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Archives
The last couple months' 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.
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February 20, 2013
ECS Research Studies Database
Moving Blues
The Longitudinal Effects of Residential Mobility on the Academic Achievement of Urban Elementary and Middle School Students – This research study explores the effect of changing residences on young people's academic achievement and finds that residential moves in the early elementary years have a negative effect on math and reading achievement in 3rd grade and a negative effect on the trajectory of reading scores thereafter.
What States Are Doing
2014 Looms
With Common Core State Standards (CCSS) scheduled to kick in next year, here’s a state-by-state look at how implementation is coming along in teacher professional development, teacher evaluation, and curricular resources. Among chief findings in Moving Forward: A National Perspective on States’ Progress in Common Core State Standards Implementation Planning are that states are furthest along in teacher professional development, most states have plans in place to align teacher evaluation systems to the Common Core, and 30 states have fully-developed plans for changing instructional materials. The District of Columbia is treated as one of the 47 CCSS-adopting states. Four states—Alaska, Nebraska, Texas, and Virginia—are not participating.
Third Grade Reading Guarantee
Last summer Ohio legislators further strengthened the Third Grade Reading Guarantee law to enhance reading instruction and intervention in the early grades. Districts and community schools will diagnose reading deficits in students from kindergarten through the third grade, create individualized reading improvement and monitoring plans, and provide intense interventions. The Ohio Department of Education has put together a set of helpful resources, including details on special credentials.
Pell’s Impact in the South
A report released last week argues that community college students in Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi are “highly sensitive” to changes in Pell Grant eligibility. When Congress enacted new restrictions last June, enrollments dropped in 47 of 62 community colleges in those three states. More than 5,000 students lost Pell in the fall of 2012; the authors estimate over 17,000 will lose Pell in 2012-13. They write that financial aid administrators favor fewer regulations, the year-round Pell grant, and a lower maximum Pell grant with fewer restrictions instead of a higher Pell with more restrictions.
Community Colleges Under the Gun
Developmental Education: A Barrier to a Postsecondary Credential for Millions of Americans is one of several “memos” produced by MDRC in its Looking Forward series for policymakers. These briefs lay out in two pages the bottom line, what is known, and what is next. Bottom line, community colleges are under the gun from two directions: too many students arrive unprepared, and expectations are higher than ever for the colleges to produce educated, career-ready workers. What do we know? Completion rates are low because students don’t survive developmental ed. Short-term reforms have short-term results. Comprehensive reforms are hard to scale up. Showing promise: letting student enroll in regular classes with a companion developmental class. Next? Aligning common core high school standards with college standards so students come in better prepared.
May the Learning Never Stop
Instead of putting the entire burden of educating America’s youth on schools, why not recognize the richness of education outside the classroom and spread the wealth? That is, spread the school day and spread the summer so learning is year-round. Do it with a coordination of public, nonprofit, and private budgets and it’s possible all parties will save money. The third in a series on Expanded Learning Opportunities (ELOs), this brief from the Harvard Family Research Project and the National Conference of State Legislatures suggests such a plan allows amplification of school learning with hands-on activities, it allows for an individualized learning plan that recognizes a student’s needs and interests, and it prevents summer learning loss.
“Cheating reflects a willingness to lie at children’s expense…”
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan wrote that in the Washington Post in July of 2011. Months later, the department hosted a symposium on testing integrity and now findings are in written form: Testing Integrity Symposium: Issues and Recommendations for Best Practice. The paper is organized by prevention, detection and analysis of irregularities, response and investigation, and testing integrity practices for online and technology-based assessments.
Who Pays for Dual Credit?
“When high schools with students enrolled in dual credit courses with an academic focus were asked whether most students (and their parents) generally paid out of pocket for these courses, 45% reported that students paid full or partial tuition, 46% reported that students paid fees, and 47% reported that students paid for books (table 12). When high schools with students taking dual credit courses with a career and technical/vocational focus were asked the same question, 28 % reported that students paid full or partial tuition, 34% reported that students paid fees, and 31% reported that students paid for books.”
Source: Thomas, N., Marken, S., Gray, L., and Lewis, L. (2013). Dual Credit and Exam-Based Courses in U.S. Public High Schools: 2010–11 (NCES 2013-001). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved February 19, 2013 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2013/2013001.pdf.
February 11, 2013
New from ECS
State Kindergarten Policies
ECS has launched a new Kindergarten Database that provides state policy information as of December 2012 on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, including: whether a Child Must Attend Kindergarten, Kindergarten Entrance Age, Compulsory School Age, Kindergarten Readiness Assessments, Curriculum, Minimum Required Days/Hours for Kindergarten, Kindergarten Standards - General Information and Teacher/Student Ratios.
Aligning High School and College in CTE
Nebraska has revamped its Career Technical Education (CTE) standards, aligned them with high school academic standards, and also aligned them with courses taught at the state’s two- and four-year colleges so CTE students can earn college credits in high school. As a result, according to the state’s Department of Education, school districts can organize curriculum into sequences in six career fields: agriculture, food and natural resources; business, marketing, and management; communication and information systems; health sciences, human sciences, and education; and skilled technical sciences.
Office of Early Childhood
Streamlining programs previously housed in five state agencies, Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy established an Office of Early Childhood (OEC). Four new positions will be created and 71 staff will move into the new office. The OEC builds on initiatives in 2012 that invested $9.8 million in early childhood and created a 1,000 new spots for early learners. “There are very few things government can do that are more important than ensuring our children develop reading and math skills early in life,” said Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman.
Rethinking Equity and Teaching for English Language Learners (RETELL)
RETELL is a Massachusetts initiative meant to close the achievement gap for English language learners with a massive professional development program for their teachers. Tens of thousands of Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) teachers and their supervisors will be required to complete updated SEI professional development that will enable them to make rigorous content accessible to English learners.
What School Is Like for Teachers
There’s RETELL and then there’s TELL—Teaching, Empowering, Leading, and Learning. Between February 6 and March 6, Colorado teachers will have the chance to go online and anonymously share their perceptions of school life: conditions in their schools; and issues of time, resources, community engagement, discipline, leadership, and professional development. Governor John Hickenlooper and Commissioner of Education Robert Hammond urged all school-based educators to participate in the survey.
Innovation High Schools
In Missouri, Governor Jay Nixon announced a $1.3 million grant program called Innovation High Schools in partnership with St. Louis Community College and local businesses. Students at several schools in the St. Louis area will earn college credit and get experience in advanced manufacturing, skilled trades, health sciences, and information technology before they graduate. The program is part of the Paths to Prosperity pilot run by Harvard University and Jobs for the Future.
Good Reads
College Dropouts Cost Their Schools $16.5 Billion
A first-time examination of the relationship between attrition and lost revenues, The Cost of College Attrition at Four-Year Colleges & Universities looks at 1,669 four-year public, private and for-profit colleges and universities. Each time a student leaves, school revenue from tuition is lost. Collectively, these institutions of higher learning lose close to $16.5 billion annually. Publicly assisted colleges and universities averaged $13,267,214. Surveyed students gave four reasons for leaving which accounted for 84% of attrition: the college doesn't care, poor service and treatment, the college isn’t worth it, and schedule (not being able to find courses at times that fit their needs). All 1,669 institutions are listed with attrition rates and amounts of lost revenue. Caution! Study is 269 pages long. Readers should look online for the attrition rates of colleges that interest them.
MDRC put out a series of briefs this month called “Looking Forward” to provide policymakers with memos that suggest ways to move forward on tough issues. Among them is Building Better Programs for Disconnected Youth which lays out the problem, lays out what’s known now, then what the future might hold. In our 50 largest cities, the dropout rate is close to 50%. Youth unconnected to school or work are a diverse lot and no one program will help them connect, but there are several that have had promising results. A growing focus is on models that connect youth with postsecondary education and training.
Recognizing that the current “non-system” is not working well for Indian— First Nation—students, Canada is moving ahead with a proposed First Nation Education Act. In Developing a First Nation Education Act: Discussion Guide the authors argue that only such an act would provide a full range of support, stable and predictable funding, and accountability for First Nation students while still allowing for shared governance.
