Service-Learning and Hispanic Students: What Works in the Field

This report examines best practices in educating Hispanic students and improving student graduation rates and matriculation into higher education. The author sought to determine whether successful schools implemented different practices for Hispanic students and how successful service-learning was as a pedagogical approach.

Join the Education Commission of the States, July 8-10 at the Sheraton Nashville Downtown Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, for the 2009 ECS National Forum on Education Policy. Learn how education can be an engine to ignite the economy. Explore a complete list of sessions, descriptions, dates and times. Sign up today to network with the nation's top education policy experts this summer. Register for the National Forum at www.ecs.org/NF2009.

Improving Middle Schools
"SREB Urges Greater Focus on Middle Grades in South"
A new Southern Regional Education Board report found modest gains among most of its member states in meeting reading and math standards for middle-grades, and that many state standards are too low. The organization recommends that states develop statewide reading-intervention programs; restructure the math curriculum to help students prepare for Algebra 1 by 8th grade; and improve professional development and middle school teacher certification. (Education Week, 06/30/09)

See all of today's e-Clips stories

The Education Commission of the States Honors Kati Haycock with 2009 Conant Award

Kati Haycock, founder of The Education Trust, will be awarded this year’s Education Commission of the States (ECS) James Bryant Conant Award for her exceptional contribution to childhood advocacy and classroom achievement. ECS and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty will present the award at the ECS National Forum on Education Policy this summer in Nashville, Tennessee. July 8-10. Read the full press release.

Proposed State Uses of Stabilization Funding

As of May 29, 30 states and Puerto Rico have had their preliminary applications for the American Reinvestment & Recovery Act’s (ARRA) State Fiscal Stabilization Funding (FSF) approved by the United States Department of Education (US DOE). States are allowed to use Education Stabilization Funding starting this fiscal year (FY 2008-09) through fall 2011.

Tennessee Named Recipient of Education Commission of the States’ Frank Newman Award
State Recognized for Strides in Classroom Achievement

This July, the Education Commission of the States (ECS) honors the state of Tennessee as winner of the 2009 Frank Newman Award for State Innovation. Steadfast and far-reaching, Tennessee’s well-executed commitment to education reform resulted in: expanded pre-K instruction, increased teacher pay, revamped curriculum and standards, and support for a host of programs to improve classroom achievement. Read the full press release.

Driving Education Reform with Stimulus Funds Redesigning Schools and Expanding Learning Time

The most recent guidance from the U.S. Department of Education builds on the President's call for reform and encourages states to use ARRA funds to "add time to the school day and year, and redesign the school schedule to increase time for core academics, enrichment and staff collaboration."

How Many Schools in Your District?
In the 2006-07 school year, the average school district in the United States and jurisdictions had 5.8 schools; in comparison, the 100 largest school districts averaged 168.3 schools per district. Two of the three largest districts — New York City Public Schools and the Puerto Rico Department of Education — each had more than 1,400 schools.

Source: J. Tang and J. Sable, Characteristics of the 100 Largest Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts in the United States: 2006–07 (NCES 2009-342). National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C., 2009, http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/2009342.pdf

Summer Learning
Moving from the Periphery to the Core

For a long time, the issue of summer learning has waited in the wings, like a fully prepared understudy, ready to jump in and take the stage should the star need a back-up. Recently, though, summer learning has moved into the spotlight — and at the same time, the script is changing. Instead of memorizing and mimicking the star’s lines, summer learning is writing its own script. Transcending the punitive and remedial model of summer school, summer learning’s new form is an artful blend of core academic learning, hands-on activities, 21st Century skills, arts, sports and meaningful relationships. (Brenda McLaughlin and Jeffrey Smink, National Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins University, June 2009)

International Benchmarking (April 2009)

Funding Dual Credit Programs (Feb. 2009)

A Growing Population (Nov. 2008)

See previous issues of The Progress of Education Reform

States Confront the Deepest Pockets of Poverty
Kathy Christie, ECS Chief of Staff
(reprinted with permission from Phi Delta Kappan, April 2009 issue)

The hit movie, Slumdog Millionaire, obviously struck a chord with the U.S. public with its portrayal of a young man who succeeds despite being engulfed in some of the worst living conditions imaginable. While the abject poverty in the urban slums of India is extreme, it helps illustrate why the concentration of poverty is such a major issue in urban communities.
Research on low-income schools and classrooms supports the fact that as the percentage of low-income students increases, so does the challenge of meeting students’ needs. Where is that concentration greatest? Urban schools.

Read the full column.

2008 ECS Publications List

Check out all of the products generated by the Education Commission of the States in 2008! This impressive collection includes direct links to publications, databases and a sampling of key external studies selected by ECS to highlight.

See the collection

See all StateNotes

Recent StateNotes:

A Few Bad Apples: Diploma Mills and Fraudulent Academic Credentials

Driving Education Reform with Stimulus Funds Redesigning Schools and Expanding Learning Time

Maximizing Reform in the Stimulus Bill: Supporting Effective Early Education

State Partnerships for Quality Teacher Preparation

State Budget Shortfalls: Postsecondary Education Impacts

State ARRA Web sites