking adequate subject matter knowledge.

When compared to other nations, the math and science achievement of U.S. pupils and the rate of STEM degree attainment appear inconsistent with a nation considered the world leader in scientific innovation. In a recent international assessment of 15-year-old students, the U.S. ranked 28th in math literacy and 24th in science literacy. Moreover, the U.S. ranks 20th among all nations in the proportion of 24-year-olds who earn degrees in natural science or engineering.

Several pieces of legislation have been introduced in the 109th Congress that address U.S. economic competitiveness in general and support STEM education in particular. These proposals are designed to improve output from the STEM educational pipeline at all levels, and are drawn from several recommendations offered by the scientific and business communities.

The objective of this report is to provide a useful context for these legislative proposals. To achieve this, the report first presents data on the state of STEM education and then examines the federal role in promoting STEM education. The report concludes with a discussion of selected legislative options currently being considered to improve STEM education.

ARE PARENTS AND STUDENTS READY FOR MORE MATH AND SCIENCE? [A survey] Jean Johnson et al. Reality Check 2006, No. 1. Public Agenda.
Survey [pdf, 19 pages] "By obsolete, I mean that our high schools - even when they're working exactly as designed - cannot teach our kids what they need to know today" comments Bill Gates on the U.S. education system. His views are shared by many in the private sector who express specific concern about the standard of science and math education. Further, too few students are sufficiently skilled in math and science or even have the inclination to pursue careers in fields such as engineering which require these skills and knowledge. Business leaders see the nation's economic competitiveness being compromised if this trend continues. But what are the students and their parents views on increasing math and science coursework and what is students' perception of significance of these disciplines in their future careers? This survey reveals the answers.
[Note: Other issues in education surveyed by theReality Check series may be of interest.]

EXAMINING GAPS IN MATHEMATICS ARCHIEVEMENT AMONG RACIAL-ETHNIC GROUPS, 1972-1992. Mark Berends et al. Rand Corporation, 2005
Report [pdf format, 185 pages]Summary [pdf format, 8 pages]

"As schools in the United States become more output driven, students, educators, administrators, and policymakers are being held accountable for improving the academic achievement of all students. Federal education policy now mandates that states, districts, and schools monitor achievement gaps among students of different socioeconomic, racial-ethnic, and language groups. This book examines several nationally representative senior high school student cohorts between the early 1970s to early 1990s to understand trends in the mathematics scores of these different racial-ethnic groups, and analyzes how changes in family, school, and schooling measures help explain changes in the test score gaps over time.

The authors find that there were positive changes in some socioeconomic family background characteristics for black and Latino students, helping them narrow the gap with white students. Moreover, although there were few positive changes between schools, the within-school experiences of black and Latino students changed for the better compared with white students when measured by student self-reported academic track placement. Despite some beneficial changes for black and Latino students, inequalities persist. The authors point out the possibilities of various policies that address improving the socioeconomic and educational opportunities of students. Policymakers should think in more creative, coordinated, and comprehensive ways if the nation is to more effectively address student achievement gaps." [Rand Organizationabstract]

2006 STATE OF COLLEGE ADMISSION. David A. Hawkins and Melissa Clinedinst. National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC). May 17, 2006.
Report [pdf format, 86 pages]

This report finds that while the country's most selective colleges are admitting fewer candidates, a student's chance for admission to a four-year college is still overwhelmingly good - U.S. colleges and universities admit seven out of ten students who apply. Other trends noted in this year's report:

• There is a continued increase in applications to colleges and universities, fueled by increasing numbers of high school graduates.
• There is a marked increase in Early Decision and Early Action applications after several years of apparent decline.
• Grades in rigorous courses, standardized admission test scores, and overall grade point averages continue to be the top factors considered by colleges in the admission decision

EDUCATING LEADERS FOR TOMORROW'S SCHOOLS. (Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 87, no. 7, March 2006)
View table of contents and selected full text articles

University's schools of education have the responsibility for educating and training both teachers and education managers. There is current concern and criticism that these schools of education are not up to the task of producing managers with the necessary knowledge and skills demanded by the nation's education systems.

In this special edition of the Kappan, 14 scholars and practitioners take a look at the education of principals, superintendents, and other educational leaders. While the focus is on redesigning leadership programs at universities, several authors look at leadership development at other institutions such as military academies and the British National College for School Leadership as possible models for schools of education.

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Kahne, Joseph; Middaugh, Ellen IS PATRIOTISM GOOD FOR DEMOCRACY? A STUDY OF HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS' PATRIOTIC COMMITMENTS (Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 87, no. 8, Spring 2006, pp. 600-608)
View article on ProQuest (password required)

From their 2005 survey of 2,366 California high school seniors, authors Kahne and Middaugh conclude that educators have serious work to do if they hope to foster a strong and committed sense of democratic patriotism in their students. The point of Kahne and Middaugh's study was to assess high school seniors' views on patriotism and to determine the connection between love of country and democratic ideals. "Is patriotism good or bad?" the authors asked, focusing on commitment to country, attitudes toward critique of country, and active involvement. The authors found that while more than 73 percent of the seniors surveyed agreed that "the United States is a great country" and that 68 percent agreed that they "oppose some U.S. policies because I care about my country and want to improve it," these students were also three times more likely to endorse the idea that it is "un-American to criticize the country." Only 41 percent of the surveyed seniors agreed that "to be truly patriotic, one has to be involved in the civic and political life of the community." The authors are concerned that the United States is becoming a nation of passive patriots or spectators; "the risk this tendency poses to democracy is substantial," they write.

EDUCATING GIRLS, UNLOCKING DEVELOPMENT.
Ruth Levine. Current History, vol. 105, no. 689, March 2006, pp. 127-132

Full text available from your nearest American Library

It is estimated that globally 104 million to 121 million children of primary school age are not in school, with Africa suffering the worst shortfalls. In Africa, only 46% of girls complete primary school. The author outlines the benefits for individual girls, communities and economic development of the nation that education brings, suggesting that the current focus on primary education be extended to secondary and tertiary education to maximise these benefits.

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Miller, John J. PARIAHS, MARTYRS-AND FIGHTERS BACK: CONSERVATIVE PROFESSORS IN AMERICA. (National Review. vol. 57, No. 19, October 24, 2005, pp. 40-45)
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Academia "remains an impenetrable fortress of liberalism," writes author John Miller in this examination of conservative professors in the U.S. This inability to break into academia, he notes, is interesting, given the strong political gains of the conservative movement over the past decades-and the "problem" has grown worse. Conservative academics are increasingly a rare sight on campuses across America, and those left behind are subject to a hostile environment. Miller Illustrates the issue with several cases including a 15-year member of DePaul's faculty caught in a public debate with students on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, who was subsequently suspended and left the school. Due process, he says, does not appear to extend to conservative faculty who espouse conservative views publicly.

