Do student teacher evaluations correlate with student learning
Do students actually learn more in courses where they give teachers higher course evaluations? A study in "Meta-analysis of faculty's teaching effectiveness: Student evaluation of teaching ratings and student learning are not related" by Utll, White, and Gonzalez that was published in the just publi
9College Application Anxiety
The decreased costs of filing college applications due to things like the internet and the Common Application has increased the average number of college applications that high school seniors submit.
5Income Inequality and Education
The Wall Street journal blog article How Education Drives Inequality among the 99% reports on research by David Autor who looks at changes in inequality among those below the top 1% in income and the important role that education plays in explaining changes over time in inequality among those who ar
12Should Colleges Discount Tuition?
Interesting article in NY Times Getting Out of Discount Game, Small Colleges Lower the Pricethat said some colleges are getting out of the tuition discounting game. For example, instead of having a list price tuition of $35,000 and average aid of $13,000 a college would charge everyone $22,000.
1Small Gains in Reading and Math Scores but Differences Persist
The New York times article "U.S. Reading and Math Scores Show Slight Gains reports results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) exam which showed small gains in reading and math but differences by race and income groups still persist.
Unemployment rates are lower for college graduates in OECD countries
The recent OECD report "Education at a Glance" shows that the unemployment rates of college graduates (tertiary type A) in OECD countries are lower than those without a high school degree (lower secondary).
1College graduates having a hard time finding jobs in China
The NY times article "Faltering Economy in China Dims Job Prospects for Graduates" reports that with 7 million new college graduates and a weakening economy its tough for a new college graduate to get a job.
2New State Education Rankings
Education Week came out with its 2013 rankings of states based on six categories of education policy and performance. Maryland ranked first (87.5) followed by Massachusetts (84.1) and New York (83.1). The national average was 76.9 or a grade of C+.
2Education funding reduced in most states
The recent article in the Huffington Post, "Education Funding Drops In More Than Half Of States" that summarizes the findings from a report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports that per-student/ inflation adjusted education spending has dropped since 2008 in more than half the state
2Is College Still a Good Investment?
If you had $102,000 where would be the best place to invest-- Stocks, bonds or a college degree.
6Cash for Passing AP Exam
The National Math and Science Initiative pays students $100 for scoring 3 or higher on the AP exam as well as rewarding teachers according to the number of students in their class who pass the exam.
2National History Day Video
Here is a nice video on U-Tube, that highlights last June's National History Day. Thanks to Alison Armentrout for providing the link.
With Bad Economy, Careers on Hold for Recent College Graduates
Many college graduates are unable to find jobs that are the beginning of a career path. With the poor economy their careers are on hold as they are unable to find jobs related to their desired career.
2Poorly Performing Teachers fired in D.C.
Over 200 poorly performing teachers were laid of in the D.C. public schools last week. This was the result of the IMPACT program that was put into place by the former superintendent of schools Michelle Rhee. As reported in the Washington Post article, "206 D.C.
3Teaching to the test?
Given that standardized tests are now ubiquitous after No Child Left Behind and value added approaches based on tests scores are used to gauge performance, many teachers feel intense pressure to "teach to the test", especially as the time for standardized testing draws near.
1Is College Affordable for the Middle Class?
Over the last decade the price of college has soared while incomes for the middle class have remained flat. Since the middle class does not typically qualify for federal support such as Pell grants the question arises of whether or not college is affordable for the middle class.
Wisconsin has the highest public high school graduation rates.
The U.S. Department of Education recently released the report "Public School Graduates and Dropouts from the Common Core of Data 2008-09." Wisconsin had the highest high school graduation rate (AFGR) at 90.7% while Mississippi had the lowest at 62.0%.
1Price weighs heavily in college choice
Many high school seniors who plan to attend college next fall have had to recently decide what university they will attend among those institutions that they have been admitted to.
More grim news for California colleges
The LA times article "California community colleges to slash enrollment, classes" reports that the California's community college system faces an $800 million shortfall and may have to cut enrollment by 400,000 students and eliminate thousands of classes.
3Unions push to organize charters in Chicago
In the past two years unions have organized 12 of the 85 charters in Chicago and they hope to organize all of them reports the NY times article "Unions Move In at Chicago Charter Schools, and Resistance Is Swift." The impact of such unions on teachers and students will ultimately depend on the type
More proposed cuts to University of California system
Governor Jerry Brown has proposed cutting the University of California System's budget by $500m million dollars. As reported in "UC regents hear grim predictions about the system's future" some Chancellors predict that quality at the campuses may be compromised and course offering will be cut.
Are Most High School Students College Ready? Not in NY
Education officials in New York have released a report showing that the majority of students who leave high school in the state are not college ready according to their scores on the state's Regent Exams.
2Freshman more Stressed
The Higher Education Research Institute's "The American Freshman" report presents findings from the CIRP Freshman survey showing that freshman in 2010 are more stressed out than in previous years.
How to increase Pretige, Raise Tuition
Officials in Missouri have suggested that by raising tuition at the University of Missouri, the school's prestige may increase.
1Feds to raise nutrition standards for school meals
To help counteract the childhood obesity problem in the US, the Federal government is proposing changes in the nutrition content of school meals.
College Applications Rise in Britain despite tuition increase
Early indications are that applications to universities will rise in Britain this year despite the increase in tuition. The BBC News article "University applications continue to rise" reports that applications are expected to increase by 2.5% this year despite the rise in tuition to £9000.
No Room for Students at Community Colleges
As unemployed workers seek to retrain at community colleges, state budget cuts are limiting the number of students that can enroll.
3California School Districts Sued over Fees
The ACLU brought suit against several public school districts for allegedly charging fees to students for textbooks etc.
1Narrowing of DC Achievement Gap Stalls
While considerable progress has been made in narrowing the black-white gap in reading and achievement math achievement since 2007, recent results show that the gap actually increased slightly between 2009 and 2010. The Washington Post article "Progress slows in closing achievement gaps in D.C.
Teachers tampering with tests
With pay now being linked to test performance in many school districts and adequate yearly progress for NCLB being harder to achieve with the raising of the bar in many states, the incentives for teachers to tamper with tests has increased.
Current Issue of Economics of Education Review
Here are the articles in the August 2010 issue of Economics of Education Review
1. Low-income students and highly selective private colleges: Geography, searching, and recruiting
by Catharine B. Hill and Gordon C. Winston.
2.
Alarming Dropout rates found in New Dept. of Education Report
A new report released by the Department of Education found that 25% of high school students fail to graduate on time. For African Americans and Hispanics the percentage is about 40%.
1Pay for Performance in D.C. Schools
The Washington DC's teacher union ratified a contract that bases pay on performance not seniority yesterday. As reported in the Washington Post article "D.C.
New York allowed to Increase the Number of Charter Schools
The New York state legislature voted to increase the cap on the number of charter schools in the state from 200 to 460.
1Cal State system may get a boost
In recent years the California State university system has be cut beyond the bone. In 1984 the university system's share of the state budget was 11% while last year it had shrunk to 5.7%. The budget was cut 21% last year alone.
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