What We're Learning

The National Academy of Education (NAEd) has released a new white paper on teacher quality calling for improvements in teacher recruitment, preparation, and ongoing professional development. "It's clear that good teaching matters and that poor teaching harms students academically," states Susan Fuhrman, current president of NAEd, and member of the project Steering Committee (and the Carnegie Board of Trustees).

18- to 24-year-olds attending college in the United States hit an all-time high in October 2008, driven by a recession-era surge in enrollments at community colleges, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Just under 11.5 million students, or 39.6% of all young adults ages 18 to 24, were enrolled in either a two- or four-year college in October 2008 (the most recent date for which comprehensive nationwide data are available). Both figures -- the absolute number as well as the share -- are at their highest level ever.

The Jam (an online asynchronous facilitated discussion) on the Obama administration’s new American Graduation Initiative (AGI) was held in mid-September. It was sponsored by Knowledge in the Public Interest, convened by the Brookings Institution, the Education Commission of the States, and Jobs for the Future, with LaGuardia Community College as the lead college.

President Obama wasn’t the first to recognize the importance of community colleges to the country’s education goals, but it seems lots of others are focusing on them as well. This month’s "Progress of Education Reform" report from the Education Commission of the States delves into a big issue for this sector education, transfer and articulation.

During a July convening at Carnegie with representatives from several organizations working on increasing success for community college students in developmental mathematics, participants came up with some tensions that need to be acknowledged and/or addressed.