Presented by Sallie Mae®
With help from Allie Grasgreen Ciaramella, Kimberly Hefling, Maggie Severns and Nirvi Shah
STRUGGLING SENIORS FALL FURTHER BEHIND: The gulf between the nation’s highest — and lowest-performing high school seniors is widening, particularly in reading, according to 2015 results on the National Assessment of Educational Progress for 12th graders, released today. That means the students who are struggling the most are falling further behind. “That’s a new pattern,” said Peggy Carr, acting commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, which administers NAEP. And it’s one that policymakers might want to pay attention to, she said. The highest-performing students made gains in reading since the last test in 2013 and scored about the same in math. But the lowest-performing students — students who score in the bottom 10th and 25th percentiles — did worse in both subjects. Carr wouldn’t speculate as to what’s causing the increasing divide, but she said course selection might be one factor. For example, students who didn’t take math their senior year scored lower and seniors taking more advanced courses scored higher. I have the story: http://politico.pro/1SzvkOU.
— Is the Common Core to blame? The 12th grade results follow what some education policy watchers see as a sobering drop in 4th- and 8th-grade math and reading after more than two dozen years of small but steady gains. Some have said that drop could be due to an “implementation dip” as teachers and students adjust to higher academic standards, like the Common Core. But NAEP isn’t meant to measure the Common Core and scores in states without it have dropped, too. Experts have also questioned whether a misalignment between NAEP test questions and what students are learning in the classroom, whether it be the Common Core or similar standards, is having a negative effect on scores. Carr said that was more of a concern for fourth- and eighth-graders due to “sequencing,” or what students are taught, when and in what order. But the issue dissipates when students reach their senior year of high school, she said.
— Overall, high school seniors’ math scores on average dipped slightly since 2013. Reading scores remained stagnant in the short-term. Some bright spots: white, black, Hispanic and Asian high school seniors have all made gains in math over the past 10 years. And there was no significant short-term drop when it comes to average scores in either subject for any racial or ethnic student subgroup. The data: http://1.usa.gov/1UfZlaX.
— Speaking of testing, a new paper from Educational Testing Service on the opt-out movement suggests that the assessment community should be better at messaging to policymakers, parents, teachers and others. A messaging campaign via television, radio and online ads “might be launched by the community’s professional organizations to foster greater understanding of the value of high-quality assessment and its appropriate use,” the paper says. The public is also sick of multiple-choice tests, the paper says. So the assessment community could focus on developing tests with “more actionable results.” Performance tasks, or when students apply their learning in context to a specific task, yield more immediate feedback for teachers on how students are doing and require students to actively participate and perform, not just prepare through rote memorization, ETS says. More: http://bit.ly/2410E3V
GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING, APRIL 27. How are we feeling about the season six premiere of “Game of Thrones”? As some of you know, I’m a big fan of the books and the show. I didn’t love last season, but I’m feeling optimistic about this upcoming one. [ http://bit.ly/1VV83wH] Don’t forget to send tips, clips and amusing GIFs to [email protected] or @caitlinzemma. Send events to: [email protected]. And follow us on Twitter: @Morning_Edu and @POLITICOPro.
COLLEGE FUNDING COMEBACK CONTINUES: Higher education funding is creeping back toward pre-recession levels — but 45 states still appropriated fewer dollars per student last year than they did in 2008, according to the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association’s 13th annual State Higher Education Finance report. Still, 40 states boosted support in fiscal year 2015, and total state and local government allocations to public colleges increased more than $4 billion, reaching nearly $91 billion. Factor in a 1.1 percent decline in full-time enrollment, and the average state and local support per student rose 5.2 percent to hit $6,966 — still more than $1,200 less than what was spent in 2008 — dragging down the share of education costs borne by students to 46.5 percent. That’s the lowest that figure has been since 2011. The report: http://bit.ly/1qQJRyq.
GROUP CRIES FOUL ON VOUCHER FUNDING: The school choice advocacy group American Federation for Children is spending more than $200,000 on a new TV, radio and digital ad campaign accusing Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards of “breaking his promise” not to cut families’ school choice options by cutting the state voucher program’s budget. The governor has proposed funding the Louisiana Scholarship Program at $36 million, but AFC says that $47 million is needed. Watch the ad: http://bit.ly/1YSGX7a.
