IN THE NEWS

Across the nation momentum is building to improve the K-12 education system in the United States by sustaining and strengthening the commitment to ensuring that all students graduate from high school ready for success in college and careers. At the state level, governors, chief state school officers, state boards of education, legislatures, district and school leaders, business and community leaders as well as parents are working hard to ensure that achievement gaps are closed and that all students graduate from high school prepared for the future. At the federal level, efforts are underway to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act and from the Department of Education, to grant states waivers from key NCLB requirements in exchange for commitments to implement college and career ready standards; develop rigorous accountability systems that include a focus on low-performing schools and schools with persistent achievement gaps; and create better systems for developing, supporting and evaluating principals and teachers. These issues have received widespread attention in national and local media outlets.

• As Job Market Mends, Dropouts Fall Behind
  The Wall Street Journal February 21, 2012
  While the U.S. job market is showing signs of improvement, one sizable group of workers has been falling further behind: high-school dropouts.


• Condoleezza Rice: U.S. Education Will 'Drive Us Into Class Warfare'
  The Huffington Post November 28, 2011
  On a special Thanksgiving edition of Face the Nation, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told CBS's Bob Schieffer that the U.S. public school system is the nation's largest problem. "Because with the failing public schools, I worry that the way that my grandparents got out of poverty, Rice said. "The way that my parents became educated, is just not gonna be there for a whole bunch of kids."


• High School-College Hybrid Grooms Students for Jobs
  US News and World Report November 23, 2011
  At a time when more than a quarter of students don't graduate from high school, the last thing you'd expect is for a city to make it harder to get a degree. But a new technology-focused, six-year high school in New York City is asking students to do just that in return for a more secure job outlook.


• As New Graduates Return to Nest, Economy Also Feels the Pain
  The New York Times November 16, 2011
  Like most of her friends, Hollis Romanelli graduated from college last May and promptly moved back in with her parents. As a result, she didn't pay rent - or a broker's fee or renters' insurance, for that matter. She also didn't buy a bed, desk, couch, doormat, mop or new crockery set. Nor did she pay the cable company to send a worker to set up her TV and Internet, or a handyman to hang a newly framed diploma. She didn't even buy drinks and snacks for a housewarming party.


• Businesses have jobs to offer, but Mainers don't have the skills
  Bangor Daily News November 14, 2011
  Maine Machine Products Co. needs precision machinists. Badly. When a customer contracts with the company to manufacture parts for anything from microwaves and airplanes to drilling systems and defense technology, machinists are the ones who make them. Without skilled workers, the business couldn't stay afloat.


• Ga. regents approve college completion plan
  Associated Press (via Athens Banner-Herald) November 10, 2011
  The state Board of Regents has approved a plan to increase the number of students who finish college. The board approved the "Complete College Georgia" initiative during a meeting Wednesday to address statistics showing that 42 percent of adults in the state have some kind of education past high school.


• Business leaders oppose changes to teacher evaluations
  The Tennessean November 4, 2011
  Tennessee's Commissioner of Education Kevin Huffman will ask the state Board of Education today to modify the new teacher evaluations, hoping to relieve time-pressured principals of some requirements and better ensure assessments are fair.


• Students show growth in math on national test
  Associated Press (via Washington Times) November 1, 2011
  New test scores show the nation's fourth- and eighth-graders are doing the best ever in math, but schools still have a long way to go to get everyone on grade level. In reading, eighth-graders showed some progress.


• Since 1990s, U.S. Students' Math Has Sharpened, but Reading Lags
  New York Times November 1, 2011
  Elementary and middle school students have improved greatly in math, but their reading skills have stagnated over the last two decades, federal officials said on Tuesday.


• Students Want to Become Business Owners But Lack Training
  US News & World Report October 14, 2011
  Young Americans have high aspirations, according to a new poll released Thursday by Gallup-HOPE. More than three quarters of students in grades 5 to 12 want to be their own boss, and nearly half plan to start their own business.


• State urged to form strategy to produce needed college degrees
  California Watch October 12, 2011
  Experts warn that California needs to significantly boost the number of undergraduate degrees granted each year in order to turn around the state's economy and help the country remain competitive. But a new report from Sacramento State University's Institute for Higher Education Leadership & Policy says the state's public higher education segments are not on track to meet that goal. Also, the report finds the UC, CSU and community colleges have no guidance on how to divide increasingly precious state resources among themselves to produce the necessary degrees.