Archive for August, 2009

New Teacher Project Releases Race To The Top Resource

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

The New Teacher Project, a national non-profit, released a brief last week that could serve as a tremendous resource for states applying for Race to the Top funding and for education leaders and policymakers pursuing reform.

The brief, Interpreting “Race to the Top”: TNTP Summary & Analysis of USDE Draft Guidelines, includes a summary of the Race to the Top application and selection criteria, an analysis of each of the four Race to the Top assurances (standards/assessments, data systems, effective teachers and leaders, and struggling schools), and a preliminary analysis of each state’s current competitiveness for funding, given its existing policy framework.

By Nancy in NASDCTEc Resources
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Secretary Duncan Speaks About Innovation Grants

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

On August 20 Secretary Arne Duncan addressed a symposium sponsored by America’s Choice and ACT.  He laid out some of the details of the upcoming Investing in Innovation grant competition; now know in shorthand as i3.  The Secretary noted that a Notice of Proposed Priorities for the i3 fund will be published in the Federal Register “this fall”. There will be a comment period, followed by an application, and awards will be made in early 2010.  The Secretary stated that grants will fall into three categories:

  • Pure Innovation grants of up to about $5 million dollars for promising ideas that should be tried.
  • Strategic Investment grants of up to roughly $30 million for programs that need to build a research base or organizational capacity to succeed at a larger scale.
  • Grow What Works grants that will go as high as $50 million for proven programs that are ready to grow and expand.

Eligible grantees for these funds will be local education agencies (including charter schools) and non-profit organizations working in collaboration with one or more LEAs or a consortium of schools.

During his comments the Secretary, as he has done throughout his tenure, spoke about the role of charter schools, and echoed themes related to the importance of addressing the high school drop-out problem, President Obama’s goal of getting more Americans to get at least some postsecondary education, and the importance of American students being able to compete globally. 

The Secretary also stated clearly that he would like to change the relationship between the Department of Education and school districts.  He stated:

“I want the department to become an engine of innovation, not a compliance machine. I want the department to provide powerful incentives to states, districts, and non-profits to innovate–but at the same time leave most of the creative thinking and entrepreneurship for achieving our common goals in local hands. The best ideas will always come from local educators, not from here in Washington.”

A web stream of his 25 minutes presentation as well as the full text of his speech can be found on the U.S. Department of Education’s website at

http://www.edgovblogs.org/duncan/2009/08/i3-fund-goal-help-school-districts-answer-how-can-we-do-that-here/

By admin in Public Policy
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ACT scores increase, but college and career readiness needs improvement

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

Students’ performance in the ACT’s 2009 college-ready assessment made a slight increase from previous years across all subject areas. However, education stakeholders say the modest upticks have yet to meet the growing need of the nation to prepare students for postsecondary education and their careers.

“The recent increase in college preparedness on the ACT is good news. But our students need to do dramatically better to guarantee their future economic success,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in an ACT-published statement.

The percentage of graduates ready to earn at least a “C” or higher in first-year college courses in all four ACT subject areas —English, math, reading and science—increased from 22 percent in 2008 to 23 percent in 2009. Student’s potential to earn that “C” is ACT’s measure of college readiness. The recent test outcomes were higher than in 2005 and 2006 and are the same as in 2007, when the pool of test-takers was likely less diverse in terms of academic preparation, according to ACT.

Further, ACT considers those same students career ready. By measure of ACT, students who are ready to earn at least a “C” or higher in first-year college are also prepared for success in their first year of most workforce training programs of fields in which they may earn a wage sufficient to support a family and have potential for career advancement.

ACT has issued the following recommendations on steps that states and school districts can take to better prepare students for college and career:
• Adopt fewer—but essential—college and career readiness standards as their new high school graduation standards.
• Adopt a rigorous core curriculum for all high school graduates, whether they are bound for college or work.
• Define “how good is good enough” for college and career readiness.
• Strengthen the rigor of their courses.
• Begin monitoring academic achievement early to make sure younger students are on target to be ready for
college and career.
• Establish longitudinal P-16 (preschool through college) data systems.

By Erin in Research
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U.S. students behind in content learning and real-world application skills, IES report says

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

Students in other countries consistently outperform their U.S. peers in subjects such as math, science and reading; and test results suggest that U.S. students are less successful than their international peers in applying the academic skills they do have to real-world tasks, according to a report that examines major internationally benchmarked exams.

The recent report, U.S. Performance Across International Assessments of Student Achievement: Special Supplement to The Condition of Education 2009, by the Institute of Education Sciences’ National Center for Education Statistics, provides data that may lend insight to the conservations that join economic competitiveness and education.

The report is a first-time effort of IES to pulls together the evidence from the most recent international assessments taken by nearly a million students from 85 countries, according to IES. The study includes three internationally benchmarked exams — the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Students. Despite some academic gains over the years, the U.S. states seemingly lags as other countries step up their performance in the core subjects.

