from the Education Commission of the States
 

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Wednesday, November 19, 2008

WHAT STATES ARE DOING
IMPROVING TEACHER QUALITY - KENTUCKY'S Council on Postsecondary Education recently awarded more than $1.1 million in grant funding for professional development for P-12 teachers and administrators. As part of the Improving Educator Quality state grant program, eight approved projects will serve more than 310 teachers in 70 Kentucky school districts over 18 months beginning January 2009.
http://www.cpe.ky.gov/news/mediaroom/releases/nr111008.htm

SMOKING AND BINGE DRINKING - FLORIDA has announced significant reductions in cigarette smoking and binge drinking among the state's middle school and high school students since 2000, as reported by the 2008 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey.
http://www.flgov.com/release/10343

ASTRONOMY EDUCATION, TRAINING AND RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP - Governor Linda Lingle of HAWAI'I has announced a new Hawai'i-Taiwan joint partnership in undergraduate education, community outreach and astronomy research stemming from the Taiwan-American Occultation Survey (TAOS). The partnership will facilitate the enhancement of current TAOS research capabilities in Hawai'i and initiate reciprocal educational, outreach and research programs.
http://hawaii.gov/gov/news/releases/2008/news_item.2008-11-17.9953241938

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NEW ECS PRODUCTS
9TH GRADE TRANSITIONS - The 9th grade year is critical to students’ success in high school. This ECS Policy Brief looks at research on the 9th-grade transition, some expert recommendations and examples of relevant policies in place in the states.
http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/78/91/7891.pdf

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GOOD READS
LONGITUDINAL DATA SYSTEMS - The Data Quality Campaign's newly released third annual report reveals that six states have all 10 elements of a comprehensive data system that can track student progress from preschool through college, and 48 states have at least half the elements. States also are committed to continuing to build and expand these data systems: 47 states plan to have eight or more of the 10 elements in place within three years. Despite this progress, the report notes some areas where much work remains.
http://www.dataqualitycampaign.org/files/publications-measuring_what_matters.pdf

INCLUSION OF STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES - Since the late 1990s, participation rates of students with disabilities in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) from different states have fluctuated. A new report from the National Center for Education Statistics examines the status and changes in the NAEP state inclusion rates for students with disabilities.
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pdf/studies/2009453.pdf

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UPCOMING MEETINGS/EVENTS
ENTREPRENEURSHIP - This week, an estimated 5 million young people in 77 countries will take part in the first ever Global Entrepreneurship Week. In the United States, all 50 states are joining the global effort with more than 1,200 partners hosting 800-plus events throughout the country. The goal of Global Entrepreneur Week is to connect innovative young people with their counterparts around the world, and ultimately create a global movement of entrepreneurial people.
http://www.kauffman.org/Details.aspx?id=5776

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