MINNESOTA, NEVADA RECEIVE MILLIONS TO TURN AROUND LOWEST-PERFORMING SCHOOLS

Photo Credit:  Wikimedia.
FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Minnesota to Receive Nearly $6 Million to Turn Around Lowest-Performing Schools
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced that Minnesota will receive $5.9 million to turn around its persistently lowest-achieving schools through the Education Department's School Improvement Grants (SIG) program.

The funds are part of $535 million provided through the fiscal year 2011 budget and made available to states under the program. To date, Minnesota has received $44.9 million since the SIG program was redesigned in 2009.

Nevada to Receive $3.5 Million to Turn Around Lowest-Performing Schools
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced that Nevada will receive $3.5 million to turn around its persistently lowest-achieving schools through the Education Department's School Improvement Grants (SIG) program.

The funds are part of $535 million provided through the fiscal year 2011 budget and made available to states under the program. To date, Nevada has received $30.4 million since the SIG program was redesigned in 2009.

"We've stood on the sidelines for too long as our lowest-performing schools failed our children year after year," said Duncan. "The School Improvement Grants program is providing courageous school leaders and teacher teams in more than 1,300 schools nationwide with the means to accomplish the very difficult work of turning around some of our hardest to serve schools."

When a school system applies to a state for SIG funding, it must indicate that it will implement one of four intervention models in each of its persistently lowest-achieving schools, based on school needs:
Turnaround Model: Replace the principal, screen existing school staff, and rehire no more than half the teachers; adopt a new governance structure; and improve the school through curriculum reform, professional development, extending learning time, and other strategies.
Restart Model: Convert a school or close it and re-open it as a charter school or under an education management organization.

School Closure: Close the school and send the students to higher-achieving schools in the district.
Transformation Model: Replace the principal and improve the school through comprehensive curriculum reform, professional development, extended learning time, and other strategies.

SEC. OF EDUCATION COMMENTS ON STUDENT INTEREST RATE DEAL

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Statement from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on Action to Prevent Student Loan Interest Rates From Doubling

JUNE 29, 2012

“In his January State of the Union address, President Obama called on Congress to work together to keep student loan interest rates from doubling. Today, I applaud leaders in Congress for answering the President’s call to action and striking a deal that will help make college more affordable for millions of students.

“But most importantly, I want to thank the nation's young people for making their voices heard on an important economic issue directly affecting them. You spoke, the nation heard you, and Congress acted. Democracy worked because of your tireless efforts.

“Both the President and I believe education is a public good. College should not be reserved only for those who can afford it. All of us share responsibility for making college affordable and keeping the middle-class dream alive.

“Investing in education is the best investment America can make to bolster our competitiveness in a knowledge-based, global economy. If we don’t invest today, we will lose tomorrow.”

SEC. OF EDUCATION ARNE DUNCAL ON 40 YEARS OF PELL GRANTS

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Celebrating Success: 40 Years of Pell Grants
Chances are you know someone who wouldn’t have gone to college without the help of a Pell Grant. Since 1972, more than 60 million Americans have received financial assistance to earn their degree.

As President Obama said in a message commemorating the 40th anniversary of the enactment of this program:

Forty years ago, our Nation codified a commitment to bringing higher education within reach for every American by creating the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant—later renamed the Federal Pell Grant after Senator Claiborne Pell, to honor his efforts in creating the program.  On this anniversary, we reflect on four decades of progress toward fulfilling that fundamental promise and rededicate ourselves to making college affordable for all.

Federal Pell Grants have helped millions of Americans achieve their fullest potential by not only opening the doors to college, but also providing students the financial support necessary to complete their studies and prosper in today’s economy.  That is why my Administration has prioritized Pell Grants as a source of funding they can count on each and every year.  We have provided resources to support a 50 percent increase in Pell Grant recipients, giving college access to millions of additional students across our country; aggressively raised the maximum Pell Grant award to keep pace with rising costs; and strengthened the Pell Grant Program by cutting banks out of Federal student lending and delivering financial aid directly to students.  By continuing to provide grants that extend educational opportunity to students, we make critical investments both in their personal success and in America’s success in the 21st century.

As we mark the 40th Anniversary of the Federal Pell Grant Program, we also celebrate the individuals and organizations who have worked to widen the circle of opportunity for countless Americans through higher education.  Today and tomorrow, let us recommit to empowering the next generation with the tools and resources they need to achieve their dreams.  I am confident that, through programs like Pell Grants, our Nation will reach our goal of once again leading the world in college completion by the year 2020.

