Crime, Violence, Discipline, and Safety in U.S. Public Schools

From the School Survey on Crime and Safety, NCES presents this report that provides a first look report at the findings.

Important points:

During the 2009–10 school year, the rate of violent incidents per 1,000 students was higher in middle schools (40 incidents) than in primary schools or high schools (21 incidents each).

Some 10 percent of city schools reported at least one gang-related crime, a higher percentage than that reported by suburban (5 percent), town (4 percent), or rural schools (2 percent).

A higher percentage of middle schools reported that student bullying occurred at school daily or at least once a week (39 percent) than did high schools or primary schools (20 percent each).

The Condition of Education 2011

The National Center for Education Statistics, released The Condition of Education 2011, presenting 50 indicators on demographics, resources and outcomes associated with US schools and education.

Report findings include:

• In 2007-08, about three-quarters of the 2003-04 freshman class graduated with a regular diploma from public high schools.

• From 2000 to 2009, undergraduate enrollment in postsecondary institutions increased from 13 million students to 18 million. During this period, undergraduate enrollment in private for-profit institutions quadrupled – from 0.4 million students in 2000 to 1.6 million in 2009.

• Between 1975 and 2010, the percentages of White, Black and Hispanic 25- to 29-year-olds who had a bachelor’s degree increased. Yet, during this period, the gap in bachelor’s degree attainment between Blacks and Whites increased from 13 to 19 percentage points, and the gap between Whites and Hispanics increased from 15 to 25 percentage points.

To view the full report please visit
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2011033

Education Dept. Withdraws Federal Support for School Libraries

American Libraries reports that the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program was zeroed out under the Department of Education’s allocation for FY2011 funding (PDF), released on May 17.

Free Access to Routledge Education Journals

Routledge has offered free access for the month of April to their Education Journals. There are over 238 journals to choose, with topics covering the History of Education to Open & Distance Education and eLearning, and all topics in-between.

Education Secretary reports 82% of schools could be labeled as failing

During a House Education Committee hearing on March 9, the Department of Education's 2012 budget request, Arne Duncan reports on the state of education and the need for NCLB reform. You can watch the hearing here:  C-SPAN.org Sec. Duncan Defends TY2012 Education Budget

IES releases Projections of Education Statistics to 2019

The new report includes statistics on enrollment, graduates, teachers, and expenditures in elementary and secondary schools, and enrollment and earned degrees conferred expenditures of degree-granting institutions. For the Nation, the tables, figures, and text contain data on enrollment, teachers, graduates, and expenditures for the past 14 years and projections to the year 2019.

New Report from IES: Trends in High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States: 1972–2008

"This report builds upon a series of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports on high school dropout, completion, and graduation rates that began in 1988. The report includes discussions of many rates used to study how students complete or fail to complete high school. It presents estimates of rates for 2008 and provides data about trends in dropout and completion rates over the last three and a half decades (1972-2008) along with more recent estimates of on-time graduation from public high schools. Among findings in the report was that in October 2008, approximately 3 million civilian noninstitutionalized 16- through 24-year-olds were not enrolled in high school and had not earned a high school diploma or alternative credential. These dropouts represented 8 percent of the 38 million non-institutionalized, civilian individuals in this age group living in the United States." From IES Newsflash 12/8/2010

Thirty Sources Added to ERIC

The ERIC digital library recently added thirty sources to the collection. Content will become available as it is received from the publishers.

Journals:
• American Educator
• Australian Journal of Indigenous Education
• Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood
• Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education (CITE Journal)
• Current Research in Social Psychology
• Education in Rural Australia
• IEEE Transactions on Education
• International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership
• International Journal of Learning and Change
• Journal of Adult Education
• Journal of Applied Psychology
• Journal of Creative Behavior
• Journal of Ethnographic & Qualitative Research
• Journal of Research in Character Education
• Journal of Technology Education
• Multilingua: Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication
• Pedagogy, Culture & Society
• Personnel Psychology
• Research in Comparative and International Education
• School Social Work Journal
• Science Education International
• TESL-EJ

Grey Literature Sources:
• Horizon Research, Inc.
• Math Solutions
• New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER)
• NZCER Press
• Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness
• Teaching and Learning Research Initiative
• Tennessee Higher Education Commission
• Washington State School Directors' Association

From ERIC News. To subscribe, go to http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/resources/html/news/index.html and follow the directions under @ERIC Update

Google Science Fair opens January 11

The inaurual Google Science Fair will be launched January 11, 2011. Google has partnered with NASA, CERN, National Geographic, Scientific American and the LEGO Group to create a new open, accessible and global STEM competition. The Google Science Fair is a global competition that any student aged 13 - 18 from around the world is eligible to enter. Students can enter as individuals or as teams of up to three.

