Education Reform and Workforce Development

Position

News

• Walker would grade schools
  Sep 4, 2010 — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
  The home was built by a company in which Neumann is a partner. The column also details complaints of a dairy farmer over the sale of 85 acres in Washington County to Neumann's company.
• EDITORIAL
  Sep 3, 2010 — The Baltimore Sun
  But the MSA and the HSA exams are of only limited usefulness in picking out the growth in achievement of individual students or the effectiveness of individual teachers. The MSA, for example, is given to students in grades three through eight, but it only tests two subjects: reading and math. Rather than assign a numerical value to score individual students' performance, the MSA, for example, rates them as below proficient, proficient and above proficient.
• Mass. will lead effort to develop new tests
  Sep 3, 2010 — The Boston Globe
  Critics, including many teachers unions, say the system has created a climate of "teaching to the test.''The consortium that Massachusetts is leading is among two that received grants yesterday. Washington state heads the other group, which is made up of 31 states; that group received $160 million. Currently, the quality of states' standardized tests varies widely, creating confusion about how students truly measure up.
• N.C. appears ready to require ACT exam
  Sep 3, 2010 — The News and Observer
  Students will also take pre-tests leading to the ACT in eighth grade and in 10th grade. Most students in the state take the SAT college entrance exam. Her eldest child, a senior, took the SATs, as do most college-bound North Carolina students.
• Officials work toward revamped tests
  Sep 3, 2010 — The News Tribune
  Tacoma and Lakewood. In a discussion with teachers at Clover Park High School, Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana also urged Washington to hold fast to its philosophy of keeping learning standards high. And she talked about congressional efforts to reauthorize the federal law that created the accountability system known as No Child Left Behind. It measures school and school district progress based on test scores, graduation rates and other factors. Melendez de Santa Ana said...
• A Celebratory Road Trip for Education Secretary
  Sep 2, 2010 — New York Times
  Duncan’s tour, coinciding with back-to-school season, was billed as a way to honor teachers. Duncan, who played basketball professionally in Australia.Representative John Kline, Republican of Minnesota, the ranking minority member of the House Labor and Education Committee, said in an interview that some of Mr. Duncan called his bus trip “a campaign for education,” there was little political edge.
• An unused measure of progress
  Sep 2, 2010 — Los Angeles Times
  On average, students in second through fifth grades started the school year in the 39th percentile in math and ended it 30 points higher. When ranked by student growth overall, Topeka was in the bottom 3 percent of district elementary schools. On average, students started third grade in the 77th percentile in math, but by the end of fifth grade were in the 67th.
• Chicago Tribune Gail MarksJarvis column
  Sep 2, 2010 — Chicago Tribune
  These schools offer short-term programs ranging from cosmetology to various types of technicians, and among the for-profits are DeVry, Strayer, Phoenix and Capella. Kantrowitz noted that only 24.4 percent of Harvard Medical School graduates are repaying their loans. On average, she said, students can afford to devote 10 percent of their monthly pay to college loan payments, but if pay is very low, loans should also be limited.
• Lives of black Oregonians no better this year, worse in some cases, according to Urban League study
  Sep 2, 2010 — The Oregonian
  Mundy said. According to this year's study: The gap between the median income for whites and blacks grew. According to data from the Department of Education, the dropout rate in 2008 was 7.1 percent for black students and 4.2 for all students. In the year since the first report, the organization formed committees and began winnowing the problems into possible solutions.