U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings recently announced an action plan to address the recommendations of her Commission on the Future of Higher Education. The plan calls for improvements to access, affordability, and accountability in postsecondary education institutions.

The Commission found that:

• College access, particularly for low-income and minority students, is limited by inadequate academic preparation, a lack of information and persistent financial barriers;
• The current financial aid system is confusing, complex, and inefficient, and is therefore frequently unable to direct aid to the students who need it most; and
• There is a shortage of clear, comprehensive, and accessible information about the colleges and universities themselves, including comparative data about cost and performance.

As a result, the Commission presented a series of recommendations designed to improve the accessibility, affordability and accountability of higher education.

1. Student academic preparation should be improved and financial aid made available so that more students are able to access and afford a quality higher education.
2. The entire student financial aid system should be simplified, restructured, and provided with incentives to better manage costs and measure performance.
3. A "robust culture of accountability and transparency" should be cultivated throughout the higher education system, aided by new systems of data measurement and a publicly available information database with comparable college information. There should also be a greater focus on student learning and development of a more outcome-focused accreditation system.
4. Colleges and universities should embrace continuous innovation and quality improvement.
5. Federal investments should be targeted to areas critical to America's global competitiveness, such as math, science, and foreign languages.
6. A strategy for lifelong learning should be developed to increase awareness and understanding of the importance of a college education to every American's future.

Read the Commission’s report online at here. Also read how the American Association of Community Colleges is undertaking "Next Steps" with the American Council on Education, addressing challenges facing American undergraduate education.

Source: US Department of Education [September 2006]

MEASURING UP 2006: THE NATIONAL REPORT CARD ON HIGHER EDUCATION

A national report card on higher education released in September, provides the public and policymakers with information to assess and improve postsecondary education in each state. The fourth in a series of biennial report cards, Measuring Up 2006 consists of the national report card for higher education and fifty state report cards, and is the first to compare the United States and individual states to other countries. The report indicates that the United States has fallen behind other nations in the race to educate its young adults and workers. The report card finds that as the country’s well-educated baby boomer generation begins to retire, the diverse young population that will replace it does not appear prepared educationally to maintain the U.S.’s edge in the global economy.

Looking at trends since the early 1990s in these performance areas, the report finds:

• The proportion of family income needed to pay net college costs (after accounting for all student financial aid) at public four-year colleges has grown from 28% to 42% in Ohio; from 24% to 37% in New Jersey; from 18% to 30% in Iowa; from 25% to 36% in Oregon; and from 20% to 31% in Washington.
• State support of need-based financial aid improved significantly in Washington, California, and Maryland.
• Gaps in college participation between high- and low-income students persist.
• There have been small gains in certificate and degree completion—the proportion of enrolled students earning certificates and associate’s and bachelor’s degrees. Most of the improvements have been in certificate completion (usually for occupational programs) rather than degree completion. Even in the best-performing states, only 65% of community college students return for their second year and only 67% of students in four-year institutions complete degrees within six years of enrolling.
• The likelihood of a 9th grader enrolling in college four years later is less than 40%; and that likelihood has decreased from 44% to 32% in Hawaii; from 46% to 35% in Vermont; and from 45% to 37% in New York.
• Gaps between ethnic groups in college enrollment rates persist.

Read the report here.

Source: The Chronicle; National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education [September 2006]

CONSORTIUM FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT POLICY BRIEF

The Council of Chief State School Officers has published a policy brief describing systems of support in eight states - Alabama, Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia - for schools in need of improvement. The policy brief describes how the eight diverse states are organizing service delivery to schools at different levels of school improvement. Each profile represents a snapshot of state systems that are being adjusted on an ongoing basis. Read the brief here.

Source: ECS E-Connection [October 11, 2006]

AS ADEQUATE YEARLY PROGRESS BAR RISES, MORE SCHOOLS FAIL

According to Education Week, the proportion of public schools meeting their prescribed achievement targets under the No Child Left Behind Act appears to have fallen slightly in the 2005-06 school year, while the percent classified under the law as needing improvement increased. Nationally, the percent of rated schools making AYP, based on data released as of September 2006, dropped from 75 percent to 71 percent. The percent of rated schools in need of improvement increased from 13 percent to 17 percent. Read the entire article here.

Source: EdWeek.org [September 20, 2006]

QUICK LINKS

New Report: Educating School Teachers
A recently released report published by The Education Schools Project, claims that the vast majority of the nation's teachers are prepared in programs that have low admission and graduation standards and cling to an outdated vision of teacher education. The four year study, authored by Arthur Levine, president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation and former president of Teachers College, Columbia University, identifies several model programs but finds that most education schools are engaged in a pursuit of irrelevance; with curriculums in disarray and faculty disconnected from classrooms and colleagues. Read more here. Source: The Education Schools Project [September 19, 2006]

ECS Database Compares State and District Teacher Compensation Systems
A new ECS database allows you to review and compare state and district teacher compensation systems that include pay raises or bonuses based on student performance as one element of the system. Click here to view the database. Source: ECS e-Connection [September 13, 2006]

Adjuncts and Graduation Rates Report
According to a national analysis of graduation and program completion rates at community colleges conducted by Dan Jacoby, the Harry Bridges Professor of Labor Studies at the University of Washington, institutions with higher percentages of full-time faculty members have higher completion rates. Read the article here. Source: Inside Higher Ed [October 11, 2006]

STATE BY STATE. . .

Pilot Program to Provide Salary Supplement for New Teachers
North Carolina has created a pilot program to provide a $15,000 salary supplement for newly hired middle or high school mathematics or science teachers. The program will be targeted at three low-performing districts, and funds have currently been allocated for up to 10 teachers. Read more here. Source: ECS E-Clips [October 4, 2006]

Universal Design for Learning
Nine districts in Northeast Ohio have embraced universal design for learning (UDL), an educational model that uses teacher collaboration and technology to tailor instruction to individual student needs. Proponents say UDL has reduced the achievement gap and boosted student engagement. Read the document here. Source: ASCD Smart Briefs [September 19, 2006]