non-profit,education: National Alliance of Black School Educators (NABSE)

Education law's promise falls short after 10 years
The No Child Left Behind education law was cast as a symbol of possibility, offering the promise of improved schools for the nation's poor and minority children and better prepared students in a competitive world. Yet after a decade on the books, President George W. Bush's most hyped domestic accomplishment has become a symbol to many of federal overreach and Congress' inability to fix something that's clearly flawed. The law forced schools to confront the uncomfortable reality that many kids simply weren't learning, but it's primarily known for its emphasis on standardized tests and the labeling of thousands of schools as "failures."
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STEM provides answers for student loan debt
As the United States enters 2012, a growing number of college graduates are being held back with student loan debt. In fact, the average graduating student has to repay $25,250, which can take years if a student majored in a low-paying subject. The answer is science, technology, engineering and mathematics. [read more]
Students of online schools are lagging
The number of students in virtual schools run by educational management organizations rose sharply, according to a new report, and far fewer of them are proving proficient on standardized tests compared with their peers in other privately managed charter schools and in traditional public schools. About 116,000 students were educated in 93 virtual schools - those where instruction is entirely or mainly provided over the Internet - run by private management companies in the 2010-2011 school year, up 43 percent from the previous year, according to the report. [read more]
Commentary: Sweep around your own front door
HBCUs have designed compelling complete college initiatives, which are comprehensive, social, culturally based, experiential and personal for addressing the needs of their students, writes the president of Tennessee State University.
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House ESEA draft would rein in federal accountability rules
House Republicans released two draft bills that would significantly scale back the federal role in K-12 schools and go further than any other proposal yet to dismantle the accountability tenets at the heart of the decade-old No Child Left Behind Act. The measures, put forth by U.S. Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, take some of the same steps as a bipartisan Senate rewrite of NCLB - and the Obama administration's own vision for rewriting the law. [read more]
Big study links good teachers to lasting gain
Elementary- and middle-school teachers who help raise their students' standardized-test scores seem to have a wide-ranging, lasting positive effect on those students' lives beyond academics, including lower teenage-pregnancy rates and greater college matriculation and adult earnings, according to a new study that tracked 2.5 million students over 20 years. [read more]
Special education gets funding boost
Despite several recent threats to cut funding for special education, federal spending on students with disabilities will increase this year. Congress approved an additional $100 million for special education under a budget passed in late December. Though the increase is modest, advocates say any extra funds represent a win given Washington's recent focus on trimming costs. [read more]
This time, it's personal
Educators have known for some time now that a one-size-fits-all approach to learning does not lead to the level of student engagement and academic success that schools strive to achieve. In their search for a more customized approach to delivering instruction, they've explored project-based learning, addressed different learning styles and increased collaborative learning among students. Educators have also looked to technology for customizable solutions, implementing 1-to-1 laptop programs, utilizing data-driven decision-making tools and setting up learning management systems to access digital content. [read more]
Rural schools grow in enrollment, diversity, poverty
Enrollment in rural schools is growing faster than in any other geographic area, and its students also are becoming poorer and more racially diverse, according to a report recently released. Among those attending schools in rural districts, two in five live in poverty, and one in four is a racial minority. Rural advocates say the numbers should make rural education a higher priority at local, state and federal levels. [read more]
No disabled student left behind
Thomas Hehir writes, "We have made major strides over the past decades in improving educational levels of students with disabilities. Nationally, nearly 70 percent of students with disabilities obtain a high school diploma and only 20 percent drop out. Ten years ago, only half graduated from high school and 40 percent dropped out. In Massachusetts, these improvements are not limited to graduation, but have also resulted in higher post-secondary education and employment for these students. Unfortunately, recent congressional action on the No Child Left Behind Act threatens this progress." [read more]
The importance of STEM in encouraging the next generation of tech leaders
The importance of science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM as it's commonly known, can't be underestimated in preparing students for an increasingly technological tomorrow. By 2018, the U.S. will have more than 1.2 million job openings in STEM-related fields according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Regretfully, there is likely to be a significant shortage of qualified college graduates to fill them. [read more]