The debate over whether independently-run public schools, known as charter schools, actually benefit student achievement continues to be played out in the numerous reports issued over the last few months. Charter schools came into existence over a decade ago with strong bipartisan support. There are now around 3,300 charter schools nationwide.

The Progressive Policy Institute, which supports charters, issued two reports - one on the charter movement in New York City and and a second on the charter schools in Indianapolis. New York City, which has had charter schools for six years, now has 31schools and is planning to open 50 more over the next five years. Indianapolis has 10 charter schools with more in the works. Both cities' school systems are run by the Mayor. This trend can also be seen in Washington, DC and Chicago, whose Mayors are investing in charter schools to revitalize their school systems. In the case of DC, the Mayor hopes to revitalize neighborhoods by attracting middle class residents.

The reports suggest that early results are mixed but promising. Read Seeds of Change in the Big Apple: Chartering Schools in New York City, and Fast Break in Indianapolis: A New Approach to Charter Schooling.

A federal study using data collected in five states (Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Texas) suggests that charter school students are less likely to meet state achievement targets than students in regular public schools. The schools are more likely to serve minority/low-income students but less likely to serve students with special needs. The US Education Department, which commissioned the study, commented that the report should be viewed as a snapshot of a single year rather than a conclusion that charter schools are failing their students academically.

Read the US Department of Education’s Evaluation of the Public Charter Schools Program.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), most commonly known as “the nation’s report card”, issued its analysis of fourth graders' (10 year-olds) scores. The report concluded that students in charter schools were lagging in math only, but that differences disappeared once factors such as race and ethnicity were taken into consideration. Differences in other subjects such as English were reported as statistically insignificant. The NAEP data inspired heated debate from charter school opponents and supporters.

Read America's Charter Schools: Results From the NAEP 2003 Pilot Study from the National Center for Education Statistics.

A study released by a researcher at Harvard University drew conclusions at odds with the above reports. Its data suggest that charter school students perform well compared to their public school peers: A Straightforward Comparison of Charter Schools and Regular Public Schools in the United States, by Caroline M. Hoxby.

One finding seems to be across the board of reports: charter schools continue to enjoy high parental satisfaction.

(Sources: Education Week Sept. 29, 2004; Oct. 27, 2004; Dec. 1, 2004; Jan. 5, 2005)

According to a recent report from The Schott Foundation for Public Education only 40 percent of black males graduate from high school compared with 70 percent of their white peers. Strides in academic attainment were made during the 1970s and 1980s but the achievement gap began to widen again during the 1990s, and many studies have been carried out to try and explain why. Some researchers believe that the initial progress made, following desegregation of schools in the 1960s, was only in the basic academic skills. Now that this plateau has been reached some believe that different strategies are required to teach higher level skills.

A panel of scholars has issued a report outlining their vision of a systemic approach to closing the achievement gap between minority students and their peers. It follows on from work by the National Task Force on Minority High Achievement,established in 1997. The report incorporates recent findings in cognitive science, adapted teaching methods, psychology and environmental factors which affect learning. It suggests that after-school programs, quality teachers, an atmosphere of trust and more challenging work are the key to promoting what it calls “affirmative development” among minority students.

Download and read The Schott Foundation’s Public Education and Black Male Students: A State Report Card and All Students Reaching the Top: Strategies for Closing Academic Achievement Gaps, from the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory.

(Source: Education Week Oct. 6, 2004; Dec. 8, 2004)

Designed as a handbook of ideas for educators and policymakers in rural America, the report Learning by Doing from the Appalachian Regional Commission gives examples of six successful youth entrepreneurship programs which teach students how to run a business.

The report includes information on resources such as the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) and suggests keys to successful programs.

(Source: Education Week, Dec. 8, 2004)

Governor Jeb Bush has announced a new voucher program targeted at students who score poorly three years in a row in the reading section of Florida state assessment exams. Vouchers are publicly funded scholarships which can be used by parents to send their children to another public or private, including religious, school. The plan does not specify how much the voucher will be worth.

The announcement was part of a broader plan for education reform in Florida. It also comes at a time when one of Florida’s three voucher programs, Opportunity Scholarships, is being challenged in court. Two state courts have ruled that it violates the Florida Constitution, and a ruling will be made by the Florida State Supreme Court in the spring.

Read more from the Florida Department of Education on the Florida School Choice Scholarships, including the John M. McKay Program for disabled students and the Opportunity Scholarships program for children who attend failing schools.

(Source: Education Week, March 2, 2005)

A report from the non-profit organization Jobs for the Future (JFF) describes emerging efforts in cities such as Boston, New York City, and Sacramento to convert large, comprehensive high schools into autonomous small schools within the same building.

Download and read the executive summary and full report at Big Buildings, Small Schools: Using a Small Schools Strategy for High School Reform.

