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Archives The last couple month's worth of ECS' e-Connection may be accessed below. Please note that key items from previous issues appear in various places on the ECS website. For example, "Good Reads" have been placed in the "Research and Readings" category of the Education Issue sites to which they pertain. Items from "What States Are Doing" also appear in the Education Issue sites under the category by the same name. ____________________________________________________________________________________ May 7, 2012 New from ECS More Effective Remedial Assessment and Placement Policies Remedial Limits at Four-Year Institutions What States Are Doing End of Course Exams Workforce Development Health P-3 Good Reads Teacher Quality: Induction Programs Statistics: Size and Number of Districts, by State Names in the News Dr. Lillian M. Lowery Announcements Postsecondary: Free Online Courses Upcoming Meetings and Webinars 2012 ECS National Forum P-3: Technology Education Fact Unemployment Source: P. Taylor, K. Parker, R. Kochhar, R. Fry, C. Funk, E. Patten and S. Motel. Young, Underemployed and Optimistic: Coming of Age, Slowly, in a Tough Economy. (Washington, D.C.: Pew Social & Demographic Trends, 2012), http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/files/2012/02/SDT-Youth-and-Economy.pdf, (accessed February 28, 2012). May 2, 2012 New From ECS Rural Summit Postsecondary Resource for State Policymakers What States Are Doing Achievement Gaps Innovation Award Teacher of the Year Common Core State Standards Good Reads Teacher Transfer Incentives Data Systems Graduation Rates Postsecondary Education: Business Involvement Announcements Postsecondary Data School Improvement Grants Upcoming Meetings and Webinars 2012 ECS National Forum Common Core Education Fact NAEP Science Performance Source: National Science Board. 2012. Science and Engineering Indicators 2012. Arlington VA: National Science Foundation (NSB 12-01), http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind12/pdf/seind12.pdf, (accessed February 27, 2012).
April 23, 2012 New From ECS Common Core Website ECS Research Studies Database School Turnarounds What States Are Doing P-3: Assessments Career and Technical Education Good Reads Postsecondary Enrollment: Community Colleges P-3: Chronic Absence Postsecondary Success: Remediation Announcements America’s Promise Alliance Upcoming Meetings and Webinars 201 ECS National Forum Common Core Education Fact NAEP Mathematics Performance Source: National Science Board. 2012. Science and Engineering Indicators 2012. Arlington VA: National Science Foundation (NSB 12-01), http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind12/pdf/seind12.pdf, (accessed February 27, 2012). April 16, 2012 New from ECS Common Core Website ECS Research Studies Database School Turnarounds What States Are Doing Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) Online Resources Virtual Education Good Reads Postsecondary Access Instructional Materials Recess Announcements Race to the Top Upcoming Meetings and Webinars 2012 ECS National Forum Education Fact NAEP Mathematics Performance
April 9, 2012 New from ECS What States are Doing Data-driven Decision Making April 2, 2012 NEW ECS PRODUCTS P-3 – A new ECS brief examines policies to promote 3rd-grade reading proficiency, including early identification of and intervention for struggling readers, as well as retention as an action of last resort. The authors outline case studies in both Florida and New York City, and identify decisions policymakers must consider as they implement policies around 3rd-grade literacy. SERVICE-LEARNING – This brief summarizes the results of a 50-state policy scan on service-learning and community service conducted by ECS’ National Center for Learning and Citizenship (NCLC). NCLC found that Inclusion in state statute and code gives service-learning validity and stability, and ensures that it is not subject to the varying interests and priorities of specific leaders. ECS RESEARCH STUDIES DATABASE COLLEGE READINESS – This study investigates gaps between actual and desirable math achievement trajectories for students' college readiness. The results suggest that entrance into and completion of two-year versus four-year colleges requires substantially different levels of math achievement in earlier education periods. Further, the authors found that meeting national versus state proficiency standards leads to differences in postsecondary education outcomes and can mean the difference between bachelor's and associate's degree attainment. WHAT STATES ARE DOING COMMON CORE – California's Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson presented the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) Systems Implementation Plan for California to the executive and legislative branches of state government. The CCSS Systems Implementation Plan for California describes the major phases and