New graduation data shows lower rates, wide achievement gap
New federally-compiled graduation rates for 47 states and the District of Columbia left many states reeling this week as more rigorous and uniform standards highlighted wide achievement gaps and lower numbers than previously reported. While the U.S. Department of Education said the new rates can’t be compared to previous numbers, officials said the graduation rates [...]
Survey: Today’s teaching force is less experienced, more open to change
More inexperienced teachers are in today’s classrooms than ever before and they are more open than their veteran colleagues to performance-driven options for how they’re evaluated and paid, according to the results of a new survey conducted by the Boston-based nonprofit Teach Plus. For the first time in decades, more than 50 percent of the [...]
Study: African American voucher students more likely to go to college
African-American school children in New York City who received a voucher to attend a private school were more likely to enroll in college than their public school counterparts, according to a study released last week by the Brookings Institution and Harvard’s Program on Education Policy and Governance. For more than a decade the study tracked [...]
More states requiring students to repeat a grade: Is it the right thing to do?
Thousands of third-graders may have a sense of déjà vu on the first day of school this year: The number of states that require third-graders to be held back if they can’t read increased to 13 in the last year. Retention policies are controversial because the research is mixed for students who are held back, [...]
Report: Scholarships for in-state college students lengthen time to degree
Programs meant to keep high-achievers close to home by providing scholarships to in-state public universities reduce students’ chances of graduating on time, according to a study released on August 8th by researchers at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. The study’s authors examined a Massachusetts program launched in 2004 by then-Gov. Mitt Romney that [...]
Teachers want the role of unions to change, survey says
Critics have portrayed teachers unions as impediments to reform efforts around the country because they have fought against changes such as pay-for-performance and the abolition of tenure. But stories of unions working with school district officials to craft new teacher quality initiatives are slowly becoming more common. And, according to a new study that surveyed [...]
Report: California sees large returns on higher-ed investments
Is it worth it for California to invest in higher education? That’s the central question posed by a new report examining the state’s spending on its university system and how much graduates end up contributing back to the state budget. The answer? “A resounding yes,” said Michele Siqueiros, executive director of The Campaign for College [...]
New report says tuition tax breaks helping wealthier families
Education Sector reports today that federal higher-education tuition-tax breaks are increasingly benefiting wealthier families. The tax breaks, and other aid that goes to students who do not meet the federal definition of financial need, were the subject of this story by The Hechinger Report, which appeared on the front page of USA Today last November. [...]
Report details principals’ impact on student achievement
Teacher effectiveness. The term has become a buzzword for policymakers, researchers and educators alike as they talk about the pressing need to improve our nation’s worst schools. But the rarely discussed factor of principal effectiveness is nearly as important, according to a new report by the Center for Public Education. “The principal perspective: at a [...]
Kindergartners at the keyboard [podcast]
In October, Hechinger Report writer Jill Barshay reported on computer instruction in kindergarten classrooms in a story that ran in Education Week and newspapers across the country. Last week she was a guest on American RadioWorks, where she spoke with executive editor and host Stephen Smith about the story.
