Educators and regulators discussed distance-learning programs and the potential for students to be taken advantage of by unscrupulous program providers in a meeting in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. Each state regulates distance-learning individually, with no centralized system, The Chronicle reported. Advocates for change argue that the current structure, which requires educators to manage a complicated system of regulation and accreditation, is inappropriate for modern technology particularly the Internet, which is now the dominant communication medium for distance-learning. State regulators told The Chronicle that state regulations are necessary because states must oversee student complaints and faculty qualifications.
Eighth and fourth graders saw limited increases in math scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a federal standardized test administered this spring, The New York Times reported. The poor results indicate that U.S. schools remain far from achieving the 100-percent proficiency level mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act, The Times reported. Passed under President George W. Bush, the act mandated that schools achieve full proficiency by 2013. Of fourth graders, 39 percent scored at or above the proficient level, and 34 percent of eighth graders scored at that level. William Schmidt, an education professor at Michigan State University, told The Times that a comparison of test results before and after No Child Left Behind was "disappointing." Math scores actually improved faster before the federal law took effect and plateaued after its passage.
Despite President Barack Obama's call to make the United States one of the top countries for college completion by 2020, higher education has not consistently been a central issue in the current gubernatorial races, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported Monday. In Virginia, gubernatorial candidates R. Creigh Deeds, a Virginia state senator, and Robert McDonnell, a former state attorney general, both called for state universities to expand the number of degrees awarded, The Chronicle reported. In New Jersey, however, higher education has been a low priority, with candidates emphasizing the need to maintain low tuition rates and to keep high school graduates from attending college in other states, according to The Chronicle.
