Education Research

Although this article is not directly related to education policy, I think it provides an important look at the youth culture many students in DC schools experience.

This article discusses the conclusion to a Supreme Court case that was described in an article I book-marked earlier in the semester. The Supreme Court has ruled that parents of special-education students may seek reimbursement for private school tuition.

An interesting look at the charter school movement... Secretary of Education Arne Duncan recently said that charter schools that are not top-tiered are actually hurting the charter school movement. This comes at a time when the Obama administration is stressing the value of opening more charter schools.

This article from The Post Standard, located in Syracuse, NY details the rise in applicants and enrolled students in community colleges. Many students cite the low cost of tuition, quality classes and athletic programs as a few of the many reasons they choose to initially attend a community college over 4 year colleges and universities. This situation is a common one across the country as many students are choosing to complete two years at a community college and transfer their credits to a four year school in order to safe money and discover their academic interests.

This article relates to the school voucher article we read this week. It doesn't directly suggest the use of school vouchers but one of the main suggestions by opponets of vouchers was to create stimulating learning opportunities for those kids who come from less affluent backgrounds. This article also suggest the same thing. In subjects like math and reading all kids lose a bit of what they learn and especially in reading w/ the poorer children. This article mentions Fairchild's center which helps promote learning over the summer from all socioeconomic backgrounds.

The U.S. plans to implement a universal standardized testing program, where all the states will have the same standards for success. To date some states that may have failing students in math and science could be passing if they lived in another state. Improving the school system nationwide is a goal for the program, hoping that equality in testing standards will create a group of students who all meeting the same requirements.

New York City has been replacing its larger 'trouble' schools with smaller schools with themes like environmental science and performing arts. Instead of focusing on the problems at the larger schools, they are shut down so smaller ones can open. The program has had success but it isn't doing much for the overall program. The high schools who were poor performing are still having problems (low attendance, grad rates); but it appears as if the smaller school trend is on the rise.

This New York Times article describes how several colleges and universities around the nation are minimizing costs due to the current economic crisis. Schools like Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and Bryn Mawr College are holding virtual swim meets to save on travel expenses, while other schools are cutting custodial and other staff positions in an effort to save money. Giving students the opportunity to gain work experience by taking on professional staff positions has saved Rhodes College almost $750,000. Although many schools are doing their part to save money, in several cases it has turned out to be beneficial for students and has eliminated unnecessary costs and expenses for many colleges and universities.

This article describes the growing amount of applicants to the military academies including West Point, the Naval Academy and the Air Force academy. Officials at these institutions claim increased marketing and advertising campaigns, the declining rate of casualities abroad and the economy as top reasons why applications are at their highest since 1988. All three institutions are also citing a more diverse pool of minorities as applicants as well. Other colleges and universities are also seeing this trend as well, as state schools and ivy league institutions are seeing more applicants than in years past due to more financial aid being available for incoming and current students.

While small schools in NYC are being hailed as success stories, larger comprehensive high schools are struggling with attendance and graduation rates. This article mentions doing more to support these schools that have a large number of high-needs students.

This article describes what people are doing to close the gap between male and female involvement in after-school sports programs. This is important because it also reflects concern over health, nutrition, and social interaction.

I find this look at music and arts to be particularly intersting - especially in light of the fact that many schools are cutting back on these subjects so that they can concentrate on subjects that are tested with standardized scores.

This is an interesting article on tracking students. Stamford, CT is doing away finally with the system because it fails low-level students.

New reform in the school tracking system to help eliminate the achievement gap, along with the stigma of who is better than another in the school. The schools division of students based on academic performance in the past has determined their path through school based on a single standarized test. The school is now working to mix the ability in each class. Why it took so long for this school to catch up to others around it I have no clue but this new development seems to be a much better idea, and will also promote self-efficacy among all students.

This New York Times article describes the business idea of three Harvard alums who have partnered together to offer a different type of loan services, Unithrive, to current Harvard students. Just launched a few months ago, Unithrive aims to link Harvard alumni whith current students who need extra help in paying for school or other outside activities such as test preparation for the GRE or MCAT as well as funding for abroad travel. The article further describes this business venture which offers interest-free loans up to $2,000 for currently enrolled students. The main goal of this program is to link alumni with students and serve as another way alumni can keep involved with the school and get to know students on a more personal level.

After writing my wikipedia article on cramming, I thought this article illustrated the differences of American and Chinese schooling very accurately. This article describes the gao kao, or high test, that serves as the only enterence method into Chinese universities. Many students study upwards of 16 hours a day in preparation for this exam, which lasts 9 hours and is only given once a year. The article also demonstrates the key differences in educational theory and questions whether memorization is an effective learning tool.

This article describes the movement many students and government officials would like to see take place - a financial bailout for students by means of forgiving student loans. The average student debt after attending a 4 year college or university is roughly $20,000, and many recent graduates are struggling to repay their loans after facing a difficult economy…many being forced to take unpaid internships or low paying full-time employment. The article further describes the government bailout made for the banking and automotive industry, and argues that forgiving the U.S. student loan debt would be much less of a financial commitment with much higher payoffs in terms of educated employment. 2 out of every 3 students need financial assistance to attend college, and the continually rising costs of tuition is crippling many students and their families.