Two new reports from College Board on college completion

Two new reports have been issued by the College Board on college completion. The first, "College Completion Agenda: 2010 Progress Report,"  provides data on issues related to college completion rates: associate and beyond,  internationally as well as state by state, breakdowns by age and race, etc...with 10 detailed recommendations. The second is a briefer set of policy recommendations, "The College Completion Agenda: State Policy Guide."

Newest data on 100 largest public school districts (2007-08)

Clark County is 6th in size and Washoe is 57th. Data on high school completion rates, students eligible for school lunch program, students with IEP's, racial breakdown of student population, revenue sources, expenditures per pupil, etc.
Summary and link to full report is here: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2010/2010349.pdf

Elementary math package shows mixed results

This updated WWC Intervention Report reviews the research on Scott Foresman–Addison Wesley Elementary Mathematics, a core curriculum for students at all ability levels in prekindergarten through grade 6. The program focuses on developing questioning strategies and problem-solving skills and features embedded assessments and tailored exercises. The studies that meet WWC evidence standards included more than 2,800 elementary students from grades 1 through 5 in 49 schools. The schools were located in a mix of urban, suburban, and rural settings... Based on the review of the research, the WWC found the curriculum to have mixed effects on mathematics achievement for elementary school students.

Read the full report now at: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/elementary_math/sfawem/

Mixed results for "Literacy Express"

Literacy Express is a preschool curriculum designed for three- to five-year-old children. It is structured around units on oral language, emergent literacy, basic math, science, general knowledge, and socioemotional development.
Three studies of Literacy Express that fall within the scope of the Early Childhood Education review protocol meet What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards. The three studies include 1,004 preschool children from three to five years of age from 70 preschools...
Literacy Express was found to have positive effects on oral language, print knowledge, and phonological processing and no discernible effects on cognition and math for preschool children.

Summary and links to intervention report and technical appendices are here:
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/early_ed/lit_express/

Research assignments short on the "how to"

A new report from Project Information Literacy, "How Handouts for Research Assignments Guide Today's College Students," finds that although product mechanics are provided, very little information or guidance helps students with locating and using sources in the conduct of research. Project Directors Head and Eisenberg did a "content analysis of 191 course-related research assignment handouts distributed to undergraduates on 28 college campuses across the U.S." Faculty often make some unwarranted assumptions about college students ability to locate and identify appropriate sources of information.

According to an article in CHE today, "The study found that 83 percent of assignment handouts called for a standard individual research paper, as opposed to alternatives such as collaborative, oral, or multimedia projects. Ms. Head and Mr. Eisenberg analyzed handouts for the diversity of their suggested sources, combing them for recommendations of library resources, course readings, primary sources, and the Internet as elements in the research process."

Dr. Head is quoted as saying, ""I think this study gives professors an opportunity to question whether they're accomplishing what they want to do with their handouts and whether, if they included different details, it might give them better research papers at the end of the day."

New copyright exemption may help your teaching

A recent article from Inside Higher Ed highlights increased ability to use excerpts from DVD's for educational purposes...
"The U.S. Copyright Office on Monday promulgated a number of new exemptions* to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, including one allowing university staffers and students to hack DVD content and display it for educational purposes. If a university or student lawfully obtains copy of a DVD, the agency says, they can bypass the encryption so long as "circumvention is accomplished solely in order to accomplish the incorporation of short portions of motion pictures into new works for... Educational uses by college and university professors and by college and university film and media studies students." The exemption applies when professors or students want to use excerpts of the hacked DVD in documentary films or "non-commercial videos." Tracy Mitrano, director of I.T. policy at Cornell University and a technology law blogger for Inside Higher Ed, called the decision "very big news," and "good news," for higher education, noting that advocates in academe have been lobbying for an expansion of fair use exemptions for some time. One campus that might take heart is the University of California at Los Angeles, which an educational media group threatened to sue last spring for copying and streaming DVD content on course websites. The university had refused to stop the practice, and a UCLA spokesman said the group, the Association for Information and Media Equipment, has not followed through. He said UCLA is reviewing the new rules."

*See item #1 midway down the page here.

Fewer Latino students attend 4-year colleges

According to a recent article in Education Week, "When Latinos go to college, they are less likely than any other major racial or ethnic group to attend a four-year college or university, according to an unpublished analysis of federal education data by the Pew Hispanic Center." Recent trends suggest that the higher education prospects for students from low-income families are getting worse--"Overall, the proportion of college-eligible, low-income students across the nation who are going to four-year colleges or universities is declining, according to a federal report sent to the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Department of Education last month by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, which gives Congress advice on student financial aid policy" But Latinos seem to be particularly vulnerable--"48 percent of Latinos who are first-time, full-time college freshmen enroll in four-year institutions. That’s the lowest proportion of any major racial or ethnic group, Richard Fry, a senior research associate for the Washington-based Pew Hispanic Center, found in an analysis of 2008 data from the federally administered Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. Meanwhile, the proportion of students enrolling in four-year institutions is 69 percent for Asian or Pacific Islander students, 66 percent for whites, 54 percent for blacks, and 53 percent for American Indians or Alaska Natives." However, a recent study conducted in California find that fairly low-cost mentoring interventions can significantly increase the percentage of such at-risk students attending college.

Using Library Experts Wisely - Inside Higher Ed

Using Library Experts Wisely - Inside Higher Ed
This article today describes a collaboration between faculty teaching a writing course and their library liaison. Thought it might be of interest to get a non-librarian's perspective!