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THE NEWS
ACADEMIC PREPARATION
State’s exams became easier to pass, education officials say
By Jennifer Medina, The New York Times
New York State education officials acknowledged on Monday that their standardized exams had become easier to pass over the last four years and said they would recalibrate the scoring for tests taken this spring, which is almost certain to mean thousands more students will fail. While scores spiked significantly across the state at every grade level, there were no similar gains on other measurements, including national exams, they said. “The only possible conclusion is that something strange has happened to our test,” David M. Steiner, the education commissioner, said during a Board of Regents meeting in Albany. “The word ‘proficient’ should tell you something, and right now that is not the case on our state tests.”
Initiative seeks to raise high school students’ standards
By Jeff Woodburn, The New Hampshire Business Review
An alarming number of New Hampshire’s college-bound students, like their contemporaries across the country, are unable to do grade-level math. The brunt of dealing with the problem falls on the backs of the state’s community colleges, where more than two-thirds of their incoming students are required to take non-credit, remedial courses to bring them up to a basic level of math competence. Three years ago, Horgan and several other New Hampshire education leaders started a state affiliate of the National State Scholars Program. Its aim is to partner with local businesses to persuade students to take more challenging courses.
Program helps Latino teens prepare for higher education, careers
By Markus Schmidt, The Progress-Index (Virginia)
High school students, mainly sophomores and freshmen from around Virginia, welcomed Governor Bob McDonnell to the opening of a four-day Hispanic Youth Symposium at Virginia State University - a nationwide program. "There are eight symposiums all across the United States this year, and this one in Virginia is the fifth," said Joseph A. Petrone, president and CEO of the Hispanic College Fund, host of the events. Petrone describes the symposium's mission as "a way to deliver the Hispanic and Latino youth into the professional work force." Until Saturday, the students, which were picked by the HCF and their schools' teachers, will learn about essay writing, talent competitions, proper college applications and scholarships.
POSTSECONDARY ACCESS SUCCESS
Worn-out students choose a timeout
By Tracy Jan, The Boston Globe
As their peers comb through course catalogs, shop for extra-long twin sheets, and seek out future classmates on Facebook, a small but growing number of students accepted by the nation’s top colleges are postponing their long-anticipated freshman year. The students say they desperately need a timeout after spending their high school years building impeccable credentials for entry into selective colleges. And more admissions officials, concerned about student burnout, are encouraging the high-achieving teenagers to step off the traditional path as a way to fuel their creativity and long-term motivation.
Remedial education a degree logjam
By Melissa Ludwig, San Antonio Express-News
With the economy in the doldrums, millions of students are streaming into America’s community colleges, most hoping they have embarked on the pathway to a good job or career. Unfortunately, many never make it past what’s been dubbed the great “logjam” of higher education: remedial math. Nationwide, researchers say more than 40 percent of those entering community colleges must take at least one remedial class, a share that tops 80 percent in large urban systems like the Alamo Colleges. Faced with courses that cost money but bear no credit, a great many students fizzle out or walk away.
Higher education and school leaders meet to work on common goals
By Eric Kelderman, The Chronicle of Higher Education
An association of state higher-education executives and one of school leaders met with each other for the first time last week, to try to get beyond finger pointing and find ways to improve student performance. As demands for accountability in education have grown over the past decade, the two sides have often charged each other with responsibility for the rising number of students who need remedial course work. Last week, however, the State Higher Education Executive Officers and the Council of Chief State School Officers held a joint meeting in Minneapolis that featured discussions on ways that the two groups can work together to better educate students at all levels.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Ireland’s universities are hit hard as the country’s economy tumbles
By Aisha Labi, The Chronicle of Higher Education
As Ireland's economy boomed for much of the past two decades, prompting wonder at the transformation of one of Western Europe's poorer nations into the vaunted Celtic Tiger, the country's higher-education institutions, almost all of which are publicly financed, rode the wave of prosperity that swept the country. But just as Ireland became synonymous with the property-boom-fueled riches of the early years of this century, it has now become emblematic of the harsh toll exacted when governments impose severe austerity measures to deal with the fallout from the global economic crisis.
Higher education becomes a globally traded commodity as demand soars
By John Morgan, Times Higher Education
A worldwide trend of falling state investment and rising tuition fees will prompt intense competition in the "globally traded commodity" of higher education - and the sector must also prepare for the global advance of private providers. Those were the messages from two presentations at the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) annual conference, which took place last week. John Hudzik, former vice-president for global engagement and strategic projects at Michigan State University, said there was evidence to suggest that the economic crisis had not damaged global student mobility - but that funding provided by students through tuition fees is changing higher education.
U. of Hong Kong looks to the West in curricular redesign
By Mary Hennock, The Chronicle of Higher Education
Jessica King is a geologist at the University of Hong Kong. This year she taught a new course on scientific literacy to first-year students, encouraging them to take an informed and skeptical look at how data are used in media coverage of controversial topics like climate change. The class, she says, was a success. Students are not afraid to ask questions, she jokes, because "they're no longer scared that if they don't know the correct terminology I'm going to beat them up." Ms. King believes that the open-ended nature of the new course aided that dynamic.
REPORTS WORTH READING
State Funding for Higher Education in FY 2009 and FY 2010
A new brief from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), summarizes how the ongoing recession continues to effect spending on postsecondary education in the states. After noting that two major sources of support for postsecondary institutions – state appropriations and university endowments – are down, the report goes on to point out that the demand for public higher education is growing as more people seek skills needed for today’s workforce. The report also finds while higher education generally saw declining state support in FY 2009, funds made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) allowed certain states to slightly increase spending on higher education in FY 2010. Even with ARRA funds, 23 states spent less on higher education in FY 2010 than FY 2009.
Congressional Budget Action for Fiscal Year 2011 and its Impact on Education Funding
This issue brief explains recent Congressional action to set limits for appropriations spending for fiscal year 2011 and the unique challenges surrounding the upcoming year's budget. This year, Congress chose to proceed with the federal budget and appropriations bills for fiscal year 2011 without adopting an annual budget resolution, creating more confusion in an already arcane process.
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