Convergence

From Kevin Thompson at the US Department of Labor’s Employment & Training Administration.  I really like the linkages that this report promotes…

Education Week, the national trade publication, has released its report “From the Cradle to Career: Connecting American Education from Birth to Adulthood.” The authors note: “In many ways, this year’s Quality Counts is a transitional document, as we move from an exclusive focus on K-12 education to a broader focus on the connections between K-12 education and the other systems with which it intersects: early-childhood education, teacher preparation, postsecondary education and training, and workforce and economic development.” The chart at http://www.edweek.org/media/ew/qc/2007/17ewi.h26.pdf contains some useful (provocative?) State comparisons on work readiness and education.

Vol. 17, Issue 26

Table of Contents

Press Packet: Quality Counts 2007

Web Extras

State Highlights Reports

The State Highlights Reports assemble important findings in an accessible format that allows readers to examine a particular state’s performance on this year’s indicators. For most indicators, national results are also provided as a benchmark against which state performance can be gauged.

Supplemental Ranking Tables

From Print

Executive Summary

Looking Through a Wider Lens

Quality Counts 2007 begins to track state efforts to create seamless education systems from early childhood to the world of work.

Overview: PRE-K-16

Improving Children’s Chances

Bolstering young people’s prospects for success requires stronger links in education from infancy to adulthood.

Spanning a Lifetime

The Chance-for-Success Index allows states to identify strong and weak links in the typical educational trajectories of their residents.

Table Chance For Success indicators PDF | Excel

Child Well-Being

Breaking the Cycle of Poverty

Reducing the disparities in children’s achievement will require reaching beyond the educational system.

Table Childhood Well-Being indicators PDF | Excel

Early Childhood

Paying Attention Earlier On

High-quality early education can help mitigate disparities in school readiness that exist between children of different socioeconomic backgrounds.

Commentary Early Intervention on a Large Scale

The economic benefits of ensuring good early-childhood development are clear. Now it’s time to design and implement a system to do it.

Table Early-Childhood Education Indicators PDF | Excel

K-12 Schooling

Gauging Student Learning

With its newly developed Achievement Index, Quality Counts 2007 offers another lens on K-12 academic performance across states.

Commentary The School-College Divide and Teacher Preparation

Rethinking the education school could put an end to the age-old argument over whether teaching is a profession or a craft.

Table K-12 Achievement Indicators PDF | Excel

Postsecondary Success

Moving Beyond Grade 12

The failure to prepare many young people for higher education is taking a toll on the U.S. rates of college enrollment and completion.

Commentary A Road Map to College and Career Readiness

Rethinking the education school could put an end to the age-old argument over whether teaching is a profession or a craft.

Table Postsecondary Education Indicators PDF | Excel

Workforce Readiness

Linking Learning to Earning

As the job market goes global, propelling more young people to higher levels of educational attainment is now being seen as an economic necessity.

Commentary A Continuum of Necessary Investments for Learning

Business, the U.S. education system’s prime consumer, sees a need for schools to think outside the traditional K-12 box.

Table Economy and Workforce Indicators PDF | Excel

International Comparisons

Losing Global Ground

The U.S. education system no longer stacks up as favorably as it once did when compared with those of other prosperous countries.

Commentary Elevating Performance in a ‘Flat World’

America’s international edge in student achievement is slipping, as other countries take education reform to heart.

Table International Perspective Indicators PDF | Excel

State of the States

State of the States: Overview

After a decade of tracking state policies in key areas related to elementary and secondary education, Quality Counts this year significantly broadens its perspective to look at the connections between K-12 education and the other systems with which it intersects.

The EPE Research Center Annual State Policy Survey

Table Standards PDF | Excel

Table Assessments PDF | Excel

Table School Accountability PDF | Excel