Furthermore, he says that conservative faculty may find it difficult to find jobs in the first place, given the preponderance of liberals in higher education. Diversity, an important component in many schools' recruitment efforts, does not appear to extend to the political spectrum, says Miller. Finally, as an example of political correctness run amok, the article includes what it calls a "tortuous" Dartmouth College advisory on how to respond to "disrespectful language."

Kozol, Jonathan. STILL SEPARATE, STILL UNEQUAL: AMERICA'S EDUCATIONAL APARTHEID (Harpers Vol.311, No. 1864, September 2005 pp. 41-54)
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An exposé of the segregation that still prevails and appears to be on the increase in American urban public schools. These public schools, typically drawing pupils from black and Hispanic communities, are plagued by inequalities and disparities in funding, facilities, teachers' salaries, choice of curricula,and academic achievement compared to schools accommodating largely white pupils from more affluent communities.

A related article by the same author, "Overcoming Apartheid", appears in The Nation (Web posted November 30, 2005) and may be viewed on thepublisher's site

COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. (Electronic Journal, November 2005. Bureau of International Information Programs, Department of State)
View the journal on the publisher's website

This journal includes descriptions of various types of U.S. institutions of higher learning, followed by articles that feature more detailed information about individual university programs, as well as articles about the concept of a "major," college life, and the American styles of instruction. Numerous photos and a video are included to enhance the written descriptions. It also presents information about resources for students seeking guidance in navigating the selection, application, and financial aspects of the U.S. system.

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Diver, Colin IS THERE LIFE AFTER RANKINGS? (Atlantic Monthly, vol. 296, no. 4, November 2005, pp. 136-139)
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Diver, president of Reed College, discusses his experience after opting out of the U.S. News & World Report ranking surveys. Believing that the ranking system undermines the diversity that characterizes institutions of higher education, Reed joined the five percent of colleges and universities that no longer participate in the U.S. News questionnaire. In Reed's opinion, the rankings reinforce the view that education is instrumental only in achieving extrinsic goals such as prestige or wealth, rather than intrinsic rewards, and creates strong incentives to inflate scores by manipulating data or distorting institutional behavior. Not only has the college survived, but it has thrived since shunning the rankings system, while having the freedom "to pursue its own educational philosophy, not that of some newsmagazine," Diver states. "Trying to rank institutions of higher education is a little like trying to rank religions or philosophies. The entire enterprise is flawed, not only in detail, but in conception." Still, there are many guides published each year, such as the six that are compared in an accompanying chart. This article is one of a series of five in this issue of Atlantic Monthly on college admissions.

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Wellman, Jane CREDIT HOUR: COUNTING WHAT COUNTS (Change, vol. 37, no. 4, July/August 2005, pp. 19-23)
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The basic unit of measurement in American higher education is the student credit hour (SCH). Originally developed at the beginning of the twentieth century as a measure of student time in the classroom and to quantify high school graduation and college admission requirements, the credit hour has today thoroughly permeated American higher education, and is used for cross-institutional transfer, external reporting, state and federal funding, faculty staffing requirements, accounting and physical facilities. The author, a senior associate at the Institute of Higher Education Policy, notes that there has been growing criticism about the rigidity of the credit hour, now that technology has broken the link between time in the classroom and teaching and learning. However, the credit hour persists because it is a "common currency" with which different institutions can recognize one another's degrees. Wellman notes that any attempt at wholesale change would be counterproductive and drawn-out, and advocates making smaller, incremental changes, such as breaking the link between time and credits.

FROM THE CAPITAL TO THE CLASSROOM: REPORT ON THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND (NCLB) ACT, YEAR 3.
Center on Education Policy (CEP). March 23, 2005.
Download the document [pdf format, 228 pages]

Note: The Center on Education Policy is a national, independent advocate for public education and for more effective public schools. Its Board of Directors includes leaders from both the private and public sector; nearly all of its funding comes from charitable foundations such as The Atlantic Philanthropies, The George Gund Foundation, The Joyce Foundation, The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, The Carnegie Corporation, The Hewlett Foundation, The Gates Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The Spencer Foundation, The William T. Grant Foundation, and Phi Delta Kappa International.

This review of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act is based on an extensive body of original research and analysis, including a survey of education officials in 49 states, a survey of 314 representative school districts, and in-depth case studies in 36 districts. Of the states and districts surveyed by the Center on Education Policy (CEP), 36 states (73 percent) and a majority of districts (72 percent) report that student achievement on state tests is improving. A majority of states and districts also say that achievement gaps are narrowing between white students and other key subgroups including black students, Hispanic students, English language learners (ELL) and others.

However, long-term challenges remain, particularly with regard to funding. A majority of districts received less federal Title I funding in 2004-05 than they did in the previous year, and while the overall federal education budget has grown in smaller percentages in 2004 and 2005 than in previous years, it now stands to be cut in 2006, according to President Bush's budget request. As a result, 42 of the 49 states surveyed by CEP indicate that providing assistance to all schools identified for improvement poses a serious or moderate challenge. Forty-five states say that staff size is a serious or moderate challenge, and 31 states report that staff expertise presents a serious or moderate challenge. Roughly equivalent numbers of states report that issues of adequate state funding (40 states) or federal funding (39 states) presented a serious or moderate challenge in carrying out NCLB last school year. Among the other key challenges identified by states and districts include: ensuring equitable distribution of highly qualified teachers; working with English language learners; a narrowing of the curiculum.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS: GREATER INVOLVEMENT NEEDED BY FCC IN THE MANAGEMENT AND OVERSIGHT OF THE E-RATE PROGRAM. [GAO-05-151]
United States Government Accountability Office (GAO). February 9, 2005; Web-posted March 16, 2005.
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Since 1998, the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) E-rate program has committed more than $13 billion to help schools and libraries acquire Internet and telecommunications services at affordable rates. Recently, however, there have been allegations of fraud, waste, and abuse by some E-rate program participants. GAO reviewed (1) the effect of the current structure of the E-rate program on FCC's management of the program, (2) FCC's development and use of E-rate performance goals and measures, and (3) the effectiveness of FCC's oversight mechanisms in managing the program.

Research for this report revealed that FCC has not developed useful performance goals and measures for assessing and managing the E-rate program. According to GAO, the goals established for fiscal years 2000 through 2002 focused on the percentage of public schools connected to the Internet, but the data used to measure performance did not isolate the impact of E-rate funding from other sources of funding, such as state and local government. A key unanswered question, therefore, is the extent to which increases in connectivity can be attributed to E-rate. GAO urges greater effort to determine actual impact.

However, GAO cautions that "schools and libraries across the country use E-rate funds for their purchases of telecommunications services. Any reassessment of the program must take the needs of the beneficiaries into account. It is particularly important that efforts to protect the program from fraud, waste, and abuse do not result in a program that is excessively burdensome on program participants."

