Holding Ourselves Accountable - Run Your Campus - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Holding Ourselves Accountable - Run Your Campus - The Chronicle of Higher Education

For at least two decades, we've spent a lot of time talking about "accountability" in higher education. As with so many things in academe, the concept means different things to different people.

What comes to mind first are the continued calls from state and federal officials for uniform standards and methods of assessing student learning. But the culture of accountability in academe involves much more than that, and has taken on the form of a movement.

The appeals for state or national standards are the most well known and have sparked considerable debate. A case in point: the call by the U.S. Department of Education's Spellings Report for specific national standards for student performance and a process for accurately measuring that performance. Most faculty members and administrators agree that establishing 

When it comes to Latina teen pregnancies, California's doing something right (Latina Lista)

When it comes to Latina teen pregnancies, California's doing something right (Latina Lista)

LatinaLista.net

Something good is happening in California.

For a state more accustomed to bad news -- a broke state economy, a slashing of public services, an increase in health premiums by the state's largest health insurer, rising college tuition rates, escalating home foreclosures, crime, etc. -- today's news that the state's Latina teens are having less babies than their counterparts across the country is excellent news.

According to the California Department of Public Health, California's teen birth rate is at a record low. For Latina teens, though they still have the undesirable distinction of having the largest teen pregnancy rate in the state, their numbers have gone down from 62 percent in 2007 to 57 percent in 2008.

Pregnant middle-school students (Source: globalgrind.com)

This decline bucks the national trend of anincrease in Latina teen pregnancies in states throughout the Southwest, Southeast and Midwest.

With more Latina teens having multiple births while still unprepared for motherhood, lacking a basic high school education, or a decent paying job and depending on help from cash-strapped family members and straining public services, California's success begs the question, "How?"

It's not so much what they did but what they refused to do.

What they didn't do was believe the hype that an abstinence-only curriculum works for every teen.

California makes sure their students receive "comprehensive sexual health education."

Sacramento schools consider starting earlier in the year - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Sacramento schools consider starting earlier in the year - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee: "

Sacramento City Unified School District officials are examining their school calendar and, among other things, asking whether students would be better off if they started school earlier in the year.

Most school districts in the area begin in mid- to late August and end in early June. Sacramento City Unified students begin after Labor Day during the first full week of September – almost a month after some districts – and end in mid-June.

By moving up the start date, middle school and high school students would finish their first semester before Christmas break. This year, the semester ended Jan. 29."

Arianna Huffington: Announcing HuffPost College: No SAT Scores or Admission Essays Needed

Arianna Huffington: Announcing HuffPost College: No SAT Scores or Admission Essays Needed

MAJORING IN DEBT 
Average Debt Burden Of Recent College Graduates Is Over $23,000... Read Their Stories

Arianna: Announcing HuffPost College -- No SAT Scores or Admission Essays Needed... Check Out HuffPost College

Between visits with my older daughter, who is in the middle of her sophomore year in college, accompanying my younger daughter on her college tours (she's starting in the fall), and regularly speaking at colleges all across the country, I've spent a lot of time on campuses lately.

And it's reminded me of all the excitement, promise, passion, intellectual curiosity, and vitality of college life.

That's why I'm delighted that we have created HuffPost College, our latest section, which launches today.

HuffPost College features voices from colleges and universities all around the country and offers a real-time snapshot of what's going on in the lives of the nation's 19 million college students -- from coverage of the latest trends and sports happenings to more serious issues such as freedom of expression on campus and the rising cost of tuition.

Edited by Jose Antonio Vargas, our Tech and Innovations editor, with the help of Leah Finnegan, a recent graduate of the University of Texas and the former editor of the Daily Texan, HuffPost College is designed to be a virtual hub for college life, bringing you original and cross-posted material from a growing list of college newspapers.

So far, we've partnered with over 60 of them, including the Yale Daily News, The Harvard Crimson, The Stanford Daily, UC Berkeley's The Daily Californian, the Iowa State Daily, theDaily Nebraskan, UT-Austin's The Daily Texan, the University of Hawaii's Ka Leo, theColumbia Spectator, The Wesleyan Argus, NYU's Washington Square News, The Michigan Daily, Duke's The Chronicle, the University of Alaska's The Sun Star, and the University of Missouri's The Maneater -- all of which will be providing us with up-to-the-minute college news and opinion, including photos and videos.

Arne Duncan: Move Our Money From Banks to Students

President Obama has a plan to move our money from banks to students to make college more affordable for the next generation of engineers, teachers, and scientists. 

Data Quality Campaign | Home

Data Quality Campaign | Home

 2009-10 Survey Results by State

States have made remarkable progress in developing longitudinal data systems that can follow student progress over time, from early childhood through 12th grade and into postsecondary education through implementation of the 10 Essential Elements. The 10 State Actions are the fundamental steps states must put in place to change the culture around how data are used to inform decisions to improve system and student performance. The maps below show how many of the 10 Essential Elements and 10 State Actions each state reports having based on responses to the 2009-10 DQC survey of states.

• Essential Elements
• State Actions

Rollover a state map to see which Essential Elements a state has in place based on 2009-10 survey responses.

Click a state to go to it, or choose from the menu: Go to state Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming 

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Looking for Your School's Data?