Upcoming Meetings
Transitioning ELLs to Common Core State Standards
The Alliance for Excellent Education is hosting a panel discussion and later webinar Building on the Common Core State Standards to Improve Learning for English Language Learners February 26. The panel discussion is from 8:30-10:30am EST at the Hyatt Regency in Washington D.C. The webinar is from 1- 2:30pm. Among the guests are Kenji Hakuta, cochair of the Understanding Language initiative at Stanford University; and Susan Pimentel and Carrie Heath Philips, developers of the Framework for English Language.
Education Fact
Most Popular Degrees
Of the 1,650,000 bachelor's degrees conferred in 2009-10, the greatest numbers of degrees were conferred in the fields of business (358,000); social sciences and history (173,000); health professions and related programs (130,000); and education (101,000). At the master's degree level, the greatest numbers of degrees were conferred in the fields of education (182,000) and business (178,000).
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2012) Digest of Education Statistics, 2011 (NCES 2012-001), Chapter 3. Retrieved February 11, 2013 from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=37.
February 5, 2013
New from ECS
ECS 2012 Collection
Lively and weighty topics alike may be found in the 2012 compilation of ECS policy analysis, online databases, and publications. Check out service learning in the states, the 50-state survey of mathematics requirements for a high school diploma, and producing quality credentials, among many others. Want a longer version with bookmarks? It’s here.
What States Are Doing
State Charter Law Rankings
Showing progress for the public charter school movement, this year’s Measuring Up to the Model: A Ranking of State Charter Laws has been released by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. Of 43 states with charter laws on the books, the top five states with laws closest to the alliance’s models are Minnesota, Maine, Washington, Colorado, and Florida. A few states dropped in the ranks, not because they’re doing worse, but because some states leapt ahead of them.
El Dorado Promise
On January 22, 2007, residents of El Dorado, Arkansas learned the Murphy Oil Corporation would pay college tuition for district students who’ve been there since 9th grade. Most reports about the El Dorado Promise have focused on how it affected students, such as feeding college-going expectations, but the latest news is the Promise has changed test scores. El Dorado high school students score higher than their peers in other south Arkansas districts. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, 38.7% of Promise students graduate from college in six years or less.
Algebra Nation
Governor Rick Scott launched Algebra Nation last week, a free 24/7 online program to help students pass Florida’s Algebra 1 End-of-Course exam, required for high school graduation. A creation of the University of Florida and Study Edge, an educational technology firm, the preparation resource also will be a supplemental teaching tool. Students can work problems and ask questions; teachers can connect with other teachers.
Changing the Perception of Manufacturing
“Manufacturing is critically important to Maine’s economy,” said Governor Paul R. LePage, who announced a statewide two-year outreach to students, parents and teachers to lure workers into manufacturing jobs. These are high-tech, high-skills jobs that pay well, he said—average production salary is $46,000 and engineering averages $62,000. Yet 1,000 of these jobs go unfilled in Maine because of a skills gap. Perhaps students are daunted by the perception of the dirty, noisy mills and factories of previous eras, but today’s facilities are clean, well-lit, safe, and state of the art. The outreach is a joint effort supported by the Manufacturers Association of Maine, the Office of the Governor, and the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development.
Good Reads
Community Colleges as Economic Development Engines
The year 2018 looms and while it might seem unlikely now, 46.8 million jobs will need to be filled between now and then, jobs that will require training and education, according to a brief released by the American Association of Community Colleges. That’s where community colleges come in, offering credentials, degrees, and retraining for workforce development. Nearly half of undergraduates are in community colleges. In 2007, state and local return on investment in community colleges was 16.1% but historically they receive only 20% of state tax appropriations for higher education.
Food in the Classroom
Weave agriculture into curricula with help from the gorgeous Agriculture in the Classroom website. Helping students understand where food comes from, the site is for preK-12 teachers who can enliven classes from mathematics (bean counting!) to STEM. Click on the state program map to find out what’s going on in your state.
Retail Clerks with College Degrees
The facts are grim, at least for now. In Why Are Recent College Graduates Underemployed? the authors write that 48 percent of employed college graduates are in jobs that require less than four-year college degrees, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For example, 15% of taxi drivers and 15% of firefighters have college degrees. Rising college costs and the possible prospect of earning less may lead to more certification for certain occupations.
January 30, 2012
Educators and Business Leader Together in Alabama
Alabama Governor Robert Bentley issued an executive order establishing a College & Career Ready Task Force comprised of educators and business leaders to close the skills gap between the knowledge and skills of the workforce and the needs of business and industry. Initially, the intent is to launch an Industry Needs Forecast, explore possible collaborations with industry across the education pipeline, and identify ways to apply student and workforce data to program decisions and monitor Task Force initiatives.
Career and Technical Education
Game design, behavioral health, green energy, and international business are among the fields affected by sweeping updates to California’s career technical education standards, announced Tom Torlakson, state superintendent of Public Instruction. More than 300 representatives of business, industry, labor, and education had input. Written for grades 7 through 12, the new standards lay out 59 pathways in 15 industry sectors.
Thirty-one grants totaling $1.64 million for equipment have been awarded to 25 career and technical education programs in Pennsylvania through the Career and Technical Education Grant progam. Secretary of Education Ron Tomalis made the announcement and said, “training students to be prepared to enter the workforce after high school requires advanced, hands-on training with the materials and equipment they are likely to face their first day on the job.”
Higher Education Collaborative
In an effort to accelerate Rhode Island’s economy, Governor Lincoln D. Chafee and a diverse group of Rhode Island leaders announced that $200,000 in public and private funding would create a College and Research Collaborative. Using data and research, the collaborative will consider consensus state economic policy issues introduced by Rhode Island’s executive and legislative branches. Ten presidents from Rhode Island postsecondary institutions are involved in developing the collaborative.
Top Ten Issues
The Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education has published Top Ten Issues to Watch in 2013: Race to the Top, elevating low-performing schools, K-12 funding, the predicted shortage of 250,000 new college graduates, STEM, NCLB waiver grades, technology in learning, flexibility and choice, and changing demographics in Georgia schools. Each issue comes with an overview, its significance for Georgia, and Action Steps.
Highlights of State Plans (Waivers)
Until a new ESEA is authorized, the U.S. Department of Education has offered states more freedom for local, innovative education reform in return for a show of how that reform would advance all students’ achievement. Indeed, the states have been creative and the U.S. department has issued a series of short reads highlighting state plans: Protecting School and Student Accountability, Supporting Teachers, Leaders, and Local Innovation, Advancing Accountability for Graduation Rates, Turning Around the Lowest Performing Schools, and Continuing to Expose Achievement Gaps.
Digital Learning Day: February 6
Digital Learning Day on February 6 is a national celebration of K-12 educators that shines a light on successful technology practice in public schools across the country. Hosted by the Alliance for Excellent Education, the day also launches Project 24 with which the Alliance and its collaborators will extend Digital Learning Day through the next 24 months to highlight success, make progress, and work with district-level leaders across the nation. For this campaign, the Alliance has developed a rich set of resources and a team of experts to provide comprehensive district-level planning tools for integrating digital learning to achieve college and career readiness.
Rich Possibilities in Noncognitive Learning
In his provocative essay, Rethinking the Notion of ‘Noncognitive’, David T. Conley suggests that in elevating content-cognitive knowledge above noncognitive attitudes and beliefs, we miss a richer, more nuanced view of learning that includes all learning processes and behaviors. Gaining insight into noncognitive issues “would enable educators to teach students how to learn, as well as what to learn,” he writes, advocating for the term metacognition instead of noncognitive.
Better Teacher Preparation
While states are in the throes of crafting teacher evaluations, here’s a look at how those states can produce better teachers in the first place. In its 2012 State Teacher Policy Yearbook, the National Council on Teacher Quality provides state policymakers with a framework for teacher preparation that includes making sure new teachers can teach to the Common Core State Standards, that they have good content knowledge of the subjects they’ll teach, and that they complete their student teaching with a mentor who has proven to be effective.
