Some colleges and universities are breathing new life into the recruiting process in order to supplement--or buck--the traditions. Here are five examples of schools using social media and technology to connect with prospective college students.

1. QR Codes (Quick Response Code)
2. Video Chats
3. Facebook Contests
4. Tweeting Behind the Scenes
5. YouTube Video Series

To read more, visit: U.S. News article 

Consortiums Release Draft Common Core Assessment Specifications

Through the Race to the Top (RTTT) Assessment Competition, the U.S. Department of Education awarded grants to two multi-state consortia to develop assessment systems. In August of this year the 29 state SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) and 25 state Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) released their versions of the Draft Content Specifications for Language Arts & Literacy and Mathematics.

The Consortiums are developing a comprehensive assessment system for mathematics and English language arts / literacy aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). These assessment systems are being designed to provide resources and tools for teachers and schools to improve instruction and help students succeed.

Between them, the two consortia represent approximately 48 million students. Implementation is on a fast track and is scheduled for the 2014-15 school year.

In anticipation, EdGate Correlation Services has begun aligning the draft specifications. We will stay abreast of any updates or new releases from both consortia as they come available. Contact your sales executive or Project Manager if you are interested in adding these exciting new specifications to your site.

References:

Education Week article 

SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) 

By: Rich Street  

Project Manager

  

One in Four High School Graduates Ready for College?

According to a recent article, "Members of the high school class of 2011 posted a slight gain on the ACT college entrance exam, but nearly three in 10 recent graduates failed to meet a single benchmark that predicts they are ready for college."

MSNBC aired a segment on the ACT reports that just 1 in 4 high school graduates are ready for college.

The Chicago Sun Times reports that "Only 23 percent of Illinois' 2011 high school graduating class - public and private - met college readiness standards in all four ACT subjects tested: English, reading, math and science."

"These ACT results are another sign that states need to raise their academic standards and commit to education reforms that accelerate student achievement," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said.

What Are the Issues? Is There a Solution?

Principal Rita Davis of Detroit school of the Arts says "Data driven instruction and research best practices are only a part of the story. We need resources, human resources in form of teachers, and capital resources, in the form of materials, technology. Teachers-they need professional development. If they're going to be the one decisive element for our students' success, we must provide them with the tools through which to teach. Then we have to monitor-make sure that they are giving the students what they have been given."

When pressed to address test scores, Davis said, "Tests speak to homogeneous groups. We have to have good teaching and good teaching speaks to heterogeneous groups."

Student engagement in learning is a subject of research around college readiness. George D. Kuh, director of the Center for Postsecondary Research and Chancellor's Professor of Higher Education, Indiana University, published an analysis, What Student Engagement Data Tells Us about College Readiness. This report states that, "The hard truth is that success in college is strongly related to precollege academic preparation and achievement as well as other factors such as family income and parents' education (Kuh et al. forthcoming). Students who do not attain grade-level proficiencies in math and reading by the eighth grade are much less likely to be college-ready at the end of high school."

To learn more, visit:

ABC News article 

George D. Kuh article 

By: Lisa Waugh  

Project Manager

Hot Topic

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

The National Research Council, the National Science Teachers Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Achieve are in the middle of a two-step process to develop the Next Generation Science Standards.

The National Research Council (NRC), the staff arm of the National Academy of Sciences, began by developing the Framework for K-12 Science Education, identifying the core ideas and practices in natural sciences and engineering that all students should be familiar with by the time they graduate. Four design teams developed the Framework - physical science, life science, earth/space science, and engineering. A public draft was released in July of 2010. The NRC collected feedback and reviewed all comments prior to releasing their final Framework on July 19, 2011.

The last phase of the NGSS will be collaboratively developing the standards, with states, science education, higher education, and industry involved. These standards will undergo multiple reviews, including two public drafts - Winter 2012, and then Spring/Summer 2012, producing a set of college- and career-ready K-12 Next Generation Science Standards, ready for state adoption in the Fall of 2012. This is a fairly aggressive schedule EdGate will be monitoring.

There are 20 lead state partners developing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for kindergarten through high school graduation: Arizona, California, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia. As a lead state partner, these states will guide the standard writing process, gather and deliver feedback from state-level committees, and come together to address common issues and challenges.

Two big reasons for the development of the NGSS:

1) A recent U.S. Department of Commerce study shows that over the past 10 years, growth in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) jobs was 3x greater than that of non-STEM jobs.

2) Achieve undertook a study of 10 countries' standards to determine their overall emphases in the expectations they have for all students (grade spans 1-6 and 7-10), as well as emphases in Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Earth/Space courses in upper secondary. The comparison countries were generally those whose students performed well on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) or the Trends in International Math and Science Study (TIMSS): Ontario Canada, Chinese Taipei, England, Finland, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Singapore and South Korea.

By: Larry Johnson  

Project Manager

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