(Source: US Department of Education, Office of Innovation and Improvement’s The Education Innovator, Jan. 24, 2005)

The US Department of Education has published a booklet highlighting six diverse programs offering innovative pathways to school leadership. The programs outlined are:

• Boston Principal Fellowship Program
• First Ring Leadership Academy, Cleveland, Ohio
• LAUNCH (Leadership Academy and Urban Network for Chicago)
• NJ EXCEL (New Jersey Expedited Certification for Educational Leadership)
• New Leaders for New Schools
• Principals Excellence Program (Kentucky)

One of the programs, New Leaders for New Schools, benefited from a $10 million (£5.2 million*) Gates Foundation grant which will enable it to start a “national urban principal corps” in 2,000 urban schools over the next decade. New Leaders recruits outstanding young principal candidates who, after an intensive summer program, undergo a year-long paid internship with a highly experienced principal. Once they have their own school, the new principals receive three years of close mentoring. The cities targeted initially will be New York, Chicago, the Oakland area (near San Francisco, California), Memphis, Washington, D.C and Baltimore.

Schools are facing a leadership crisis as a large proportion of principals are set to retire over the next decade.

Read Innovations in Education: Innovative Pathways to School Leadership.

*March 2005 rate of exchange: USD 1.92 = 1 GBP

(Source: USA Today, Feb. 14, 2005; Education Week, March 2, 2005)

On March 10 the Senate passed a bill that continues vocational education programs, including community college programs, under the Carl D. Perkins Act. Although the programs are not funded under President Bush’s 2006 budget proposal, the Senate bill as well as the House version would continue the programs, obtaining funding under a separate appropriations bill. The Senate bill received strong support from the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), which said the legislation makes positive changes to current law, including establishing separate postsecondary performance indicators. The bill also incorporates several new "local uses of funds" laws that will help colleges better serve their students, particularly adults. The legislation will better assist community colleges’ support for students seeking to continue their studies at the baccalaureate degree level while maintaining the postsecondary funding focus on associate degree programs. AACC also supported the improvements that the bill makes to the Tech Prep program. The Senate bill keeps Tech Prep as a separately authorized program.

The House version of the bill has been approved in committee and awaits floor action.

(Source: American Association of Community Colleges)

The American Council on Education (ACE) has issued a report on minority enrollment between 1991 and 2001 using the latest data available from the US Census Bureau and the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

The ACE reports a growth in the number of minority students enrolling in higher education and also higher minority participation rates over the last decade. However, the rates continue to lag behind their white counterparts. The data also reveal a growing gender gap. In the early 1990s there was gender equity in higher education enrollment and participation rates. The most recent data reveal more female students than male currently in higher education.

Higher education officials cited the report as reason to support such federal programs as GEAR UP, Upward Bound and Talent Search which provide assistance to low-income students preparing for college. All three programs face possible elimination in President Bush’s proposed budget for 2006. The administration is suggesting funneling funding from those programs into high school reform where it feels the money would be used more effectively to prepare students for higher education.

(Source: Education Week, Feb. 23, 2005)

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded almost $30 million (£15.6 million*), along with support from additional philanthropies, to expand its Early College High School Initiative. The goal of “early colleges” is to improve high school graduation rates and college participation among underrepresented groups such as low-income or minority students. Dual enrollment (see below) and Advanced Placement classes give many students the opportunity to experience college-level courses while in high school. The “early colleges” are specifically targeted at disadvantaged students and aim to provide a supportive environment where they can also benefit from advanced learning.

At present there are 46 early college high schools serving 8,000 students. The goal is to have 170 schools with 65,000 students by 2008.

Learn more about the Early College High School Initiative.

According to a study released by the US Department of Education, 38 states have dual enrollment policies which allow students to enroll in postsecondary education while enrolled in high school, earning both high school and college credits. The report examines the student requirements for dual enrollment programs, funding sources of the programs, and course content.

Read State Dual Enrollment Policies: Addressing Access and Quality

*March 2005 exchange rate: USD 1.92 = 1 GBP

(Sources: US Department of Education, Office of Innovation and Improvement’s The Education Innovator, Dec. 16, 2004; Education Week, March 2, 2005; NACAC Research Update, Nov. 5, 2004)

In a recent speech at an education conference the new Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings, called on higher education institutions to provide more information on their performance in a similar way to the data required by K-12 (primary and secondary schools) under the No Child Left Behind Act. Ms Spellings suggested the need for greater accountability in higher education, noting that the federal (taxpayer) investment is one-third compared to under one-tenth for K-12.

Higher education officials expressed skepticism at how “success” or otherwise in higher education might be calculated. It is unlikely that accountability measures would be enforced, but it has raised the question of information provision at this level of education.

Read the full text of the Secretary of Education’s speech delivered at the annual conference of the American Council on Education.

(Source: Education Week, Feb. 23, 2005)

According to a national annual survey of around 300,000 first year students a record number expect to be in debt and have to work to pay for their college costs. The survey, conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute, University of California at Los Angeles, found that almost 30 percent of students expect to owe at least $3,000 (£1,562*) at the end of their first year; 8.8 percent predicted debt of more than $10,000 (£5, 208*) at the end of their freshman year.

Almost half of the students surveyed expected to hold a job during the academic year to help pay for their education costs. When divided by gender, 53.3 percent of women expected to work to pay for their studies compared to 39.6 percent of men.

Education officials cite increasing tuition costs and the decreasing buying power of federal aid such as the Pell grant. as reasons for the increase in debt and paid workload of students.

For more on student trends and attitudes, read the HERI press release and the summary for The American Freshman: National Norms for 2004.

*March 2005 exchange rate: USD 1.92 = 1 GBP

(Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education, Feb. 4, 2005)