FORUM UNIFIED EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY SUITE.
United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Web-posted February 1, 2005.
Download the document [Table of Contents page, sections in html format, various pagings]

This set or suite of documents, updated and compiled in a unified site, presents a practical, comprehensive, and tested approach to assessing, acquiring, instituting, managing, securing, and using technology in education settings. It is designed to help individuals who lack extensive experience with technology to develop a better understanding of the terminology, concepts, and fundamental issues influencing technology acquisition decisions This online resource combines and updates four previously existing NCES/Forum publications: Safeguarding Your Technology (1998), Technology @ Your Fingertips, Version 2.0 (2001), Technology in Schools (2002), and Weaving a Secure Web around Education (2003).

Alison Siskin. MONITORING FOREIGN STUDENTS IN THE UNITED STATES: THE STUDENT AND EXCHANGE VISITOR INFORMATION SYSTEM (SEVIS). [RL32188]
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service. Updated October 20, 2004
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There has been increased interest in monitoring foreign students while maintaining the long tradition of permitting international scholars to study in the United States. There are three main avenues for students from other countries to temporarily come to the United States to study, and each involves admission as a nonimmigrant. The three visa categories used by foreign students are: F visas for academic study; M visas for vocational study; and J visas for cultural exchange. Recently, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) implemented an electronic foreign student monitoring system.

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) of 1996 mandated that by 2003, the data collection include all countries. IIRIRA required the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to collect the information electronically "where practical." The USA Patriot Act of 2001 included provisions to expand the foreign student tracking system and authorized appropriations for the system, which was supposed to be funded through fees paid by the students. The Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002 increased monitoring of foreign students and closed perceived loopholes.

The foreign student monitoring system created by the former INS, and mandated in IIRIRA, is referred to as the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). SEVIS, which automated an existing manual data collection process, became operational for all incoming students on February 15, 2003, the deadline for all institutions which had previously been approved to admit foreign students to apply for SEVIS certification and enter all new students into the SEVIS system. The educational institutions were given until August 1, 2003 to enter all continuing students into the system, and to have their SEVIS certification completed. There have been few stories in the press of foreign students having problems entering the United States as a result of the implementation of SEVIS. Nonetheless, schools have reported technical difficulties operating SEVIS, and reported discrepancies between information received from different bureaus in DHS regarding SEVIS operations and requirements. In addition, some have concerns that it may be difficult for foreign students to pay the fee in the manner outlined in regulations, while others contend that the fee payment rules will not be a burden on students as most have already made similar types of payments to apply to schools. Additionally, some have noted delays in student visa processing. Prior to the implementation of SEVIS it was difficult to know when foreign students overstayed their visas. Through SEVIS, DHS should be able to identify students who have violated the terms of their visas; however, some question whether DHS has the staff to locate all student visa violators, and whether it is a beneficial use of DHS resources to do so. Others are concerned that clerical errors will lead to unwarranted enforcement actions.

LEARNING FOR TOMORROW'S WORLD: FIRST RESULTS FROM PISA [PROGRAM FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ASSESSMENT] 2003.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). December 6, 2004.
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The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a collaborative process among the 30 member countries of the OECD and nearly 30 partner countries. It brings together scientific expertise from the participating countries and is steered by their governments on the basis of shared, policy-driven interests. PISA is an unprecedented attempt to measure student achievement, as is evident from some of its features:

• The literacy approach: PISA aims to define each assessment area (mathematics, science, reading and problem-solving) not mainly in terms of mastery of the school curriculum, but in terms of the knowledge and skills needed for full participation in society.
• A long-term commitment: It will enable countries to monitor regularly and predictably their progress in meeting key learning objectives.
• The age-group covered: By assessing 15-year-olds, i.e. young people near the end of their compulsory education, PISA provides a significant indication of the overall performance of school systems.
• The relevance to lifelong learning: PISA does not limit itself to assessing students' knowledge and skills but also asks them to report on their own motivation to learn, their beliefs about themselves and their learning strategies.

More than 250,000 students in 41 countries took part in PISA 2003, the second three-yearly survey of its kind. The survey involves pencil and paper tests lasting two hours, taken in the students' schools. The main focus in PISA 2003 was on mathematics, but the survey also looked at student performance in problem-solving, science and reading and at students' approaches to learning and attitudes to school. Finland already led in the PISA 2000 reading assessment, and in PISA 2003 it maintained its high level of reading literacy while further improving its performance in mathematics and science. In mathematics, where the PISA 2003 tests sought to establish how well students can develop and apply mathematical models to deal with real-life tasks and interpret, validate and communicate the results, top-performing OECD countries also include the Netherlands.

The results of PISA 2003 suggest that both students and schools perform best in a climate characterized by high expectations that are supported through strong teacher-student relations, students who are ready to invest effort and who show interest and lower levels of anxiety with mathematics, and a positive disciplinary climate. In most of the countries that performed well, local authorities and schools also have substantial responsibility for educational content and/or the use of resources, and many set out to teach heterogeneous groups of learners.

INTERNATIONAL OUTCOMES OF LEARNING IN MATHEMATICS LITERACY AND PROBLEM SOLVING: PISA [PROGRAM FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ASSESSMENT] 2003 RESULTS FROM THE U.S. PERSPECTIVE.
United States Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. December 6, 2004.
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In 2003, U.S. performance in mathematics literacy and problem solving was lower than the average performance for most OECD countries. The United States also performed below the OECD average on each mathematics literacy subscale representing a specific content area (space and shape, change and relationships, quantity, and uncertainty). This is somewhat different from the PISA 2000 results, when reading literacy was the major subject area, which showed the United States performing at the OECD average. In the PISA 2000 reading literacy results, which showed that while the percentages of U.S. students performing at level 1 and below were not measurably different from the OECD averages, the United States had a greater percentage of students performing at the highest level (level 5) compared to the OECD average. In mathematics literacy and problem solving in 2003, even the highest U.S. achievers (those in the top 10 percent in the United States) were outperformed on average by their OECD counterparts.

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Kagan, Sharon Lynn, et al. PUTTING THE WORLD INTO WORLD-CLASS EDUCATION
Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 86, no. 3, November 2004, pp. 195-241
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Many people in the United States are aware that American students' knowledge of other countries, cultures, and languages has not begun to keep pace with the increasing importance of this knowledge to U.S. economic prosperity and national security, says Kagan. In a series of articles, the editors of this special section on international education present a discussion of the need to strengthen international education in American schools. Noting the gap between American students' international knowledge and skills and those they will need to effectively navigate an increasingly interconnected world, the editors sound a call not only to promote international education in U.S. schools, but to rethink the intent of education into the 21st century.

