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When the history of American higher education in the 21st century is written, I suspect the end of the first decade will be known for two resounding themes: the growing importance of community colleges, and a move from college access to a focus on college success . The vocabulary of this important time centers on words like efficiency, productivity, and effectiveness. These are terms that, thanks in no small part to the work of foundations like Lumina and Gates, finally have traction among both administrators and consumers of higher ed. In a very real sense, this is nothing less than astounding progress for an institution built primarily to enroll students privileged enough to attend college-- and not necessarily to graduate them. For the latest--and greatest-- example of this sea change we can look to Indiana. Faced with ever-common declines in resources for higher education, leaders in that state are reportedly rethinking business as usual. Typically, budget cuts are distribute...

NATIONAL Creative RttT Lawmaking (Politics K-12) RttT Hopefuls: Clear The Week of March 15, 2010 (Politics K-12) States Struggle With Pk-20 Data ( Education Week ) CALIFORNIA State senate passes RttT reform bill (AP) Bill addresses failing schools ( San Francisco Chronicle ) Final bill could be passed "before the holidays" ( Los Angeles Times ) Assembly Speaker: Race is 'on track' ( San Jose Mercury News ) FLORIDA Teachers union says 'no' to state plan (Teacher Beat) Unions balking on Race ( Orlando Sentinel ) Florida Dems cry foul ( St. Petersburg Times - The Gradebook blog) 63 of 67 school districts sign on ( Miami Herald ) HAWAII Failure to address teacher furlough could jeopardize RttT chances ( Honolulu Star-Bulletin ) IDAHO State supe stumps for RttT ( Times-News ) Luna: Charter school cap to stay ( Times-News ) ILLINOIS RttT funds could target lowest performing schools ( Chicago Daily Herald ) INDIANA DoE rolls out RttT proposal summary ...

There's growing concern with higher education's affordability problem, as well there should be. It's hard to see how college will promote social mobility if a kid's ability to access it is increasingly linked to whether or not his family has money. So it's heartening to see college leaders attempting to provide solutions. But it'd be even better if we first saw them earnestly attempting to understand where the real sources of trouble lie. I'm afraid that step's being skipped a bit too often, running the risk of making things worse. Here's a recent example. At this month's Regents Board Meeting , University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly was explicitly asked to name some solutions to promoting affordability at his institutions. There were many ways he could respond. To his credit, Reilly acknowledged the importance of growing the state's paltry support for need-based aid and he said that multiple solutions were needed--there...

UPDATED! NATIONAL List of Contending States Grows ( Education Week Politics K-12 blog) 37 States to Apply in Round 1 ( Education Week Politics K-12 blog) Will Local Teachers' Unions Sign Off On State RttT Plans? ( Education Week Teacher Beat blog) A RttT Scorecard (National Council on Teacher Quality) A Race to Nowhere ( Education Week - Bridging Differences blog) FLORIDA Editorial: Districts should embrace teacher merit pay and RttT ( Orlando Sentinel ) KENTUCKY Districts sign off on RttT ( The State Journal - Frankfort) MAINE In for round 2 (Maine School Management Association) MASSACHUSETTS RttT bill weakened, critics charge ( Boston Globe ) Commentary: Whose needs come first in schools? ( Boston Globe ) MINNESOTA Teachers' union may withhold support for state application (Minneapolis Star Tribune ) NEVADA Legislative attempt to qualify for competition ( Las Vegas Sun ) NEW YORK Governor Paterson: Raise charter school cap ( New York Post ) OHIO Troubled wat...

Just a quick update -- The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has released the list of colleges and universities it plans to investigate for giving preference to men in admissions: Catholic University of America Georgetown Gettysburg Goldey-Beacom Goucher College Howard Johns Hopkins Lincoln University (Pa.) Loyola University Maryland Messiah College Shepherd University Shippensburg University University of Delaware University of Maryland-Baltimore County University of Maryland-Eastern Shore University of Richmond Virginia Union University Washington College York University (Pa) Original Post: "The So-Called Boy Mystery"

NATIONAL Is Race to Top an Urban Game? ( Education Week Politics K-12 Blog) Some state officials have a sneaking suspicion that Race to the Top is an urban state's game and that has made some question whether they should apply, at least in Round 1. For instance, Vermont had originally planned to apply for Round 1 of the competition, but is now going to hold off for Round 2.... The state decided to sit out the first round because of the competition's rules on charter schools. Vermont, a largely rural state, doesn't have them, but it does have some other innovative public schools, Knopf said. But, under the RttT regulations, the state can only get up to eight points for its innovative schools, out of a possible 40, since it doesn't have a charter school law. In North Dakota , state education superintendent Wayne Sanstead told Michele that it can't move quickly enough to make the Jan. 19 deadline for Round 1. Still, when the state applies in Round 2, it will develop...

