In preparation for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, U.S. senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Christopher J. Dodd (D-CT) requested that the United States Government Accountability Office conduct a study on student mobility. The report, Many Challenges Arise in Educating Students Who Change Schools Frequently, found that while nearly all students change schools at some point before reaching high school, some students change schools with greater frequency. About 70 percent of students changed schools two times or less and about 18 percent changed three times before reaching high school. A smaller, yet significant, number of students (13 percent) have changed schools four or more times before reaching high school. The full results of the study can be found here. Check out this graph from the report that compares less mobile and more mobile students by race.

It’s estimated there are 37 million Americans who have some college credits under their belt, but no diploma hanging on their wall.
–Mankato Free Press

About 13 percent of children in the United States change schools four or more times before enrolling in high school, and job loss, home foreclosures, and homelessness may be driving up student mobility as Americans move in search of employment or affordable housing. –U.S. Government Accountability Office

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The Los Angeles Times write about the reform efforts at low-performing schools around the country including Edwin Markham Middle School, long considered one of the worst middle schools in the California.

In Maryland, Gov. Martin O’Malley is considering a 5 percent across-the-board cut in state aid for public education, according to the Associated Press.

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This morning, Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia was on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal to discuss the “Ten Elements of High Quality Digital Learning”, a roadmap of reform for local, state and federal officials to advance digital learning. During the segment, Gov. Wise discusses how digital learning can transform the current education system and takes questions from viewers over the phone. The video is posted here and the segment with Gov. Wise starts at 49 minutes and 50 seconds.

The Mankota Free Press editorial board focuses on the need to improve college graduation rates.

The majority of Northwest Indiana high schools either maintained or posted gains in the number of students graduating in 2010, according to data released Monday by the Indiana Department of Education.

In Massachusetts, the state’s largest teachers’ union plans to offer a proposal to use student test scores to help judge which teachers deserve promotions and which ones should be fired, according to the Boston Globe.

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The Wall Street Journal reports that the Dream Act has failed in the senate: The Dream Act—which stands for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors—was aimed at helping people brought into the country illegally when they were 15 or younger. It would have let them obtain citizenship if they attended two years of college or served for two years in the military.

Education Week reporter Catherine Gewertz writes about a new development in the assessment world that could make tests more accessible to students with disabilities and more portable.

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How Many Schools and Districts Have Not Made Adequate Yearly Progress?  Four-Year Trends by the Center on Education Policy. This report analyizes the  trends over four years in the number of schools and school districts that did not make adequate yearly progress (AYP) in raising student achievement under the No Child Left Behind Act.

State Test Score Trends through 2008-09, Part 2: Slow and Uneven Progress in Narrowing Gaps from the Center on Education Policy.  This report analyzes state student achievement trend and gap data for states and the District of Columbia in math and reading for grades 4, 8, and high school.  The data is analyzed by student race, ethnicity, income, and gender from as early as 2002 through 2009 for states with three or more years of comparable testing results.

Hear Us Out: High School Students in Two Cities Talk about Going to College by Center for Youth Voice.  According to this study, students do not get the college-going help they need from schools until far too late in the game; instead parents and guardians largely step in to fill that role.

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Education Week discusses Michelle Rhee’s newly launched advocacy group Student First. According to Rhee, the group has signed up more than 100,000 members and collected more than $700,000 through its website alone.

Sexual offenders are finding jobs in American schools, sometimes carrying with them glowing letters of recommendation from officials who knew of inappropriate behavior, according to the Christian Science Monitor.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has asked the state attorney general to investigate alleged intimidation of parents trying to use a new state law to shut down their children’s low-performing elementary school and reopen it as a charter campus.

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Wondering what are the key pieces of legislation affecting high school students?

Check out this recently updated fact sheet from the Alliance for Excellent Education. It includes details on:

• Literacy Education for All, Results for the Nation (LEARN) Act
• Graduation Promise Act (GPA)
• Every Student Counts Act
• Linked Learning Pathways Affording College and Career Success Act
• Innovation and Research: Secondary School Innovation Fund Act
• Middle School Improvement: Success in the Middle Act
• Improving Use of Data: Measuring and Evaluating Trends for Reliability, Integrity, and Continued Success (METRICS) Act

Minnesota Public Radio examines college drop outs and estimates there are 37 million Americans who have some college credits under their belt, but no diploma hanging on their wall.

eSchool News discusses the 2009 PISA scores and uses a sports metaphor from Bob Wise, president of the Alliance, to sum up the results: “We’re like the Redskins. We’re doing a little better on the field and we’re winning a few games, but we’re nowhere near the Super Bowl. We need to figure out how we’re going to get each of our kids the Super Bowl ring.”

According to the Washington Examiner, many students do not feel safe in school.

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