Financial Aid Reform
As higher education becomes more necessary and more expensive, our financial aid system needs to be reassessed, argue the authors of Making Sense of the System: Financial Aid Reform for the 21st Century Student. They offer recommendations in four categories: promote early and coordinated preparation for college; restructure or repurpose grant and loan delivery systems (maintain the Pell Grant system for need-based aid and make it an entitlement); provide incentives for completion; and reduce debt burden and include better debt repayment options.
Underperforming Schools
“There are approximately 5,000 chronically underperforming schools; half are in big cities, a third are in rural areas, and the rest are in suburbs and medium-sized cities.”
Source: Turning Around the Lowest Performing Schools, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education, 2012). Retrieved January 28, 2013 from: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/esea-flexibility/resources/turn-around.pdf.
January 22, 2013
New From ECS
State of the States
We are tracking the education components of governors’ 2013 state of the state addresses. Follow the first group here (by state or by topic)—with plenty more to come :
Career and Technical Education
The next edition of The Progress of Education Reform is coming soon. It will address career and technical education, so as background, you might want to check what states have done regarding career and technical education policies. Also note the new, improved format for the ECS Policy Tracking Database.
What States Are Doing
A recent state summit in South Dakota, “Rethinking Education Reforms and Accountability” concluded with announcement of the formation of a Commission on Teaching and Learning. The Commission is a partnership of SDEA, the Associated School Boards of South Dakota (ASBSD), the School Administrators of South Dakota (SASD), and the South Dakota Department of Education (SDDOE). Its goal is to create a blueprint for quality instruction in South Dakota and its first task will be to develop model teacher and principal evaluation systems that districts may choose to use.
Check out Building World-Class Schools for Iowa: A Legislative Brief. Governor Terry Branstad and Department of Education Director and “Chief Learner” Jason Glass propose a legislative package that includes raising starter teacher salaries, provides incentives to teach in high-need schools, reimburses tuition for top college students—especially STEM students—who commit to teaching in Iowa schools for five years, uses diploma seals to identify high school seniors who are college and career ready, and updates teacher and administrator standards and evaluations. Fully implemented, these reforms would cost $187 million.
Good Reads
High School Feedback
Providing high school feedback is crucial to bridging the gap between high school and college—what works at the school, what doesn’t, how to improve. According to a report by the Data Quality Campaign, 47 states now produce high school feedback reports by high school or district, 38 states make these reports available to the public, 29 states report by high school and 24 use recent—since 2010—data. For a state-by-state view of these reports, go here.
Effective Teacher Evaluation
Yes, teacher effectiveness can be reliably weighed, say the researchers at MET (Measures of Effective Teaching) after a three-year study in seven disparate districts. They find that allowing students’ state test scores to account for 33% to 50% of an evaluation demonstrates the least volatility from year to year. Adding student surveys and teacher observations makes ratings more consistent. They recommend two different observers.
What to Do with Numbers
Anticipating the avalanche of data soon to be inundating educators, school and district leaders, and state program staff, folks at the National Forum on Education Statistics put out a guide. In the state program brief, they offer a question-driven approach for data-informed decisionmaking built on questions such as: “What do I want to know? What data might be relevant? How will I access the relevant data? What skills and tools do I need to analyze the data? What do the data tell me? What are my conclusions? What will I do? What effects did my actions have? What are the next steps?”
Education Fact
“More work is necessary to understand students’ trajectories upon completing their postsecondary degrees. In 2012 only two states (Maine and Ohio) included information on student employment outcomes in their reports. This information is critical to understanding how students reach the ultimate goal of employment after graduation.” http://www.dataqualitycampaign.org/files/DFA2012_HSFB.pdf
January 15, 2013
New From ECS
2012 State Policies
Planning for 2013? Why not build on what your state peers did in 2012! Click on the blue triangle for any issue in which you have interest.
http://www.ecs.org/ecs/ecscat.nsf/Web2012All?OpenView&Count=-1
What States Are Doing
Employ construction workers to expand early childhood education facilities.
Illinois claims a win-win by using $45 million from Illinois Jobs Now — a capital construction program — to be spent on early childhood facilities. Grants were awarded to 14 providers to acquire or expand a facility, or purchase equipment and make safety improvements.
What do teachers need?
Educators across Delaware will get a chance this month to say what they need to do their jobs via an anonymous online survey. The state is hoping for at least a 50% response rate. Survey results will be used to plan school improvements.
Ready or not
Prognosticators say Hawaii will be tenth in the nation in jobs requiring postsecondary degrees, says Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi. So the state is gearing up: Starting next April, college and career readiness assessments will be annually administered to all middle and high school students in grades 8, 9, 10, and 11. More than 50,000 students will take the ACT EXPLORE test in grades 8 and 9, the PLAN exam in grade 10, and the ACT assessment in grade 11.
Good Reads
Federal Barriers to Innovation
What if there were an addictive game that could efficiently teach children to read? "Think Angry Birds meets Dick and Jane," write Raegen Miller and Robin Lake, imagining the possibilities for technology to accelerate learning. In Federal Barriers to Innovation, they laud the education department's fledgling efforts at research and development, but point out areas in Title 1 and IDEA Part B funding (which comprise 68% of all federal spending on elementary and secondary education) in which rules that come with money could be adjusted to allow for more experimentation.
High Standards Help Struggling Students
Concerns abound that kids who already are struggling under NCLB will suffer even more when the more rigorous Common Core State Standards hit in 2014. Education Sector has an answer for what might happen — they'll likely do better. A recent report looked carefully at what happened to students in states with high and low standards after No Child Left Behind kicked in. In three of four testing categories, high-standards states had a higher percentage of students moving out of the below-basic level than low-standard states.
Higher Education Becomes More Necessary, More Expensive
As state funding for higher education declined over the past 20 years, community colleges and universities responded by raising tuition — 112% at four-year public universities, according to a recent report. At the time, a stagnant economy increased the necessity of a good education, causing students and their families to take on unprecedented debt. Factors influencing higher education funding are analyzed and presented so they can be used by stakeholders and advocates to leverage greater support.
“We project that 45 percent of the nation’s public high school graduates will be non-White by 2019-20, compared to 38 percent in the class of 2009.”
Source: Knocking at the College Door: Projections of High School Graduates. (2012). WICHE, http://www.wiche.edu/info/publications/knocking-8th/summary.pdf.
January 7, 2013
Remedial Education
A joint statement released by ECS, the Charles A. Dana Center, Complete College America, and Jobs for the Future argues that approaches to college remediation must undergo dramatic transformation to increase the success of underprepared students. Among other reforms, Core Principles for Transforming Remedial Education, supports placing underprepared students in full-credit college courses, accompanied by supports such as tutoring, computer labs, or additional classroom time.
ECS Alert: School Safety
In the wake of the December 2012 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, ECS has put together a list of resources and information on potential policies directly related to school safety. This document contains descriptions and links, sorted by topic, from ECS and other organizations.
K-3 reading proficiency and accountability
Ohio legislation enacted at the end of 2012 incorporates K-3 literacy indicators in determining annual school and district performance. Effective with the 2012-13 school year, the department of education will assign schools and districts letter grades based on various performance measures, including whether a district or building is making progress in improving literacy in grades K-3.
Education Reform Recommendations
The New NY Education Reform Commission, created last year by executive order, recently issued its initial recommendations. Among the 12 recommendations: New York should encourage partnerships between districts and universities in jointly training teachers and professors on Common Core Standards and Annual Professional Performance Review.
Higher Education Cost Efficiencies
Late last year, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board released the results of a survey of implementation of cost efficiencies at public higher education institutions in the state. The results identify the most commonly instituted cost efficiencies implemented (#1: Close or consolidate degree programs that award too few degrees), as well as the top challenges institutions reported with respect to creating cost efficiencies.
Digital Learning
This report from Digital Learning Now! outlines three strategies for funding sustainable, high-access environments. The authors present case studies of each model, and provide important considerations for implementing and sustaining high-access environments.
