The economic impact of post-secondary education

WASHINGTON, DC - Cutting the nation's high school dropout rate in half would have tremendous benefits for the economy. But as a new economic analysis released today by the Alliance for Excellent Education shows, cutting the dropout rate in half and ensuring that those "new graduates" meet national goals for postsecondary attainment creates new jobs, increases earnings for individuals, and boosts states' tax revenues.
"Just crossing the finish line and earning a high school diploma is no longer enough in today's global economy," said Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia. "Today, a high school diploma must be the jumping-off point-the ticket to the additional education students need to compete for and land good-paying jobs." (from the Alliance for Excellent Education website)

The above refers to a report that was released December 14, 2011. To learn more, click the above hyperlinked text.

Click here to see statistics for North Dakota. Click here to see statistics for Minnesota.

Note: This blog will be on hiatus during the winter holiday break for Grand Forks Public Schools. Posts will resume January 3, 2012.

New report says formative assessment helps students write better

"Student writing skills can be improved in the classroom by having teachers provide students regular feedback, track their progress, and encourage them to evaluate their own skills, finds a new report from the Carnegie Corporation of New York released today. (September 16, 2011)
'Informing Writing: The Benefits of Formative Assessment' examines whether formative assessment can improve students' writing skills and what techniques are best to help them improve. The research was published by the Alliance for Excellent Education, an advocacy group based in Washington that supports college readiness for high school students."

The above comes from Nora Fleming at Education Week. To read more, click here.

Alliance for Excellent Education resources

American youth need strong reading and writing skills to succeed in school, work, and in life. Most students are able to "decode" or sound out words on a page, but far too many then fail to master critical reading and writing skills that include the ability to comprehend the meaning of what they read, understand the use of increasingly complex vocabulary, or to write for various purposes. Yet these are skills they desperately need if they are to succeed in college or work after high school.
In fact, 70 percent of 8th graders and 65 percent of 12th graders do not read at grade level, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the Nation's Report Card. That translates into approximately 6 million struggling readers in grades seven through twelve. Improving the ability of older students to read and write at high levels must become a national priority, especially since students in the bottom quartile of achievement are twenty times more likely to drop out of school than those at the top. (from the Alliance for Excellent Education website)

Click here to for resources on adolescent literacy from the Alliance for Excellent Education.

Resource for literacy education

About the Alliance: The Alliance for Excellent Education is a Washington, DC-based national policy and advocacy organization that works to improve national and federal policy so that all students can achieve at high academic levels and graduate from high school ready for success in college, work, and citizenship in the twenty-first century. The Alliance focuses on America’s six million most at-risk secondary school students—those in the lowest achievement quartile—who are most likely to leave school without a diploma or to graduate unprepared for a productive future. (from the Alliance for Excellent Education website)


Click the above text to learn more.

The Alliance has published a number of important reports, among them Reading Next ,Writing Next and Writing to Read.