Senator Claiborne Pell, the chief sponsor of the program, liked to say, ‘Any student with the talent, desire, and drive, should be able to pursue higher education.’ Because of his commitment and vision, millions of students from poor and working class backgrounds received the economic lifeline they need to earn a college degree. The Pell Grant program has literally transformed millions of lives.

In today’s global economy that’s more important than ever. High school graduation is no longer a path leading to a good paying job. College, or other postsecondary training, has never been more important to finding meaningful and substantial employment.

More students than ever are relying on Pell grants, and if we are to reach our goal of out-innovating, out-educating and out-building the rest of the world, we need to continue our investment in Pell.
Arne Duncan is the US Secretary of Education

U.S. EDUCATION SECRETARY DUNCAN WANTS COLLEGES TO BE MORE TRANSPARENT REGARDING COST

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Education Secretary Duncan Calls on Colleges to be More Transparent about Cost of College, Empower Families to Make Smart Investments

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan called on colleges and universities across the country today to provide families with the information they need to make a smart investment in higher education. This call to action follows the commitment that 10 institutional leaders made during a White House meeting with Vice President Biden and Secretary Duncan earlier this month to provide key financial information to incoming students starting next year.

Secretary Duncan’s remarks were part of a national convocation hosted by the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities. In addition to calling for greater transparency, he challenged institutions to control costs and better support students in order to keep prices down and help boost college completion rates.

“Today, I want to challenge every college and university in the country to hold themselves accountable to higher standards of transparency as one step toward our collective goal of meeting the President’s 2020 goal and producing the highest percentage of college graduates in the world,” Secretary Duncan said. “Having easy-to-understand information will help students and families make smarter decisions about higher education. We don’t want students and families taking on more debt than they need. We don’t want them defaulting. Worst of all, we don’t want them deciding they cannot afford college.”
During his remarks, Secretary Duncan asked colleges and universities to commit to providing students and their families with the clear, useful information they need to make the best decisions about where to enroll and what kind of financial commitment to make for their long-term investment in higher education. These institutions would join the previous 10 colleges and universities in providing the following information to all incoming students as part of their financial aid package, beginning with those applying for the 2013-2014 school year:
How much one year of college will cost;
Financial aid options to pay this cost, with a clear differentiation between grants and scholarships, which do not have to be repaid, and loans, which do;
Net costs after grants and scholarships are taken into account;
Estimated monthly payments for the federal student loans the student would likely owe after graduation; and
Vital information about student results, including comparative information about the rates at which students enroll from one year to the next, graduate, and repay their loans without defaulting on their obligations.
A key piece of President Obama’s plan to make college more affordable is improved transparency of college costs and value. Too often, students and families face confusion when evaluating financial aid packages, some of which do not clearly differentiate loans from grants, nor distinguish private versus federal loans, making it difficult to compare aid offers.

To make it easier for institutions to provide transparent information to students, the U.S. Department of Education, in partnership with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, gathered input from students, families, and the higher education community to develop a Financial Aid Shopping Sheet, which colleges and universities are encouraged to adopt in order to provide students with clear information about the type and amount of aid they qualify for and allow students to easily compare aid packages offered by different institutions. This Shopping Sheet – a model of what a good financial aid award letter would look like – will be available in the coming weeks. Institutions that are interested in finding out how they can adopt the Shopping Sheet and improve their transparency efforts can get more information by emailingHigherEducation@who.eop.gov.

YALE UNIVERSITY CIVIL RIGHTS INVESTIGATION RESOLVED

Photo:  Library at Yale University.  Credit:  Wikimedia.
FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
U.S. Department of Education Announces Resolution of Yale University Civil Rights Investigation

The U.S. Department of Education announced today that its Office for Civil Rights has entered into a resolution agreement with Yale University, in New Haven, Conn., to resolve a complaint alleging that Yale failed to eliminate sex discrimination in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Discrimination on the basis of sex is prohibited by Title IX.

“Sexual violence and harassment have no place in our nation’s schools,” said Russlynn Ali, assistant secretary for civil rights. “Every student must have a fair chance to a high quality education, but sexual harassment and violence far too often deny students their right to an equal education. I applaud the steps Yale has taken and has agreed to take to address immediate concerns and to put systems in place to help prevent future Title IX discrimination. We look forward to continuing to work cooperatively with Yale to better ensure a safe and supportive environment for all students.”

In March 2011, the Office for Civil Rights received a complaint alleging that a sexually hostile environment existed on campus of the university, to which the university had not responded in a prompt and adequate manner. The complaint was filed, in part, as a result of a well-publicized incident in October 2010 when fraternity pledges chanted sexually aggressive comments outside the university’s Women’s Center located on Old Campus, where most freshman students live.

