Triangle Coalition For Science And Technology Education

– OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SETS HIGH BAR FOR FLEXIBILITY FROM NCLB

In an effort to support local and state education reform across America, the White House recently outlined how states can get relief from provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act — or No Child Left Behind (NCLB) — in exchange for serious state-led efforts to close achievement gaps, promote rigorous accountability, and ensure that all students are on track to graduate college- and career-ready. States can request flexibility from specific NCLB mandates that are stifling reform, but only if they are transitioning students, teachers, and schools to a system aligned with college- and career-ready standards for all students, developing differentiated accountability systems, and undertaking reforms to support effective classroom instruction and school leadership. “To help states, districts and schools that are ready to move forward with education reform, our administration will provide flexibility from the law in exchange for a real commitment to undertake change. The purpose is not to give states and districts a reprieve from accountability, but rather to unleash energy to improve our schools at the local level,” President Obama said.

Release of this package comes nearly a decade after NCLB became law, and four years after it was due to be rewritten by Congress. NCLB shined light on achievement gaps and increased accountability for high-need students, but it also encouraged states to lower standards and narrow curriculum, focused on absolute test scores instead of student growth and gains, and created one-size-fits-all federal mandates. In recent months, states have led a “quiet revolution” to move beyond NCLB’s vision. States have taken the lead in pursuing reform and innovations, including widespread adoption of college- and career-ready standards, development of new assessments, and other reforms in areas including teacher and principal evaluation and support, and turning around low-performing schools. The ESEA flexibility package just announced was developed with input from chief state school officers from 45 states. The flexibility will begin to have an impact during the 2011-2012 school year and will have increasing impact in subsequent years. For a fact sheet on the details of the flexibility announcement click here.

– DOW SOLAR ENCOURAGES NEXT GENERATION SOLAR DESIGN AT THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY’S SOLAR DECATHLON 2011

As part of The Dow Chemical Company’s commitment to encourage tomorrow’s designers and engineers to create the solutions that will drive wide scale solar adoption, Dow Solar is participating in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Decathlon 2011 as a sponsor of several key events and two student teams. The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon is an award-winning program that challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency. The first Solar Decathlon was held in 2002; the competition has since occurred biennially in 2005, 2007, and 2009. This year’s event is taking place this week at the National Mall’s West Potomac Park in Washington, D.C. The event runs through October 2, and is open to the public free of charge. Visitors can tour the houses, gather ideas to use in their own homes, and learn how energy-saving features can help them save money today.

Dow Solar will be onsite at the Decathlon, partnering with Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) to host the Congressional Open House, where U.S. congressional representatives and staff members are invited to tour the homes and meet the decathlete design teams. Peter Molinaro, Vice President of Federal and State Government Affairs for Dow Chemical will provide remarks during the Open House reception on the importance of federal, state and local incentives to reduce solar energy costs and drive wide scale residential solar adoption in the U.S. and around the world. For more information on the Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, visit www.solardecathlon.gov; for more information on Dow Solar, visit www.dowsolar.com.

– U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LAUNCHES VERSION 2.0 OF EDUCATION DATA WEB SITE

The U.S. Department of Education has launched version 2.0 of ED Data Express, an interactive Web site aimed at making accurate and timely K-12 education data available to the public. The upgraded site adds new data visualization tools, enhanced documentation, and social networking options for users. “By providing parents and educators with more robust and interactive ways to explore education data, we are supporting their ability to understand, evaluate, and improve how we educate our children,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said. ED Data Express was first launched in August, 2010 as a key element of the Department’s open government plan. The site consolidates relevant data collected by the Department from several different sources and provides a variety of tools that allow users to explore the data and create individualized reports. Version 2.0 of ED Data Express offers a new visual layout and provides the public with more dynamic tools interact with the data such as:

* A mapping feature that allows users to view the data displayed on a map of the United States;

* A trend line tool, which displays a data element graphed across multiple school years;

* A conditional analysis tool, which allows users to view one data element based on conditions set by another data element.

Version 3.0 of ED Data Express will include a redesigned State Snapshots section that is under development and is scheduled to launch this winter. To view or explore the upgraded ED Data Express Web site, visit www.eddataexpress.ed.gov.

– 43 PERCENT OF 2011 COLLEGE-BOUND SENIORS MET SAT COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS BENCHMARK

The College Board has announced that 43 percent of 2011 college-bound seniors met the SAT College and Career Readiness Benchmark. The SAT College and Career Readiness Benchmark represents the level of academic preparedness associated with a high likelihood of college success and completion. The SAT Benchmark is a very reliable tool for measuring the college and career readiness of groups of students. It was developed to help secondary school administrators, educators, and policymakers evaluate the effectiveness of academic programs in order to better prepare students for success in college and beyond. The College Board also announced that more college-bound students in the class of 2011 took the SAT than in any other high school graduating class in history. Nearly 1.65 million students from the 2011 graduating class participated in the college-going process by taking the SAT. The class of 2011 SAT takers represented the most diverse class in history, underscoring the College Board’s continued commitment to access, equity, and minority participation.

