EDUCATION AT A GLANCE: U.S. High School Dropouts “Hit Hardest” by the Economic Recession, New OECD Report Finds Article

Released on June 27 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Education at a Glance 2013 includes data showing how the United States ranks internationally in several key areas, including high school graduation rates, the percentage of individuals with a college degree, early education enrollment rates, teacher salaries, and more.

STATE OF THE STATES: Governors Prioritize International Competitiveness, Innovation, Graduation Rates, and Vocational Education Article

North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue (D) delivered her state of the state address on February 14, joking that some people had accused her of ruining Valentine’s Day for their significant other.

A Global Test: The OECD Test for Schools Webinar/Event

How does your high school stack up against the best in the world? In 2012, more than 100 U.S. high schools took part in a pilot study to measure their students’ abilities to apply their knowledge to solve real-world problems and compare their performance to countries that took part in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a sixty-nation assessment administered by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). Findings from the test, known as the OECD Test for Schools, provides participating schools with a wealth of information on teaching and learning and shows that some schools performed quite well. Beginning next school year, all U.S. schools can participate in the test.

Gov. Bob Wise Comments on the OECD Test for Schools Press Release

Released this morning, a new report from America Achieves compares the performance of individual U.S. high schools in math and science to the world’s highest-performing nations based on a new test involving 105 American high schools known as the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Test for Schools (based on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)). In response, Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia, made the following statement.

High school graduation rate inches up In the News

The U.S. public high-school graduation rate climbed to a 35-year high in 2010, according to new federal data, although U.S. high-school students are still struggling to keep up with their international peers ... "The country has finally woken up to the dropout crisis and what it really means to the individual and to the economy," said Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education, a nonprofit that advocates for polices to help improve high schools, such as more-rigorous curricula. "The best economic stimulus package is a diploma."

U.S. Fourth Graders Ranked Sixth on International Reading Assessment Article

U.S. fourth graders ranked sixth out of forty-five participating countries on the 2011 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), which was released in December 2012.

TRENDS IN INTERNATIONAL MATH AND SCIENCE SCORES: U.S. Eighth Graders Ranked in Top Ten on International Math and Science Tests Article

American eighth-grade students ranked ninth and tenth (out of thirty-eight) in math and science, respectively, compared to students in other countries on the 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), while fourth graders were eleventh and seventh (out of forty-five).

Morning announcements: State lawmakers take on Common Core implmentation, armed teachers Blog Post

Laysha Ward: Education and business: Ideas for a brighter future In the News

If we used the same metrics in education that we do in business, the U.S. system would get an F when it comes to ROI. At $1.3 trillion a year, America is spending more on education than any country in the world — yet we rank 25th in math, 17th in science and 14th in reading ... According to an estimate from the Alliance for Excellent Education, if that trend continues, over the next decade we will lose 13 million students at a lifetime cost in lost wages of more than $3 trillion.

RETHINKING POLICY AND PRACTICE IN SUPPORT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS: New Alliance Report Identifies Challenges and Solutions for Helping ELLs Meet Higher Expectations Associated with Common Core Article

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) offer great promise for advancing the quality of education and outcomes for all students, but meeting the higher expectations associated with them could prove especially daunting for the rapidly growing population of English language learners (ELLs)—students who must learn grade-level content while simultaneously trying to master the English language.