activities in the implementation of the CCSS throughout California's educational system. Graduation –"Graduation Matters" grants were awarded to 22 Montana schools to increase the number of students who graduate prepared for college and careers. The Office of Public Instruction was awarded $450,000 over three years from the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation to support community-based initiatives. STANDARDS – The Colorado Department of Education has made available PowerPoint presentations and other resources from the Standards Implementation Summit that took place in March. Topics covered include developing an action plan for successful standards transition, effective instructional leadership through reform efforts, and utilizing free resources and expertise to improve professional development. STEM – Maine provides K-12 STEM resources including programs, internships, and summer camps on its STEM resource website. GOOD READS RTTT – This report from the Center for American Progress examines the efforts of states that won Race to the Top (RTTT) grants. The authors evaluated the states on their efforts and benchmarked their success against a set of key indicators. A summary is available here. TEACHING QUALITY – A new publication from OECD evaluates education systems around the world, identifies the best ways to improve the quality of teaching, provides available research about what can make educational reforms effective, and highlights examples of reforms that have produced specific results, show promise, or illustrate imaginative ways of implementing change. DATA – This report from the Data Quality Campaign provides an analysis of whether each state has a high school feedback data system, and if they do, who is providing the information, what components are included, and where is can be found. SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT GRANTS – Based on a winter 2011-12 survey of state directors of the federal Title I program, this report from the Center on Education Policy examines the first year of state implementation of the School Improvement Grants (SIG) program. It focuses on state processes for renewing the SIG awards made for school year 2010-11, state assistance to schools, and general perceptions of the ARRA SIG program requirements. MEETINGS P-3 – The CAYL Institute is hosting its 4th annual national conference for principals and child care directors titled What Really Works? Impact and Innovation for Young Learners. Registration is now open for the conference, which will be held from July 15-18, 2012 in Baltimore, Maryland. The conference will provide access to national experts in early education and tools that can help assess and improve program effectiveness. ED FACT TEACHING QUALITY – “Fifty-four percent of mathematics teachers and 58% of science teachers had earned a master’s or higher degree in 2007, compared with 48% and 52%, respectively, in 2003.”
March 26, 2012 NEW ECS PRODUCTS COMMON CORE – ECS has launched Core Commons, a new website devoted to issues surrounding the Common Core State Standards. Click here to explore research, policy summaries and the Core Commons blog. ECS RESEARCH STUDIES DATABASE POSTSECONDARY SUCCESS – A recently-entered research study analyzes the predictive validity of one of the most commonly used assessments and examines whether other measures of preparedness, such as high school background and prior college-preparatory units completed, might be equally or even more predictive of college success. WHAT STATES ARE DOING FULL-DAY KINDERGARTEN – Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels signed into law H.B.1376, which provides a grant of $2,400 per child for full-day kindergarten. Notably, charter schools are eligible to receive funding, and schools are not permitted to charge a fee for enrolling or participating in full-day kindergarten. AT-RISK– Utah legislators transmitted H.B.513 to Governor Gary R. Herbert. The bill creates an early intervention program for at-risk students that would be delivered partly through an enhanced kindergarten program at school districts and charter schools choosing to offer it. Governor Herbert recently signed into law S.B.151, which directs the Education Interim Committee to conduct a study of programs and initiatives to assist students at risk of academic failure. TECHNOLOGY –California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced the creation of an Education Technology Task Force to recommend how to bring 21st century tools into California’s classrooms. The 48-member task force will work in sub-groups to explore education technology in five key areas: learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure and productivity. GOOD READS URBAN SCHOOLS – New Schools for New Orleans released a report offering insights and lessons learned from the city’s post-Katrina effort to develop a choice-based, predominantly charter system. P-3 – A new report from the Brookings