Based on the complaint allegations, OCR conducted an extensive investigation to assess whether the university had designated a Title IX coordinator, whether the university had grievance procedures to promptly and equitably address complaints under Title IX, and whether the university had allowed a sexually hostile environment to be created on campus by not sufficiently responding to notice of sexual harassment.

The university worked closely with OCR throughout its investigation, voluntarily and proactively made changes to its procedures and practices related to Title IX compliance, and notified the university-wide community of these changes. The university has further agreed to continue this commitment by entering into a voluntary resolution agreement.

The agreement provides that the university will continue to improve and publicize university resources and programming aimed at responding to and preventing sexual harassment and violence. The university will also conduct periodic assessments of the campus climate to evaluate the success of its efforts to provide a safe learning and living environment for its students, free of sexual harassment and violence. Further, the university will continue to coordinate its compliance efforts via its university Title IX coordinator and deputy coordinators and will widely publicize information regarding its designated Title IX coordinators. The university will continue to implement its new grievance process designed to promptly and equitably address complaints of sexual misconduct under Title IX and notify the university community of the outcome of complaints, when appropriate. It will continue its efforts to educate all sectors of the university community on Title IX, including training for administrators, faculty, staff, student service-providers and various student populations.
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OCR’s mission is to ensure equal access to education and promote educational excellence throughout the nation through the vigorous enforcement of civil rights. OCR is responsible for enforcing federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination by educational institutions on the basis of disability, race, color, national origin, sex, and age, as well as the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act of 2001.

GEAR UP PROGRAM WILL PROVIDE $8.7 MILLION FOR LOW-INCOME STUDENT COLLEGE SAVINGS ACCOUNTS

Photo Credit:  Wikimedia
FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Education Department Releases Proposal to Help Thousands of Disadvantaged Students Access College Through Savings Accounts
Project encourages students and families to develop key financial skills and invest in higher education
MAY 31, 2012
The U.S. Department of Education today announced that it will further help thousands of disadvantaged students access higher education through investing in college savings accounts. The College Savings Account Research Demonstration Project will commit $8.7 million of federal GEAR UP funds to support college savings accounts for students participating in the GEAR UP program, which is designed to increase the college readiness of low-income middle school and high school students.

The project will provide about 10,000 high school students with savings accounts as well as counseling to develop smart financial habits. In addition, the project will research the impact of savings accounts on college access and success by comparing the outcomes of students receiving savings accounts with a control group, which will allow the project to inform strategies at the federal, state and local level.

"We believe that savings accounts play a key role in helping all students—especially those from low-income families—access and succeed in college," said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. "Empowering disadvantaged students with financial resources and skills will enable them to make smart investments in higher education—and we'll gain valuable knowledge about how to best serve these students in the future."

Initial research suggests students with savings accounts are much more likely to enroll in college than students without one. In fall 2010, Duncan joined the chairmen of the FDIC and National Credit Union Administration in a commitment to increase the number of students with savings accounts. The draft notice for the College Savings Account Research Demonstration Project outlines a plan for providing 10,000 ninth-grade students and their parents with college savings accounts, financial incentives to save and targeted financial counseling.

Because many GEAR UP grantees may be more readily able to establish and manage savings accounts for GEAR UP students, the Department is proposing that state GEAR UP grantees that received new awards in FY 2011 or FY 2012 and that are participating in the cohort model would be eligible to apply for the project. Each student will receive $200 in seed funding to start the account, which the state will open automatically. Students will have a chance to earn an extra $10 per month in a dollar-for-dollar savings match program over the next four years, ultimately giving them the opportunity to save more than $1,000 for college. Savings will be available for students to use for educational expenses upon enrolling in an institution of higher education.

For more information on the project, including a copy of the Notice of Proposed Priorities, visit:http://www2.ed.gov/programs/gearup/applicant.html.

EDUCATION: EIGHT MORE STATES GET NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND WAIVERS WAVIERS

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FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Obama Administration Approves Eight More States for NCLB Waivers
19 States Approved So Far; 17 States and Washington, D.C., Currently Under Review; Other States Can Still Apply

MAY 29, 2012
The Obama administration approved eight additional states for flexibility from key provisions of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in exchange for state-developed plans to prepare all students for college and career, focus aid on the neediest students, and support effective teaching and leadership. Today's announcement brings the number of states with waivers to 19. Eighteen additional applications are still under review.

At an event in Hartford, Connecticut, with Gov. Dannel Malloy, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro and a host of local, state and federal officials, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced waivers for Connecticut, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Rhode Island.