Child Well Being
The Foundation for Child Development released the 2012 Child Well Being Index. An important conclusion is that American families endured a decade of economic decline from 2001-11 that left a larger share of the nation’s children in poverty than was the case in 1975. Surprisingly, some declines in well being are not simply due to the current recession, but instead can be traced back to 2001.
Assessments
The Brookings Institution released Strength in Numbers: State Spending on K-12 Assessment Systems late in 2012. In this report, the authors examined data from 45 states to identify the costs of assessment to states, and identify the highest and lowest spending states. The author urges states to seek efficiencies by collaborating on assessments, sharing fixed costs over a larger number of students, and using that market power to get test-makers to divulge more about pricing.
ECS is Hiring!
We are looking for a researcher in the Information Clearinghouse arm of ECS. See the job posting and send a resume, cover letter/e-mail to Antionette Garcia if you would like to be considered for the position.
Remedial Education
“In 1999–2000, 2003–04, and 2007–08, larger percentages of students who attended 4-year public institutions reported that they enrolled in remedial coursework compared to students who attended 4-year private not-for-profit institutions.”
Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences (2013). Statistics in Brief: First-Year Undergraduate Remedial Coursetaking: 1999–2000, 2003–04, 2007–08 (NCES 2013–013). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved January 7 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch
December 17, 2012
ECS would like to express condolences and support for the victims and families affected by last week’s tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. The U.S. Department of Education has provided resources for schools to prepare for and recover from crisis as well as resources for parents following traumatic events. If ECS can provide further assistance, please contact Kathy Christie at kchristie@ecs.org.
Teacher Expectations of Students
This issue of The Progress of Education Reform provides a review of the research on the relationship between teacher expectations and student achievement. It also explores how policy can be used to improve how schools are evaluating, monitoring, and providing training to teachers on the potential negative effects fixed teacher expectations.
Teacher Evaluation
Earlier this month, the Alaska State Board of Education and Early Development approved regulations regarding school districts’ evaluations of teachers, administrators, and special service providers such as school psychologists. For the 2015-16 and 2016-17 school years, student growth data will compose 20% of an educator’s evaluation, and will increase to 35% and 50% of an educator’s evaluation in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years, respectively.
In 2011, the West Virginia Department of Education launched a pilot in 25 schools to test a revised educator evaluation system, expanded to include 136 schools in the 2012-2013 school year. The department recently announced that results from the pilot indicate the majority of teachers believe the new evaluation system is having a positive effect on their individual skills and student performance by promoting continuous growth.
Postsecondary Institutions as Economic Development Engines
The South Carolina SmartState Review Board recently reported that the SmartState Program, which uses state lottery funds to create Centers of Economic Excellence at the state's three public research institutions, has resulted in more than $1.4 billion in non-state investment entering, or committed to enter, the South Carolina economy, and has created 8,078 new jobs.
P-3: Mathematics
A new report from EdSource highlights policy and practical challenges for preschool mathematics, as research has found that mastery of early math concepts is a better predictor of later academic outcomes than literacy. "The key to a successful math curriculum at a preschool level is not a formal math program, but integrating math concepts into daily interactions and activities of children themselves," said Louis Freedberg, EdSource's executive director and author of the report. "Many preschool staff would benefit from greater preparation and training to acquire the skills they need to introduce math concepts into a child's world in a seamless way."
Teacher Absence
This report from the Center for American Progress takes a look at teacher absence and raises the question of equity. Students in schools serving a high proportion of African American or Latino students suffer a higher rate of teacher absence as do students whose schools serve predominantly low-income families. In addition to concerns about equity, the author asserts that teacher absence costs at least $4 billion a year.
P-3: Literacy
A recently released one-page memo in Harvard’s Lead for Literacy series looks at the importance of identifying potential problems early — and intervening to mitigate them.
Health
The American Heart Association and National Association for Sport and Physical Education have released the 2012 Shape of the Nation report. While 74.5% of states require physical education in elementary through high school, most don't mandate a specific amount of instruction and nearly half allow waivers and substitutions. Read the full report, executive summary, or quick facts.
Tony Bennett
Former Indiana superintendent Tony Bennett has been selected as the new Education Commissioner in Florida, the state board of education announced on December 12.
Dr. James Phares
Last week, the West Virginia Board of Education appointed Dr. James Phares to be the state’s 28th state superintendent of schools. Phares will begin his new post on January 2, replacing Chuck Heinlein, who will resume his previous role as deputy superintendent.
Job Opening
The National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) is hiring a Director of State and Federal Policy. NACSA provides training, consulting, and policy guidance to charter school authorizers and advocates for laws and policies that raise the bar for excellence among authorizers and the schools they charter. The Director will work with NACSA’s policy team to aid in the development and implementation of the organization’s advocacy strategies.
Physical Education
“Forty-three states (84%) mandate that schools must provide their students with elementary physical education.” Forty-one states mandate middle school physical education, and 44 states mandate physical education at the high school level.
Source: National Association for Sport and Physical Education & American Heart Association. (2012). 2012 Shape of the Nation Report: Status of Physical Education in the USA. Reston, VA: American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.
December 10, 2012
ECS Research Studies Database
Postsecondary Success: Remediation
A recently entered research study estimates how well remedial assessments identify students who are likely or unlikely to succeed in college-level courses. The authors found that roughly one in four test takers in math and one in three in English are severely misassigned. They assert that using high school achievement instead of test scores to assign students results in both lower severe error rates and higher success rates among those assigned to credit-bearing courses.
Leveraging the Most Effective Teachers
The Tennessee Department of Education has announced a new initiative that enlists highly effective teachers from the state’s top schools to share best practices and help improve student achievement across the state. The 15 teachers named to the Reward Schools Ambassador Program come from the top 10% of schools in Tennessee for performance and progress, and will work with neighboring schools in each region to improve student achievement and reduce achievement gaps.
Wounded Veterans and Higher Education
Last week, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn announced $4 million in Illinois Jobs Now! capital funding to help build the Center for Wounded Veterans in Higher Education. The new center will help returning veterans with disabilities readjust to civilian life and provide vital rehabilitative, counseling, and academic and career services to support wounded warriors as they achieve higher education.
Virtual Advanced Placement Courses
New York State Education Commissioner John B. King, Jr. recently announced that 17 districts and consortia of districts have been awarded grants under the state’s virtual learning initiative, the Virtual Advanced Placement (VAP) Program. VAP is targeted to improve access to online and blended Advanced Placement (AP) courses for low-income students.
NAEP: Vocabulary
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released Vocabulary Results From the 2009 and 2011 NAEP Reading Assessments. This document contains results for grades 4, 8, and 12 after the NAEP reading assessment integrated a measure of students’ understanding of word meaning with the measurement of passage comprehension. NCES found that students who scored higher on NAEP vocabulary questions also scored higher in reading comprehension.
Teacher Quality: Evaluations
A new report from The Education Trust-Midwest examines how Michigan schools are responding to demands for developmental, technically sound evaluation practices that provide high-quality professional development and feedback for teachers. The authors concluded that most local models—despite the hard work that has gone into them—do not measure up to research-based standards for smart evaluation.
Student-Centered Learning
In this report from the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE), the authors examine what school districts spend to deliver Student-Centered Learning (SCL): personalized and authentic instruction, mastery-based assessment, and learning models that change the school schedule.
Upcoming Meetings and Webinars
Teacher Diversity
Education Week is hosting a webinar titled Wanted: A More Diverse Teaching Force, on Tuesday, December 18 from 2-3pm EST. In this webinar, a scholar and a practitioner will outline the research on the minority-teacher population, the challenges faced in the recruitment and retention of such candidates, and what one district program has done to improve working conditions and professional development for teachers of color.
Alice Harden
Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant issued a statement on the passing of Senator Alice Harden. Senator Harden served in the Mississippi State Senate for 24 years and was a dedicated ECS Commissioner from 2001-08.
NAEP: Vocabulary
On the NAEP exam in grades 4, 8, and 12 “average vocabulary scores for White and Asian/Pacific Islander students were higher than the scores for Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Native students”
Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences (2012). Vocabulary Results From the 2009 and 2011 NAEP Reading Assessments: National Assessment of Educational Progress at Grades 4, 8, and 12 (NCES 2013–452). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved December 10 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch.
