U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is offering federal cash incentives–up to $350 million–to achieve one of his priorities: developing national standards for reading and math to replace a current hodgepodge of benchmarks in the states.  Here is a link to the AP story, posted by EdWeek (access compliments of edweek.org).  Here is the story on the Politics K-12 blog.  Here is a link to ed.gov’s blog. Here is Advance Illinois’ statement

in support of the Secretary’s speech.

  0 Comments

Getting a high school degree is better than not getting one, but a new report Johns Hopkins University researchers shows that while Philadelphia-area high school graduates earn more than their dropout peers, most still do not earn a salary above the federal poverty level.   And for those who do intend to finish college, it would be nice to know how likely you are to finish college. A new report by the American Enterprise Institute examines the startling rates at which our colleges are producing dropouts.

  0 Comments

New test scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress show troubling durability over time in the gap between white and minority students. The silver lining in the clouds, though, is strong improvement overall.  Each of the following accounts take a different angle:

New York Times
EdWeek (article access courtesy of edweek.org)
Education Trust

  0 Comments