Smarter world threatens to pass us by The Educated Guess #edu #education

The Educated Guess

Smarter world threatens to pass us by

Posted in Community Colleges, UC and CSU

In the decades following the Second World War, the Unites States was among world leaders in the percentage of adults with a higher education degree. The GI bill underwrote the brain power that spurred America’s innovation.
But particularly in the last decade, other nations have caught up and surpassed us. America now ranks 12^th with those between the ages of 25 and 34 with a two- or four-year degree, behind Canada, Korea Russia, Japan, Australia, Israel and others. And that’s not even mentioning the decline in Americans pursuing degrees in science, math and engineering.
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By John Fensterwald on July 29th, 2010

Money sits as players argue

Posted in Uncategorized

Some stories we have been following:

Stimulus money for technology goes unused

A dispute between the Legislature and Department of Education over how to use $71 million in federal stimulus money for technology has led to much of the money sitting in limbo for a year, according to a report by Corey Johnson of California Watch.

After receiving the one-time funds in July 2009, the Department of Education, assuming it had authority to distribute the money, took applications from school districts. (Read more and comment on this post)

By John Fensterwald on July 28th, 2010

In final heat for Race to the Top

Posted in Race to the Top

Switching from a big-tent strategy, with a lot of districts committing to little, to a pup-tent strategy, with a few districts pledging to do a lot, has paid off so far for California in Race to the Top.
The state learned on Tuesday that, having improved its score by at least 20 percent, it will join 17 other states and the District of Columbia as finalists in the competition for $3.4 billion in the federal education money. Thirty-five states had applied in the second round.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan wouldn’t rank the states or give their scores, other than to say that 400 points out of a possible 500 was the cutoff for finalists. California’s gain of at least 63 points, from 337, was nearly triple the average state increase of 23 points from the first to the second round.
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