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Wee, Eric L. WORLDS APART
Washington Post Magazine, Education Review Issue, November 7, 2004, pp. 16-22, 32-33

Full text available from your nearest American Library

Ovais Ali, a 21-year-old from India's Kashmir region, always dreamed of studying in the United States. America beckoned with a popular culture that intoxicated him, he says -- but hatred for America swirled around him too. During the summer of 2004 Ali found himself one of a few dozen bright Muslim students from Arab and South Asian countries brought to the United States under a U.S. State Department program. The students lived at an American university, and for five weeks over the summer took classes on U.S. history, politics and society -- and saw everything from soup kitchens and a 4th of July parade to Ellis Island and Ground Zero. The program likely won't change how the students feel about U.S. foreign policy, say the program's sponsors, but they hope giving the students an honest view of the United States and its people might help them become voices of reason at home. The author followed the students during their visit, and recounts their experiences and how their views of the United States were changed.

BRAILLE LITERACY: RESOURCES FOR INSTRUCTION, WRITING EQUIPMENT, AND SUPPLIES.
Library of Congress. National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS). Web-posted November 23, 2004.
Download the document [html format, 42 printed pages]

This reference circular from the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) lists instructional materials, supplies, and equipment currently available for learning Braille, and cites sources about Braille literacy. The resources given are intended to assist sighted individuals who are interested in learning Braille or want to transcribe print materials into Braille; instructors who teach Braille; persons with visual impairments who are interested in learning to read and write Braille; and family members, friends, and professionals who seek information about Braille literacy.

Note: Information on NLS services for U.S. citizens living overseas and to citizens of other countries is available at:http://www.loc.gov/nls/overseas/index.html.

TRENDS IN EDUCATIONAL EQUITY OF GIRLS & WOMEN: 2004.
United States Department of Education, National Center on Education Statistics (NCES). Web-posted November 19, 2004.
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This statistical report from the Department of Education assembles a series of indicators that examine the extent to which males and females have access to the same educational opportunities, avail themselves equally of these opportunities, perform at similar levels throughout schooling, succeed at similar rates, and reap the same benefits from their educational experiences. According to the data presented in the report, the large academic achievement gaps that once existed between males and females have been eliminated in most cases and have significantly decreased in others.

Males and females begin school with similar preschool experiences, although females may have an advantage in early literacy participation experiences. Females outperform males on reading and writing assessments at fourth-, eighth-, and twelfth- grades. Throughout their elementary and secondary education, females are less likely than males to repeat grades and seem to have fewer problems that put them at risk. Since the early 1970s, women have made gains in postsecondary education in terms of enrollment and attainment. Female high school seniors tend to have higher educational aspirations than their male peers and are more likely to enroll in college immediately after graduating from high school. Females also account for the majority of undergraduate enrollment and the majority of bachelor's degree recipients.

The data presented in this publication demonstrate that in elementary and secondary school and in college, females are now doing as well as or better than males on many indicators of achievement and educational attainment, and that large gaps that once existed between males and females have been eliminated in most cases and have significantly decreased in other cases. Women are still underrepresented in some fields of study, as well as more generally in doctoral and first-professional degree programs, although they have made substantial gains in the past 30 years. These differences may have labor market consequences.

THE 2004 BROWN CENTER REPORT ON AMERICAN EDUCATION: HOW WELL ARE AMERICAN STUDENTS LEARNING?
Tom Loveless.
Brookings Institution, Brown Center on Education Policy. November 18, 2004.
Download the document [pdf format, 36 pages]

The National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP as it is commonly known, assesses fourth, eighth, and twelfth grade students in math and reading. Scores on the math assessments have risen dramatically over the last 10 years, indicating that U.S. students are becoming more adept at mathematics. This report finds that math items on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) math assessment lack challenging arithmetic, often requiring skills that are several years below grade level. The findings cast a disturbing light on the highly-publicized math gains as measured by the NAEP assessment. Despite sharply rising test scores on both the NAEP Math and most state math tests, the Brown Center's analysis of the difficulty of the math items at fourth and eighth grade demonstrates that the NAEP test fails to assess essential arithmetic skills that are required for success in algebra and higher mathematics.

The Brown Center report also examines the content training of middle school math teachers, and finds that a significant number of math teachers at this level lack formal undergraduate training in mathematics, and the professional development they are receiving appears to be inadequate to remedy the problem.

The last section of the report evaluates the Blue Ribbon Schools Program, which singles out highly successful schools for national recognition. According to research noted in the report, progress has been made in awarding Blue Ribbons to schools that truly deserve the award.

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Evelyn, Jamilah 2-YEAR COLLEGES FACE AN IDENTITY CRISIS (The Chronicle of Higher Education, October 29, 2004, pp. B1-B4)

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America's community colleges, which have played a large roll in corporate training, welfare-to-work and remedial programs, are experiencing enrollment explosions fueled by high school graduates who find they are unable to get into over-crowded four-year institutions. The increase in enrollment is pushing out less academically prepared students who traditionally rely on community colleges -- creating an identity crisis for these schools. Although community colleges have received strong praise from the Bush Administration, they remain at the bottom of the academic hierarchy, and are often left out of important budget and policy decisions, says Evelyn. This issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education examines the many challenges facing today's community colleges in meeting the needs of a changing society.

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Rothstein, Richard A WIDER LENS ON THE BLACK-WHITE ACHIEVEMENT GAP (Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 86, no. 2, October 2004, pp. 104-110)

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"The 50th Anniversary of the Supreme Courts' school desegregation order in Brown v. Board of Education has intensified public awareness of the persistent gap in academic achievement between black students and white students," says Rothstein. He argues that efforts to close the achievement gap that focus solely on school policies (for example, expectations that are too low, teachers who are insufficiently qualified, curricula that are badly designed, class that are too large) while ignoring the social-class characteristics that influence student learning, will fail. He believes that, to narrow the achievement gap, educators need also to focus on school improvement efforts that raise the quality of instruction; expanding the definition of schooling to include crucial out-of-school hours in which families and communities are the sole influences; and implementing social and economic policies that will enable children to attend school more equally ready to learn.

CRISIS AT THE CORE: PREPARING ALL STUDENTS FOR COLLEGE AND WORK.
ACT. October 14, 2004.

Note: ACT is an independent, not-for-profit organization that provides more than a hundred assessment, research, information, and program management services in the broad areas of education and workforce development.
Full Report [pdf format, 56 pages]Executive Summary [pdf format, 4 pages]

According to this new report, many high school graduates do not have all of the skills to succeed in college-level coursework or workforce training. Among the findings in the report is that only 22 percent of the 1.2 million high school graduates who took the ACT Assessment in 2004 achieved scores that would deem them ready for college in all three basic academic areas-English, math, and science. Since the 1983 U.S. Department of Education report, A Nation At Risk, was released, ACT has advocated a "core" curriculum that specifies the number of courses a student should take. This core includes four years of English and three years each of math, natural sciences and social studies. ACT's report argues that "core" is no longer enough to ensure success in college or the workplace.