Institution examines the reasons why poor children are less ready for school and evaluates three interventions for improving their school readiness. The authors find that, of the three interventions they considered, preschool programs offer the most promise for increasing children’s school readiness. INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS – The Council on Foreign Relations released a report titled U.S. Education Reform and National Security. An independent task force chaired by Joel I. Klein and Condoleezza Rice asserts that educational failure puts the United States' future economic prosperity, global position and physical safety at risk. ED FACT Master’s degrees are expected to be in high demand in the workforce through 2020
March 19, 2012 NEW ECS PRODUCTS COLLEGE READINESS – This issue of The Progress of Education Reform considers potential ways states might define “college readiness,” identifying for each approach: potential benefits, potential drawbacks and key components to consider. STATE OF THE STATES – This ECS brief provides a summary of the top education issues highlighted in the 2012 state of the state addresses. A summary of each address can be found here. EXIT EXAMS – This ECS report provides information on states that require students enrolled in courses that have an end-of-course (EOC) exam to take the EOC. MATHEMATICS – This ECS report identifies the number of Carnegie units or specific courses in mathematics that students must complete to earn the standard high school diploma in their state. WHAT STATES ARE DOING P-3 – The state of WASHINGTON passed a bill (HB2586) that would provide a structure for families, teachers and early learning providers to work together to improve outcomes for students beginning kindergarten. The three-part Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills includes components for family connection, kindergarten inventory, and early learning collaboration. TEACHER QUALITY – SOUTH DAKOTA Governor Dennis Daugaard announced new legislation, HB1234, which rewards effective teachers and provides incentives to teach in critical need areas, among other provisions. POSTSECONDARYATTAINMENT – The State Council of Higher Education for VIRGINIA released a report entitled Assessment of Opportunities and Models for Adults to Complete the Baccalaureate Degree at Virginia Four-Year Institutions. This report is part of a broader effort by stakeholders in Virginia's higher education system to increase degree and credential attainment by working-age adults (age 25-64), and to tailor programs to more effectively serve these non-traditional students. Click here for a report summary and here for a two-page fact sheet. GOOD READS TEACHER QUALITY – Scholastic and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation released the latest edition of Primary Sources, in which the authors asked more than 10,000 teachers about their schools and classrooms, about student and teacher performance and the ways it should be evaluated, supported and rewarded. The data reflects responses from educators in every state and at every grade level, and from those teaching students of all income levels and of all learning abilities. PROGRESS – The annual update to Building a Grad Nation, a collaboration of Civic Enterprises, Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University, America's Promise Alliance, and Alliance for Excellent Education is now available for 2012. The report shows that high school graduation rates continue to improve nationally and across many states and school districts, with 12 states accounting for the majority of new graduates over the last decade. TEACHER QUALITY – This report from the Center for Teaching Quality offers a new model for teaching and learning aimed at keeping teachers in the profession of teaching while giving them the ability to move up in stature, experience, responsibility, authority and pay. COLLEGE READINESS – This checklist from the Data Quality Campaign serves as a guide to the key considerations policymakers must address as they develop policies to ensure that every student graduates college and career ready. WEBINARS COMPETENCY-BASED EDUCATION – Education Week is hosting a webinar titled "Beyond Seat-Time Requirements," which explores concerns around transitioning from seat-time requirements to competency-based education. The webinar will take place Thursday, March 29, from 2–3pm (EST). ED FACT POSTSECONDARY ATTAINMENT, GENDER DIFFERENCES – The top ten courses of study for Bachelor’s degrees for men include: Business Administration, Biology/Biological Sciences, Accounting, Finance, Psychology, Political Science, History, Economics, Mechanical Engineering and Marketing. For women, the top five programs are: Psychology, Business Administration, Registered Nursing, Elementary Education, Biology/Biological Sciences, English Language and Literature, Accounting, Speech Communication, Sociology and Liberal Arts and Sciences.