Perhaps of most interest among CTE stakeholders would be data found from PISA, an assessment given to 15-year-olds every three years:

• The most recent PISA results suggests that U.S. 15-year-olds are not as successful in applying mathematics knowledge and skills to real-world tasks as their peers in many other developed nations. The mathematics average score placed U.S. 15-year-olds in the bottom quarter of participating developed nations, a position unchanged from 2003.

Data on how students apply their knowledge and skills may offer some helpful background for the CTE community as it continues to make its case for the value of workforce readiness curricula.

By Erin in Research
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Select CTE classes match Michigan’s tough math graduation requirements, lawmakers say

Monday, August 24th, 2009

Last week, political leaders in Michigan, a state that boasts some of the toughest graduation requirements in the nation, are seeking an addendum to its high school provisions: allow students to earn their required algebra II credits through a comparable CTE class instead of a traditional math course.

CTE advocates would say the proposal is testament to the rigor of quality CTE programs that exist across the nation and underscores the role CTE can play in the movement for high-rigor academic standards.

The notion that CTE programs can be an equal among high-rigor reform tools may be gaining traction among education and lawmakers. Michigan House and Senate each passed similar bills that would allow select CTE programs such as electronics, welding and computer-assisted design to replace traditional algebra II classes if academic material was woven in the classes, according to The Grand Rapids Press.

**A previous blog stated that Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm was opposed to the CTE substitute proposal, however she is in support of the legislation. Granholm is opposed to a different legislative initiative that would allow students to bypass the Algebra II requirement altogether.

By Erin in Legislation, Public Policy
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NACTE Invites Comments on Federal Register on Perkins IV Implementation

Thursday, August 13th, 2009

The National Assessment of Career and Technical Education (NACTE) is now inviting comments via the Federal Register on evaluation of  the implementation of Perkins IV. This evaluation study is part of a larger study which will focus on evaluating how state agencies and local providers are responding to the new legislation and how new provisions contained within this legislation are being implemented. A final report on the condition of CTE with the success of state agencies and local programs in improving the quality of CTE services will be the culmination of information collection from two sources: state directors, and a sampling of secondary level local education agencies and/or intermediary agencies, along with institutionsof higher education. Comments will be collected until August 31, 2009.

By Ramona in Research

Teacher Shortage Undermines CTE

Monday, August 10th, 2009

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projected that the fastest growing careers in 2008 would be in CTE fields such as healthcare and trade and industrial occupations.  However, in order to cultivate a workforce to fill these jobs, students will require training from quality secondary and postsecondary CTE teachers – resources that are lacking across the nation due to a teacher shortage.  This crisis for CTE has been caused by student demand requiring more teachers, teachers leaving the profession and the limited opportunities to cultivate new educators as teacher programs are eliminated.

NASDCTEc has authored Teacher Shortage Undermines CTE, a brief that explores the reasons behind the shortage of teachers in CTE programs, and what can be done to curb the declining numbers and recruit more individuals into CTE classrooms. It also highlights examples from three states – Oregon, Alabama and California – that serve as models for increasing the number of CTE teachers in their state.

You can access a copy of the brief on our website at: www.careertech.org/show/publications under “Teacher Preparation”.

By Nancy in Publications
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ED Stakeholders Forum: Race to the Top, Investing in Innovation, and SFSF Phase II

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Education hosted the second in a series of monthly Education Stakeholders Forums, where they share updates and information about timely education issues with representatives from schools, organizations, state and local governments, and other interested individuals.  This month’s forum focused on the Race to the Top funds, the Investing in Innovation grants, and the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund Part II requirements.

Deputy Secretary Tony Miller reiterated that all of these programs will take into account efforts to address the Department’s four reform areas — standards and assessments, effective teachers, data systems, and struggling schools — when considering grant applications.

Joanne Weiss, Director of the Race to the Top Program, explained that states will have two opportunities to apply for funding – once in the fall of 2009 and once in the spring of 2010.  This gives states who do not win a grant in during the first application period to apply again next year.  States that win a grant will not be eligible to apply during the second application period.  She also outlined the proposed priorities for applicants which were released in the Federal Register last week.

Jim Shelton, Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement, spoke about the Investing in Innovation grants.  The key design principles for these grants include: outcomes, evidence, learning, sustainability, and scalability.

Ann Whalen, Special Assistant to the Secretary, reviewed the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund Phase II reporting requirements.  These proposed metrics include 3 descriptors and 30 indicators in the categories of Equity in Teacher Distribution (8), Improving Collection and Use of Data (2), Standards and Assessments (14), and Support for Struggling Schools (9).  More information on these proposed requirements can be found in last week’s Federal Register.

The Department also provided stakeholders with a concise summary of all of the ED ARRA grants, which you can read here.

By Nancy in Public Policy
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