The report urges schools to strengthen the high school core curriculum to help improve students' readiness for college and the workforce. Students in Kindergarten through eighth grade (K-8) who are not learning the foundational skills for rigorous high school coursework should be identified earlier and provided with supportive interventions, thus preparing them for higher level math and science courses such as trigonometry, pre-calculus, chemistry, and physics.

MINI-DIGEST OF EDUCATION STATISTICS, 2003.
Thomas D. Snyder.
U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Web-posted October 5, 2004.
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This publication is a pocket-sized compilation of statistical information covering the broad field of American education from kindergarten through graduate school. The statistical highlights are excerpts from the Digest of Education of Statistics, 2003. The statistical highlights provide a quantitative description of the current American education scene. They include information on the number of schools and colleges, teachers, enrollments, and graduates, in addition to educational outcomes, finances, and federal funds for education.

A DECADE OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT AID: 1989-90 TO 1999-2000.
Christina Chang Wei, Xiaojie Li, Lutz Berkner and C. Dennis Carroll.
U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Web-posted September 13, 2004.
Download the document [pdf format, 250 pages]

Tuition increases and the broader availability of federal student loans were the major driving forces of change in undergraduate student financing during the 1990s. A Decade of Undergraduate Student Aid: 1989-90 to 1999-2000 uses data from four National Postsecondary Student Aid Studies (NPSAS) to look at changes in financial aid to students in four types of institutions: public 2-year; public 4-year; private not-for-profit 4-year; and private for-profit less-than-4-year. The study focuses on full-time, full-year undergraduates in the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico and includes information on grants, loans, and work-study aid. The report also discusses the 1992 Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA-92) and its effects on how federal financial aid was distributed over time. As a result of its passage, many middle-income students who were previously ineligible for need-based student aid were able to receive it, primarily in the form of subsidized student loans. HEA-92 also increased the amounts students were permitted to borrow and for the first time allowed dependent students to take out federally guaranteed unsubsidized loans.

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Hatch, Thomas et al. BUILDING KNOWLEDGE FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING -- THE PROMISE OF SCHOLARSHIP IN A NETWORKED ENVIRONMENT (Change, vol. 36, no. 5, September/October 2004, pp. 42-49)

Full text available from your nearest American Library

According to the authors, research demonstrates that new technologies such as the Internet can provide a new medium for the production and exchange of knowledge that can transform education. For example, a Labor Law course at a prominent university engages students through a simulation in which they have a chance to form their own union and to negotiate with their professor as their "employer." This involves online discussion forums, a Website with links to numerous materials, and opportunities for students to create multimedia resources such as online newspapers and reports. At the same time, the professor videotapes classes for further discussion. The authors argue that teaching and learning benefit from innovations such as these, and discuss the promise, as well as the challenges, of creating multimedia applications, Web-based tools and networked information systems.

MEASURING UP 2004: THE NATIONAL REPORT CARD ON HIGHER EDUCATION.
National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. September 15, 2004.
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Measuring Up 2004, consists of the national report card for higher education and fifty state report cards. Its purpose is to provide the public and policymakers with information to assess and improve postsecondary education in each state. Measuring Up 2004 is the third in a series of biennial report cards. This series of Measuring Up report cards does not assess the quality or prestige of particular colleges or universities. Rather, it gauges the educational health of the population of each state in terms of five categories of college opportunity and achievement:

• Preparation: How well are young people in high school being prepared to enroll and succeed in college-level work?
• Participation: Do young people and working-age adults have access to education and training beyond high school?
• Completion: Do students persist in and complete certificate and degree programs?
• Affordability: How difficult is it to pay for college in each state when family income, the cost of attending college, and student financial assistance are taken into account?
• Benefits: How do workforce-trained and college-educated residents contribute to the economic and civic well-being of each state?

The report itself is linked to a more complete web site [http://measuringup.highereducation.org/] that provides state leaders, policy makers, researchers and others with access to the national report card as well as access to all fifty state report cards. In addition, users can compare any state with the best-performing states in each performance category, compare indicator scores and state grades for any performance category, obtain source and technical information for indicators and weights, and download the reports. Further, the Measuring Up web site has the capacity to view previous report cards from 2000 and 2002.

Note: Contains copyrighted material.

EDUCATION AT A GLANCE: OECD INDICATORS — 2004 EDITION. [SUMMARIES]
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). September 14, 2004.
Download the document [English-language, html format, 4 printed pages]Download the document [French-language, html format, 5 printed pages]

Note: These are links for portions of the full report. The full report is available for purchase from theOECD book shop.

According to this most recent OECD annual compendium of education statistics, more people around the world are completing university courses and other forms of tertiary education than ever before. However, progress has been uneven across countries and some have significantly fallen behind, potentially compromising their future ability to keep up with economic and social progress. This year, the report highlights factors affecting the future supply of qualified people and the relationship between educational attainment and employment and earnings.

Almost all OECD countries have seen a rise in the education levels of their citizens over the past decade, and in some countries the increase has been spectacular. Enrollment in tertiary education, which covers both university-level education and high-level vocational programs, increased between 1995 and 2002 by more than 50% in the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Korea and Poland, and still by more than 20% in Australia, Finland, Ireland, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Austria, France and Germany are the only countries which did not see increases, mainly because rising enrolment rates could not make up for the demographic decline in these countries.

However, in eight OECD countries, 20% or more of 20-to-24-year olds have at most only lower secondary school qualifications and are not in education. Mexico is in the least favorable position, with 70% of people in this age group having lower secondary education or less, followed by Turkey (56%), Portugal (47%), Spain (32%), Iceland (29%), Italy (25%), the Netherlands (21%) and Luxembourg (20%). Low educational attainment concerns more young males than females in 19 out of the 27 countries for which statistics are available, and particularly in Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain.

STATE HIGH SCHOOL EXIT EXAMS: A MATURING REFORM.
Keith Gayler, Naomi Chudowsky, Madlene Hamilton, Nancy Kober, and Margery Yeager.
Center on Education Policy (CEP). August 18, 2004.
Download the document [pdf format, 259 pages]

This report tracks the impact of the tests in 20 states that now require high school exit exams and five more that will require them by 2009. The authors find that most states report "pass rates" of 65 to 85 percent for students taking the exams the first time. However, large gaps in pass rates persist for black and Hispanic, low-income, and disabled students, and English language learners who in some cases can be more than twice as likely to fail. Meanwhile, 19 of the 25 states surveyed have completed or are now studying the alignment of their exams with state standards. But despite research showing that teachers' coverage of standards is clearly linked to improved student performance, most states have not examined whether schools are actually covering content assessed by the tests, according to the study.

