Betsy DeVos, current nominee for Secretary of Education, recently gave a preview of her likely answers to education’s top issues in last week’s Senate confirmation hearing. The U.S. Supreme Court turned their focus on what is considered the most significant case on special education to reach the high court in nearly three decades. Read more about what’s happening in education policy and other major issues in K-12 and higher education below. 9 Things the Nominated Education Secretary Wants You to Know Betsy DeVos, President-Elect Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Education, offers her insight and potential solutions to current challenges such…
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This Week: Top Headlines in Education
ESSA in 2017: A Challenging Road Ahead for States and School Districts
2016 was a busy year, as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) first got off the ground. Contrary to its predecessor, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) from the Bush era, ESSA was an unprecedented step forward in reforming public education, handing over control over education standards to the states. The new law focuses on the need for major school improvements, but without the “test-and-punish” model of prior years – where schools with low test scores received less federal funding and consequently got stuck in this cycle of not having enough resources, but still having a lot of work…
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National Scorecard Ranks 50 States on Education Performance
For more than a decade, American public education has been faced with this fundamental issue: providing the best quality education and proving their accountability in doing so. Last year, the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was a breakthrough in prescribing a well-rounded approach in education reform. With the rules put in place, now the hard work of implementation will be up to states in 2017. And with the final rules issued last November, the Department of Education handed over ownership to the states, so they could define their own goals and performance measurement and rely on local…
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This Week: Top Headlines in Education
Last week, Education Week dropped their longest-running annual report, which grades states on the quality of their education, and revealed a C grade for the nation and called out five of the lowest-performing states which include Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Mississippi. We’ll take a closer look at some of the national and state findings in tomorrow’s blog post, so stay tuned. Check out the report highlights and other top news stories in education this week below. Nation Earns a C on Positive Outcomes Across a Student’s Lifetime Education Week released the 21st edition of their annual Quality Counts report, examining how…
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A Closer Look Inside the Growing College Readiness Problem
High school graduations have been at an all-time high, a major feat to be certain, but recent research is showing that many of these graduates aren’t prepared for the academic road ahead. The facts on college readiness are startling. The Nation’s Report Card (or NAEP) found that only a third of U.S. high school seniors are prepared for college coursework, and the number of students scoring below the basic level in math and reading are still rising. Last fall’s scores from the ACT college entrance exam showed that many high school students aren’t ready for college-level courses. In reading, only…
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This Week: Top Headlines in Education
Educators are wondering what to expect in 2017 – innovative technology trends, federal funding and policy changes, and making progress toward gender equity – especially as the next administration may bring a wave of changes that will impact K-12 and higher ed classrooms. A new study from the University of Chicago examines the idea of privatizing education, including a school voucher program and increasing the role of banks in giving out student loans. Read the survey findings on what top economists think about a free market for education below, and also check out this week’s top stories. Free Market for…
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Top 5 Technology Trends to Watch in 2017
In 2016, a number of technology trends took off and made a big impact in K-12 and higher education classrooms. Competency-based education and other types of blended learning created a fundamental shift in the learning model, data analytics helped educators learn how to better serve their students, and BYOD technology policies have grown to accommodate the every-growing ecosystem of tablets and other individual devices in schools. As the year is coming to end, we’ve put together a watch list of 2017 technology trends and predictions for education. Mobile Learning Mobile devices will continue to impact teachers and students in the…
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This Week: Top Headlines in Education
Last week, the White House released a new report on artificial intelligence and how it will transform our economy over the coming years and decades. Watch the story on Forbes, highlighting the findings and what it could mean for education, and check out other top headlines for K-12 and higher ed. Automation and How Investing in Education May Keep the American Dream Alive In October, the White House released a paper on preparing for the future of artificial intelligence. Released last week, their newest report dives deeper into the impact that AI will have on the American economy. Read…
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This Week: Top Headlines in Education
For years, research on the relationship between spending and student learning was inconclusive. But now, a first-of-its-kind research study from the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that money does matter. Read more about their recent findings across 26 states and the rest of this week’s top headlines for K-12 and higher education. It Turns Out Spending More Probably Does Improve Education In a new report by the National Bureau of Economic Research, there were some surprising results when analyzing the relationship between a school’s funding and the educational results of their students. Read more School Vouchers 101: The Potential…
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Teaching without Textbooks: The Rise of Open Educational Resources
Higher education faces a serious problem over rising costs, with Americans owing $1.3 trillion in student loan debt.[1] Over the recent years, colleges have experimented with ways to relieve some of the financial pressure, such as instituting tuition freezes or cuts. However, many have struggled with maintaining their new price tag and returned to the same price within a couple of years. Cost cutting has been an obstacle in the classroom, as educators try to stretch their budgets. “Open educational resources” (also known as OER) is a movement on the rise, rooted in the belief that anyone can learn, with…
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