March 12, 2012 NEW ECS PRODUCTS TEACHER QUALITY – This ECS brief discusses improving the quality of teacher evaluations by ensuring the individuals doing the observing, be they administrators, other teachers or outside contractors, are well-trained and the process results in inter-rater reliability. FINANCE – This document identifies states which provide aid to nonpublic schools and identifies any state constitutional restrictions. WHAT STATES ARE DOING EVALUATIONS – NEW YORK Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced an online initiative to get parents, students and New Yorkers involved in pushing for local implementation of the new statewide evaluation system. An expanded version of www.nystudentsfirst.com will include an interactive map tracking the implementation of the evaluation system in 696 individual school districts and a state by state comparison showing that New York's evaluation system is one of the toughest in the country. P-3 – The NORTH CAROLINA Department of Public Instruction released results from pre-kindergarten implementation studies including the finding that pre-K programs implemented in public schools perform better than programs in private centers. STEM – GEORGIA State School Superintendent John Barge announced the first Georgia Department of Education Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) certified school. Each student at the Marietta Center for Advanced Academics receives science instruction every day and also engages in a daily STEM engineering challenge as an additional class. To learn more about Georgia STEM schools click here. BULLYING – This report present survey results from all VIRGINIA school divisions regarding policies, regulations, procedures, discipline actions, prevention and intervention programs, and strategies surrounding bullying. Findings indicate that all school divisions in Virginia meet the requirements of the Code of Virginia and include bullying as a part of character education and as a prohibited behavior. GOOD READS LEADERSHIP & TURNAROUNDS – This brief from Mass Insight Education's School Turnaround Group (STG) provides feedback from a network of leading principals on what they need from their school districts to successfully turnaround low-performing schools. The network of principals is being developed by STG to exchange best practices, overcome obstacles, and bridge the gap between turnaround practitioners and policymakers. RECESS – This brief from Active Living Research summarizes the growing body of research examining recess, which shows that providing recess during the school day is an effective and efficient way to increase physical activity and improve academic performance among children. SURVEY RESULTS – This new MetLife survey examines the views of teachers, parents and students about the teaching profession, parent and community engagement, and effects of the current economy on families and schools. The survey results show that teachers are less satisfied with their jobs today (compared to 2009), the economic downturn has resulted in widespread program cuts and teacher layoffs, and parent and community engagement has increased but remains a challenge for many schools. PARENT ENGAGEMENT – This Issues Brief from NEA Foundation presents a model for parent-teacher home visits based on the experiences of Seattle, Washington and Springfield, Massachusetts, two of the Foundation's Closing the Achievement Gaps Initiative sites. ANNOUNCEMENTS WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT – More than 250 members of the HR Policy Association, representing senior human resource executives of the largest employers in the United States, met last week with representatives of two of America’s leading education organizations (including ECS President Roger Sampson) to identify ways to improve the skills of our nation’s emerging job seekers. View the press release here. REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL – The AT&T Foundation is looking to support local organizations that have strong, evidence-based programs that help students at-risk of dropping out stay in school and graduate ready for college or career. The 2012 AT&T Aspire Local High School Impact Initiative Request for Proposal is now open, and will help promising organizations expand to serve additional students or locations, or to add components to strengthen successful programs. Click here for more details on the program. WEBINARS PHYSICAL EDUCATION – Dialogue 4 Health (D4H) is hosting a webinar on Wednesday, March 28th from 11:30am-1pm PDT. The webinar will present effective ways to get children more active in the school setting - inside as well as outside of regular classes. Presenters will discuss strategies to improve the quality of physical education, recess, and other school policies, programs and environments to support physical activity. Click here to register. ED FACT Gender Gap in Postsecondary Attainment – In the 2009-10 academic year, women earned more bachelor’s degrees (943,381 vs. 706,633), post-baccalaureate certificates (20,525 vs. 11,034), master's degrees (417,828 vs. 275,197), post-master’s certificates (12,507 vs. 5,856) and doctor’s degrees (81,953 vs. 76,605) than men. Source: Knapp, L.G., Kelly-Reid, J.E., and Ginder, S.A. (2011). Postsecondary Institutions and Price of Attendance in the United States: 2010–11, Degrees and Other Awards Conferred: 2009–10, and 12-Month Enrollment: 2009–10 (NCES 2011-250). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved February 27, 2012 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch.
