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from the Education
Commission of the States
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Wednesday, July 1, 2009
WHAT STATES ARE DOING OPEN-SOURCE ELECTRONIC TEXBOOKS - Recent legislation in TEXAS calls for the adoption of open-source textbooks for secondary courses submitted by certain institutions of higher education. Learn more
about this development at the related upcoming ECS National Forum session.
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/81R/billtext/pdf/HB02488F.pdf
WORKFORCE/ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT - Governor Jim Douglas of VERMONT recently attended the
kick-off event for the Vermont Biosciences Alliance. The partnership includes businesses that make-up the
state's growing bioscience industry as well as academic partners from the higher education community.
The members discussed ways to encourage angel funding for biotechnology and life science business
ventures; industry relationships to support and fund research; valuing and commercializing intellectual
capital; and other ways to grow successful technology based businesses in Vermont.
http://governor.vermont.gov/tools/index.php?topic=GovPressReleases&id=3542&v=Article
EARLY LEARNING - A full 99% of children enrolled in PENNSYLVANIA Pre-K Counts in the 2008-09 school
year finished the year with age-appropriate skills and behaviors or emerging skills and behaviors, according to
year-end assessments. Of those children, about 75% had age-appropriate literacy, math and social skills, while
a nearly 24% had emerging skills by year’s end.
http://www.pdenewsroom.state.pa.us/newsroom/cwp/view.asp?Q=149621&A=3
Back to top. NEW ECS PRODUCTS SERVICE LEARNING AND HISPANIC STUDENTS - A concern about poor academic achievement among
Hispanic students and the corresponding high dropout rate led the National Center for Learning and Citizenship
at ECS to convene a Thinkers Meeting about Service-Learning for Hispanic Students in March 2008. A result
of that meeting is a new ECS report that examines best practices in educating Hispanic students and improving
student graduation rates and matriculation into higher education.
http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/81/01/8101.pdf
Back to top. GOOD READS GRADING STATE HIGHER EDUCATION ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEMS - Education Sector recently undertook
a comprehensive analysis of higher education accountability systems in all 50 states, the District of Columbia
and Puerto Rico. This report summarizes the results in each of the graded categories.
http://www.educationsector.org/usr_doc/HigherEdSummary.pdf
Back to top. ANNOUNCEMENTS e-Connection will be taking next week off to attend the ECS NATIONAL FORUM in Nashville, Tennessee. Early
bird registration rates have been extended through tomorrow, July 2. Sessions will explore how education
can be an engine to ignite the economy, and include headline speakers Clay Christensen, Richard Elmore,
Uri Treisman and Kati Haycock.
http://www.ecs.org/html/meetingsEvents/NF2009/NF2009_main.asp
ECS Senior Policy Analyst Jennifer Dounay Zinth contributed to two recently-released publications. The
Council of State Governments' 2009 Book of the States includes Dounay Zinth's article, "Early College
High Schools: A Promising Approach for Underserved Youth." Another 2009 publication, Promising
Practices for Family and Community Involvement during High School, contains Dounay Zinth's chapter,
"Emerging State Policies and Programs Designed to Support Parental Involvement in Postsecondary Planning."
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