posted on
Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
A new study using federal data finds that black students who attend schools that have a majority of black students score lower on achievement tests than black students who go to school with fewer other black students. (The Washington Post)
Few 18-year-olds can say that they earn more than $50,000 a year working at a Fortune 500 company in New York City. Radcliffe Saddler can. The Brooklyn teenager graduated in June from the public school known as P-Tech, short for Pathways in Technology Early College High School. He enrolled in the fall of 2011, as part of the school’s inaugural class of 103 students. The strong emphasis on math, science, and writing surprised him as a freshman, though he’d always been a good student. (The Atlantic)
At the flagship public universities of Maryland and Virginia, students with economic advantages graduate at a higher rate than those who are less fortunate, a gap between haves and have-nots that troubles many schools around the country. (The Washington Post)
The proportion of American children who live in poverty began rising during the recession, and it continued rising after the recession officially ended. In 2013, the child poverty rate finally fell for the first time since 2006 — a dip that advocates hoped was the beginning of an enduring trend. (The Washington Post)
Of the more than four million Syrian refugees in the Middle East and North Africa, the Institute of International Education (IIE) estimates that as many as 450,000 are 18-22 years old. Of that group, it assumes based on prewar enrollment rates that 90,000 to 110,000 are qualified for university. (Inside Higher Ed)
New York
New York City public schools are closed to observe the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha (eed ahl-AHD’-hah). Thursday was the first time the schools serving 1.1 million pupils closed for a Muslim holiday. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced this year that the city’s public schools would observe the two Muslim holy days of Eid al-Fitr (eed ahl-FIH’-tur) and Eid al-Adha. (Associated Press)