CEO - Commonwealth Education Organization

Pennsylvania's Ongoing Debate on High-Stakes Graduation Exams

Early this year the Pennsylvania Department of Education and state Board of education proposed a system of high-stakes graduation exams.

Opposition has grown among education groups and within the state Legislature.

To read the latest, click here.

Improved Student Achievement:

Making real gains or manipulating the system?

A recently released report from the Center on Education Policy found, "math and reading test scores are up in most states since the No Child Left Behind law took effect in 2002, but it's impossible to know how much credit the law deserves." In fact, Bruce Fuller, education professor at UC Berkeley, contends that scores are rising because states are lowering standards and "designing tests that are highly sensitive to slight gains for low-achieving students."

To read a Gannett News article, click here.

To read the Center on Education Policy report, click here.

6/25/08

Dr. Leonard Sax takes on AAUW Report

The American Association of University Women (AAUW), education advocates for girls and young women, released a report asserting that both boys and girls are doing better than thirty years ago and the "boy crisis" is a myth. Dr. Leonard Sax, international authority on gender education, disagrees: "Thirty years of politically correct insistence that gender doesn't matter has had the ironic and unintended effect of reinforcing gender stereotypes."

To read this Education Week article, click here.

"Self-Esteem" - A Failed Reform

College student Ashley Herzog asserts, "According to the touchy-feely pop psychology of the education establishment, high self-esteem makes children smarter and more productive. However, this approach has never been proved to work." In fact, "at its worst, self-esteem education might actually be fostering violent personalities."

To read this article, click here.

6/20/08

NCLB may harm gifted education

According to a Thomas B. Fordham Institute report, "High-Achieving Students in the Era of NCLB," NAEP scores for students scoring in the bottom tenth increased 16 points. However, the top tenth did not see the same improvement. Is U.S. education "prioritizing low achievement over our best and brightest"?

To read a Post-Gazette article, click here.

To read an Education Week article, click here.

To read the Fordham report, click here.

6/19/08

Virginity Pledges May Help Teens Postpone Sex

A Rand Study has found that, "making a virginity pledge may help some young people postpone the start of sexual activity." Furthermore, "virginity pledges may be appropriate as one component of an overall sex education effort."

To read a Rand press release, click here.

6/18/08

Reading program helps dyslexic children

"An intensive reading program conducted three years ago in 50 Allegheny County schools permanently 'rewired' the brains of dyslexic children, Carnegie Mellon University researchers said Wednesday." Functional MRI machines measured the changes in blood flow in the brain while the students read sentences. At the end of the program, dyslexic students had nearly the same brain activity of children with similar IQs who did not have reading problems.

To read the article, click here.

Learning through play

The lead article of the current CEO Education Advocate is about the importance of play. To read it, click here. The Tribune-Review has followed up with an article about children learning through play in the classroom. To read, click here.

Do we need more school personnel?

A new category of school employees is rapidly expanding: curriculum coaches. "They ensure that teachers get professional support and that curriculum is uniform and streamlined." Not all districts are buying into more mid-level employees. Gateway School District assistant superintendent Joseph Petrella said: "All the principals need to be experts in the curriculum so they can lead...To eliminate that would be a disservice."

To read the Tribune-Review article, click here.

6/12/08

PA 4th in graduation rates in U.S.

According to a report from the Education Research Center, Pennsylvania is the number four state in graduation rates, behind New Jersey, Iowa, and Wisconsin. However, the deputy press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Education warns that the study could be skewed because it does not factor in transfer and dropout students!

Some PA statistics include:

To read a Tribune-Review article, click here

To read the Diplomas Count 2008 report, click here.

6/5/08

SAT predicts college success

A validity study by the College Board that included more than 151,000 freshmen at 110 colleges and universities found that "the new SAT college entrance exam is just about as good as high school grades - and in some cases better - in predicting college freshman grades." To read the rest of the Post-Gazette article, click here.

Girl Violence Increases

"According to the Pennsylvania Electronic Juvenile Justice Databook, there were 26,430 females younger than 18 arrested in the state during 2001. In 2006, the number rose to 29,693, an increase of more than 12 percent." To read more about the causes of girl violence, click here.

Teens not in touch with cultural and historical references

Another study indicates that "high schoolers still lack important historical and cultural underpinnings of a 'complete education.'" AMong 1,200 students surveyed, only 43% could /place the Civil War between 1850 and 1900, Only 52% could identify the theme of 1984. To read a USAToday article, click here.

Teen writing changes with the times

"Despite best efforts to keep school writing assignments formal, two-thirds of teens admit in a survey that emoticons and other informal styles have crept in." To read the rest of this AP article, click here.

4/25/08

This report studies the fifty largest urban centers and finds students have only a 50% chance of graduating. In some cities, the graduation rates are abysmal:.

And there are stark gaps between each of these four urban areas and their suburban areas: