E-Update for March 11, 2016
Highlights
- The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee voted 16-6 in favor of Dr. John King’s nomination to serve as U.S. Secretary of Education. The Senate is scheduled to enter Executive Session to consider the nomination on Monday, March 14, at 4:00 pm.
U.S Congress
Senate LHHS Appropriations Subcommittee Holds Hearing on USED’s FY2017 Budget Request: The Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) Appropriations Subcommittee held a hearing to examine the proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 budget for the U.S. Department of Education (USED). During the hearing, Acting Secretary King testified as to how the FY2017 budget request is focused on equity in education by providing $15.4 billion for Title I and supporting preschool funding, which will be available through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
March 10, 2016
Senate HELP Committee Holds Hearing to Vote on Nomination of Dr. John King to Serve as Secretary of Education The Senate HELP Committee held an executive session to vote on the nomination of Dr. John King Jr. to serve as U.S. Secretary of Education. Committee members voted to approve King’s nomination 16-6. The six members voting against were Sens. Mike Enzi (R-WY), Richard Burr (R-NC), Rand Paul (R-KY), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Pat Roberts (R-KS), and Tim Scott (R-SC). The next step is for the full Senate to vote on King’s nomination. Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN)’s statement is available here; Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA)’s statement is available here.
March 9, 2016
Senate Democrats Urge the Administration to Protect Students Who Attended Schools Engaged in Deceptive and Predatory Practices: Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Richard Durbin (D-IL) led 31 Senate Democrats in sending a letter to the Administration that urged President Obama to take action to protect students who attended colleges or universities that engaged in unlawful, unfair, deceptive, and abusive practices. They claim that the Administration’s proposal to assist students (like those who attended Corinthian Colleges) with student debt does not ensure a fair process for students.
March 9, 2016
Administration
USED Announces Update to the College Scorecard: USED released the first interim update for the College Scorecard, removing institutions that recently closed and adding information on schools facing financial or federal compliance issues, also known as Heightened Cash Monitoring 2 status. USED plans to continue to update this information to provide better data to students.
March 10, 2016
Acting Secretary King Calls on Congress to Reauthorize Perkins CTE: At the Digital Harbor Foundation Tech Center in Baltimore, Acting Secretary John King delivered remarks that called upon on Congress to reauthorize the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins CTE), which supports career and technical education programs across the nation with over $1.1 billion in funding.
March 9, 2016
Events
On March 11 and 12, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards will hold the Teaching and Learning 2016 conference, convening thousands of educators, administrators, advocates, and policymakers in pursuit of developing a strong future for the teaching profession. The conference will take place in Washington, D.C. at the Marriot Wardman Park. More information is available here.
On March 15, the House Education and the Workforce Committee will hold a hearing entitled, “Examining the Policies and Priorities of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).” HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell will testify. More information is available here.
From August 1-12, the Institute for Education Sciences will hold a two week Quasi-Experimental Design and Analysis Workshop to increase the capacity of researchers to develop and conduct rigorous evaluations of the impact of education interventions. The workshop will be held in Evanston, IL. More information is available here.
New Legislation
H.R.4716 : S.O.S. Act of 2016 (related to teacher training on awareness of student mental health)
Sponsor: Rep Beatty, Joyce [OH-3] (introduced 3/7/2016) Cosponsors (None)
Committees: House Education and the Workforce
S.2653 : Recognizing Achievement in Classified School Employees Act
Sponsor: Sen Murray, Patty [WA] (introduced 3/8/2016) Cosponsors (None)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Publications
Outcomes Based Funding: Important Takeaways for State Policy Makers: This series of papers examine outcomes-based funding models in Tennessee and Texas, looking to gauge effects on the quality of learning. These models specifically focus on policy lessons learned from systems rewarding outcomes such as increases in the number of at-risk graduates and on-time degree completion. This is the second round of papers released by Lumina Foundation examining how outcomes-based funding can be used to support national postsecondary attainment goals.
March 10, 2016
Skills of U.S. Unemployed, Young, and Older Adults in Sharper Focus: Results from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) 2012/2014: First Look: This report from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) presents updated results from the Program for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), a large-scale international 2012 and 2014 data collection that examined adult skills and life experiences focused on education and employment. One selected finding was that, for adults 16-65, in numeracy and problem solving in technology-rich environments, the U.S. performed below the PIAAC international average.
March 10, 2016
2015 NAEP Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) Results: This interactive report card shows district-level trends and comparisons from 21 large urban school districts on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
March 8, 2016