We recommend the following sources: School Data Direct Ed Facts Great Schools

Don't Let Ex-Gay Propaganda in Public Schools | Gay Rights | Change.org

Don't Let Ex-Gay Propaganda in Public Schools | Gay Rights | Change.org

Don't Let Ex-Gay Propaganda in Public Schools

Targeting: Patricia O'Neill (President, Board of Education) and Dr. Jerry Weast (Superintendent of Schools)

Started by: Michael Jones

This past week, hundreds of students in the Montgomery County Public School system were given fliers by an ex-gay organization. That organization - Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) - believes that people choose to be gay and that homosexuality is destructive. They regularly counsel people to convert their sexual orientation from gay to straight, and suggest inaccurately that science supports the notion that homosexuality is not biological.

Why are public school students receiving handouts from an organization like this? The President of the Montgomery County Public School board even went on record to say that the PFOX fliers "are probably counter to what is available in our health curriculum." So why give students information that defy what you teach them in class?

Furthermore, these fliers are intended to tell LGBT people, particularly LGBT youth, that they can change their sexual orientation. That is a damaging message to send to queer youth. Tell the Montgomery County Public School District that fliers like this don't deserve an official endorsement from the school.

• Report

The Educated Guess The Educated Guess Study math to be an Olympian

The Educated Guess

Study math to be an Olympian

Posted in Program innovation

Knowledge of science and math can make you the next Olympian. At that’s what I would tell any 12-year-old with dreams of bringing home the gold at Sochi, Korea, in 2014.
You, young Sidney Crosby: See why slamming the ice with your stick an instant before you strike the puck adds speed to your slap shot.
Hey, aspiring Kim Yu-na: Study the law of conservation of angular momentum and centripetal force to make you a whirling dervish with a triple toe loop.
Shaun White wanna-be: Learn the physics of angular momentum, drag and torque before you even think about imitating that gravity- and death-defying Double McTwist 1260.
And you, their teachers: Inspire them by going  to Lessonopoly to watch videos on the physics behind Olympic sports and download some hands-on experiments to reinforce what students are watching.
(Read more and comment on this post)

Schools Matter: Anti-Gay Group Spreads Propaganda - When Education is Misinformation

Schools Matter: Anti-Gay Group Spreads Propaganda - When Education is Misinformation

Anti-Gay Group Spreads Propaganda - When Education is Misinformation

If you're a student in the Montgomery Public Schools, chances are your recent report card was accompanied by a pamphlet created by Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX), a religiously-based anti-gay group that "educates the public on sexual orientation." Their version of "education" and "sexual orientation" is almost entirely Biblically-based: no matter how you view their materials, it's awfully clear that LGBT = bad. This does not create a safe and welcoming environment for MPS students.

It is entirely legal for PFOX to distribute their materials through the schools, but it raises serious questions: should schools distribute materials that are considered offensive to particular communities? PFOX's message clearly contradicts the lessons taught in MPS health classes - is that really okay? Does MPS distributing the material make it look like the public schools support such a stance?

Sign a petition here to let the Montgomery County Public Schools know this kind or propaganda not only deceives our children, but it sends a terrible message to the LGBT

Think before you speak. Don't say "That's So Gay.":

Education Sector: Analysis and Perspectives: The 411 on Cohort Default Rates

Education Sector: Analysis and Perspectives: The 411 on Cohort Default Rates

Each year, the federal government spends billions of dollars to provide grants and loans to college students. To ensure that these funds are not wasted, the federal government has developed an accountability metric known as the cohort default rate (CDR). CDRs, or the percentage of borrowers who default on their student loans within two years of graduating or dropping out, are calculated annually for every college and university that participates in the federal student aid program. While these rates have been used for years, the U.S. Department of Education recently released a new set of CDRs that provide better information about the longer-term borrowing prospects for students at individual schools. In this presentation, Policy Analyst Ben Miller explains the ins and outs of cohort default rates and why the new rates have important implications for students, parents, and schools.

Cohort default rate data are an important measure for parents and students to know, Miller argues. "Parents and students can use 

voiceofsandiego.org | News. Investigation. Analysis. Conversation. Intelligence. - Bright and Early: The Education Newsblitz

voiceofsandiego.org | News. Investigation. Analysis. Conversation. Intelligence. - Bright and Early: The Education Newsblitz
Bright and Early: The Education Newsblitz

The newsblitz cometh:

• Katherine Nakamura has been a dissenting voice on budget and labor issues on the school board -- and that could make her normally safe seat not-so-safe. We explain why.
• We blogged up a storm on Friday afternoon: A parent group demands to be consulted on cuts that impact federal money for disadvantaged kids. The teachers union and the school district are closer on furlough proposals. 
• A newly proposed law sponsored by the school district could save more than $6 million annually, we blog.
• And we blog that bids for the second project under a controversial labor pact for school construction came in low. The San Diego Daily Transcript also gives a rundown of the bids.
• SDNN looks at how much money San Diego Unified is spending to make sure that any student can take an Advanced Placement test -- and how the tests can change their grades.
• The Union-Tribune writes about the budget threat to small high schools. Interestingly, across the country, Cleveland is looking at dividing up its big high schools into small ones.
• Also in the UT: The Vista school board decided to spare jobs for nurses' aides, but