Four months after President Barack Obama made education a centerpiece of his State of the Union address, lawmakers charged with reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act are beginning to sketch out their own visions for aspects of the law's renewal. The prospects that Congress will meet the president's goal--a comprehensive,…

Objective: To examine longitudinal trends in use of nutrition information among Canadians. Design: Population-based telephone and Internet surveys. Setting and Participants: Representative samples of Canadian adults recruited with random-digit dialing sampling in 2004 (n = 2,405) and 2006 (n = 2,014) and an online commercial panel in 2008 (n =…

Renewal proposals for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the current version of which is the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, are still being discussed by congressional lawmakers and staff. Capitol Hill aides and U.S. Department of Education officials have suggested that a current federal regulation governing alternate testing for…

This study examines the institutional factors associated with student loan default. When a college has more than 30% of its students default on their loans, then the institution faces federal sanctions that could make them ineligible from participating in the federal student loan program. Using Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System…

The U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Justice (DOJ) released joint guidance on January 7, 2015, reminding states, school districts and schools of their obligations under federal law to ensure that English Learners have equal access to a high-quality education and the opportunity to achieve their full academic potential. In this context, the…

Online learning is rapidly becoming one of the most prevalent delivery methods of learning in institutions of higher education. It provides college students, especially adult students, an alternative, convenient, and cost-efficient method to earn their credentials, upgrade their skills and knowledge, and keep or upgrade their employment. But at…

New rules are coming for sanitizing conflicts of interest in research financed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), dispenser of the government's biggest budget for civilian science, some $31 billion this year. The conflicted need not fear. The draft rules, soon to be made final, continue the NIH's longtime practice of trust but don't…

School districts and educators chafing under the mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act are hoping to prod the U.S. Department of Education into giving them a reprieve from the provisions they see as most onerous, as the prospects for an overhaul of the law by Congress anytime soon remain cloudy. The Obama administration and congressional…

Nearly half the states have adopted a new set of common academic standards, barely a month after their final release and, in most cases, with little opposition. As of July 9, 23 states had decided to replace their mathematics and English/language arts standards with the common set. Another flurry of adoptions is expected by Aug. 2, since the $4…

Despite the extensive testing for federal accountability mandates, college students' understanding of federal accountability testing (e.g., No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, Spellings) has not been examined, resulting in a lack of knowledge regarding how such understanding (or lack thereof) impacts college students' behavior on accountability…

Urbanization almost invariably accompanies development, and the cities of India and China are experiencing spectacular increases in population. The concentration of millions of people in a small mass creates challenges for public policy, especially in the areas of basic infrastructure, public health, traffic congestion, and often law enforcement…

No Child Left Behind and its draconian test regime started more than 10 years ago, and in many states the testing juggernaut was already well under way. Due to a combination of their own constrained vision and current educational policy, in most cases students have this testing-is-the-only-option pedagogy reinforced when they get into classrooms.…

"Education Matters" is the monthly newsletter of the Association of American Educators (AAE), an organization dedicated to advancing the American teaching profession through personal growth, professional development, teacher advocacy and protection. This issue of the newsletter includes: (1) Doing the Right Thing: Educator Ethics in an…

From 2009 to 2010, the Community Food Security Coalition advocated for more federal support and funding for farm-to-school programs as Congress considered reauthorizing the Child Nutrition Act. Farm-to-school initiatives aim to improve the quality and healthfulness of student meals through the inclusion of more fresh fruits and vegetables provided…

Russlynn Ali, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the Department of Education, is charged with enforcing a wide range of education equity laws. Ali was a passionate activist in California helping champion educational equity for minorities. Today, as Ali approaches her third year working as assistant secretary for civil rights, she says she has…