December 4, 2012
ECS Research Studies Database
Merit-Based Scholarships and Post-Baccalaureate Migration
A recently entered research study found that merit aid programs do not significantly affect students’ educational or migration decisions. Merit aid recipients do choose more often to attend four-year institutions, however, even if they are underprepared. This might explain why freshman retention rates are generally low for merit aid programs.
Research-Based Early Learning Standards
Last week, Hawaii’s Executive Office on Early Learning released new research-based standards, which identify the expectations of knowledge and behavior for children from birth up through kindergarten entry. The Hawaii Early Learning and Development Standards (HELDS) will be used to support early childhood professionals in the development of their programs and provide guidance on how to integrate strategies to educate young children. HELDS will also be used to help inform and reassure parents about the development of their child, and can support communication between teachers/caregivers and families.
Research-Based English Language Development Standards
In November, California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced that the state board of education had formally adopted new English Language Development Standards aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) that are designed to help English learners build critical knowledge and skills.
Educator Preparation Programs Collaborating Across Institutions and Sectors
The New Hampshire State Board of Education (SBE) unanimously voted to endorse the NH Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) Network Position Statement. According to the press release, New Hampshire is the only state in which all higher education educator preparation programs have committed to membership in a consortium with the intention of working collaboratively with each other and the state department of education. This group features a proactive approach and willingness to share data collection techniques and calibrate evaluation measures of potential candidates.
Federal Policies
A new report from the University of Washington’s Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) explains how some of the current fiscal requirements of Title 1 and IDEA Part B may prohibit innovation and makes suggestions on how to modify those requirements.
State Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS)
This report from the Data Quality Campaign (DQC) examines the impact of out-of-state mobility and lack of out-of-state student-level data on the ability of policymakers to provide actionable information to stakeholders in their states.
The authors highlight the impact of state-by-state mobility data on the following policy priorities: high school graduation rates, postsecondary success, and educator preparation.
A second report from DQC asserts that meeting policymakers’ education responsibilities requires cross-state data collaboration, sharing, and comparability. The authors contend that it is critical for state policymakers to understand states’ interdependent data challenges and work with other state policymakers to standardize education data, support student record exchanges, share limited and appropriate data across state lines, and define and use common metrics.
P-3: Early Childhood Education
At a recent luncheon hosted by the Governor's Office of Early Childhood in Kentucky, Nobel Prize winning economist James Heckman discussed income inequality and the benefits of investing in early childhood education (ECE). He noted the early appearance of gaps in skills between high- and low-income students, and asserted that ECE is vital in developing both cognitive skills and soft skills such as motivation, perseverance and character. Heckman discussed how ECE can play a central role in shifting policy from remediation to the more cost effective practice of prevention. You can also download his PowerPoint presentation.
Upcoming Meetings and Webinars
Parental Engagement
Early Childhood Investigators is hosting a webinar titled Increasing Enrollment and Parent Engagement Through Social Media and Online Communication Tools, on December 5 at 2pm EST. The webinar is targeted at early childhood education (ECE) programs, and will explore digital communication strategies to engage parents and build strong relationships before, during, and after children are enrolled in ECE.
Finance
“Adjusting for inflation, per pupil state and local revenues decreased by 2.8% on a national basis from [fiscal year 2009 to 2010], while per pupil current state and local expenditures slightly increased by 0.4%.”
Source: Cornman, S.Q., Young, J., Herrell, K.C. (2012). Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 2009–10 (Fiscal Year 2010) (NCES 2013-305). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved December 3 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch.
November 26, 2012
ECS Research Studies Database
School Turnarounds
A recently entered research study reviews existing literature on organizational turnarounds in the corporate, not-for-profit, and public sectors to develop policy insights for shaping efforts to turn around failing schools.
College-Ready Assessments
As the result of an agreement reached last week between the Ohio Board of Regents and State Board of Education, a nationally standardized college readiness test and 10 end-of-course/year exams in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies will replace the Ohio Graduation Tests (OGT). Beginning with the 2014-15 school year, the OGT will be replaced by a series of end-of-course/year exams in core high school subjects, including English I, II and III; Algebra I and II; Geometry; Biology; Physical Science; American History; and American Government. Student performance on these required tests is expected to be part of the student’s course grade and a factor in Ohio’s revised accountability system.
Microsoft IT Academy Program
Last week, the Alabama Department of Education and the Microsoft Corporation announced the official launch of the Alabama Microsoft IT Academy Program, which will provide participating local school systems with access to web-based instruction, software lab licenses, E-Learning, and official course materials, to allow students to earn certifications in such Microsoft product areas as Excel, Word, and PowerPoint. Alabama is the seventh state in the U.S. to be invited to participate in this innovative program.
Coordinated Health Programs to Improve Student Achievement
Earlier this fall, the Michigan Department of Education announced that 23 high schools are receiving assistance through an innovative three-year federal grant aimed at improving students' learning by coordinating academics along with healthy lifestyles, anti-bullying programs, parent and youth engagement, and other interventions. Students in the 23 pilot high schools will learn an array of skills that, when paired with school improvement efforts, can lead to greater academic achievement because students are healthier physically, mentally, and emotionally. The Michigan Department of Education will evaluate this customized approach to determine possible best practices for schools statewide to consider implementing.
Student Mobility
A new report from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute investigates the phenomenon of student mobility in Ohio. Researchers analyzed six million student records from all of Ohio’s 3,500-plus public district and charter school buildings and e-schools. They found that student mobility verges on the epidemic in inner-city schools, but is also common in suburbs and rural schools.
Teacher Preparation – K-12 Assessments
This report from the National Council on Teacher Quality examines the extent to which teacher preparation programs train teachers to understand assessment data and use that data to make informed instructional adjustments. Preliminary findings from a sample of 48 elementary and secondary programs, housed in 29 higher education institutions in nine states indicate that teacher preparation programs are providing limited training to candidates in the field of assessment and data use.
Rural Schools
The Hudson Institute released a briefing paper outlining the economic impacts and opportunities inherent in improving broadband access for rural students. The authors estimate the opportunity costs of the lack of access in rural areas as well as the lack of availability of faster service between urban and rural America.
Upcoming Meetings and Webinars
Common Core – Literacy
Education Week is hosting a web chat titled Literacy and the Common Core: Reflecting on the Research on Tuesday, November 27 from 2-3pm EST. The guests—one a researcher on the committee that helped develop the Common Core literacy standards, the other the leader of a group to help teachers implement them—will talk about the research behind the standards and how to make sense of the changing literacy landscape.
Postsecondary Statistics
In 2003-04, approximately 50.4% of first time postsecondary students took a remedial course, and 9.3% received some type of pre-college credit (including AP credit).
Source: Alexandria Walton Radford and Laura Horn (2012). Web Tables: An Overview of Classes Taken and Credits Earned by Beginning Postsecondary Students (NCES 2013-151). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. Retrieved November 26, 2012 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch.
November 19, 2012
ECS President Named
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, chair of the Education Commission of the States, announced that Jeremy Anderson has been selected as the next president of ECS. A leader in education and health care policy for 20 years, Anderson brings a strong education background to the position.
College-Readiness
University of Wisconsin System officials announced last week that UW-La Crosse will lead the development of a new “massive open online course” – MOOC – at the developmental math level, with a $50,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Once developed, the free online course, will be available to everyone, including high school students who want to assess their college readiness. Non-traditional-aged students may also take advantage of the free course before returning to college, or to improve their math skills in ways that advance career goals.
P-20 Recommendations for Education Policy
TBD Colorado was initiated in January 2011 by Gov. John Hickenlooper in recognition of the fact that resolving Colorado’s most difficult challenges will require broad civic engagement. “TBD” stands for “To Be Determined,” which accurately reflects the intended outcome of the effort – it’s to be determined. This is a summary of recommendations for the state of Colorado, but aside from some state-specific fiscal issues, similar recommendations could apply to any number of states. (TBD Colorado is a private nonprofit organization governed by a volunteer board of directors. No state dollars were spent on TBD Colorado.)
