According to an article posted today on LJWorld.com, a bill has been drafted to do away with the board of regents and state board of education, and have a gubernatorally-appointed secretary of education, but the measure "isn't getting much traction."
This echoes a trend ECS has been seeing this legislative session in other states, of seeking to unify K-12 and postsecondary education oversight in a single agency or gubernatorial appointee. It will be interesting to see how these proposals play out during this session--whether legislators will be driven by a sense that the current system isn't working, or swayed by the dearth of research on the impact of education governance structures on cost savings or student outcomes.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
AP Report to the Nation: What states are not talking about
A scan of headlines from the past week makes clear that the 7th annual AP Report to the Nation, released Wednesday, has garnered a great deal of attention. Across the nation, states are either crowing that more of their graduates are earning a "3" or above on the exam, or lamenting that their status has fallen from previous years.
But while providing high school students with a taste of college-level expectations through AP coursework (and hopefully inching them closer to a college degree via credit earned through an AP exam), what seems to have been lost in the headlines is this: Many students do not complete their degree at the institution their postsecondary education started at, and many states lack consistent policies across institutions in the number and type of credits students earn for a passing score on an AP exam. So when a student who received AP credit from the institution s/he started out at is forced to retake a course (or receives only "elective" credit) at the institution s/he transfers to, the value of AP as a means to reduce families' tuition costs and students' time-to-degree is diminished.
As college completion gains momentum through various initiatives nationwide, let's hope more states adopt policies standardizing credit by exam equivalencies and common passing scores for such exams as AP, as Kentucky did in landmark legislation in 2010.
But while providing high school students with a taste of college-level expectations through AP coursework (and hopefully inching them closer to a college degree via credit earned through an AP exam), what seems to have been lost in the headlines is this: Many students do not complete their degree at the institution their postsecondary education started at, and many states lack consistent policies across institutions in the number and type of credits students earn for a passing score on an AP exam. So when a student who received AP credit from the institution s/he started out at is forced to retake a course (or receives only "elective" credit) at the institution s/he transfers to, the value of AP as a means to reduce families' tuition costs and students' time-to-degree is diminished.
As college completion gains momentum through various initiatives nationwide, let's hope more states adopt policies standardizing credit by exam equivalencies and common passing scores for such exams as AP, as Kentucky did in landmark legislation in 2010.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Vermont's P-16 Council: First Annual Report
Last week, the Vermont PreK-16 Council issued its first annual report to the house and senate education committee, as required in the enabling legislation. The report identifies the themes chosen to guide the council's work in 2011:
1. career awareness and exploration
2. outcomes needed for success at transition points, (defined as early childhood education to early elementary education, middle school to high school, high school to college or career, and teacher training), and
3. educator development and support.
According to the report, "The Council will be divided into working groups to study these themes and transition points over the next six months with the goal of designing specific initiatives, including pilot and full-scale innovative projects and new frameworks and policies."
1. career awareness and exploration
2. outcomes needed for success at transition points, (defined as early childhood education to early elementary education, middle school to high school, high school to college or career, and teacher training), and
3. educator development and support.
According to the report, "The Council will be divided into working groups to study these themes and transition points over the next six months with the goal of designing specific initiatives, including pilot and full-scale innovative projects and new frameworks and policies."
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
College readiness in New York
An article in Monday's New York Times reports that "less than half of students in the state are leaving high school prepared for college and well-paying careers." These figures may lend support to a proposal last December to the New York State Board of Regents' College and Career Readiness Working Group, regarding a potential revision of high school graduation requirements to enhance student readiness for post-high school expectations.
The proposal, in fact, identifies several policy options that have been weighed in other states:
"A. Increase graduation requirements
B. Allow increased flexibility in the ways students can meet requirements
C. Offer alternative or supplemental credentials
D. Rethink the “safety net” for students with disabilities"
It will be interesting to see what the board of regents ultimately decides, and if their actions will influence policy thinking in other states.
The proposal, in fact, identifies several policy options that have been weighed in other states:
"A. Increase graduation requirements
B. Allow increased flexibility in the ways students can meet requirements
C. Offer alternative or supplemental credentials
D. Rethink the “safety net” for students with disabilities"
It will be interesting to see what the board of regents ultimately decides, and if their actions will influence policy thinking in other states.
Monday, February 7, 2011
West Virginia to join states with longitudinal data systems
According to an article on the MetroNews Web site, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed today by the West Virginia Department of Education and the Higher Education Policy Commission to join their separate student databases.
However, the MOU signed today does not mean that the longitudinal data system is operational today. As the state community and technical college system, James Skidmore, states in the article: "There's no time line on when the two systems will merge, but [Governor] Tomblin is urging the agencies to do so as quickly as possible."
However, the MOU signed today does not mean that the longitudinal data system is operational today. As the state community and technical college system, James Skidmore, states in the article: "There's no time line on when the two systems will merge, but [Governor] Tomblin is urging the agencies to do so as quickly as possible."
Thursday, February 3, 2011
College and career readiness pilot extended in Illinois
A pilot program launched in Illinois several years ago was extended through legislation signed by Governor Pat Quinn last July. The goals of the program are to (1) diagnose college readiness by developing a system to align ACT scores to specific community college courses in developmental and freshman curricula, and (2) provide resources and academic support to high school students to enrich the senior year through remedial or advanced coursework, and other interventions.
A brief published last June summarizes the efforts of pilot sites to date and provides some lessons learned from the project.
The program appears to be a very good example of optimizing the results of college-readiness test results to help more students enter postsecondary education without need for remediation.
A brief published last June summarizes the efforts of pilot sites to date and provides some lessons learned from the project.
The program appears to be a very good example of optimizing the results of college-readiness test results to help more students enter postsecondary education without need for remediation.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Virtual high school part of P-16 initiative in Nebraska
As stated by Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman in his state of the state address last month, one of the goals of his state's P-16 council is to eliminate student achievement gaps.
And perhaps as one way to eliminate those gaps, the Nebraska P-16 Initiative, the state department of education and the University of Nebraska are working together to develop a virtual high school, to allow rural students to take a broader array of courses and allow students, regardless of location, to study at their own pace and at hours outside the regular school day and year.
Although I have not seen many other P-16 or P-20 coordinating entities working across education silos to develop or expand virtual high schools in their state, this may be an approach to improve college-readiness--provided that bandwidth and other technical issues in small and underresourced schools does not limit access to such courses for the very students who would benefit most from them.
And perhaps as one way to eliminate those gaps, the Nebraska P-16 Initiative, the state department of education and the University of Nebraska are working together to develop a virtual high school, to allow rural students to take a broader array of courses and allow students, regardless of location, to study at their own pace and at hours outside the regular school day and year.
Although I have not seen many other P-16 or P-20 coordinating entities working across education silos to develop or expand virtual high schools in their state, this may be an approach to improve college-readiness--provided that bandwidth and other technical issues in small and underresourced schools does not limit access to such courses for the very students who would benefit most from them.
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