"These eight additional states are getting more flexibility with federal funds and relief from NCLB's one-size-fits-all federal mandates in order to develop locally-tailored solutions to meet their unique educational challenges," Duncan said.

Duncan pointed out that many of the new state-created accountability systems capture more students at risk, including low-income students, students with disabilities, and English learners, adding, "States must show they are protecting children in order to get flexibility. These states met that bar."

Connecticut's plan, for example, raises the number of schools accountable for the performance of students with disabilities from 276 to 683; free and reduced-price lunch students from 757 to 928; African American students from 280 to 414; Hispanic students from 356 to 548; and English learners from 97 to 209. States previously granted waivers include Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

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FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Race to the Top District Competition Draft
Thank you for your interest in the Race to the Top – District (RTT-D) Program. Like the Race to the Top State program, the Race to the Top – District Program is designed to encourage unprecedented innovation and bold comprehensive reform in elementary and secondary education.

In order to run a rigorous competition and obligate funds to grantees before the December 31, 2012 statutory deadline, the Department of Education (Department) will waive rulemaking for this new program, pursuant to its authority in the General Education Provisions Act.

However, because the Department is very interested in your input, we are posting this draft executive summary of the draft requirements, priorities, selection criteria, and definitions for the Race to the Top District competition on this Web site. We encourage all interested parties to submit opinions, ideas, suggestions, and comments pertaining to the Race to the Top District program. This document will be posted for public input until 5:00 PM EDT on Friday, June 8, 2012, at which time the input section will be closed and we will begin considering input received as we develop final requirements, priorities, selection criteria, and definitions. Though the Department will not respond to comments, the Department will read and consider all comments in finalizing the Race to the Top District competition design. Later this summer we will publish a notice of final requirements, priorities, selection criteria, and definitions in the Federal Register along with a notice inviting applications.

The Race to the Top District competition will build on the lessons learned from the State-level competitions and support bold, locally directed improvements in teaching and learning that will directly improve student achievement and teacher effectiveness. More specifically, Race to the Top District will reward those LEAs that have the leadership and vision to implement the strategies, structures and systems of support to move beyond one-size–fits-all models of schooling, which have struggled to produce excellence and equity for all children, to personalized, student-focused approaches to teaching and learning that will use collaborative, data-based strategies and 21st century tools to deliver instruction and supports tailored to the needs and goals of each student, with the goal of enabling all students to graduate college- and career-ready.

Successful LEAs will provide the information, tools, and supports that enable teachers to truly differentiate instruction and meet the needs of each child. These LEAs will have the policy and systems infrastructure, capacity, and culture to enable teachers, teacher teams and school leaders to continuously focus on improving individual student achievement. They will organize around the goal of each child demonstrating content and skills mastery and credentialing required for college and career and will allow students significantly more freedom to study and advance at their own pace - both in and out of school. As importantly, they will create opportunities for students to identify and pursue areas of personal passion-- all of this occurring in the context of ensuring that each student demonstrates mastery in critical areas identified in college- and career ready standards. LEAs successfully implementing this approach to teaching and learning will lay the modern blueprint for raising student achievement, decreasing the achievement gap across student groups, and increasing the rates at which students graduate from high school prepared for college and careers.

The Race to the Top State competition incentivized bold and comprehensive reform in elementary and secondary education and laid the foundation for unprecedented innovation. A total of 46 States and the District of Columbia put together comprehensive plans to implement college- and career-ready standards, use data systems to guide teaching and learning, evaluate and support teachers and school leaders, and turn around their lowest-performing schools. The Race to the Top District competition (RTT-D) will build on the lessons learned from the State-level competitions and support bold, locally directed improvements in teaching and learning that will directly improve student achievement and teacher effectiveness.

More specifically, RTT-D will reward those LEAs that have the leadership and vision to implement the strategies, structures and systems of support to move beyond one-size–fits-all models of schooling, which have struggled to produce excellence and equity for all children, to personalized, student-focused approaches to teaching and learning that will use collaborative, data-based strategies and 21st century tools to deliver instruction and supports tailored to the needs and goals of each student, with the goal of enabling all students to graduate college- and career-ready.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND BUTLER UNIVERSITY RESOLVE TITLE IX ATHLETICS COMPLIANCE REVIEW

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
U.S. Education Department Reaches Agreement with Butler University to Resolve Title IX Athletics Compliance Review
MAY 3, 2012
The U.S. Department of Education announced today that its Office for Civil Rights has entered into a resolution agreement with Butler University in Indianapolis to resolve a compliance review that was initiated at the university. The review examined whether the institution discriminates against female students by denying them an equal opportunity to participate in intercollegiate athletics and whether the university discriminates in awarding athletic scholarships.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX), 20 U.S.C. § 1681, and its implementing regulation, 34 C.F.R. Part 106, prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex. The university is a private, co-educational institution whose intercollegiate athletics teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division I.

