IN THIS ISSUE:

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: education stimulus funding

			President Obama outlines education goals
			State governors adopt national standards proposal
			Reports in brief •The Condition of Education 2009 •Annual Privatization Report 2008 •Impact of For-Profit and Nonprofit Management on Student Achievement: The Philadelphia Intervention, 2002-2008
			Community college news
			Further education commitment for all

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: education stimulus funding

In February President Barack Obama signed into law the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) known also as the economic stimulus package.

The plan will channel $115 billion into education, more than doubling the current budget of the Department of Education.

Overall, the law will provide $80 billion for schools, $20 billion for student financial aid and other higher education support. The law also includes $15 billion in tax credits for college tuition. The influx of funding is for two years only and state officials are encouraged not to invest in programs which are unsustainable.

States which accept funding from the ARRA must commit to four reforms:

• Increase teacher effectiveness and ensure an equitable distribution of qualified teachers;

• Progress towards the implementation of college- and career- ready standards and high-quality (this has opened up the debate on national standards – see below);

• Turn around the lowest-performing schools;

• Develop and use of pre-K through post-secondary data systems.

The package also includes a $5 billion incentive fund to reward states and districts that make significant gains in student achievement.  Known as the "Race to the Top," states applying for these competitive grants must demonstrate that they have implemented aggressive and creative reforms in closing achievement gaps, raising academic standards, tracking student progress, and improving the distribution of high-quality teachers.

For more details, please view the US Department of Education’s information:
http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/guidance/uses.doc
http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/index.html

President Obama outlines education goals

In March President Obama delivered his first major education speech to the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. It reiterated themes from his campaign and recent policy moves such as the need for rigorous standards, innovation and accountability for both students and teachers. The President pressed for:

-rewarding teachers for good performance

-removing the limit on charter schools

-extending the school day and school year.

Although the speech was praised by representatives from both parties, some proposals are expected to draw criticism from teachers’ unions who do not support merit-pay plans or the expansion of charter schools (which they feel take tax dollars away from traditional public schools, and tend to be non-unionized).  

In brief, the four priority areas for the administration, as outlined by Arne Duncan, US Education Secretary, earlier in the year, are:

• investment in early childhood education

• teacher quality (improved recruitment, preparation, retention and compensation)

• high school drop-out prevention

• education and training opportunities beyond high school.  

State governors adopt national standards proposal

Forty-six states plus the District of Columbia have announced a proposal to develop common academic standards in English and mathematics with internationally competitive benchmarks.  

The effort is led by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief School State Officers, with the backing of the US Education Secretary, Arne Duncan.

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law requires states to set their own standards. It is the inconsistency of state results when compared to national tests which has helped the movement towards national standards gain momentum. The disparity becomes clear when students earn high marks on state tests and do not do well on national exams such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (also known as the Nation’s Report Card).

The movement is also building on the momentum of the education stimulus funding which requires states to progress towards implementing college- and career-ready standards.

By July a group of experts is expected to issue a set of “readiness standards” for high school graduates in reading and mathematics. They aim, by December 2009, to set out a set of skills each student is expected to master each year from Kindergarten to stay on track.

Read the National Governors Association news release.  

Reports in brief

The Condition of Education 2009, National Center for Education Statistics – a congressionally-mandated annual snapshot of education in the USA. Some interesting statistics include:

• The percentage of three- and four-year-olds enrolled in school increased from 20 percent in 1970 to 55 percent in 2007.

• Between 1972 and 2007, the percentage of public school students who were white decreased from 78 to 56 percent. This decrease largely reflects the growth in the number of students who were Hispanic; particularly in the West.

• Almost half of all parents report having some sort of "public school choice" available to them. The percentage of children in a public school of choice rose from 11 percent in 1993 to 16 percent in 2007.  

• The average reading and mathematics scores on the long-term trend National Assessment of Educational Progress were higher in 2008 than in the early 1970s for 9- and 13-year-olds; scores for 17-year-olds were not measurably different over the same period.

• Approximately 1.5 million students are homeschooled (about 3 percent of the school-age population, up from 1.7 percent ten years ago).

• The percentage of students enrolling in college immediately after high school has grown since the early 1970s – however only 58 percent of first year students in four-year colleges earn a bachelor’s degree within six years.