To sign up for fun and free resource kits for your classroom or school (with bookmarks, stickers, posters and more!) and a reminder notification when GSF registration opens, please visit the Google Science Fair at: http://www.google.com/sciencefair

NCES Report Released: Indicators of School Crime and Safety 2010

The Indicators of School Crime and Safety 2010 "report covers topics such as victimization, teacher injury, bullying, school conditions, fights, weapons, availability and student use of drugs and alcohol, and student perceptions of personal safety at school. Indicators of crime and safety are compared across different population subgroups and over time. Data on crimes that occur away from school are offered as a point of comparison where available." IES Newsflash

Education Week reports on federal research study of early-grade math programs; some programs show more improvement

"Two years into the nation's largest experimental evaluation of commercial mathematics programs for early elementary school, the Institute of Education Sciences has found some curricula have an advantage over others, but so far there has been no decisive win in the ongoing battle over the best way to teach math." Education Week, S. Sparks, November 10, 2010.
WSU affiliates: Click here to read the whole story

Education Week reports on federal research study of early-grade math programs; some programs show more improvement

"Two years into the nation's largest experimental evaluation of commercial mathematics programs for early elementary school, the Institute of Education Sciences has found some curricula have an advantage over others, but so far there has been no decisive win in the ongoing battle over the best way to teach math." Education Week, S. Sparks, November 10, 2010.
WSU affiliates: Click here to read the whole story

Characteristics of the 100 Largest Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts in the US

"The Characteristics of the 100 Largest Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts report provides basic information from the Common Core of Data about the nation's largest public school districts in the 2008-09 school year. The data include such characteristics as the number of students and teachers, number of high school completers and the averaged freshman graduation rate, and revenues and expenditures." Data from Detroit Public Schools (listed in the report as Detroit City School District) is included in this report. As reported in IES Newsflash

New Education Publications available online through library databases

New full-text titles available through the Academic OneFile database.

Curriculum and Teaching Dialogue (from Information Age Publishing, Inc.)
Distance Learning (from Information Age Publishing, Inc.)
English Language Teaching (from Canadian Center of Science and Education)
International Education Studies (from Canadian Center of Science and Education)
Journal of Research in Character Education (from Information Age Publishing)
Middle Grades Research Journal (from Information Age Publishing, Inc.)
New Teacher Advocate (from Kappa Delta Pi)
Ovidius University Annals, Series Physical Education and Sport/Science, Movement and Health (from Ovidius University of Constanta)
Quarterly Review of Distance Education (from Information Age Publishing, Inc.)

Have you seen: Curriki

Developed by the founder of Sun Microsystems, Curriki provides access to free online textbooks and curriculum support materials.  Use the Browse by Topic under Find Resources to target specific curricular areas.

Rebuilding Detroit Public Schools: A Documentary

Michigan Radio looks at school reform in Detroit and New Orleans in its 2 week series Rebuilding Detroit Schools: A Documentary.
Their stories include interviews with students and transcript from a special call-in show hosted by Charity Nebbe called “A Tale of Two Cities: Lessons the Motor City Can Learn From the Crescent City,", which aired on both Michigan Radio and WWNO New Orleans.

Graduation and Dropout Rates 2007-08 from NCES

"Nationwide, 75 percent of public high school students who started as freshmen in the fall of 2004 graduated high school in 2008—up from 74 percent who graduated on time in the spring of 2007.

Other findings include:

• The Average Freshmen Graduation Rate increased by at least 1 percentage point in 16 states and the District of Columbia.
• Four percent of high school students dropped out of school during the 2007–08 school year. This marks a decrease of at least half a percentage point for 14 states and the District of Columbia from 2006-07."

To view the full report please visit
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2010341
Source: NCES Newsflash

Condition of Education 2000-2010 released

NCES announces the release of the Condition of Education 2000-2010

Check out the site map to find a visual overview of special analysis topics such as High Poverty Public Schools.

"Report findings include:

• In 2007-2008, about 20 percent of all elementary students and 9 percent of secondary school students attended high-poverty schools, compared with 15 percent and 5 percent respectively in 1999-2000.
• The reading achievement gap between low- and high-poverty 8th-grade students was 34 points in 2009 and the mathematics achievement gap was 38 points.
• In 2007-08, about 28 percent of high school graduates from high-poverty schools attended 4-year institutions after graduation, compared with 52 percent of high school graduates from low-poverty schools, based on reports from school administrators.
• Between 1971 and 2009, the percentage of White, Black and Hispanic 25- to 29-year-olds who had a bachelor’s degree increased. But, during this period, the gap in bachelor’s degree attainment between Blacks and Whites increased from 12 to 18 percentage points and the gap between Hispanics and Whites increased from 14 to 25 percentage points."

Reported in NCES (IES) Newsflash

Nation's Report Card releases 2007 scores

Michigan 4th Graders dip slightly. Story reported on M-Live

See 4th and 8th grade Reading results for Michigan and more on the Nation's Report Card

Nation's Report Card releases 2007 scores

Michigan 4th Graders dip slightly. Story reported on M-Live

See 4th and 8th grade Reading results for Michigan and more on the Nation's Report Card