EDU-PINION: “I met my future R.E.M. bandmates when we were all students at the University of Georgia in Athens. [ http://bit.ly/24ijqR0] It was there that we started playing together and performing and years later, several of us still call Athens home,” Michael Stipe wrote in USA Today. Republican Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has until May 3 to decide how to act on a campus carry bill passed by the Legislature in March. “For us and for so many others, college is this incredible moment when you get to make mistakes and learn from them. You start becoming an adult. You get to delve into what you love and get obsessed with it. You go to parties and drink too much. You fall asleep in the library and wake up hours before a paper is due. We all have our own versions of these stories. We all know the crazy things we did in college. Some moments we regret and others become the stories we tell time and again. Like many other Georgians, I am worried about how guns on campus would affect college life. I worry about what it means when loaded guns are allowed at a tailgate where alcohol is being served. I’m concerned for survivors of sexual assault, who may soon have to face an armed assailant at the time of the crime and again at their disciplinary hearing.” More: http://usat.ly/1VxrBaz
NO CANDIDATE LEFT BEHIND: Donald Trump made headlines after the Nevada caucuses when he pronounced love for the “poorly educated.” [ http://politi.co/1VQS1V6]. New research from the Pew Research Center offers context that helps explain why. It finds that highly educated adults are far more likely to take liberal positions, and the education divide has only grown wider over the past 20 years. More: http://pewrsr.ch/26rnYq7
— Speaking of Trump, a New York judge said she won’t grant summary judgment to state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office as it pursues its fraud case against the real estate mogul’s Trump University. Schneiderman suggested Tuesday that his office would call on Trump to testify at a trial later this year. More from POLITICO New York’s Conor Skelding: http://politi.co/1UfCOen
— And in one of the other cases involving Trump University, a federal judge announced this week that he plans to convene an important hearing in the case in San Diego — on the first day of the Republican National Convention. The judge also plans to take up other motions, including one asking that the case be stripped of its class-action status during the July 18 hearing. POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein has more: http://politi.co/1SNJC3O
— The Washington Post fact-checks Ted Cruz’s claim that President Barack Obama is forcing schools to “let teenage boys shower with teenage girls” and gives it “Two Pinocchios.” “This is a classic case of a politician using rhetoric to obfuscate and simplify a complex issue,” according to the newspaper: http://wapo.st/1SGKzYr.
White House Correspondents’ Association Weekend Event — Playbook Lunch with Billy Eichner and Funny or Die’s Mike Farah and David Litt. Join POLITICO’s Chief White House Correspondent Mike Allen as he takes Playbook live for a conversation with Funny or Die D.C.’s head writer/producer and President Barack Obama’s former speechwriter David Litt, Host of “Billy on the Street” and from Hulu’s “Difficult People” Billy Eichner and President of Production of Funny or Die Mike Farah. Friday, April 29 - Doors at 11:30 a.m – The Newseum. RSVP: http://bit.ly/1VqS7SW
REPORT ROLL CALL
— Better identification of rural school districts that have closed achievement gaps would benefit districts. Institute of Education Sciences: http://1.usa.gov/1SIxyxK.
— The Every Student Succeeds Act brings a new opportunity to give students in struggling schools new choices, like credit recovery coursework. Chiefs for Change: http://bit.ly/21eFbPL.
— There’s a “modestly increasing gap” in schooling between children from low-income and high-income families. AERA Open: http://bit.ly/1XVCZum.
— Young Latino children are too often excluded from the Census count, which can affect how public services are distributed. Child Trends: http://bit.ly/1qR3YfM.
— A new brief from The Education Trust shares how districts can improve disadvantaged students’ access to high-quality teachers. http://bit.ly/1UfFBEn
— A review of summer youth employment programs in eight major cities and D.C. finds room for improvement in D.C.’s program, which spends more than other places on the effort: http://bit.ly/1NQFBEm
— Principals of three “Failure Factories” schools will transfer. Tampa Bay Times: http://bit.ly/1rgpmf9
— New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he would veto legislation to eliminate state takeovers of school districts. The Associated Press: http://bit.ly/24iSsbO
— Kentucky’s unprecedented success in school funding is on the line. NPR: http://n.pr/1Qziaiv
— North Carolina’s attorney general is suing more than a year after state auditors said charter school officials mismanaged taxpayer money before shutting down suddenly. WRAL: http://bit.ly/1TvCWnS
— Who’s going to be punished for the worst academic scandal anyone can remember? The Chronicle of Higher Education: http://bit.ly/1VRc6L1
— Maine Gov. Paul LePage blames media for his decision to pull out of education commission. Bangor Daily News: http://bit.ly/241GS8l
— Education group enters ‘belly of the beast’ to oppose North Carolina’s LGBT law. Los Angeles Times: http://lat.ms/1rdR4sG
— Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley signs education budget, teacher raise. The Associated Press: http://bit.ly/1VRvl73
— Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick excoriates Texas universities for raising their tuition in recent years. The Texas Tribune: http://bit.ly/1qS9G17
The Pro Education team [ http://bit.ly/1pYv6Jk] is up against them all: @ CaitlinZEmma or [email protected], @ alliegrasgreen or [email protected], @ khefling or [email protected], @ MaggieSeverns or [email protected].