College tuition getting more expensive for those who can afford it the least
As universities and colleges increase their tuition, a larger share of it is falling on the lowest-income students and their families. Those are among the findings of an investigation by The Hechinger Report, the Dallas Morning News, and the Education Writers Association, which used federal data to show that lower-income and working-class students at private colleges […]
Interview: Sarah Butrymowicz on Common Core roll out
Hechinger Report staff writer Sarah Butrymowicz took part in a podcast with Bloomberg Radio this week about the Common Core State Standards. She joined Erin Richards of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Andrew Ujifusa of EdWeek to discuss: 1. Are the controversial new standards in trouble? 2. How is their roll out affecting classrooms around […]
How to boost college graduation rates for black and Latino males
While black and Latino men attending community college have some of the highest educational goals of any racial or gender group, they are also the least likely to achieve them. That’s one of several findings included in a new report from the Center for Community College Student Engagement, which suggests that black and Latino men […]
Skip school and lose welfare? The good and bad of Australia’s tough tactics on truancy
What if the punishment for skipping school was a loss in welfare benefits for your family? It’s a strategy that some politicians are considering in the U.S. – plans have been floated in Missouri and put into action in Michigan last year. But in Australia, they’ve already tried it, and the experience is a cautionary […]
Will Louisiana’s students be ready for online testing?
NEW ORLEANS — Starting next school year, thousands of Louisiana schoolchildren will begin taking standardized tests online as the state moves to a new test aligned with the Common Core curriculum standards. But a new report released by the Louisiana Department of Education suggests that about one-third of the state’s districts still have to purchase […]
Can the U.S. learn from Australia’s high bar for new teachers?
A major ongoing fight in the U.S. is how to make the teaching profession less a clock-in, clock-out job and more like the high-paid, high-demand career of a lawyer or doctor. Unions and teachers argue better pay will elevate the profession. Politicians and advocates want to put more scrutiny on teachers and end tenure, arguing […]
What do Americans want for their schools? Choice, yes. Charters, not so much
What’s a charter school? Or the Common Core? A new poll out today suggests many Americans are unfamiliar with the hottest topics in the education world, and that they’d rather trust their local schools and teachers—not the federal government, their elected officials, or unions—to figure out what’s best for kids. Surveys have long found that […]
Which winning ideas could the U.S. steal from Singapore?
Singapore has one of the best education systems in the world, according to international assessments. President Barack Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan talk about its performance. United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten visited in 2012 and her counterpart at the National Education Association, Dennis Van Roekel, has praised its teacher training. And […]
Lessons from Abroad: Singapore’s secrets to training world-class teachers
Singapore has been a hot topic in education circles ever since it began to appear near the top of the pack of international assessments in math and science in the mid-90s. The country has been held up as an example of a place where education is being done right: Singapore’s standards were higher and better […]
So how are college graduates really doing? A few schools are willing to tell us
A word rarely uttered on college tours sits atop the website of St. Olaf, a small liberal-arts college south of Minneapolis with an annual estimated cost of $51,860. Next to clickable categories about arts and athletics appears the unlikely word “outcomes.’’ And if you click on the word, a headline materializes promising “The Return on […]
