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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
The U.S. Education Department on Tuesday released a trove of data drawn from surveys of nearly every single one of the nation’s 95,000 public schools. This latest installment of the Civil Rights Data Collection, from the 2013-2014 school year, offers a sobering look at the wide disparities in experience and opportunity that divide the nation’s 50 million students. (The Washington Post)
New federal data show a continuing deep gulf between the educational experiences of traditionally disadvantaged student groups and their peers on a broad range of indicators, findings that follow years of efforts by government and advocacy groups to level the playing field in U.S. public schools. (Education Week)
U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. sat down with Politics K-12’s Alyson Klein in his office late Friday afternoon to talk about the many twists and turns in implementation of the new Every Student Succeeds Act, as well as a few broader issues. King’s reputation as a policy nerd is earned. He dives pretty deep into the weeds here. Some broader questions come toward the end of the interview—we’ve marked the turning point if you want to skim. (Education Week)
Higher education was once the backbone of American economic and scientific growth. Following World War II, the government doubled down on its investments in our nation’s colleges and universities and helped drive corporate growth, intellectual property and technological innovations that became the envy of the world. And since the technology boom of the 1990s, we’ve been sitting on a golden opportunity—an imperative, really—to evolve the university model once more. (The Wall Street Journal)
In spite of some signs of improvement, fundamental disparities persist in youth incarceration. The number of youngsters in U.S. correctional facilities has been cut in half—a dramatic drop of 53 percent from 2001 to 2013—according to a Pew analysis of federal data. Still, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a child-advocacy group, found “in every year for which data are available, the overwhelming majority of confined youth are held for nonviolent offenses.” And children of color bear the brunt of juvenile-justice policies: Black children are nearly five times as likely, and Latino and Native American youngsters are two to three times as likely, to be incarcerated as are their white peers. (The Atlantic)