EDUCATION USA

EDUCATION February 2009



EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT IN THE UNITED STATES: 2007
U.S. Bureau of the Census, January 2009
http://www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/p20-560.pdf
This report provides estimates of educational attainment in the United States, including comparisons by demographic characteristics, such as age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin. Information about educational attainment among the native-born and foreign-born populations is included.


FROM QUALIFICATIONS TO RESULTS: PROMOTING TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS THROUGH FEDERAL POLICY
Center for American Progress, January 28, 2009
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/01/pdf/het.pdf
This paper briefly explains why a focus on effectiveness is needed and how it might work, and it describes current federal policy related to teacher quality. It then provides some new ideas about how federal policy can stimulate change at the state and local level to help states and districts move from a qualifications focus to an effectiveness focus.

MAPPING NEW DIRECTIONS: HIGHER EDUCATION FOR OLDER ADULTS
American Council on Education, January 16, 2009
http://www.acenet.edu/Content/NavigationMenu/ProgramsServices/CLLL/Reinvesting/MapDirections.pdf
Despite successful efforts by some colleges and universities to create lifelong learning programs for adults aged 55 and older, many institutions remain stuck in outmoded, one-dimensional views of this population, according to the report. It offers recommendations to colleges and universities for broadening the participation of older adults who will comprise one-third of the nation’s overall population by 2030.

TRENDS IN COLLEGE SPENDING: WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM? WHERE DOES IT GO?
Delta Cost Project, January 16, 2009
http://www.deltacostproject.org/resources/pdf/trends_in_spending-report.pdf
The report examines revenue and expenditure data for nearly 2,000 public and private non-profit colleges and universities, representing more than 75 percent of higher education enrollment, and analyzes recent trends, focusing on the period from 2002 to 2006. It is the most up-to-date and comprehensive assessment of higher education finance in the nation.

ARTS & THE ECONOMY: USING ARTS AND CULTURE TO STIMULATE STATE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
National Governors Association, January 15, 2009
http://www.nga.org/Files/pdf/0901ARTSANDECONOMY.PDF
Fostering the arts and culture sector has played a vital role in state economic development, according to the report. Arts and culture-related industries, collectively known as “creative industries,” provide direct economic benefits to states and communities by creating jobs, attracting new investments, generating tax revenues and stimulating tourism and consumer purchases.