The Larger Context

Like so much of the current debate around education reform and the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, Secretary Duncan's piece focuses on academic standards and testing, school and state accountability, and teacher evaluation. These are important and complex issues, to be sure, but Elev8's experience suggests that critical services for students and families must also be part of our country's education reform agenda.

 To learn about Elev8's recommendations for improving NCLB (also known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act), click here.

A new report by the Northeastern University Center for Labor Market Studies examines the growing costs of students dropping out of high school in Illinois.

In an Op-Ed published in the New York Times on Dec. 7, Helen F. Ladd and Edward B. Fiske argue that our country's education policy must "address the ways in which poverty undermines student learning. " They highlight initiatives that "provide poor students with the social support and experiences that middle-class students enjoy as a matter of course."

The New York Times reports that "millions of American schoolchildren are receiving free or low-cost meals for the first time as their parents, many once solidly middle class, have lost jobs or homes during the economic crisis, qualifying their families for the decades-old safety-net program... The number of students receiving subsidized lunches rose to 21 million last school year from 18 million in 2006-7, a 17 percent increase..."

There has been an increase in research affirming the importance of the middle school years, which has led to a growing number of college- and career- readiness programs aimed at middle school students. Many educators are now arguing that these programs cannot solely be concerned with the mapping out of coursework and preparing students to take standardized tests; to be truly successful, programs must include the combined efforts of parents, schools, and communities.

 A new Harvard University study of Florida schools suggests that the critical transition for students may be the transition into middle school.

In a recent New York Times opinion piece, Luis A. Ubiñas and Chris Gabrieli argue that more classroom time is needed for improved school performance. The authors note that budget cuts are contributing to reduced classroom time in schools, when the exact opposite is needed for student success. Schools in Boston and Brooklyn are used as examples as how increasing classroom time has dramatically improved graduation rates and proficiency in math and reading. Brooklyn Generation School was able to do this while at the same time decreasing class size-and without increasing spending.

A Vera Institute of Justice blog post recently highlighted research findings that show that zero-tolerance policies tend to lead to negative outcomes for youth. Breaking Schools' Rules, a report by the Council of State Government's Justice Center, reported that youth who were the target of disciplinary actions had worse educational outcomes than their counterparts who did not receive the same level of discipline and were three times as likely to be involved with the juvenile justice system.

Now that summer has begun, students are at risk to lose the academic progress they made during the school year. In fact, research shows that students lose approximately two months of grade-level equivalency in mathematical computation skills during summer vacation. And, low-income students lose more than two months in reading achievement, even though middle-class students tend to make slight gains over the same time period.

This handbook stemmed from a request from Chicago Elev8 principals who requested written guidelines for working with their School-Based Health Centers.  

A new RAND report discusses the potential for summer programs to improve achievement, and the challenges of developing and sustaining such programs.

The Center for Law and Social Policy has released a new toolkit designed to help state and local policymakers, program operators and advocates identify federal funding streams that can be used for integrated service delivery.

Jack Jennings, President and CEO of The Center on Education Policy, examines the prospects for reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education in the 112th Congress.

The New York Times discusses a new report on racial disparities in school suspensions.

The Connecting Kids to Coverage Challenge aims to enroll five million uninsured children in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program within five years.

Congress is proposing cutting food stamp funding in order to pay for other federal assistance programs, including the child nutrition programs.

The National Summer Learning Association's annual conference, Summer Changes Everything, will be held November 9-10, 2010 in Indianapolis, IN.

Zero tolerance rules, which mandate strict punishments for even small offenses, have been subject to increased discussion about their effectiveness with student success.

A new publication produced by the YEF Institute with support from the Surdna Foundation provides a step-by-step guide for local leaders who want to create meaningful opportunities for youth participation in local government.

TIME Magazine's cover story details the learning loss that occurs over summer vacation—a loss that especially affects low-income students.

The Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics has released a new brief detailing child well-being across the country.

The federal government is funding community groups to knock on doors and canvass neighborhoods with health insurance forms, in an effort to insure all eligible children for health care by 2015.

Across United States public schools, just 74.9 percent of students who were freshmen in the fall of 2004 graduated from high school on time in 2008, according to a report from the National Center for Education Statistics. There's a huge amount of variation though, depending on where the students live.

POLITICO recently produced a series of in-depth interviews with Washington leaders to discuss the issues facing America's youth.

The Nonprofit Newswire and Patrick Lester report that the implementation moneys for the Promise Neighborhoods program in the Department of Education are in jeopardy—and so are the moneys for HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods program.

