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Official blog of the US DOE

Conceptual and Methodological Problems in Research on College Undermatch "Access to the nation's most selective colleges remains starkly unequal, with students in the lowest income quartile constituting less than 4% of enrollment," say Michael Bastedo and Allyson Flaster (University of Michigan/Ann Arbor) in this article in Educational Researcher. "Students in the top SES quartile comprise 69% of enrollment at institutions that admit fewer than a third of their applicants…" One increasingly popular explanation for this enrollment gap is undermatching - academically able low-income students not applying to selective colleges for which they are qualified, settling instead for lower-tier institutions. Bastedo and Flaster are skeptical about this theory for three reasons First, they don't believe there is good evidence about the life benefits of attending different tiers of college, and most measures of college "quality" are quite unscientific. Life advantages might accrue at the extremes - going to a highly selective college versus a low-quality community college - but the evidence about the whole middle range is "quite muddy," say Bastedo and Flaster. Among the factors that need to be looked at more carefully are a college's graduation rate, students' debt burden, placement in graduate or professional schools, and post-graduate earnings. Second, the authors question whether it's possible for researchers to predict which low-income students will get into selective colleges to which they haven't yet applied. Competition for seats in these colleges has become much more intense in recent years, and extra-curricular activities, alumni parents, athletic prowess, and other intangibles play an increasingly important part. In many of these areas, higher-SES students have great advantages. Third, even if we look only at SAT scores and GPAs, high-achieving disadvantaged students are still not as competitive as the undermatching advocate

"Are science, social studies, the arts, and physical education really disappearing from elementary schools? Are critical thinking and deep reading of literature fading from the high school curriculum?"

Study: High school grades best predictor of college success - not SAT/ACT scores

One of my favorite topics to discuss. And why do we think the SAT is going to be redesigned for Class of 2016? Clearly because we need to align it to the Common Core. More info to come on this....what do you think John?

At Thomas S. Wootton High School, teachers and administrators seem to be in agreement that field-testing for the common-core assessments is off to a bumpy start.

Homework help for high school students.

Club Academia strives to organize existing knowledge in ways that make learning easily accessible while simultaneously inspiring people to discover and innovate.

Nice resource for both students and teachers...

Club Academia strives to organize existing knowledge in ways that make learning easily accessible while simultaneously inspiring people to discover and innovate.

PSI - The Progressive Science Initiative. Example from Tech High School.

to give you the tools and connections to engage students more efficiently and improve educational effectiveness on both a large and small scale.

Teaching isn't easy. All too often educators are asked to achieve high goals with meager resources and distracted students. No technology alone can improve learning, but an intimate partnership between educational institutions and technology developers can. Our mission is to empower you-to give you the tools and connections to engage students more efficiently and improve educational effectiveness on both a large and small scale. Schoology isn't just an LMS. It's a living, breathing educational community that can adjust to changing student needs, learn from collective experiences, and continually improve as education and technology advance. We strive to provide an unparalleled educational experience that improves student outcomes by providing educators information and insights that were never before possible. Schoology hopes not only to illuminate why particular students learn the way they do, but also to provide support and personalized content that is tailored to them. Schoology is transforming learning through the collaboration of passionate individuals. We're on a unique journey, and this is just the beginning.

Can't We Do Better?

assets of high quality schools

one of a series of new early learning schools that model the approach of VINCI Education: a hands-on blend of low-tech and high-tech instruction, guided by a skilled classroom teacher.

high-performing countries are moving away from forms of accountability based on blue-collar models of work organization (which accurately describes teaching in the United States) and toward professional models of accountability. Blue-collar models assume the work provides little in the way of intrinsic rewards and so requires the boss to provide carrots and sticks-mostly sticks- to keep the workforce on task. The blue-collar model also unites the workers against the bosses.

 The Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY) at Stanford University is a continuing project dedicated to developing and offering multimedia computer-based distance-learning courses. Combining technical and instructional expertise, EPGY provides high-abi

College deans have written about incoming freshman being "crispies" or "teacups": the crispies so burned out by the pressures of high school that they get to college unable to engage in the work, and the teacups so fragile or overprotected in their formative years that they fall apart at the first stress they encounter.  What can/should k-12 leaders do?

FREE educational resources for middle school, high school, and college.

Seen this a few times.....sit and read it....worth it.

The partnership between Khan Academy and the College Board directly addresses one of the greatest inequities around college entrance exams: the culture of high-priced test preparation. Now, for the first time, all students have the opportunity to practice for the SAT with completely free, best-in-class materials

Best school for achievement, 40% of these kids who created this website

NEW: Club Academia is working with FIRST Robotics team 1868, the Space Cookies, to create FIRST Robotics videos. Check out the FIRST Robotics Tab in the Learn menu for more information!