Printer-friendly versionSome of the News Fit to Print
AMID CALLS FOR MORE HIGHLY EDUCATED NURSES, NEW AACN DATA SHOW IMPRESSIVE GROWTH IN DOCTORAL NURSING PROGRAMS
According to new survey data released yesterday by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), enrollment in doctoral nursing programs increased by more than 20% this year, signaling strong interest among students in careers as nursing scientists, faculty, primary care providers, and specialists. Final results from AACN's 2009 annual survey confirm that enrollments in all types of baccalaureate and higher degree programs continue to trend upward. Though nursing schools have been able to expand student capacity, the latest data show that more than 54,000 qualified applications to professional nursing programs were turned away in 2009, including more than 9,500 applications to master's and doctoral degree programs. The article was from BusinessWire.
FINAL RULES UNVEILED FOR INNOVATION FUND
The U.S. Department of Education today unveiled the final rules for its $650 million Investing in Innovation, or i3, grant program, standing fast in the face of criticism that its proposed guidelines demanded too much from applicants in the way of private-sector match and evidence to back up their proposals. In the final rules and application for the program, department officials left intact a demand that applicants secure 20 percent in matching funds from the private sector. But in a nod to concerns that such a requirement could be burdensome, particularly to smaller districts and in a difficult economy, the department relaxed the timing so that prospective grant recipients don’t need to find those dollars until they’ve been notified that they will win as long as they secure the private funding. In essence, a foundation or other organization will know that its matching donation is a sure-fire bet. The article is in Education Week.
GAINING GROUND IN MIDDLE GRADES
Michael Kirst and Trish Williams write in Education Week: As expectations for a more highly educated American citizenry rise, what happens in the middle grades matters more now than ever. The middle grades are the last, best chance to identify students at risk of academic failure and get them back on track in time to succeed in high school. Moreover, success in key subjects in the middle grades is a prerequisite to being able to enter high school academically prepared for a college- and career-ready path. In recent years, educators and policymakers have debated about what should be done to improve performance in the middle grades. In the absence of solid research evidence about what works, school districts have reshuffled grade configurations, bolstered their focus on “academic rigor,” and worked to ensure that their 11- to 14-year-old students are engaged in school while they go through the turbulence of puberty.
THE U.S. MATH TEACHING CRISIS: LIVE FROM THE CELEBRATION OF TEACHING AND LEARNING CONFERENCE, NEW YORK
By far the most sobering session Anthony Rebora attended at the teaching and learning conference was a conversation between PBS journalist David Brancaccio and Jim Simons, the founder of a teacher-recruitment program called Math for America. Simons is a mathematician who made fortune as the CEO of Renaissance Technologies, a private investment firm. In his retirement, he told Brancaccio, he has dedicated himself to wrestling with the "issue of why we do so poorly as a nation in high school math." Simons actually thinks the answer to that question is pretty straightforward: "We don't have enough teachers of math and science who actually know math and science," he said bluntly. "It's the elephant in the room." This article is in Ed Week’s Web Watch blog.
OFFICIALS STEP UP ENFORCEMENT OF RIGHTS LAWS
Seeking to step up enforcement of civil rights laws, the federal Department of Education says it will be sending letters in coming weeks to thousands of school districts and colleges, outlining their responsibilities on issues of fairness and equal opportunity. As part of that effort, the department intends to open investigations known as compliance reviews in about 32 school districts nationwide, seeking to verify that students of both sexes and all races are getting equal access to college preparatory curriculums and to advanced placement courses. The department plans to open similar civil rights investigations at half a dozen colleges. The article is in The New York Times.
A ‘RACE TO THE TOP’
Kevin Carey writes in The Chronicle of Higher Education: There is no Race to the Top for higher education. But there should be. While colleges and universities snared billions of dollars from the stimulus bill with virtually no strings attached, they got nothing like the support lavished on elementary and secondary education. Most colleges would be better off if the federal government took a stronger role in setting the national higher-education agenda and provided resources to match. Unfortunately, a small minority of well-off institutions is standing in the way.
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