Education Sector Press Releases

Education Secretary Arne Duncan recently outlined President Obama's education priorities during his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill. Speaking before the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Duncan argued that education was "the most pressing issue facing America" and highlighted four areas that the new administration plans to prioritize. We are pleased that the secretary's agenda, outlined here, aligns with our work at Education Sector. Here are excerpts from the secretary's confirmation hearing and Education Sector work in the areas he highlights.

"First, we must invest in early childhood education."

• Unlock the Pre-K Door
• Minding Young Minds: An Interview with Edward F. Zigler
• Million Dollar Babies: Why Infants Can't be Hardwired for Success
• Preschool Policy Unit

"Second, we know that teacher quality must be addressed on many levels: recruitment, preparation, retention, and compensation."

• Waiting to Be Won Over: Teachers Speak on the Profession, Unions, and Reform
• Rush to Judgment: Teacher Evaluation in Public Education
• Title 2.0: Revamping the Federal Role in Education Human Capital
• Leading the Local: Teachers Union Presidents Speak on Change, Challenges

"Third, we know that only about 70 percent of high school students graduate."

• What Matters Most in Measuring
• A Rank Exercise
• Reality Check: Tracking Grads Beyond High School
• Laboratories of Reform: Virtual High Schools and Innovation in Public Education

"Fourth, we must make sure that our citizens have the means and the encouragement to aim for education and training beyond high school."

• Ready to Assemble: A Model State Higher Education Accountability System
• Graduation Rate Watch: Making Minority Student Success a Priority
• America's Best Community Colleges
• College Rankings Reformed: The Case for a New Order in Higher Education

Of course, we also have ...

We also have suggestions for the new administration about the imminent reauthorization of NCLB:

Accountability Must Be Focus of Any No Child Left Behind Overhaul

In a U.S. News column, Co-director Andrew Rotherham argues that any revisions to NCLB must uphold the law's accountability focus.

Salvaging Accountability

In Education Week, Co-director Thomas Toch argues that the way to salvage the accountability movement is to make NCLB a more legitimate report card of school performance, one that fairly and accurately gauges educators' contributions to their students' achievement.

The Pangloss Index: How States Game the No Child Left Behind Act

When policymakers wrote the No Child Left Behind Act, their goal was to steadily raise the bar for academic achievement. But many states have undermined the spirit of the law by lowering achievement goals every year. Kevin Carey explains how these states are gaming NCLB's accountability system-and doing so with the full approval of the U.S. Department of Education.

Scrap NCLB? No

In Reason Roundtable, Education Sector's Erin Dillon makes the case for reforming NCLB to encourage competition and build the supply of high-quality schools.

This piece originally appeared in the January 27, 2009 edition of Education Sector's Biweekly Digest. Subscribe to the Biweekly Digest.