Here are this week’s Stats That Stick, courtesy of Alliance Policy Intern Bill DeBaun.
Consolation prize up for grabs for nine runner-up Race to the Top finalists: $200,000,000
Education Week reports that the U.S. Department of Education will accept proposals from nine runner-up states for a chance to win some of a $200 million prize dedicated to improving STEM education. This money is the third round in the Race to the Top series, which has been an education focal point for the Obama administration.
Number of students the average school counselor was responsible for in 2009–10, according to the American School Counselor Association: 459
Ed Sector's "Quick and the Ed" offers this post about the importance of guidance counselors in high schools, especially for helping to ensure students are college and career ready. Randy A. McPherson, 2011 ASCA Counselor of the Year, says, “In some aspects, my role looks like a college recruiter or a career placement director.”
Number of attendees at the “Leveraging Learning: the iPad in Primary Grades Institute” conference: 100+
The Sun Journal reports that a conference held in Auburn, Maine last week was dedicated to examining the educational benefits of Apple’s iPad. Former Maine governor Angus King noted, "I think we're going to see some pretty neat results from this.” Organizers believe this is the first conference of its type in the United States.
Number of times larger the income-inequality achievement gap is, compared to the black-white achievement gap, according to a recent Stanford study: 2
The Huffington Post reports that Sean Reardon, a professor of education and sociology at Stanford, has demonstrated that the difference in average standardized test scores between children from low-income families and children from high-income families is almost twice as large as the black-white achievement gap. This income-inequality gap is “quite dramatic and quite consequential,” according to Reardon, who also noted that he had not expected this outcome. “We don’t really know why it has happened,” says Reardon.
Potential number of days in the California school year after automatic spending cuts are triggered: 168
The Associated Press reports that unexpected revenue shortfalls triggered a $1.4 billion automatic spending cut to education. One proposed method of dealing with this cut is to cut seven days off of the school year. The 175-day school year that California currently has is a result of previous cuts caused by the nation’s economic recession.
We’ll see you next week with more Stats That Stick! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!