According to data provided by Butler, during the 2010-11 school year women made up 2,267, or 59.6 percent, of the university’s full-time undergraduate students.  But, the institution’s 164 female athletes comprised only 36.5 percent of its 449 athletes. Butler’s 285 male athletes represented 63.5 percent of its athletes. During the 2010-11 academic year, the university distributed more than $3.8 million in athletic scholarships to male and female athletes. Women received 53.4 percent of this amount and men 46.6 percent.

“The many benefits that students derive from participating in athletic competition are well-documented and extend far beyond the playing field,” said Russlynn Ali, assistant secretary for the Office for Civil Rights. “In this 40th anniversary year for Title IX, a case like this reminds us how critical this statute continues to be in ensuring equal opportunity for women in education. OCR is committed to ensuring that student athletes have equal access to those benefits, including equal opportunities to participate in sports and to be awarded scholarships based on their athletic abilities. Today’s announcement is an important step in OCR’s continued efforts to work with the nation’s institutions to accomplish this result.”

According to the agreement, by Sept. 1, the university has to demonstrate that it is accommodating effectively the interests and abilities of female students in order to provide them an equal opportunity to participate in sports or, if unable to demonstrate current compliance, submit a detailed plan to OCR to accommodate effectively the interests and abilities of female students in its athletics program over the next three academic years.  The plan must include a description of interim steps that the university will take during the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 academic years to increase athletic participation opportunities for women.
With respect to scholarships, by Sept. 1, Butler must also demonstrate that during the 2011-2012 school year equal opportunities are being provided in awarding athletic scholarships to male and female athletes.  Or, if the university is unable to demonstrate this, it must submit a detailed plan to ensure that by the beginning of the 2014-2015 academic year, Butler is in full compliance with its Title IX obligation to provide athletic scholarships in a non-discriminatory manner.

The agreement makes clear that OCR does not require or encourage the elimination of any university athletic teams and that it is seeking action from the university that does not involve the elimination of athletic opportunities. The agreement also states that nothing in the agreement requires Butler to cut the amounts of athletic scholarships it offers to either sex, and that any such cuts are discouraged.

PROGRESS ON STATE-LED DEVELOPMENT OF NEW ASSESSMENTS

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
State-led Development of New Assessments Moves into High Gear State and Teacher Teams to Help Develop Sample Questions
MAY 4, 2012
The state-led effort to design new assessments aligned with college and career-ready standards moves into year two with an ambitious agenda that includes releasing sample questions and piloting the new assessments in select schools in the spring of 2013. The new assessments are being developed by two consortia made of 45 states and the District of Columbia with approximately $350 million in federal Race to the Top funds.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said that the new assessments will be, “an absolute game changer in public education, but we need to get it right. We need input from teachers and the public and we need to make sure that the tests provide parents and teachers with the information they need to focus and personalize instruction for all children.”

Reports released today by the U.S. Department of Education outline year-one activity by the two consortia – the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (Smarter Balanced). The effort to develop assessments across states at this scale is unprecedented and presented considerable challenges for each consortia in year one.

PARCC’s first-year work included strong contributions from higher education partners to help define college- and career-ready standards. PARCC also brought together state and district leaders to collaborate on transitioning to the new standards and assessment system.

“In just over a year, the 24 states in PARCC have made tremendous progress toward developing an innovative assessment system to make sure students are on a pathway to college and career readiness,” said Massachusetts Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester, who chairs the PARCC Governing Board. “Drawing on the leadership from the states in our consortium, the PARCC assessment promises to be a tool to improve student achievement, returning information quickly to drive instruction and delivering useful information to parents, while also providing data on the effectiveness of our education systems.”

In the first year, the Smarter Balanced consortium focused on helping states and districts understand new content standards and integrating technology into its assessment system.

“Smarter Balanced is working with our member states to create a balanced assessment system that gives parents, teachers and students information and tools to improve teaching and learning,” said Executive Director of the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium Joe Willhoft, Ph.D. “Assessments that are aligned to college- and career-ready standards are critical to preparing all students for success in the global economy.”

Once the new assessment systems are completed, participating states will use them in place of existing statewide assessments. Non-participating states are free to use them as well. Currently, they are on track for implementation in the 2014-15 school year.