The National Research Center for College & University Admissions and NABSE Support Over 250,000 Future Teachers
from Earth Times
The Pipeline for African American Teachers (PFAAT), a program created by the National Alliance of Black School Educators (NABSE) and NRCCUA has reached a significant milestone. This school year marks the fourth year of the program and will see participation grow to over a quarter of a million future African American educators.More

Stimulus Rules on 'Turnarounds' Shift
from Education Week
The final rules for the $4 billion Race to the Top competition give states and districts more leeway in how they intervene in chronically underperforming schools, a subtle but important change that raises new questions about whether the push to turn around struggling campuses will succeed in rehabilitating large numbers of them.More

For African-American Students, Class Size Matters
from New America Media
As school districts across the state struggle to meet the challenges of providing a quality education with fewer resources during the economic downturn, state subsidized small class sizes - with 20 students to 1 teacher in grades K-3 - are in jeopardy.More

Sticking with Magnet Schools to Strengthen Poor Kids' Scores
from The Washington Post
A leader in the national effort to raise the achievement of low-income children once told me how she became, to her amused surprise, one of those rare suburban Washington parents who pays tuition to send their children to D.C. public schools.More

Duncan Aims to Make Incentives Key Element of ESEA
from Education Week
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said he envisions a significant new emphasis on federal incentives for high-performing schools, districts, and states in the renewal of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, expected to be taken up by Congress as early as next year.More

U.S. Department of Education's New Tech Chief Previews National Plan
from eSchool News
As America's brand-new director of education technology, career educator Karen Cator underscores the determination of President Obama and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan to develop "a transformative agenda" for the nation's schools and colleges. She said the U.S. Department of Education will unveil the first draft of the administration's National Education Technology Plan next month. "Technology will be in play in every aspect of the education-reform agenda," she said.More

SISD in Texas to Focus on Recruiting, Retaining Minority Staff
from The Sealy News
Students and parents may see more highly qualified minority teachers walking the halls of campuses next year as the district moves to focus on recruiting and retaining minority staff. The district is looking to create a sub-committee at the first of the year, aimed at increasing the number of minority students on all school campuses.More

Montgomery Students Score Better on AP Exams
from The Washington Examiner
Montgomery County Public Schools students scored better overall on college-level Advanced Placement exams last year, but Hispanic pupils continued to fall behind. Even as Hispanic students took more AP exams, and passed more of them than in previous years, the percentage of those who passed fell to 55 percent, down one point from 2008 and 11 points from 2005.More

In Job Hunt, College Degree Can't Close Racial Gap
from The New York Times
Johnny Williams has scrubbed his resume of any details that might tip off his skin color. Race remains a serious obstacle in the job market for African-Americans, even those with degrees from respected colleges, may seem to some people a jarring contrast to decades of progress by blacks, culminating in President Obama's election.More

Report Reveals Wide Gap in College Achievement
from The Washington Post
A new report, billed as one of the most comprehensive studies to date of how low-income and minority students fare in college, shows a wide gap in graduation rates at public four-year colleges nationwide and "alarming" disparities in success at community colleges.More

Beyond "Heroes and Sheroes": The Success of Montgomery County Schools
from Public School Insights
There is something structurally wrong with a system where about a third of the children in America never make it out and about half of employees can't survive more than five years. So what we did was sit back and say, "If that is the shape of the bottle - if that is the issue that we have to deal with - what is the new wine we can put in without breaking the bottle?", says Dr. Jerry Weast who has presided over a decade of strong and steady gains in Montgomery County, Md., in this recent interview.More