THE URGENCY OF NOW: New Schott Foundation Report Calls for “Support-Based Reform Agenda” to Increase High School Graduation Rates Among Black and Latino Males Article

Nationwide, only 52 percent of black males and 58 percent of Latino males graduated in four years from the high school Class of 2010, compared to 78 percent of white males, according to The Urgency of Now: The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males 2012, a new report from the Schott Foundation for Public Education.

COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS AND CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION: New Report Outlines Greater Role for CTE in Common Core Implementation Article

A new report from Achieve urges academic and career and technical education (CTE) leaders at the state and local levels to “break down the silos between their disciplines” and find ways to ensure that the common core state standards “rigorously engage” all students in both academic and CTE courses.

Twenty-Six New States and DC Request NCLB Waivers from U.S. Department of Education Article

As Congress continues to work on a rewrite of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), currently known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), twenty-six new states and the District of Columbia (DC) formally submitted requests to the U.S. Department of Education for waivers from key provisions of NCLB on February 29.

STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESSES: Spotlighting Speeches by Governors in Illinois, Mississippi, New Hampshire, and Tennessee Article

STATE OF THE UNION: Obama Calls for Mandatory School Attendance Until Age Eighteen, Focuses on Importance of Education for “Jobs of Tomorrow” Article

During his State of the Union address on January 24, President Obama stressed the importance of education in driving the U.S. economy and called on states to require that all students stay in high school until they graduate or turn eighteen.

Thirty-five States and DC Committed to Celebrate Digital Learning Day: States Pledge Support for National Awareness Campaign Highlighting Technology’s Role in School Reform and Strengthening Instructional Practices Article

To date, more two-thirds, or thirty-five, of the fifty states, plus the District of Columbia, have signed up as partners in support of the first-ever national Digital Learning Day taking place on Wednesday, February 1, 2012.