To address these challenges, more states are offering exam-related support to teachers and students, including targeted professional development programs (14 states), and information guides, lesson plans, or curriculum guides for teachers (19 states). However, only 11 states have developed programs to help students prepare for or retake the test, such as weekend, after-school or summer tutorial programs, computer-based lessons, or study guides. In addition:

• Only five states are developing or using diagnostic or formative evaluations to identify students at risk of failing exit exams, though they have been shown to help reduce failure.
• States generally provide only limited, targeted funds for "hidden" costs involving remediation, prevention, and professional development, which make up most of the overall costs for exit exams.
• Programs or funding to help special populations pass exit exams - particularly students with disabilities and English language learners - are not common.

STATE LITERACY STANDARDS, PRACTICE, AND TESTING: EXPLORING ACCESSIBILITY. [NCEO Technical Report 38]
Sandra J. Thompson, Christopher J. Johnstone, Martha L. Thurlow, and Ann T. Clapper.
National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO). May 2004.
Download the document [html format, 22 printed pages]Download the document [pdf format, 31 pages]

The authors reviewed states' elementary and secondary (K-12) reading standards and found definitions of "reading" that go beyond definitions that focus heavily on print or the need to interact visually with print on a page. Their review indicates that states require a wide variety of activities as part of the reading process. Among the major themes that emerge from state reading standards:

• The acquisition of specific skills.
• The knowledge of the elements or conventions in language.
• An interactive, thinking activity.
• A problem-solving tool.
• A catalyst for personal growth.

The authors then examine and summarize alternative ways that students, especially those with print disabilities, can interact with print. Four modalities are discussed: visual (looking at the page), tactile (Braille), auditory (listening to a reader, book on tape, or computer screen reader), and multi-modal (any combination of the above). Non-visual approaches to reading present both opportunities and challenges. In theory, these approaches may make reading more accessible to students with disabilities that prevent them from accessing print. However, their use can also create challenges for teaching and testing.

KEEPING AMERICA'S PROMISE: A REPORT ON THE FUTURE OF THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE.
Katherine Boswell and Cynthia D. Wilson.
Education Commission of the States (ECS); League for Innovation in the Community College. July 2004.
Download the document [pdf format, 56 pages]

They authors maintain that community colleges face the most difficult challenges in American higher education. These are open-admissions institutions. They serve disproportionately high numbers of poor students and students of color. Many of their students are the ones who were least well served by their previous public school education and therefore most likely to have academic challenges as well as fiscal ones. Community college students are three to four times more likely than students in four-year colleges to reflect factors that put them at risk of not completing their education. To support services for these students, the community colleges on average charge only 37 percent of the tuition and fees charged at four-year institutions and receive a fraction of the per-student appropriations of state dollars. And these students are likely to be coming to community colleges in ever higher numbers over the next decade at least, even as higher education appropriations as a proportion of state budgets continue to decline.

Surveys of current high school students indicate that 80 percent intend to continue on to higher education, and almost half of all undergraduate students are now enrolling at public community colleges. These traditional-age students are being joined by adults who are returning to postsecondary education in search of new job skills in an uncertain economy. These combined factors suggest that enrollment pressures on two-year colleges are going to increase. Indeed, spiraling student enrollments are sparking significant battles in some legislatures over the appropriate distribution of increasingly limited state higher education resources. Leaders of many four-year colleges and universities fear that discussions about higher education funding will be increasingly dominated by issues related to enrollment growth, which will tend to benefit community colleges. They question funding policies that in their view provide for access at the expense of ensuring quality at upper-division colleges and universities.

Note: Contains copyrighted material.

SEARCH FOR SCHOOLS, COLLEGES AND LIBRARIES.
United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Institute of Education Sciences. Updated July 2, 2004.
Open the tool

With the information in this database, once can create lists and reports of U.S. public schools, private schools, public libraries and postsecondary institutions. Search for Schools, Colleges and Libraries lets you search for institutions based on geographic location, then click on individual entries for more information. One can, for example, retrieve a listing of all colleges or public schools or private schools or public libraries in Louisiana, or just the ones in or near New Orleans. This tool has just been updated with 2002-03 data from about 94,000 public schools across the U.S.

THE CONDITION OF EDUCATION 2004.
John Wirt, Patrick Rooney, Susan Choy, Stephen Provasnik, Anindita Sen, and Richard Tobin.
United States Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). June 1, 2004.
Full Report [pdf format, 324 pages]Summary [pdf format, 27 pages]Condition of Education Website [most sections in pdf format]

Each section of the print volume of the 2004 Condition of Education begins with a summary of the general topic areas covered by the indicators in this volume and on The Condition of Education web site. All indicators contain a discussion, a single graph or table on the main indicator page, and one or more supplemental tables. All use the most recent national data available from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) or other sources serving the purposes of the indicator. The icon to the side of the graph or table directs readers to supplemental notes, supplemental tables, or another source for more information.

The report presents 38 indicators on the status and condition of education and a special analysis of change in student financial aid between 1989-90 and 1999-2000. The indicators represent a consensus of professional judgment on the most significant national measures of the condition and progress of education for which accurate data are available. The 2004 print edition includes 38 indicators in six main areas: (1) enrollment trends and student characteristics at all levels of the education system from elementary education to adult learning; (2) student achievement and the longer term, enduring effects of education; (3) student effort and rates of progress through the educational system among different population groups; (4) the contexts of elementary and secondary education in terms of courses taken, teacher characteristics, and other factors; (5) the contexts of postsecondary education; and (6) societal support for learning, including parental and community support for learning, and public and private financial support of education at all levels.

The web version includes special analyses, essays, and indicators from this year's and earlier editions of The Condition of Education.

HOW TO GET STARTED AND KEEP GOING: A GUIDE TO COMMUNITY MULTIMEDIA CENTRES.
Stella Hughes, Sucharita Eashwar, and Venus E. Jennings, editors.
UNESCO. May 12, 2004.
Download the document [pdf format, 144 pages]

This document is a practical tool intended to be of use to those involved in community multimedia centers (CMCs) or other models of community media (information centers, multipurpose telecenters, community learning centers, etc.). Staff and managers, community groups, NGOs working for community empowerment, communication planners supporting development activities, trainers, project partners and researchers may all find the guide of interest. It will be of particular use to those wanting to start a CMC or a related information center, as it covers range of topics linked to community broadcasting and telecenter management.

Specific CMC issues, ranging from types of CMC to relevant technologies, community involvement, developing training and skills, organizational matters, research and evaluation, sustainability and sourcing information and contents are dealt with in eleven chapters. It contains numerous illustrations, practical examples and case studies from operational CMCs, which makes it a user-friendly reference.

GLOBAL EDUCATION DIGEST 2004: COMPARING EDUCATION STATISTICS ACROSS THE WORLD.
UNESCO. April 22, 2004.
Download the document [pdf format, 150 pages]

This new edition of the Digest, published by UNESCO's Institute for Statistics, presents the latest global education indicators, one example of which is school life expectancy (SLE), or the number of school years that a child, on average, is likely to spend in the education system. It shows that children in Europe, South America and Oceania spend the most time in education, with an average school life expectancy from primary to secondary of over 12 years. North American children follow with just over 11 years, while children in Asia can expect to spend, on average, nine years in school. In Africa, the average is 7.6 years. The lowest school life expectancy in the world of just over two years for the 2001/02 school year is in Afghanistan.

