Michelle Obama at Anacostia High School's graduation in 2010 (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

I love a good headline. Yesterday DCist reported: ‘D.C. Schools’ Graduation Rate Falls, Officials Applaud.’ Was this a typo? An April Fools’ joke?

Nope. In 2010, 73 percent of DC’s high school graduates received their diploma within four yContinue Reading »

We have a winner! Or rather, 9 winners. Today the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services announced the 9 successful states in the Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge grant competition. North Carolina, Massachusetts, Washington, Delaware, Ohio, Maryland, Minnesota, Rhode Island, and California will share a portion of the $500 million pot. For some background on the competiContinue Reading »

If policymakers (see Brown, Jerry) still aren’t convinced that education data matters, two reports released this week demonstrate that high quality, actionable information about schools and students is vital in efforts to improve education and student outcomes.

Bill summarized the important work of the Data Quality Campaign yesterday. More states than ever are collecting the information Continue Reading »

The ESEA roundtable hosted this morning by the Senate HELP Committee featured a diverse panel of education advocates: special education teachers, a principal, a gifted and talented coordinator, a district superintendent, a state schools’ chief, and national voices like New Leaders, The Leadership Conference, Easter Seals… and Rick Hess. Not surprisingly (given that the hearing was scheduled durContinue Reading »

Flickr photo by kmevans

States, listen up: Want to win an ESEA waiver? Like getting money from the federal government? Then you need to collect and report high schools graduates’ college outcomes – and not just for in-state, public colleges and universities, but for all postsecondary institutions.

Just as the administration has used multiple platforms (ScContinue Reading »