August 2011

Will this generation be the first to be less educated than their parents?

In July, reporter Jon Marcus wrote a piece for The Hechinger Report looking at President Barack Obama’s college graduation goal and how much progress has been made toward reaching it. The news wasn’t so good. Now he’s been interviewed by Boston NPR’s Here and Now program about the fact that this generation of Americans could […]

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On the chopping block: District reforms

Many school districts have now hit the so-called “funding cliff”—and it’s rapidly approaching for many others. Money from 2009’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) helped many school districts counteract budget cuts, enabling them to hold on to jobs and buy supplies and equipment. But that money is running out—or already gone—which leaves districts in […]

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Do early graduation programs really save states money?

Earlier this year, The Hechinger Report took a look at an increasingly popular method of reforming high schools: providing a scholarship to a state public university to seniors who graduate in under four years. Indiana passed such legislation in April, and, according to a policy brief recently released by Jobs for the Future, similar laws […]

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New poll: Public trusts teachers, likes technology and school choice

A new public opinion poll on the nation’s public schools reveals a number of interesting findings. The poll, conducted every year since 1969 by Phi Delta Kappa and Gallup, asked 1,000 people about a variety of education topics—from trust in teachers to the use of technology in classrooms. You can find all of the poll’s […]

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Obama Orders Revamp of ‘No Child Left Behind’

Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced Monday that President Obama would sign an executive order to allow schools who are falling short of No Child Left Behind to circumvent the law. PBS NewsHour’s Gwen Ifill discusses the policy shift with Justin Snider of The Hechinger Report. Watch the full episode. See more PBS NewsHour. Transcript: GWEN […]

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