March 5, 2012 WHAT STATES ARE DOING POSTSECONDARY OPPORTUNITIES – SOUTH DAKOTA launched a Web portal aimed at aligning college preparation efforts with South Dakota workforce initiatives. The site links users to information about all public postsecondary education opportunities in the state. In addition to helping high school students navigate the college selection process, the site also tailors information to the needs of transfer students and adult learners. CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION – The RHODE ISLAND Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education approved new regulations on Career and Technical Education that will go into effect in July. The regulations are designed to provide students exposure to the world of work, to offer students the opportunity to learn technical and career-based skills aligned with industry standards, and to enable students to earn credentials that will prepare them for postsecondary education and training programs or for entry into challenging careers. LITERACY –KENTUCKY Governor Steve Beshear proclaimed March 5-9 as Kentucky Literacy Celebration Week. Citizens of Kentucky will celebrate the state's second-annual Literacy Celebration which includes literacy events, such as family reading days, in communities throughout the state. GOOD READS P-3 – A new study from Florida's Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) included the finding that, for students attending voluntary pre-k [VPK], having a teacher with a bachelor's degree or higher did not substantially influence kindergarten readiness. Researchers also found that children participating in school-year programs fared better on kindergarten readiness assessments than those attending summer programs. RURAL CHARTER SCHOOLS –The latest publication from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools explores how public charter schools can meet the educational needs of rural communities. The authors assert that flexibility afforded to charter schools can assist rural communities as they navigate complex funding, human capital and transportation obstacles. The issue brief offers practical solutions for growing the number of high quality public schools for students in rural communities. COLLEGE-LEVEL SUBSTANCE ABUSE– This Data Spotlight from the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality presents data on substance abuse treatment admissions among college students, highlighting the high rates of alcohol and marijuana use among this group as compared to their non-student peers. PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT – This recent publication from the Educational Testing Service (ETS) provides highlights from an ETS symposium addressing the role of family in education. The article discusses the elements of home life that influence education and suggests ways to strengthen struggling families and build connections between the home and school. WEBINARS ASSESSMENT – Education Week is hosting a Webinar entitled Creating Effective Classroom Assessments on Wednesday, March 7th from 2-3pm EST. The webinar's featured speakers will discuss defining the purpose of assessments, ensuring quality, and aligning assessments to standards. PHYSICAL EDUCATION – Dialogue 4 Health (D4H)is hosting a Webinar on Wednesday, March 28th from 11:30am-1pm PDT. The webinar will present effective ways to get children more active in the school setting — inside as well as outside of regular classes. Presenters will discuss strategies to improve the quality of physical education, recess, and other school policies, programs and environments to support physical activity. Click here to register. ED FACT POSTSECONDARY COSTS – "After adjusting for inflation, public institutions reported a 47% increase for in-state students from (to about $6,800) and a 35% increase for out-of-state students (to approximately $15,700); nonprofit institutions reported a 31% increase (to about $22,000), and for-profit institutions reported an 18% increase (to $15,700)." Source: Knapp, L.G., Kelly-Reid, J.E., and Ginder, S.A. (2011). Postsecondary Institutions and Price of Attendance in the United States: 2010–11, Degrees and Other Awards Conferred: 2009–10, and 12-Month Enrollment: 2009–10 (NCES 2011-250). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved February 27, 2012 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch.
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