Edwards Lays Out Education Reform

Presidential candidate, John Edwards, layed out his education reform last week. He wants to overhaul the current system, citing that the "No Child Left Behind" Act was not working for the nation's poor students, that they were being sent to school that were "separate and unequal."

Read the article at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/22/us/politics/22edwards.html?_r=1&ref=education&oref=slogin

Loan Vocabulary

Do you speak the student loan language? Be literate, check out this helpful list of terms!

See the list at:
http://www.studentloannetwork.com/student-loan-articles/student-loan-glossary.php

Charles Murray: No More SAT!

Social scientist, Charles Murray, is calling for an end to the SAT. He calls it [the SAT] a, "corrosive symbol of privilege." His intrigue with the test began after he read the University of California's 2001 study that showed that a student's high school grades and scores on the SAT Subject Tests were a more reliable predictor of college success than the SAT I Reasoning Test.

Check out Charles's article at:
http://www.american.com/archive/2007/july-august-magazine-contents/abolish-the-sat

Collegeboard Closes Student Loan program

Though it will honor its obligation to borrowers through Academic Year 2007-2008, The College Board decided in April to end its student loan program citing that the new legislation and Code of Conduct policies have the unintended consequence of limiting The College Board's ability to fulfill its mission as a membership association. As a lender in the FFELP, The College Board contracted with Sallie Mae and Citibank to originate, service, and purchase student loans.

Check out the press release at:

http://www.collegeboard.com/press/releases/185157.html

Test Anxiety!

Interesting article about a Maryland high school student who certainly seems like she has the knowledge to pass high school assessment tests, but for some reason freezes.

Check out the article at:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.student19sep19,0,3612632.story

History bafflling for College Students?

Do you know the battle that ended the American Revolution? Or why NATO was formed? USA Today reports that only 50.4% of college freshman know the answer to these and many more questions on a wide ranging civic literacy test. Seniors in college only scored, on average, 54.2%.

Check out the article at:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-09-17-history-test_N.htm

Educators Oppose Education Measure in House

This week, The House of Representatives debated a change to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Among these changes was a pilot program to allow districts to determine their own criteria for AYP. Many civil rights groups spoke out against this measure citing that it had, "the potential to set back accountability by years, if not decades."

Does it make sense to have different standards for different areas? Should "proficiency" really be determined by region?

Read the article at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/11/education/11child.html?ref=education

SAT Test Takers at an All-Time High

According to a College Board press release, the SAT is growing! Nearly 1.5 million Class of '07 students took the SAT--and it was the most diverse group ever. Certainly this underlines the growing importance of a college education and the path to attain it. Additionally, the number of fee waivers increased by31 percent over the past two years, making this test available to whom it was not just a few years ago.

Read the full article at:

http://www.collegeboard.com/press/releases/185222.html