Despite the gaps between countries and regions, the figures show a marked increase in participation in primary and secondary education over the past decade all over the world. The greatest changes, according to the Digest occurred in Africa, where a number of countries showed increases in school life expectancy of two and three years, and in Uganda and Comoros, over four years. In a few countries, school life expectancy fell. "The most dramatic situation is in the Congo," states the Digest, "which showed the highest level of primary to secondary enrolment amongst African countries in 1990. In 2001, school life expectancy was over four years lower than it was in 1990." The increases in participation across the world, although to a lesser extent in Africa, are driven by longer periods of compulsory education, which in most countries, now extend to at least some secondary education.

The Digest, which presents detailed global data on pre-primary through tertiary education, teachers and finance, also looks at progress towards international education targets and national standards for compulsory education based on statistics and indicators provided by UNESCO's Member States and complementary sources, including international household surveys and student assessment programs.

VITAL ASSETS: FEDERAL INVESTMENT IN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AT THE NATION'S UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES.
Donna Fossum, Lawrence S. Painter, Elisa Eiseman, Emile Ettedgui, and David M. Adamson.
RAND. Web-posted April 20, 2004.
Full Report [pdf format, 189 pages]Summary [pdf format, 5 pages]

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) provided 67 percent - or two-thirds - of all federal funding that went to higher education institutions for research and development projects in FY 2002. That includes medical school and non-medical school research and development. HHS has received sizeable funding increases in recent years, particularly for the National Institutes of Health. Even when HHS funding to medical schools was removed from the mix, the agency continued to be the major provider of research and development funds to higher education institutions, providing 40.6 percent of the total.

The other five agencies that accounted for the vast majority of federal funding for research and development funds provided to universities and colleges are: the National Science Foundation (11 percent); Department of Defense (7 percent); NASA (5 percent); Department of Energy (4 percent); and Department of Agriculture (3 percent).

The RAND analysis also found that federal funding is concentrated in a fairly small number of higher education institutions. The top 80 institutions received 71 percent of the total federal funds awarded for university and college research and development. A dozen institutions consistently ranked in the top 20 recipients of research and development funding, whether or not awards to medical schools are included. Those schools are, in alphabetical order: Columbia University; Harvard University; Johns Hopkins University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Stanford University; University of California, Los Angeles; University of California, San Diego; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; University of Washington, Seattle; and University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Note: Contains copyrighted material.

EDUCATION AND INDOCTRINATION IN THE MUSLIM WORLD: IS THERE A PROBLEM? WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT? [Cato Policy Analysis No. 511]
Andrew Coulson.
Cato Institute. March 11, 2004.
Download the document [pdf format, 36 pages]

The author asserts that in dozens of countries from Pakistan to Indonesia, militant Islamist schools are inculcating scores of thousands of students with an ideology of intolerance, violence, and hate. In the past, the United States abetted such schools as part of its strategy for containing Soviet expansionism. He says that "After a gradual about-face in the years leading up to September 11, 2001, the American government is now funding and cajoling the governments of several majority-Muslim nations to rein in their more militant schools."

Coulter claims that, on the basis of contemporary and historical evidence, both past and present U.S. policies are faulty. Any U.S. strategic gains from funding militant Islamist education during the 1980s were negligible compared to the long-term harm wrought by that policy. Coulter argues that "The present strategy of subsidizing or pressuring foreign governments to draw more children into undemocratic state schools is ill-conceived and incompatible with American ideals."

PROJECTIONS OF EDUCATION STATISTICS TO 2013.
Debra E. Gerald and William J. Hussar.
United States Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). October 2003, Web-posted January 2004.
Download the document [pdf format]

This report provides revisions of projections shown in Projections of Education Statistics to 2012 and Projections of Education Statistics to 2011. It includes statistics on elementary and secondary schools and degree-granting institutions. Included are projections of enrollment, graduates, teachers, and expenditures to the year 2013.

In addition to projections at the national level, the report includes projections of public elementary and secondary school enrollment and public high school graduates to the year 2013 at the state level. These projections were produced by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to provide researchers, policy analysts, and others with state level projections developed using a consistent methodology. They are not intended to supplant detailed projections prepared in individual states.

TEACHING AT RISK: A CALL TO ACTION.
The Teaching Commission. January 14, 2004.
Download the document [pdf format, 68 pages]

Note: The Teaching Commission is a bipartisan group that comprises former elected officials, corporate CEOs, school leaders, a teachers-union president, and leaders of philanthropy and higher-education institutions.

This report published by The Teaching Commission outlines a strategy to fundamentally upgrade teaching as a profession by changing the way teachers come into the field, as well as the way they are trained, assessed, supported, and compensated. "The quality of teachers in our schools affects every aspect of our society, from jobs to national security," said Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., former chairman of IBM and chairman of The Teaching Commission. "The nation will not continue to lead or to create new jobs if we persist in viewing teaching-the profession that makes all other professions possible-as a second-rate occupation."

While praising the work of the nation's many dedicated teachers, The Teaching Commission report asserts that the current system fails both teachers and students. The pan el argues that too many students are taught mathematics, for example, by teachers who do not have a major or minor in that subject, or science by teachers who have not sufficiently demonstrated content knowledge in that area. Worse still, poor and minority students, who are often the most academically needy, tend to get the least experienced or capable teachers.

AA04238
Maier, Pauline TEACHING THE NATION'S HISTORY (Humanities, vol. 25, no. 4, July-August 2004, pp. 26-32)
View article on publisher's website

Maier, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, states that political approaches to early American history are unpopular with many young historians, as historical research "has shifted by and large from political to social and then cultural history" in the past few decades. At the same time, the reading public's appetite for political histories on America's founding seems "almost insatiable," while the publication of recent editions of the papers of prominent founders has provided a wealth of new materials. Therefore, Maier believes that there is evidence that "political history as a whole is reviving." This article was adapted (with Q&A) from the keynote address given at a forum sponsored by the National Endowment for Humanities as part of the "We the People" initiative to foster the study of American history and culture.

AA04239
Parini, Jay THE WELL-TEMPERED SEMINAR (Chronicle of Higher Education, vol. 50, no. 46, July 23, 2004, p. 15)

Full text available from your nearest American Library

Jay Parini, poet, novelist and English Professor at Middlebury College in Vermont, waxes poetical about the college seminar, "that midpoint between the lecture and the individual tutorial, that place in the curriculum where students get to test their knowledge of a discipline against a professor's". He contrasts the modern American seminar with the old Germanic version of the professor as the "master of the universe" which "does not wash in the democratic world of American colleges." The word "conduct" is used for leading a seminar because it is, in fact so much like conducting an orchestra. "The seminar demands a fluidity, an ease wherein the pursuit of truth rises above any ego demands of the teacher. It comes alive in the dialectic, the process of working toward a sense of shared understanding."

