AM News: Chicago-Free Morning News Roundup

In KC, US education secretary urges end to 'catch-up business' Kansas City Star: The nation's education system needs to get out of “the catch-up business,” U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told a rooftop audience Tuesday night at Kansas City's Metropolitan Community College-Penn Valley.

Black-Male Grad Rate Still Lags Despite Slight Uptick EdWeek: One of the most persistent problems for black male achievement, the report contends, is the ongoing “pushout” problem. African-American boys are far more likely than their white peers to be suspended outside of school, expelled, or placed in alternative settings.

NYC School Yard Politics: A Guide to Who's Playing SchoolBook: And there are numerous groups looking to influence policy on issues such as charter schools, class sizes, or parental involvement. Before the 2013 race for mayor takes off, or things get any more complicated, SchoolBook developed the following guide to the players here in New York City.

Do Scores Go Up When Teachers Return Bonuses? NPR: How do you turn average teachers into great teachers? One unusual field experiment suggests the answer may lie in giving bonuses to teachers upfront — with a catch: They have to give back the money if student performance doesn't improve.

Stopgap Spending Measure Deals With Highly Qualified Teacher Issue EdWeek: The bill calls for the Education Department to report on just how many disadvantaged kids, students in special education, rural students, and English-language learners are served by teachers who are considered highly qualified because they are participating in an alternative-certification programs.

Comments

[Bruce]

In spite of Secretary Duncan's upbeat assessment, trends do not look very promising in American education. In particular, demographic trends are challenging, with too many babies being born in underprivileged circumstances to unprepared parents. Without improved vocational education, in particular at the level of ISCED 4 (ISCED stands for the International Standard Classification of Education, and level for is defined as "post-secondary, non-tertiary", a level almost wholly undeveloped in our huge education industry), we risk a social explosion in not too many years, as today's teenagers discover that they've been had, stuck with inheriting too much debt and too little employability. I think the administration and state governments are aware of this problem, but are undermined by the expensive college-for-everybody lobby.

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