| Featured In This Issue |
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| Events Calendar |
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| News Briefs |
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The Organization for Economic Co-operation
and Development is
preparing a two-pillar action plan for governments, as part of a global response
to the world financial crisis, calling for tighter regulation and oversight of
financial markets and improved national policies to promote economic growth. |
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Secretary Spellings
announced final regulations to strengthen title one of the No Child Left Behind
Act which address implementation of a uniform, comparable high school graduation rate. |
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Massachusetts is the state best positioned for
growth when the current economic turmoil recedes, according to the 2008
State New Economy Index released Tuesday.
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This week is International Education Week, jointly sponsored by the Departments
of Education and State. This year's theme is "Fostering Global Responsibility
and Leadership," recognizing that, to meet the challenges of the world, all nations
must work to develop future leaders who possess a comprehensive, open-minded worldview. | |
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| Stat of the Week |
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The U.S. manufacturing sector accounts
for only 12.5% of U.S. GDP, while 36% of the Chinese economy is engaged in manufacturing.
According to research firm Global Insight,
China's share in global manufacturing
is projected to overtake that of the United States by 2016–17. |
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| Featured Website |
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Harris N. Miller, President, CCA
Bob Cohen, Editor
Tinabeth Burton,
Managing Ed.
Luke Thomas, Contributing Ed.
Gregory Rovick, Contributing
Writer | |
| Gates Foundation
Pushes to Increase College Completions |
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Ensuring that a high school education results in college readiness and
that postsecondary education results in a degree with genuine economic value are
two critical goals towards advancing our nation’s upward mobility and global
economic competitiveness, according to a new initiative announced at the Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation policy forum on November 11th in Seattle.
In speeches made by Melinda Gates, Co-Chair and Trustee of the Foundation,
and Hillary Pennington, Director of Special Initiatives for the United States
Program at the Foundation, a plan was introduced to double the number of young people who earn
a postsecondary degree or certificate by the time they reach age 26. This would represent
an increase of 250,000 graduates a year over current rates. To accomplish this
objective, the Foundation will focus on three key areas for encouraging educational
success: improve the performance of the postsecondary education system; support
young adult success; and encourage U.S.
leaders to commit to helping students complete their degrees.
In introducing the initiative, Melinda Gates spoke
about how the American Dream of continued prosperity is in danger due to stagnating
college completion rates and increasing demand for a college-educated workforce.
Read more. |
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| More Optimism for Online Education |
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A new report, Staying
the Course, conducted by the Babson Survey Research Group and released
by the Sloan Consortium, shows continued optimism for the future of online education,
and a growth in online learning that far exceeds the growth in higher education
overall.
The report, published for the sixth consecutive year,
was based on interviews with 2,500 colleges and universities and shows that more
than 3.9 million students were taking at least one online course during the fall
2007 term, representing a 12 percent increase over the number reported the previous
year.
The 12.9 percent growth rate for online enrollments far exceeds the 1.2
percent growth of the overall higher education student population.
The report showed that more than twenty percent of
all U.S.
higher education students were taking at least one online course in the fall of 2007.
Read more. |
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| Career.org Workforce Report Podcast Focuses on Obama Administration |
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The Career College Association posted its first Career.org Workforce
Report podcast,
featuring an interview with Professor Anthony Carnevale of Georgetown University. Carnevale is a research professor and
Director of The Global Institute on Education and the Workforce.
Carnevale said that the new Obama administration faces new workforce
challenges. He says the U.S. has arrived
at a point in our economic history where people who are going to join the middle
class are going to have to obtain some kind of postsecondary education.
While the Clinton and Bush administrations mostly expanded access to
higher education by deregulating the flow of federal money, Carnevale says it
becomes clear that we need to provide access to some form of job-related training
to all Americans.
Read more. |
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