Postsecondary Education
The Florida Blue Ribbon Task Force on State Higher Education Reform, created by Executive Order 12-104, released its final report this month. Key recommendations from the task force include: develop a differentiated tuition model for specific high-skill, high-wage, high-demand degree programs based on key institutional and system goals; create a funding structure that supports the creation and success of Preeminent Universities; and ensure that the Board of Governors has direct involvement in the search and appointment of university presidents.
ECS State Policy Database
Check out recent state policy activity on postsecondary developmental (remedial) education.
Common Core State Standards (CCSS)
A new report from Education Sector examines the impact of high standards, such as the CCSS, on struggling students. The authors argue that high standards help struggling students. Download the full report here.
Teacher Evaluations
The Center for American Progress has released The State of Teacher Evaluation Reform, which examines the efforts of six states that were “early adopters” in the area of teacher-evaluation reform. The report outlines the different approaches these states have undertaken to preparing for and implementing new evaluation systems. It also identifies challenges and lessons that can be used to guide future reform efforts.
Charter Schools
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools has released the seventh annual edition of A Growing Movement: America’s Largest Charter School Communities. Among this year’s findings, the authors report that a record seven school districts have at least 30% of their public school students enrolled in public charter schools.
Physical Education
The 2012 Shape of the Nation Report from the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) provides a current picture of physical education in the American education system. The 2012 survey finds areas of both improvement and decline since the 2010 Shape of the Nation Report. Thirty-eight states (74.5%) mandate physical education in elementary, middle/high, and high school, but most do not require a specific amount of instructional time and more than half allow exemptions, waivers, and/or substitutions.
State Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS)
The latest annual report from the Data Quality Campaign (DQC) examines the progress states have made toward effective use of data—asserting that, although states are making progress in supporting effective data use, the hardest work remains. See also the executive summary and state-by-state analysis.
Upcoming Meetings and Webinars
Flipped Classrooms
Education Week is hosting a webinar titled What Works in Flipped Classrooms on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012 from 1-2pm EST. The presenters will discuss the pros and cons of a flipped classroom approach and highlight the best methods for making a flipped classroom successful.
Award Nominations
ECS is accepting nominations for the James Bryant Conant Award, the Frank Newman Award for State Innovation, and the ECS Corporate Award. Each year, ECS presents awards to individuals, states, and organizations that have made significant contributions to public education. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, November 21, 2012.
Charter Schools
In 2012, a record seven school districts have at least 30% of their public school students enrolled in public charter schools. A total of 25 school districts have 20% or more of their public school students enrolled in charter schools, compared to 7 districts in 2005.
Source: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, A Growing Movement: America’s Largest Charter School Communities - Seventh Annual Edition, November 2012.
November 12, 2012
2012 Gubernatorial Elections
A new ECS report outlines the results from the 11 states and two territories that held gubernatorial elections this year. The report presents selected education initiatives and legislation passed by incumbent governors, as well as highlights from newly elected governors’ education policy platforms.
Education-Related Ballot Measures: 2012
This ECS report provides the results from the 35 ballot initiatives in the November 2012 election that have either a direct effect on education policy in those states or could have an effect down the road. The initiatives listed include enacted legislation being presented to the public for approval and initiatives placed on the ballot through the petition process.
Teacher Bonuses in Improving, Low-Achieving Schools
Last week, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction announced that teachers in 35 persistently low-achieving schools across the state will receive bonuses for realizing higher than expected gains in student growth in the 2011-12 school year. To be eligible to receive bonuses, the school must have achieved higher than expected improvements during the 2011-12 school year, based on ABC/Annual Measurable Objectives (AMO) results.
Student Engagement
The Ohio Department of Education, the Pearson Foundation, and the Quaglia Institute for Student Aspirations (QISA) recently announced the release of a report summarizing the responses of nearly 54,000 students and approximately 2,700 teachers and other staff members. The Ohio My Voice Initiative is the largest state-led initiative to track and analyze student engagement and to highlight its connection to progress in academic performance. The three partner entities are training Ohio educators to use the results to improve learning outcomes through a series of workshops, professional development, and other supporting programs that tie to QISA’s “8 Conditions That Make a Difference” in a student’s life.
ECS State Policy Database
Thank a Veteran Today! And check out recent state policy activity on assisting postsecondary students who are service members or veterans.
Online and Blended Learning
The 2012 version of Evergreen Education Group’s annual Keeping Pace with K-12 Online & Blended Learning report provides updated state profiles, enrollment data, trends, and analysis of K-12 online and blended learning. You can view graphics, explore state and district data, or keep up with policy and practice through the Keeping Pace blog.
Accountability
This policy brief from the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) examines how school leaders—administrators and teachers— respond to the results of state assessment systems and the pressure of performance-based accountability. The authors further analyze how these responses translate to achievement outcomes for students.
School Leadership
A new study published by Education Next estimates the effects of school leaders on growth in student achievement. The authors found that highly effective principals raise the achievement of a typical student in their schools by between two and seven months of learning in a single school year; ineffective principals lower achievement by the same amount.
Teacher Unions
This report from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and Education Reform Now examines the strength of teacher unions across the nation, and ranks all 50 states and the District of Columbia according to the power and influence of their state-level unions. The authors assess union strength across five realms: resources and membership, political involvement, scope of bargaining, state policies, and perceived influence. See the foreword, executive summary, state profiles, or the 405-page full report.
Upcoming Meetings and Webinars
Literacy Standards
Education Week is hosting a chat titled Literacy and the Common Core: Reflecting on the Research from 2-3pm EST on November 27. The guests—a researcher on the committee that helped develop the literacy standards, and a leading a group to help teachers implement them—will talk about the research behind the standards, and how to make sense of the changing literacy landscape.
Award Nominations
ECS is now accepting nominations for the James Bryant Conant Award, the Frank Newman Award for State Innovation, and the ECS Corporate Award. Each year, ECS presents awards to individuals, states, and organizations that have made significant contributions to public education. The next awards will be presented at the 2013 ECS National Forum on Education Policy in St. Louis, June 25-27. (Download the nomination form: PDF or Word.)
Early Childhood Programs – Full Day
In 2009 approximately 60% of children aged 3 to 5 who were enrolled in school attended full-day programs. In 1970 that figure was 17%.
Source: US Census Bureau, 1970 Census of Population, American Community Survey 2010. Accessed November 6, 2012 from http://www.census.gov/how/infographics/education.html.
November 6, 2012
Service Learning
A new ECS report about the National Center for Learning and Citizenship's Schools of Success program clearly points to at least one simple and clear conclusion: the quality of service-learning matters. Robust data from 19 schools across the country show that high-quality service-learning has a significant and positive relationship with students' academic engagement, educational aspirations, acquisition of 21st century skills, and community engagement.
ACT at No Charge
The Montana Office of Public Instruction has announced that next April, all high school juniors will have the opportunity to take the ACT plus Writing at no cost. The Montana GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) Program received a $28 million grant to fund the ACT-Plus Writing for the next six years.
College Readiness
The South Dakota Department of Education recently announced a partnership between the department and the board of regents to allow students to complete remedial coursework before entering one of the board of regents’ institutions. The new program, available through the South Dakota Virtual School, uses a diagnostic assessment to generate online coursework tailored specifically to each student’s needs. The Board of Regents will honor successful completion of the tailored coursework, allowing students who successfully complete the coursework to enter directly into college-level courses.
Affordable Teacher Housing
Last month, the North Dakota Board of University and School Lands awarded $2.5 million in state energy impact grants to help fund the development of affordable housing for teachers and to enhance public safety throughout the state’s oil-producing counties. About $125 million in Energy Impact Grant funds have been approved during the current budget cycle, and are also being used to provide additional classroom space and facilitate the development of childcare centers, among other purposes.
ECS State Policy Database
Click here to check out recent state policy action on recruiting teachers to high-needs schools.
School Finance
This report from the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy presents a user-friendly toolkit of strategies for resource allocation, discussion of available budget models, research on resource reallocation, tools for budget analysis, and cost-saving strategies.