Wisconsin is the prototypical 'good news' state. Denial of some stubborn realities has grossly limited impetus for education reform in recent years. However, here is some legitimate good news ( "State improves participation in school breakfasts" ), progress -- not success-- on the school breakfast front from a state that has too long been a laggard. Data comes from the annual School Breakfast Scorecard from the Food Research and Action Center . State leaders, including Governor Jim Doyle and the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness & Health , deserve credit for prioritizing this important issue. The Governor's School Health Award is one vehicle that has encouraged and promoted wider availability of school breakfasts in Wisconsin schools.

NATIONAL: Who Would Have Guessed The Race Would Look Like This? (Democrats for Education Reform) 36 States to Apply in Round 1 ( Education Week Politics K-12 blog) CALIFORNIA: Campaign cash from charters driving Governor's, state's goals? ( Contra Costa Times ) Editorial: Schools race to -- where, exactly? ( Los Angeles Times ) Politics, politics (AP) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: DC gets to apply, too ( Washington Post) GEORGIA: State a 'frontrunner' ( Gainesville Times ) LOUISIANA: State bid would impact teacher evaluation, pay ( The Advocate - Baton Rouge) Educators wary of state plan ( The Advocate - Baton Rouge) MARYLAND: Editorial: Gates rejection a 'wake-up call' ( Baltimore Sun ) MASSACHUSETTS: Op-ed from Stand for Children, Black Leaders for Excellence in Education ( The Boston Globe ) MICHIGAN: Race to the trough in Michigan? (Ann Arbor.com) Editorial: Legislature's 'racing', but to where? ( Lansing State Journal ) NEVADA: Editorial:...

NATIONAL: New Teacher-Evaluation Systems Face Obstacles ( Education Week ) ALABAMA: Governor touts charter schools ( Andalusia Star-News ) CALIFORNIA: Guvinator will 'veto' Assembly-passed RttT reform bill ( San Diego Union-Tribune ) Assembly passes reform bill ( Los Angeles Times ) Editorial: 'Assembly failed California's schoolchildren' ( San Jose Mercury News ) COLORADO: Educator evaluation changes focus of bill, Race ( Denver Post ) DELAWARE: State targeting students at risk of dropping out ( The News Journal ) FLORIDA: State is a serious contender ( Eduwonk ) Op-Ed: Ed commish calls Race 'a defining moment' for Florida's schools ( Miami Herald ) School districts asked to line up for Race ( St. Petersburg Times ) IDAHO: Community meetings focus on RttT (KPVI-TV) ILLINOIS: Advance Illinois advances RttT blueprint ( Catalyst Chicago ) KENTUCKY: State ed dept wil lseek authority to remove superintendents, school board members in struggling d...

CALIFORNIA: State can't seem to put one foot in front of the other ( Education Week ) District officials wary of Race to the Top ( The Press-Enterprise - San Bernardino) HAWAII: ED official pushes solution to teacher furlough debacle ( Honolulu Advertiser ) ILLINOIS: State 'fine tunes' application ( Chicago Current ) INDIANA: Disagreement over using student test scores to evaluate teachers ( Fort Wayne Journal Gazette ) LOUISIANA: Teacher evaluation reform central to state proposal ( The Advocate - Baton Rouge) MINNESOTA: Star-Tribune editorial says state 'must compete' ( Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune ) NEW JERSEY: Led by lame-duck governor, state now WILL apply in round one (NJ.com) NEW YORK: State senate ed chair asks for clarification of state's eligibility (NY1) WISCONSIN: Gov. Doyle meets with ED counsel, former Boston sup Payzant on mayoral control ( Chicago Tribune ) --------------------- Past "Updates on the Race"

I love a good controversy about an important higher education topic. What better way to enjoy a Wisconsin snowstorm than to sit cozily inside, trading emails with knowledgeable folks who are trying to sort out why it appears college completion rates have declined in the U.S. over the last 30 or 40 years. I'm hard-pressed to think of one (well, maybe, after a long day of work having this 38-week fetus out of me would be nice). So, thanks to Sarah Turner , John Bound, and Michael Lovenheim for giving us such a nice meaty analysis to chew over this week. There's already been a good bit written about and commented on this report, particularly by Cliff Adelman , the man who gave the world America's longitudinal transcript data and a robust series of reports on what they tell us about colleges and students. The fact that so many people find so many different messages in the analysis actually bodes well for the paper--it's partly a story about trends in completion rates ...