AA04221
Kafer, Krista A HEAD START FOR POOR CHILDREN? (World & I, vol. 19, no. 2, February 2004, pp. 54-59)
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The Head Start program, designed to improve academic skills for preschool children from low-income households, has been controversial since its inception in 1965. Currently, the USD 6.6 billion program enrolls about 900,000 preschoolers. Although the program does provide help to children who would otherwise enter school even further behind their middle-class peers, critics charge that the school achievement gap still stubbornly persists, and that it is unclear whether the Head Start advantage can be maintained over time. A large-scale impact study is underway to examine the achievement level of Head Start participants with that of their nonparticipating peers. Proposed Congressional legislation would enact a pilot program in which eight states would run their Head Start programs, and would open the program to faith-based organizations, which Head Start advocacy groups oppose. The author notes that until the impact study is finished, the "jury is still out" on whether the Head Start program is effective. A Head Start cofounder notes that it is difficult to "inoculate children in one year against the ravages of a life of deprivation."

AA04189
Darling, Sharon FAMILY LITERACY: MEETING THE NEEDS OF AT-RISK FAMILIES (Phi Kappa Phi Forum, vol. 84, no. 2, Spring 2004, pp. 18-21)
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The author, a teacher and administrator, notes that children of parents who lack basic literacy skills are less likely to have educational opportunities, and have much smaller vocabularies, adversely affecting their ability to succeed in school and in the workplace. The intergenerational cycle of poverty is a self-perpetuating one, notes Darling, as "low literacy skills are passed down from parent to child in a legacy of want." The key is to approach literacy skills as a family unit, providing education to both parents and children, and organizing time for parents and children to read together, such as the groundbreaking programs of the National Center for Family Literacy in Louisville, Kentucky.

AA04153
Goodchild, Fiona M. THE PIPELINE: STILL LEAKING (American Scientist, Vol. 92, No. 2, March-April 2004, pp. 112-114)
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In late 2003 the National Science Board released a report, Realizing America's Potential, which describes U.S. student interest in critical science and engineering fields as "flat or reduced" despite a decade-long effort by scientists, educators and business professionals to increase enrollments. The author, a former K-12 educational coordinator at an outreach center sponsored by the National Science Foundation, believes more attention needs to be paid now to how sciences are taught in the first two years of college, with less attention to "weeding out" students and a greater effort to showcase the relevance and applications of science and engineering in the workforce.

AA04160
Trachtenberg, Stephen Joel EDUCATION IS NOT A LUXURY (The World & I, vol. 19, no. 3, March 2004, pp. 280-287)
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Trachtenberg, president and professor of public administration at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., maintains that the way the U.S. school system evolved is responsible for many of its problems today. "For Americans eighty years ago, tending the crops was the most important thing, and schooling was a luxury," he says. But the United States still maintains a school calendar that reflects life eighty years ago; with long school breaks for the summer and school hours that are too short. The author argues that U.S. schools would benefit from following the university model, which is driven by missions of learning and service, as well as the compelling need to be efficient, and to get the most out of staffs and buildings.

AA04113
Poe, Marshall THE OTHER GENDER GAP (Atlantic Monthly, vol. 293, no. 1, January/February 2004)
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The U.S. is experiencing a gender gap in educational advancement between girls and boys, shared with other nations such as England and Australia. Since the cultural barriers to girls attending college and graduate school have been lifted, girls have been significantly outnumbering boys in higher education. The problem, according to the author, begins in K-12 schooling, where girls have long outperformed boys. In an educational system that rewards self-control and concentration, boys are at a disadvantage; today, shorter recess times, less physical education, and more testing have "exacerbated the problems that boys tend to experience in the classroom," according to the author. As a result, boys disengage academically, and look to work as an alternative to school. Since college graduation is almost a prerequisite for a middle-class lifestyle in the United States and fewer than fifty percent of boys go to college, the situation could have long-term economic consequences. This article is part of Atlantic Monthly's annual STATE OF THE UNION series.

AA04099
Orenstein, Peggy FOOD FIGHTER (New York Times Magazine, March 7, 2004, pp. 30-33)
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Alice Waters, founder of the legendary restaurant Chez Panisse, in Berkeley, California, the chef who revolutionized American dining, is on a mission to transform the American school cafeteria. Through a non-profit foundation, Waters has created the Edible Schoolyard, a project in a local high school in which students cultivate seasonal produce and prepare their own food for lunch. Her goal is not only to awaken children to the fact that freshly grown and picked fruits and vegetables are far tastier than their pre-packaged counterparts, but to change America's relationship with food -- "we have to be aware of whom we're buying our food from and how it's produced." Dietary health statistics reaffirm her convictions: nationwide, one in six children ages 6 to 19 are overweight, more among African-Americans and Latinos. Millions of children sit down to school lunches laden with fat, sugar and salt; one of the mandates of the National School Lunch Program is to provide an outlet for surplus agricultural commodities, especially beef and dairy products. Farm-to-school programs such as Waters', which have been gaining ground in recent years, have their detractors who level charges of elitism, but notes one activist, "we launched national antismoking and anti-drug programs in schools -- this issue is at least as serious."

AA04050
Flanagan, Brenda TUSKEGEE'S REAL FOUNDER (American Legacy, vol. 9, no. 3, Fall 2003, pp. 35-38)

Full text available from your nearest American Library

Booker T. Washington is known as the father of the Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), one of the most famous educational institutions in America. Flanagan tells the story of how Lewis Adams, the son of a slave woman and a white planter, used his considerable influence in the black community to leverage funding for a school for black teachers called Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in 1881, which evolved into Tuskegee University. Once the school was a reality, Adams was the person who helped smooth the way for the then-virtually unknown Booker T. Washington to head the Institute, which he built into a center of learning and industrial and agricultural training. For decades, Booker T. Washington was the major African-American spokesman in the eyes of white America.

AA04033
COUNT ME IN: SPECIAL EDUCATION IN AN ERA OF STANDARDS (Education Week, vol. 23, no. 17, January 8, 2004, p. 7)

Full text available from your nearest American Library

This summary introduces a special issue of Education Week, QUALITY COUNTS 2004, that focuses on issues related to special education. As a result of the No Child Left Behind Act all students, including those with disabilities, must be included in state standards, assessments, and accountability systems, and perform on the "proficient" level on state tests within ten years. Educators and parents alike find themselves torn between wanting to raise expectations for students with disabilities and concerns about unintended negative consequences. Most teachers question whether special education students should have to meet the same academic standards and testing requirements as others their age. Profiles of students illustrate the diversity of students with disabilities and how their special needs are accommodated. In addition to focusing on special education issues, the report charts progress in other areas of states' education systems.