Accountability Systems
This report from the Center on Education Policy (CEP) examines issues related to the accountability systems in states granted NCLB waivers. The report focuses on the complexity, transparency, and consistency across states of new accountability systems in the waiver states, both on their own terms and in comparison with the NCLB statutory requirements.
Dual Enrollment
A new report from Jobs For The Future examines the impacts of dual enrollment on college readiness and success. The authors analyzed longitudinal data for a group of students in Texas who participated in dual enrollment and a similar group who did not. They found that students who completed college courses through dual enrollment were significantly more likely to attend college, persist in college, and complete an Associate’s degree or higher within six years.
Award Nominations
ECS is now accepting nominations for the James Bryant Conant Award, the Frank Newman Award for State Innovation, and the ECS Corporate Award. Each year, ECS presents awards to individuals, states, and organizations that have made significant contributions to public education. The next awards will be presented at the 2013 ECS National Forum on Education Policy in St. Louis, June 25-27. (Download the nomination form: PDF or Word.)
Early Childhood Enrollment
In 1970 approximately 27% of children aged 3 to 5 were enrolled in school. In 2010 60% of children in this age range were enrolled in public or private preschools or kindergartens.
Source: US Census Bureau, 1970 Census of Population, American Community Survey 2010. Accessed November 6, 2012 from http://www.census.gov/how/infographics/education.html.
October 30, 2012
ECS Research Studies Database
High School Graduation Requirements
A recently-entered research study explores why increasing graduation requirements has not necessarily increased high school student achievement.
College Readiness
Last week, ECS Senior Policy Analyst Jennifer Dounay Zinth provided a keynote on college readiness at the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges’ 2012 Student Success Forum. The presentation exposes the drivers for increased state emphasis on college readiness, and identifies examples of what states are doing to increase the number of students who have the academics and counseling they need to enter and succeed in postsecondary education. Check out the PowerPoint presentation.
Teacher Leadership and Compensation
Iowa’s Task Force on Teacher Leadership and Compensation released recommendations for how to recruit and retain high-quality teachers throughout the state: Create and fund meaningful and well-designed career pathways for teachers, raise base teacher salaries to a competitive level, create additional leadership opportunities, and create incentives for teachers to teach in high needs schools and subjects.
Economic/Workforce Development
Earlier this month, Pennsylvania’s 14 community colleges announced a statewide initiative to help provide critical training to displaced workers, equipping them with the skills to get back to work in high-demand, family-sustaining jobs. The program, JobTrakPA, will use fast and affordable retraining to prepare workers for jobs in advanced manufacturing; energy distribution, production and conservation; and healthcare information technology, all of which industries are projected to grow substantially over the next few years.
Common Core Implementation
The Maine Department of Education is behind a Math-Science Partnership project to support the implementation of Common Core math and English language arts (ELA) standards. The project aims to: facilitate integration of Common Core math, ELA, and Next Generation Science Standards through the collection or development of tools; build a community of practice among leaders in math and science in Maine’s higher education institutions, K-12 schools, and out-of-school settings; and complement existing Maine initiatives such as Literacy for ME (Maine’s comprehensive literacy plan).
Native American Languages
The Oklahoma State Department of Education is in the process of developing certification for instructors of Native American Languages in public schools. A committee is being formed to review past certification in the state, investigate similar certification in other states, and work to develop the new certification standards in collaboration with Oklahoma’s Tribes.
ECS State Policy Database
Check out recent state policy changes related to textbooks and open source texts.
Teacher Effectiveness
The What Works Clearinghouse reviewed a study that examined differences in student achievement when students were taught by a teacher with high or low value-added effectiveness. The study’s authors found a statistically significant increase in reading and math scores when a high value-added teacher started to teach, or a low value-added teacher stopped teaching a group of students.
Physical Activity
A new research brief from Active Living Research explores the impact of state laws on walking and bicycling to school. The authors found that some laws—such as those requiring crossing guards, speed zones, and traffic calming around schools—were linked to a higher instance of students walking or biking to school. The authors urge school and community leaders to ensure that the areas around schools are designed to make walking and bicycling to school safe and easy.
Student Debt
This report from the Pew Research Center examines outstanding student loan debt in the context of other family debts, assets, and measures of economic ability to handle the student debt. The report finds that since 2007 the incidence of student debt has increased in nearly every demographic and economic category, as has the size of that debt.
English Language Learners
The What Works Clearinghouse reviewed a study that analyzed the effectiveness of Help with English Language Proficiency (HELP)©, a computer-based supplementary curriculum designed to improve the math achievement of English language learners (ELLs). The study found, and the WWC confirmed, that students who used HELP© had scores that were statistically significantly higher than students in a comparison group on the math achievement posttest.
Award Nominations
ECS is now accepting nominations for the James Bryant Conant Award, the Frank Newman Award for State Innovation, and the ECS Corporate Award. Each year, ECS presents awards to individuals, states, and organizations that have made significant contributions to public education. The next awards will be presented at the 2013 ECS National Forum on Education Policy in St. Louis, June 25-27. (Download the nomination form: PDF or Word.)
At Risk Students
“Nationwide, the average low-income student attends a school that scores at the 42nd percentile on state exams, while the average middle/high-income student attends a school that scores at the 61st percentile on state exams.”
Source: Jonathan Rothwell (2012). Housing Costs, Zoning, and Access to High-Scoring Schools. Metropolitan Policy Programs at Brookings.
October 22, 2012
Did you know?
ECS was created by a unique interstate compact enacted by the states and authorized by Congress to engage state policymakers in education policy.
Vouchers
This ECS analysis provides details of the existing voucher, scholarship tax credit, and individual tax credit and deduction policies in the states, presents competing perspectives, briefly summarizes the existing research concerning these policies, and offers key policy questions for state leaders to consider
Postsecondary Affordability
This ECS analysis categorizes tuition-setting authority by entity (e.g., legislature, system, institution) and by postsecondary sector (e.g., two- and four-year institutions). It shows that the majority of states vest tuition-setting authority in local institutional boards.
ECS Research Studies Database
Teacher Attitudes
A recently-entered research study explores whether and how teachers interpret students' social and academic differences in deficit ways when they are expected to assist students with attaining common academic standards.
Teaching Standards
At its meeting earlier this month, the Kentucky Board of Education approved a set of standards for teaching conditions. The standards, modeled after the North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Standards, include Time; Facilities and Resources; Community Engagement and Support; Managing Student Conduct; Teacher Leadership; School Leadership; Professional Learning; and Instructional Practices and Support. To further align these Teaching Conditions Standards with other components of the school improvement planning process and educator evaluation system, a continuum of practice—distinguished, accomplished, proficient, and developing—has been developed for each standard.
Children’s Data Dashboard
The Louisiana Children’s Cabinet recently unveiled the Louisiana Kids’ Dashboard, which consolidates data on health care, education, and well-being from five state agencies. Each indicator shows the baseline, current and target levels, and displays trends to indicate if Louisiana is doing better, worse, or the same as the baseline for that indicator.
K-12 School Funding Inefficiencies
Last week, Kansas’ School Efficiency Task Force launched a website through which students, parents, involved citizens, teachers, and administrators can anonymously submit information on inefficiencies that they have witnessed or experienced.
ECS State Policy Database
Check out recent state policy changes related to K-12 students from military families and military personnel who are educators.
Postsecondary Success – Minority Students
The Education Trust released two reports last month outlining strategies for boosting college completion and student achievement among Latino and African-American students. The reports highlight colleges that are narrowing graduation rate gaps on their campuses between white students and students of color. The broad trends in these two reports demonstrate the impact that institutional efforts can have on increasing graduation rates and closing gaps.
21st Century Skills
Measure of America, a project of the Social Science Research Council, has released One in Seven, a report ranking youth disconnection in the 25 largest metro areas. The authors found that one in every seven Americans ages 16 to 24 is neither working nor in school—5.8 million young people in all. The report concludes with a set of recommendations, including moving beyond the “college-for-all” mantra to provide meaningful support and guidance both to students pursuing a four-year bachelor’s degree and those interested in career and technical education certificates or associate’s degrees.
