IN THIS ISSUE:

President-elect Barack Obama’s Key Education Issues

			Annual Report Offers Snapshot of US Education
			Online Access to Effective Practices at Low-Income Schools
			No Child Left Inside - Environmental Education Bill
			A Report on Latino Students’ College Costs and Access
			Higher Education Act Reauthorized

President-elect Barack Obama’s Key Education Issues

President-elect Barack Obama campaigned on a wide-ranging education platform, although education did not surface as a key issue with voters for either presidential candidate.

One of the new administration’s top priorities in education will be reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) which was scheduled for renewal in 2007. President-elect Obama supports the goals of the law but says it is underfunded and has not delivered its promises. His proposals are outlined below.

Key policy points:

• Investment in early childhood education to address the achievement gap already obvious by Kindergarten - programs such as Head Start, Even Start.
• No Child Left Behind – streamlined accountability system; improved tests and assessments; reward high performing schools rather than identifying low-performing ones.
• Investment in teachers and leaders – improved teacher education; increased accountability; work with districts on innovative performance pay programs (to reward, for example, excellence in the classroom, mentoring new teachers, teaching in high need schools.).
• Teaching Residency Programs would train those new to the profession under the guidance of skilled mentors.
• Support for charter schools – will double federal aid to charter schools to $400 million a year.
• Opposes voucher programs (which provide public funds to send children to private schools).
• College affordability – will introduce a tax credit program in exchange for community service.  Would make community colleges an especially attractive choice for lower-income students.

For more detail, visit Barack Obama’s education issues website.

Annual Report Offers Snapshot of US Education

The Condition of Education is a congressionally mandated report, prepared by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), that provides an annual portrait of education in the USA.

The 43 indicators included in this year’s report cover all aspects of education, from early childhood through postsecondary education and from student achievement to school environment and resources.

According to The Condition of Education 2008 public school enrollment is rising to an all-time high and predicted to grow from 50 million currently to 54.1 million by 2017.

The student body is becoming more diverse. One in five students is Hispanic and they, like other minority students, are disproportionately represented in high-poverty schools.

More students from all racial backgrounds are enrolling in college and more bachelor’s degrees have been awarded. However, the achievement and graduation gaps between minority students and their white peers continue.

For more information read the highlights or download the full report.

Online Access to Effective Practices at Low-Income Schools

The New York City-based New Leaders for New Schools has launched a web portal known as Effective Practice Incentive Community (EPIC). The portal contains online case studies featuring in-depth analysis of low-income schools producing impressive student results.

The documentation process at the schools is both extensive and collaborative. The Principals begin by undertaking a comprehensive self-study. During a series of visits teachers are videotaped and interviewed extensively.

The focus of the case studies is on how leaders and teachers use interventions to turn their schools around.

The staff receives performance-pay bonuses for their participation. The idea behind EPIC is not just to award bonuses based on performance but to reward effective schools in low-income districts which are willing to share their teaching practices with new educators and struggling schools with similar demographics.

The new initiative combines compensation reform, human-capital strategies, and professional development.

(Source: Education Week October 8, 2008)

No Child Left Inside - Environmental Education Bill

The US House of Representatives passed the above environmental education legislation in September by a nearly two to one margin.

Known as the No Child Left Inside Act, it extends the 1990 National Environmental Education Act (NEE), which funds teacher training and support programs.

Among the other provisions, No Child Left Inside helps states develop and implement state academic content standards, student academic achievement standards, and state curriculum frameworks in environmental education. It encourages the development of outdoor environmental education activities as a regular part of the curriculum and encourages mid-career professionals in environmental fields to pursue careers in environmental education.

A Senate version of the bill that has garnered 14 co-sponsors was introduced last year, but it is still in committee.

A Report on Latino Students’ College Costs and Access

Voces (Voices): A profile of Today's Latino College Students presents the challenges and complexities of college opportunity from the perspective of Latino students.

The report was produced by the Washington, DC-based nonprofit Excelencia in Education, and includes an updated analysis of Latino college trends, as well as a set of first-person accounts from Latino students on how cost and affordability issues have shaped their college decisions.

The report is part of a larger effort by Excelencia, and supported by Lumina Foundation for Education, to offer policymakers, institutional leaders, and other service providers with new information on ways to better serve the current generation of Latino college students.

For more than a year, Excelencia has conducted interviews and focus groups with leaders, Latino students, and outreach and service providers to examine the impact of cost and affordability on the pursuit of higher education.

For more information, read Voces on the Excelencia in Education website.

(Source: American Association of Community Colleges)

Higher Education Act Reauthorized

In mid-August, the Higher Education Act (HEA) was finally reauthorized. Last renewed in 1998, the HEA was long overdue an overhaul.

HEA programs and activities fall primarily into four main categories:

1. Student financial aid,
2. Services to help students complete high school and enter and succeed in postsecondary education,
3. Aid to institutions, and
4. Aid to improve K-12 teacher training at postsecondary institutions.

The renewed HEA will:

• Increase accountability for programs that prepare teachers
• Simplify the main federal student financial aid application form
• Alter the eligibility and evaluation components of the college access programs known as TRIO

(Source: Education Week August 12, 2008)