Uneven opportunity. A new College Board report shows that while thousands more students are taking (and passing) Advanced Placement exams, those opportunities vary depending on location and race. (USA Today)

“College is an inside game.” A San Jose charter school seeks to teach “college as a second language,” helping first generation students navigate the logistics—as well as the academicContinue Reading »

That’ll get someone’s attention. Texas lawmakers “zero out” funding for standardized exams in hopes of drawing attention to a bigger conversation about testing. (h/t Joy Resmovits) (KUT News)

Priorities. A new report finds that universities spent more on athletics per athlete than on academics per student from 2005-10. (Inside Higher Ed)

Promising trends. In 2000, 61 percent of blContinue Reading »

Defining school down. Virginia has a lot of work to do as it revises its new standards. “Setting passing rates for black and Hispanic students far below the cutoff scores for white and Asian students is deplorable.” (Richmond Times Dispatch)

Persistence, and the lack of. Only 9 percent of low-income students get a bachelor’s degree by age 24. Why? (American RadioWorks)

Delinquent Continue Reading »

Ranking colleges on factors that matter. Washington Monthly is out with its annual college rankings again, but this time, editors include college tuition prices in the mix. University of California at San Diego comes out on top, giving students the biggest bang for their buck. (Washington Monthly)

Excitement over a snow day? No more. Some Ohio school districts will offer lessons and assiContinue Reading »

‘War is Pell.’ Andy Rotherham offers up five ways lawmakers can make the Pell grant program more effective in helping the country’s neediest students. Education Sector’s Steve Burd also has an idea: Eliminate tuition tax breaks, in favor of supporting Pell. (TIME)

‘Culprit: Summer.’ Sarah Garland recaps a conversation from last week’s Education Writers Association conference on how achieContinue Reading »

If closing the achievement gap is the “civil rights issue of our time,” why aren’t reformers going to court? A class-action suit in California could inspire more such court challenges. (Education Next)

In today’s competitive economy, higher education matters more than ever. But what’s the right kind of education to get? And why do so many who start college fail to graduate? Three new proContinue Reading »

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the Education Testing Service’s Achievement Gap Symposium, which addressed research and solutions for our education system in Pre-K-third grade, especially for low-income, minority and African American students.  What I found most interesting was a comment Jerry D. Weast, Superintendent of the Montgomery County Public Schools and one of the speakers, said: “strContinue Reading »

Journalist Jose Antonio Vargas comes out as an undocumented immigrant to advocate for the DREAM Act. “I convinced myself that if I worked enough, if I achieved enough, I would be rewarded with citizenship. I felt I could earn it. I’ve tried. Over the past 14 years, I’ve graduated from high school and college and built a career as a journalist, interviewing some of the most famous people in the Continue Reading »

Quick Hits is a short compilation of question-raising news stories, blog posts, and video clips that Education Sector team members are reading and viewing each day.

In my continuing effort to be Joan Rivers to Rick Hess’ Johnny Carson — or perhaps Wally Pipp to his Lou Gehrig — I again did the Fordham Institute’s Gadfly podcast today along with host Mike Petrilli (who, incidentally, does a good job of unpacking the tensions between achievement gaps as measured by relative- vs. criterion-referenced measures here). Tweet Continue Reading »