InformED Report

09/30/2016 | Washington, DC | Herald Chronicle

U.S. Department of Education awards $245 million to support high-quality public charter schools

Herald Chronicle

September 28, 2016 – The U.S. Department of Education announced today new grants totaling approximately $245 million under its Charter Schools Program (CSP), which funds the creation and expansion of public charter schools across the nation. Today’s grants are being awarded to state educational agencies and charter management organizations.

The CSP supports the creation of high-quality public charter schools by providing start-up funds for new charter schools, strengthening accountability for charter school performance, sharing leading practices that enable school success, and ultimately, improving educational outcomes for students from high-need communities. The CSP has invested over $3 billion since the program’s inception in 1995 to states and charter school developers. In the past decade, CSP investments have enabled the launch of over 2,500 charter schools, serving approximately one million students. Through the CSP, the Department is committed to supporting the continued growth of excellent public charter schools that are closing equity gaps and improving student outcomes, and these schools’ community engagement and public accountability.

The CSP has invested over $3 billion since the program’s inception in 1995 to states and charter school developers. In the past decade, CSP investments have enabled the launch of over 2,500 charter schools, serving approximately one million students. Through the CSP, the Department is committed to supporting the continued growth of excellent public charter schools that are closing equity gaps and improving student outcomes, and these schools’ community engagement and public accountability.

“Ensuring that all students have access to an academically challenging and engaging education is critical to preparing them for college and career success,” said U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. “Innovative charter schools are continuously developing new and impactful practices to close achievement gaps and provide all students with the skills and abilities they need to thrive. We are proud to support these efforts along with strong charter school authorizing and accountability, particularly given these grantees’ commitment to communities facing steep academic challenges.”

To read more visit the Herald Chronicle

U.S. Gives $245 Million in Grants to Support Charter Schools

Tawnell D. Hobbs | The Wall Street Journal | Twitter

The federal government is pumping $245 million into the creation and expansion of public charter schools across the nation with hopes of helping students in low-income communities.

The U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday announced Charter Schools Program grants. Eight state education agencies received about $177 million, while 15 charter-school operators received $68 million.

The money will be used for startup costs for new charter schools and to expand existing ones, according to a news release. The grant program, launched in 1995, has helped start more than 2,500 charter schools in the past decade, serving about 1 million students, the release said.

“Ensuring that all students have access to an academically challenging and engaging education is critical to preparing them for college and career success,” U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. said in the release.

To read more visit The Wall Street Journal

10/04/2016 | Albany, NY | The Washington Times

NY law will require mental health education in schools

Michael Virtanen | The Washington Times | Twitter

New York’s schools will have to teach about mental health in their state-mandated health classes beginning in two years.

The 40-year-old mandate for health education already specifically requires teaching about alcohol, drugs, tobacco and the prevention and detection of cancers. The law adding mental health teaching as a requirement was signed Friday by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo and takes effect in July 2018.

According to the bill’s sponsors, the updated curriculum will increase the likelihood that students recognize the signs of mental illness in themselves and others and seek help when it’s needed.

About 50 percent of students with emotional or behavioral disorders drop out of high school. The sponsors also hope to reduce the stigma that leads to isolation, ostracism, and bullying.

In New York, many schools already teach about mental illness, said Glenn Liebman, chief executive of the Mental Health Association of New York State. “But a lot of schools don’t.”

To read more visit The Washington Times

Anxiety the most common health diagnosis in college students

Joel Brown | BU Today | Twitter

When it was announced in spring 2014 that a Penn State study had found that anxiety had surpassed depression as the leading mental health issue facing college students, the story made national headlines. According to the study of more than 100,000 students by Penn’s Center for Collegiate Mental Health, more than half of the students visiting campus health clinics listed anxiety as a concern. That finding was borne out by the American College Health Association (ACHA) 2015 National College Health Assessment survey, which reported that nearly one in six college students (15.8 percent) had been diagnosed with, or treated for, anxiety.

The same survey found that 21.9 percent of students said that within the last 12 months, anxiety had affected their academic performance, defined as receiving a lower grade on an exam or important project, receiving an incomplete, or dropping a course. That’s up from 18.2 percent in the ACHA’s 2008 survey. Meanwhile, 13.8 percent reported that in the last 12 months, depression had affected their academic performance, up from 11.2 percent in 2008.

These findings don’t surprise mental health clinicians at BU.

To read more visit BU Today

10/04/2016  | Washington, DC | TechRepublic

Why the university of the future will have no classrooms, no lectures, and lots of tech

Alison DeNisco | TechRepublic | Twitter

Imagine a university without classrooms, lectures, disciplinary departments, or majors.

Such is the goal of Dr. Christine Ortiz, former dean for graduate education at MIT, who is using technology to build a new kind of residential research institution from the ground up. At IdeaFestival 2016, Ortiz explained that universities are not keeping up with technology advances, or adequately preparing students for life in the 21st century. She is laying out a plan to change that.

“Technology is accelerating, and modernization and expansion of the higher education system is desperately needed,” Ortiz said. “Our higher education system is still stuck in the Middle Ages.”

Our current university system has not changed significantly in over 1000 years, Ortiz said. So she and her colleagues are building a nonprofit university that:

To read more visit TechRepublic

The future’s looking good for online learning

Chasen Shao | The Daily Pennsylvanian | Twitter

Last week, Penn hosted the Third Annual Learning with MOOCs Conference, bringing together leaders in the mass learning system.

MOOCs — Massive Online Open Courses — were created in 2008, and since then, various universities have started offering free courses. Through a grant from the United States Department of State, Penn has also begun offering MOOCs.

Provost Vincent Price and CEO of edX, Anant Agarwal, were among the panelists who discussed the development of the MOOCs and their visions for the future at the conference on Oct. 6 and 7.

Agarwal described MOOCs as a response to what he believes is a broken current educational system. He calls his solution the “unbundling” of the four-year educational system provided by universities and colleges.

To read more visit The Daily Pennsylvanian

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