In middle school, but with an eye on college. Rainer Scholars is a middle-school program that aims to get Seattle students—at-risk of dropping out or otherwise unlikely to go to college—on track for a postsecondary career. In exchange, students must attend 8-hour days during the summer and after-school and weekend lessons during the school year. (KUOW News)

Enough about the fiscal cliff.Continue Reading »

Identifying potential dropouts in middle school. A Louisiana school is seeing reduced suspension and failure rates, plus a higher attendance rate, thanks to—officials say—a data-driven program that flags students who show signs of falling behind. (PBS NewsHour)

Who will hold colleges accountable? Kevin Carey argues for elimination of the “antiquated credit hour.” How else can we measure Continue Reading »

Questioning the validity of value-added. A new study, to be presented next month, argues that “a teacher could, in effect, boost his or her value-added score simply by teaching all higher-level courses.” (Education Week)

The value of strong school leaders. A highly effective principal can raise student achievement by 2-7 months of learning in one school year, according to this study. (EdContinue Reading »

Leaders and Laggards. Nationally, completion rates at four-year, public universities are somewhere around 50 percent, according to a report out today that takes a state-by-state look at higher education. The interactive presentation identifies the best and the worst. (Institute for a Competitive Workforce)

What to do with middle school? Educators are debating the value and imporContinue Reading »

How do you survive middle school? Four eighth-graders in Virginia bestow their wisdom in a format inspired by the popular radio show, This American Life, (the program eventually featured some of the monologues): “If all kids were nice to each other, the world would be a better place. But since that’s not going to happen anytime soon, you better just learn karate.” (The VirginiContinue Reading »

‘A time to shine.’ Valencia Community College in Orlando, Fla., is the winner of the first-ever Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, awarded “for delivering exceptional results.” Education Sector’s Kevin Carey explains why this award is important for the community college industry – and why more conversations about performance among two-year institutions sContinue Reading »