The SAT College and Career Readiness Benchmark was developed based on rigorous research analyzing the SAT scores and college performance of a nationally representative student sample at more than 100 colleges and universities. The SAT Benchmark score of 1550 (Critical Reading, Mathematics and Writing score combined) indicates a 65 percent likelihood of achieving a B- average or higher during the first year of college, which in turn is indicative of a high likelihood of college success and completion. College Board research also shows that students who meet or exceed the SAT Benchmark have a substantially higher college retention rate than those students who do not attain the SAT Benchmark. Furthermore, students who attain the SAT Benchmark are highly likely to achieve strong scores on AP® Exams, which measure performance of college-level course work taken in high school. “In today’s knowledge-based, global economy, it’s more critical than ever that American students are adequately prepared to pursue advanced degrees and compete for the jobs of the future,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “Growing participation in the SAT is an encouraging sign that more students are taking the necessary steps toward enrolling in higher education. But the overall preparedness rate from these SAT results reinforces the need to invest in reforms that prepare more students for success in college.” More details are at www.collegeboard.com.

– 305 SCHOOLS NAMED 2011 NATIONAL BLUE RIBBON SCHOOLS

The U.S. Department of Education recently named 305 schools as 2011 National Blue Ribbon Schools based on their overall academic excellence or for their success in closing achievement gaps. The Department will honor the entire 256 public and 49 private schools with their National Blue Ribbon School awards at a conference and awards ceremony Nov. 14-15 in Washington, D.C. “America’s long-term economic prosperity and civic engagement depends on our children receiving a world-class education,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “National Blue Ribbon Schools are committed to accelerating student achievement and preparing students for success in college and careers. Their success is an example for others to follow.”

The National Blue Ribbon School award honors public and private elementary, middle, and high schools where students achieve at high levels or where the achievement gap is narrowing. Since 1982, more than 6,500 of America’s schools have received this coveted award. The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program, honors public and private schools based on one of two criteria: 1) Schools whose students are high performing. These are schools ranked among each state’s highest performing schools as measured by their performance on state assessments or, in the case of private schools, that score at the highest performance level on nationally-normed tests; or 2) Schools with at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds that improve student performance to high levels as measured by the school’s performance on state assessments or nationally-normed tests. A list of the 2011 National Blue Ribbon Schools is available at www.ed.gov/nationalblueribbonschools.

– NCES RELEASES THE CONDITION OF EDUCATION 2011 E-BOOK

The National Center for Education Statistics, (NCES) has released its first e-book: The Condition of Education 2011. The publication summarizes important developments and trends in education using the latest available data. The 2011 report presents 50 indicators on the status and condition of education. The 2011 edition includes indicators in five main areas: (1) participation in education; (2) learner outcomes; (3) student effort and educational progress; (4) the contexts of elementary and secondary education; and (5) the contexts of postsecondary education.

The e-book version will be available for free download for all e-readers. To access the e-Book, click here.

– FEMALE SCIENTISTS RECEIVE SCIENCE FELLOWSHIP AWARDS FROM L’OREAL USA

Five of America’s most promising post-doctoral female scientists recently received the L’Oreal USA Fellowships “For Women In Science” Award. This national awards program was created in 2003 to support the advancement of women in science and rewards the most promising post-doctoral female scientists from across the country. The 2011 Fellowship recipients are working on breakthrough scientific research, which address critical global challenges that could aid millions around the world. Their research fields include stroke rehabilitation, therapeutic prevention for Alzheimer’s, robotics that will improve prosthetic fittings and function, LEDs and colored light creation, and the spread of influenza and other viruses. Each Fellow will receive up to $60,000 to continue their post-doctoral research.

L’Oreal USA’s passion and commitment to science was validated by a nationwide survey conducted earlier this month. The results of this survey show that Americans support the program’s goal of encouraging women to pursue careers in scientific fields. The survey asked about the public’s overall interest in the field of science and specifically their thoughts on the presence of women, and contributions from women, to science. Survey respondents included male and females over 18 years of age and revealed:

* ‘Science’ is the field that most people (42%) want to see women take a more dominant role in, even more so than ‘Finance’ (25%) or ‘Law’ (22%).

* ‘Inventor’ is the top dream job (25%), followed by ‘Stay-at-home Parent’ (20%). ‘Scientist’ (17%) and ‘Doctor’ (15%) came in third and fourth respectively for dream job. ‘Reality TV Star’ came in last for dream job (3%).

* Most people are concerned with inventing something to combat ‘Disease’ (25%) over other issues.

* ‘None of the above’ came in second highest (28%) when given a list of items and asked to choose which were invented by women. Half of the listed items provided were invented by women including the dishwasher, disposable diaper, refrigerator, and circular saw.

For more information, visit www.lorealusa.com/forwomeninscience.

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