• Gaps in college access remain between students of different income levels and racial and ethnic groups. Students from low- and middle-income families trailed behind their high-income peers by more than 10 percentage points each year from 1972 and 2007.

• Women accounted for 57 percent of the bachelor's degrees and 62 percent of all associate's degrees awarded in the 2006-07 academic year.

Annual Privatization Report 2008, The Reason Foundation 2008 - evaluates the recent rise of privatization efforts in various sectors; on the education front, it chronicles the expansion of school choice in its various forms: more voucher programs, public charter schools, tax credits, and special needs scholarships. Student participation in publicly-funded private school choice, including voucher programs and tax credits, has increased 84 percent over the last five years. On the public front, there were 1.2 million students being served by 4,100 charter schools during 2007-8. Charters have the largest market share of students in New Orleans (57 percent of schools). Southfield, Minnesota; Dayton, Ohio; and Washington, D.C. tied for second place with 27 percent of their students enrolled in charters.

Impact of For-Profit and Nonprofit Management on Student Achievement: The Philadelphia Intervention, 2002-2008, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, Spring 2009 - compares student achievement in reading and math at for-profit, nonprofit, and district-managed schools from 2001-2008. It finds that Philadelphia's for-profit providers are beating the competition when it comes to student achievement. (Background: seven years ago, the Philadelphia School Reform Commission (SRC) arranged for 30 of the city's lowest performing schools to be taken over by for-profits and 16 by nonprofits.) According to this analysis, not only do students learn "substantially more in reading and math if they attended a school under for-profit rather than one under nonprofit management," but they learned almost 60 percent more each year.

Community college news

According to a recent survey of community colleges, 71 percent report a more than five percent increase in enrollment over last year. In Chicago, officials at the City Colleges of Chicago report a 9.1 percent increase in overall enrollment from the last academic year. The bump is attributed to recently unemployed seeking continuing education and also students looking for a more affordable route into higher education.

Florida is leading the way on blurring the distinction between community colleges and four-year universities. Fourteen community colleges in Florida are authorized to offer bachelor’s degrees. Miami Dade College has dropped "community" from its name.

The City University of New York (CUNY) is proposing the creation of a new type of community college to complement its six existing two-year institutions.  

The college, potentially scheduled to open in Manhattan in a few years, will challenge the traditional model of community colleges. Although continuing the open door policy of admission, it will require an interview for its applicants. It will also call for stricter requirements and a narrower curriculum than many community colleges. First year students will follow a predetermined core curriculum with a focus on internships or work placements.  

The majors will be in career-orientated subjects with a few majors designed for transfer to four-year institutions in subjects such as urban studies or urban education which are particularly relevant to New York City.  

Although controversial, the proposal is supported by other community colleges in the New York system.  They believe the proposal might better-suit more traditionally aged (younger) students than community colleges.  Nationally, sixty percent of community college students are part-time and have work and family obligations while studying.  In the CUNY system, 87 percent of first year students attend community college full-time.  

Finally, in the latest sign of the growing national prominence of community colleges, President Obama named the chancellor of a two-year-college district in California to the second highest ranking position in the Education Department.

The nominee for under secretary of education, Martha J. Kanter, is head of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, in Silicon Valley. If confirmed by the Senate, Ms. Kanter would become the first community college leader to hold one of the top jobs in the Education Department.

Further education commitment for all

In his February address to the Joint Session of Congress, President Obama urged Americans to commit to a year of college, technical training or apprenticeship as a way to combat the economic decline.  

The USA suffers from steep high-school dropout rates and low college completion rates.  According to the Census Bureau, 45 percent of adults have never attended college.  

The President has called for only one year, which is viewed as an attempt to remain realistic.  However, critics of the plan say many of the jobs projected to grow do not require college certification and can be carried out with short-term or on-the-job training.  

The administration is working with colleges and states to help unemployed workers receive Pell Grants (need-based grants to low-income students) and keep their unemployment benefits while enrolled in college.

The proposal’s success will depend on the cooperation of colleges and resources available to provide financial aid.  The stimulus bill includes $4 billion for job training, $17 billion for Pell Grants, $200 million for the Federal Work-Study program and an increase in tax credit for tuition.  

Read President Obama’s address to the Joint Session of Congress.