Over the past few months, educators, the teachers unions and lawmakers in California have clashed so bitterly regarding the changes tied to Race to the Top that state officials privately say the weakened bid stands at best a 50-50 chance of gaining approval — and a sorely needed $700 million — from Washington.

Reports of serious student behavior problems have dropped 77 percent at six targeted schools -- and Chicago Schools CEO Ron Huberman on Wednesday credited his $60 million anti-violence initiative.

The Supreme Court ruled in May that juveniles cannot be sentenced to life without parole for crimes other than murder, in a significant 5-4 decision that says imposing such sentences violates the Constitution's prohibition on "cruel and unusual" punishment.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan came to the defense of emergency funding to forestall public teacher layoffs, saying President Barack Obama is “unequivocal” in his support of the initiative and White House Budget Director Peter Orszag “works for the president.”

A federal law that President Obama signed early last year to expand health insurance to 4 million more low-income children has gotten off to a slow start because of budget problems in the states.

A federal law that President Obama signed early last year to expand health insurance to 4 million more low-income children has gotten off to a slow start because of budget problems in the states.

Despite a substantial increase in federal support for subsidized child care, which has enabled some states to stave off cuts, others have trimmed support, and most have failed to keep pace with rising demand, according to poverty experts and federal officials.

California children’s dental health was ranked third from the bottom in the National Survey of Children’s Health, above only Arizona and Texas. n 2007, the last year that data for many reports was available, more than 500,000 California children between the ages of 5 and 17 missed at least one day of school in a year because of dental problems.

The Task Force on Childhood Obesity has developed a strategy to end the problem of childhood obesity within a generation.

Arizona will continue to fund its health-care programs for the poor at current levels, at least for the time being.

This week, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the Education Department's proposal to double the amount of federal dollars set aside for family involvement. The Department also proposed allowing states to use federal funds to hold a competition to generate the best local ideas on family involvement.

The latest evaluation of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, the oldest and most extensive system of vouchers and charter schools in America, came out last month, and most advocates of school choice were disheartened by the results.

For all their support and cultural cachet, the majority of the 5,000 or so charter schools nationwide appear to be no better, and in many cases worse, than local public schools when measured by achievement on standardized tests, according to experts citing years of research.

The Promise Neighborhoods program will award one-year grants to support the development of a plan to implement a Promise Neighborhood that includes the core features described below. At the conclusion of the planning grant period, grantees should have a feasible plan to implement a continuum of solutions that will significantly improve results for children in the community being served.

To ace the state standardized tests, which begin on Monday, Public School 172 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, finds money for coaches in writing, reading and math. Teachers keep detailed notes on each child, writing down weaknesses and encouraging them to repeat tasks. There is after-school help and Saturday school...

It was a silent call to arms: an easy-to-overlook message urging New Jersey students to take a stand against the budget cuts that threaten class sizes and choices as well as after-school activities. But some 18,000 students accepted the invitation posted last month on Facebook, the social media site better known for publicizing parties and sporting events. And on Tuesday many of them — and many others — walked out of class in one of the largest grass-roots demonstrations to hit New Jersey in years...

America’s future math teachers, on average, earned a C on a new test comparing their skills with their counterparts in 15 other countries.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today urged Congress to pass new aid to preserve education jobs. He testified before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that deals with education spending on the same day the panel’s chairman introduced a bill that would provide $23 billion for that purpose.

This interactive report shows the number and portion of children in each state and congressional district who are eligible for WIC based their incomes.

This report examines the consequences of parental arrest, detention, and deportation on 190 children in 85 families. The researchers worked in six locations, providing in-depth details on parent-child separations, economic hardships, and children's well-being.

Only half the youths who had turned 18 and “aged out” of foster care were employed by their mid-20s. Six in 10 men had been convicted of a crime, and three in four women, many of them with children of their own, were receiving some form of public assistance. Only six in 100 had completed even a community college degree.

An unusual and much-heralded program that gave poor families cash to encourage good behavior and self-sufficiency has so far had only modest effects on their lives and economic situation, according to an analysis the Bloomberg administration released.

Bloomberg's budget plan would return school nurse staffing to 2003 levels.

A dozen governors, led by Bill Ritter Jr. of Colorado, sat with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in a hotel ballroom in Washington a few weeks back, praising his vision and gushing with enthusiasm over a $4 billion grant competition they hoped could land their states a jackpot of hundreds of millions of dollars.

New Mexicans will pay a higher tax when they buy goods and services, from soap to car repairs, but Gov. Bill Richardson made certain on Wednesday that groceries will remain tax free.