Postsecondary Affordability
Student Debt and the Class of 2011 is the seventh annual report from The Institute for College Access & Success. The authors found that the debt levels of students who graduate with loans continues to rise, with two-thirds of 2011 college graduates having student loan debt, averaging $26,600. The report cites considerable variation among states as well as among colleges, with high-debt states concentrated in the Northeast and Midwest.
Award Nominations
ECS is now accepting nominations for the James Bryant Conant Award, the Frank Newman Award for State Innovation, and the ECS Corporate Award. Each year, ECS presents awards to individuals, states, and organizations that have made significant contributions to public education. The next awards will be presented at the 2013 ECS National Forum on Education Policy in St. Louis, June 25-27.
Postsecondary Enrollment
“In fall 2011, Title IV institutions enrolled 18.6 million undergraduate and 2.9 million graduate students. Of the 18.6 million undergraduates, 57% were enrolled in 4-year institutions, 41% in 2-year institutions, and 2% in less-than-2-year institutions.”
Source: Knapp, L.G., Kelly-Reid, J.E., and Ginder, S.A. (2012). Enrollment in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2011; Financial Statistics, Fiscal Year 2011; and Graduation Rates, Selected Cohorts, 2003-2008: First Look (Preliminary Data) (NCES 2012-174). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved October 9, 2012 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch.
October 16, 2012
ECS Research Studies Database
English Language Learners
A recently-entered research study investigates the treatment of English Language Learners (ELL) students in costing-out methodologies. The authors found that costing-out studies largely underserve ELL students, often aggregating ELL students with low-income or special education students or failing to mention them altogether. Without taking into account the unique needs of each population, states may end up allocating fewer instructional and fiscal resources to student populations with greater needs.
Parent Involvement
The Arkansas Department of Education recently released a K-8 Refrigerator Curriculum that contains grade-specific concepts and skills parents can use to prepare their children and support instruction in the classroom. The grade-level lists are aligned to the Common Core State Standards and Arkansas Curriculum Frameworks.
College Readiness
Last week, Indiana’s Commission for Higher Education and Department of Education announced three regional district/college partnerships, supported by funds from Core to College, aimed to ensure high school graduates are prepared to succeed in college. Core outcomes from regional grant activities will include increasing local awareness regarding the specific knowledge and skills required to be college-ready; identifying student work samples that demonstrate college-readiness and that can be used to inform effective classroom instruction; and articulating how to use Indiana’s Common Core standards and assessments to facilitate students’ transition to college-level coursework.
Career Technical Education
Kansas Governor Sam Brownback recently unveiled a new marketing campaign to raise awareness and recruit high school students into high-demand occupations available to graduates of career technical education (CTE) programs. The campaign also promotes the state’s new CTE initiative, which allows free tuition to high school juniors and seniors taking CTE courses offered at Kansas technical and community colleges. The multimedia campaign features print, online, and video components highlighting the traditional and unexpected career opportunities available to graduates of CTE programs.
ECS State Policy Database
Check out recent state policy changes related to college readiness.
Student Records
This report from Digital Learning Now! is the second in a series of interactive papers that provides specific guidance regarding the adoption of Common Core State Standards and the shift to personal digital learning. The authors contend that management of student records must be updated to meet the evolving needs of teachers and students. They propose a two-part solution: creating a “data backpack” that follows each student through every transition across their education, and developing an expanded “learner profile” that will power personalization and protect privacy.
Statistics
The U.S. Census Bureau has released infographics representing the “Educational Path of our Nation,” which include trends in student enrollment, costs and educational outcomes. Some of the differences are striking, including the percentage of children ages 3-5 who enrolled in school: 27% in 1970, versus 60% in 2010.
Health
This report from the National Academies Institute of Medicine assesses the relationship between youth fitness test items and health outcomes, and provides guidance for interpreting fitness scores, along with an agenda for needed research. The authors conclude that collecting fitness data nationally and in schools helps with setting and achieving fitness goals and priorities for public health.
Pay for Performance
The What Works Clearinghouse at the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) reviewed a research study examining the effects of school wide teacher performance bonuses. The study found that the schoolwide New York City bonus program did not have a statistically significant effect on students’ reading achievement, and actually had a very small negative effect on students’ mathematics performance.
Upcoming Meetings and Webinars
Education Reform
The Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME) is holding their annual Big Ideas Fest, December 2-5 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Half Moon Bay, CA. The event brings together diverse stakeholders in education, including teachers, policymakers, researchers, administrators, edupreneurs, students, and ed-tech start-ups, to design the future of education. The Big Ideas Fest provides a series of workshops designed to catalyze innovation in education inspires all who attend. For registration information, e-mail bigideas@iskme.org
Postsecondary Completion
“Approximately 59% of full-time, first-time students at 4-year institutions in 2005 who were seeking a bachelor’s or equivalent degree completed a bachelor’s or equivalent degree within 6 years at the institution where they began their studies.”
Source: Knapp, L.G., Kelly-Reid, J.E., and Ginder, S.A. (2012). Enrollment in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2011; Financial Statistics, Fiscal Year 2011; and Graduation Rates, Selected Cohorts, 2003-2008: First Look (Preliminary Data) (NCES 2012-174). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved October 9, 2012 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch.
October 8, 2012
Workforce Development
“Producing Quality Credentials: Why Data and Analytics Matter” is the latest issue of The Progress of Education Reform. The report highlights ways that states can leverage data and accompanying strategies to strengthen the fit between the production of credentials and workforce demand.
Early Literacy
Massachusetts legislation enacted last month establishes an Early Literacy Expert Panel to develop recommendations to have all students reading proficiently by the end of 3rd grade. The bill directs the panel to make recommendations on the alignment, coordination, and implementation of six critical issues, including comprehensive P-3 curricula on language and literacy development, effective instructional practices, and developmentally appropriate screening and assessment.
Postsecondary and Economic Development
Last week, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley announced the awarding of $4 million in grants from the Alabama Innovation Fund, which supports research and economic development initiatives from the state’s public colleges and universities. Criteria used in awarding the grants include the existence of a public-private partnership and the likelihood of a project being capable of successful commercialization, stimulating further research and development in Alabama, and contributing to the creation of additional jobs in the state.
Postsecondary Affordability
D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray announced last Friday that, starting this fall, D.C. students will have the opportunity to receive need-based financial support from the city government while attending colleges and universities in the District. The announcement marks the first local need-based-grant program for D.C. students that can be applied toward the cost of attending the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) and the UDC Community College (UDCCC).
ECS State Policy Database
Check out recent state policy changes regarding postsecondary financial aid.
Teacher Quality
The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has released a State of the States 2012: Teacher Effectiveness Policies. The report outlines current state policies aimed at identifying effective teachers. The authors found that student achievement is required to be a significant or the most significant factor in teacher evaluations in more states than ever before, and that half of states now require annual evaluation of all teachers.
School Finance
The Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy has created a toolkit intended to push school leaders to take a more deliberative approach to school budgeting. The report provides a summary of existing literature and tools on school finance, budgeting, and resource allocation that directs district leaders and school business officials to practical and useful information to shape resource decisions.
Literacy
A new policy brief included in the latest issue of Brookings' and Princeton University's journal, The Future of Children, examines the ability of standards to boost literacy and close the achievement gap. The authors assert that Common Core State Standards are one part of solving the nation’s literacy problem and will need to be paired with other initiatives, including developing and adopting assessments linked to the new standards, improving curriculum, and providing better professional development for teachers in order to improve student literacy nationwide.
School Accountability
This brief from the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy (CEEP), presents the history of and potential future trajectories for Indiana’s accountability system. The paper offers insights into details and perspectives that could benefit other states.
Teacher Evaluations
In 2012, “15 states have made teacher evaluation and/or tenure policy changes with seven states—Connecticut, Hawaii, Louisiana, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania and South Dakota—adopting significant new policies.”
Source: National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ). (2012). State of the States 2012: Teacher Effectiveness Policies. NCTQ. Washington, DC. Retrieved October 2, 2012 from http://www.nctq.org/p/.
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