A few days before the presidential inauguration, the U.S. Dept of Education released their national plan on the future of education technology. In it, they propose a vision that radically reshapes the discourse by focusing less on the use of ed tech in classrooms and more on how it can contribute to the development of a student-centered higher ed ecosystem. Read about their technology report and other major issues taking place in K-12 and higher education below. U.S. Department of Education Releases New Report on Ed Tech Challenges In the National Higher Education Technology Plan, the department highlights the need…
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This Week: Top Headlines in Education
4 Big Problems Created By the Standardized Testing Craze
The Obama administration confirmed what many have been saying for years: U.S. public school students are taking too many standardized tests. This came after a two-year movement to revolt against standardized tests around the country, which is still growing among students, parents, teachers, principals, superintendents, and others. Starting in February 2015, more than a dozen states reported stories of test refusals. There were a number of bills being introduced in 11 states that afforded parents the right to opt their children out of standardized tests. Is there still an argument to be made in favor of standardized testing? They’ve been…
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Few Educators Are Prepared to Teach the Common Core
Even as states first began implementing the Common Core standards, educators knew that it would take several years to fully understand the new guidelines and be able to shift instruction in the new direction. It’s no major feat bringing together parents, teachers, district leaders, policymakers, and communities to work together to make the Common Core a success. At this point, has this initiative been a success? And what could this mean for educators in 2017? This week, we examine the current state of the Common Core State Standards and the challenges for teachers in K-12. Teachers Still Face Challenges with…
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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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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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Driving Down Costs, Driving Up Quality in Higher Ed
What are colleges doing to cut costs, amid budget constraints and public concerns over skyrocketing student debt in America? For years, colleges have looked to a number of options to contain the costs, rather than bumping up tuition prices. In many cases, departments have put a freeze on hiring, which in turn increases general faculty workloads and without an increase in pay. The programs with the lowest performance get cut. College administrators have also squeezed IT budgets, outsourced apps and storage technologies, and pushed some of the costs onto students. To continue from our last post about the “iron triangle,”…
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Breaking Through the Iron Triangle in Higher Education
Higher education is up against a myriad of challenges, as their student enrollments decline, their budgets tighten up or remain stagnant, and there’s a greater demand to prove the value of their degree programs. As prospective students and parents are weighing the college options, the conversation around cost keeps getting tougher. College student debt is still spiraling. In the past year, seven in 10 graduating seniors had student loans from public and nonprofit colleges, with an average of $30,100 per borrower, marking a 4-percent increase from the average college student debt reported in 2014.[1] Understanding The Iron Triangle College and…
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