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights recently announced that it would investigate whether some colleges are discriminating against women in an effort to generate a more gender-diverse student population. Reaction was mixed, with some saying it's about time that the "crisis with boys" in higher education is acknowledged and addressed, and others expressing some disbelief and ridicule that the gender wars have come to this. But part of the overall response really stuck in my craw--the oft-repeated claim that we "just don't know" what's going on with boys. According to many, sources for the gender differential in higher education are a complete " mystery ," a puzzle , a whodunit that we may be intentionally ignoring. Yes, there are numerous potential explanations for the under-representation of men in higher education--and in particular the growing female advantage in terms of bachelor's degree completion. For example, it could be that boys ...

The Cap Times is reporting the summertime departure of UW Colleges and Extension leader David Wilson . My frank response: this sucks. Wilson is one of the good ones. Very bright, forward-thinking, not afraid to speak his mind. I should know-- recently I gave a radio interview and made a few statements about the UW Colleges he didn't like. His response? To invite me to participate in a conference call with all of his deans, and then inform me that the purpose was to "educate" me a bit about his institutions and all they do. Needless to say, I was a bit taken aback-- but by the end of the call, nothing but grateful. I had learned quite a bit, and if he'd been more forthcoming about the call's purpose I might not've participated. He's a smart man. I've often thought that Wilson's leadership held promise for helping Wisconsin rethink the work of all of its two-year colleges, and that he could lead the way in some kind of...ummm...merger (whispered v...

NATIONAL: Eyeing stimulus money for education, states adopt reforms ( Christian Science Monitor ) States seek stimulus funds tied to education reforms (PBS NewsHour) CALIFORNIA: Parental involvement in Race to the Top (KPBS) RttT bill is divisive ( Sacramento Bee ) ILLINOIS: Hard policy work to advance RttT goals (illinoistatehousenews.com) KANSAS: State is 'well positioned' ( Lawrence Journal-World ) MICHIGAN: State Senate passes teacher tenure bill ( Detroit Free Press ) NEVADA: Special session to address Race to the Top? ( Las Vegas Review-Journal ) ------------------ Past "Updates on the Race"

Michele McNeil at Education Week has a really important story about a new Center on Education Policy report that questions whether states have the capacity to effectively implement proposed Race to the Top reforms -- and suggests that states may be applying for RttT funding primarily because they are short on cash. ...[M]ore than half the states report that their capacity to carry out stimulus-related education changes is a “major problem." In other news: DELAWARE: Plan unveiled ILLINOIS: Gov. Quinn announces leaders of RttT effort MICHIGAN: Racing to the top or slowing to a crawl? NEW JERSEY: Not applying in round one RHODE ISLAND: New laws strengthen RttT effort TENNESSEE: Is in contention TEXAS: 'The feds are coming, the feds are coming' WISCONSIN: Special session could address Milwaukee mayoral takeover

The latest edition of the National Council of Teacher Quality's newsletter highlights the efforts of Rhode Island Education Commissioner Deborah Gist to eliminate the practice of transferring teachers based on seniority. Instead, openings should be filled "based on a set of performance criteria and on student need," according to a memo sent by Gist to the state's school superintendents. Generally, given the evidence that veteran teachers tend to flee so-called hard-to-staff schools and leave those schools populated by less experienced peers, I am generally agreeable to such policies that promise to lessen such inequitable teacher distribution. I say that with two caveats. First, policymakers and researchers should work to ensure that there are no unintended consequences as a result of such a policy. For instance, might this policy result in some veteran teachers leaving a needy district, leaving the state, or taking an early retirement rather than continue to teach...

Community colleges have been called many things-"junior," "second chance," "sub-baccalaureate," and one of my personal favorites: places of "continued dependency, unrealistic aspirations, and wasted general education." That last one dates back to 1968, in the heat of their growth period (the author is W.B. Devall, writing in Education Record ). Despite all the disparaging remarks, I have a strong sense that many community college leaders are willing to be called just about anything, as long as they're "not called late for dinner." And this year, at least, they're at the table, and standing to enjoy a nice deal in the form of the American Graduation Initiative (part of legislation pending in the Senate). But this period of sunshine provides only a modicum of comfort, given the longstanding backdrop of invisibility punctuated by insults. In 2005, Washington Post columnist Jay Matthews wrote a confessional column called " Why...

ARIZONA: State could be in contention CONNECTICUT: State to lift charter cap? MICHIGAN: Promise of federal funds forges bipartisan agreement [ Update ] MISSOURI: In the Race NEW YORK: Gates and firewalls , Bloomberg, Duncan push Race NORTH CAROLINA: Gov. Purdue sees bigger picture in RttT; not just about $$$ RHODE ISLAND: State superintendent Gist leads RttT forums TEXAS: Gov. Perry is a human firewall WISCONSIN: 'Children's zones' a feature of state's application