minahkaypoh

When the history of American higher education in the 21st century is written, I suspect the end of the first decade will be known for two resounding themes: the growing importance of community colleges, and a move from college access to a focus on college success . The vocabulary of this important time centers on words like efficiency, productivity, and effectiveness. These are terms that, thanks in no small part to the work of foundations like Lumina and Gates, finally have traction among both administrators and consumers of higher ed. In a very real sense, this is nothing less than astounding progress for an institution built primarily to enroll students privileged enough to attend college-- and not necessarily to graduate them. For the latest--and greatest-- example of this sea change we can look to Indiana. Faced with ever-common declines in resources for higher education, leaders in that state are reportedly rethinking business as usual. Typically, budget cuts are distribute...

NATIONAL Creative RttT Lawmaking (Politics K-12) RttT Hopefuls: Clear The Week of March 15, 2010 (Politics K-12) States Struggle With Pk-20 Data ( Education Week ) CALIFORNIA State senate passes RttT reform bill (AP) Bill addresses failing schools ( San Francisco Chronicle ) Final bill could be passed "before the holidays" ( Los Angeles Times ) Assembly Speaker: Race is 'on track' ( San Jose Mercury News ) FLORIDA Teachers union says 'no' to state plan (Teacher Beat) Unions balking on Race ( Orlando Sentinel ) Florida Dems cry foul ( St. Petersburg Times - The Gradebook blog) 63 of 67 school districts sign on ( Miami Herald ) HAWAII Failure to address teacher furlough could jeopardize RttT chances ( Honolulu Star-Bulletin ) IDAHO State supe stumps for RttT ( Times-News ) Luna: Charter school cap to stay ( Times-News ) ILLINOIS RttT funds could target lowest performing schools ( Chicago Daily Herald ) INDIANA DoE rolls out RttT proposal summary ...

There's growing concern with higher education's affordability problem, as well there should be. It's hard to see how college will promote social mobility if a kid's ability to access it is increasingly linked to whether or not his family has money. So it's heartening to see college leaders attempting to provide solutions. But it'd be even better if we first saw them earnestly attempting to understand where the real sources of trouble lie. I'm afraid that step's being skipped a bit too often, running the risk of making things worse. Here's a recent example. At this month's Regents Board Meeting , University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly was explicitly asked to name some solutions to promoting affordability at his institutions. There were many ways he could respond. To his credit, Reilly acknowledged the importance of growing the state's paltry support for need-based aid and he said that multiple solutions were needed--there...

UPDATED! NATIONAL List of Contending States Grows ( Education Week Politics K-12 blog) 37 States to Apply in Round 1 ( Education Week Politics K-12 blog) Will Local Teachers' Unions Sign Off On State RttT Plans? ( Education Week Teacher Beat blog) A RttT Scorecard (National Council on Teacher Quality) A Race to Nowhere ( Education Week - Bridging Differences blog) FLORIDA Editorial: Districts should embrace teacher merit pay and RttT ( Orlando Sentinel ) KENTUCKY Districts sign off on RttT ( The State Journal - Frankfort) MAINE In for round 2 (Maine School Management Association) MASSACHUSETTS RttT bill weakened, critics charge ( Boston Globe ) Commentary: Whose needs come first in schools? ( Boston Globe ) MINNESOTA Teachers' union may withhold support for state application (Minneapolis Star Tribune ) NEVADA Legislative attempt to qualify for competition ( Las Vegas Sun ) NEW YORK Governor Paterson: Raise charter school cap ( New York Post ) OHIO Troubled wat...

Just a quick update -- The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has released the list of colleges and universities it plans to investigate for giving preference to men in admissions: Catholic University of America Georgetown Gettysburg Goldey-Beacom Goucher College Howard Johns Hopkins Lincoln University (Pa.) Loyola University Maryland Messiah College Shepherd University Shippensburg University University of Delaware University of Maryland-Baltimore County University of Maryland-Eastern Shore University of Richmond Virginia Union University Washington College York University (Pa) Original Post: "The So-Called Boy Mystery"

NATIONAL Is Race to Top an Urban Game? ( Education Week Politics K-12 Blog) Some state officials have a sneaking suspicion that Race to the Top is an urban state's game and that has made some question whether they should apply, at least in Round 1. For instance, Vermont had originally planned to apply for Round 1 of the competition, but is now going to hold off for Round 2.... The state decided to sit out the first round because of the competition's rules on charter schools. Vermont, a largely rural state, doesn't have them, but it does have some other innovative public schools, Knopf said. But, under the RttT regulations, the state can only get up to eight points for its innovative schools, out of a possible 40, since it doesn't have a charter school law. In North Dakota , state education superintendent Wayne Sanstead told Michele that it can't move quickly enough to make the Jan. 19 deadline for Round 1. Still, when the state applies in Round 2, it will develop...

Wisconsin is the prototypical 'good news' state. Denial of some stubborn realities has grossly limited impetus for education reform in recent years. However, here is some legitimate good news ( "State improves participation in school breakfasts" ), progress -- not success-- on the school breakfast front from a state that has too long been a laggard. Data comes from the annual School Breakfast Scorecard from the Food Research and Action Center . State leaders, including Governor Jim Doyle and the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness & Health , deserve credit for prioritizing this important issue. The Governor's School Health Award is one vehicle that has encouraged and promoted wider availability of school breakfasts in Wisconsin schools.