News Desk (LD News: January 2007)

Children in Virginia Have Best Chance of Success
A new report from Education Week indicates that a child growing up in Virginia has the best chance of succeeding in life and a child raised in New Mexico has the worst. The report also finds that people living in the South and Southwest face the greatest obstacles to success, while those born in the Northeast and North Central states are faced with fewer challenges.

New Paper Sheds Light on Adult Numeracy (PDF, 79 pages)
A new paper from the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy aims to guide instruction, frame research, and inform policy on adult numeracy by defining the components of numeracy, the process of combining mathematical topics with work, community, and personal life.

For additional information on numeracy, read A Review of Literature in Adult Numeracy: Research and Conceptual Issues, a report containing a synthesis of conceptualizations of adult numeracy, a review of the U.S. and international research on adult mathematics and numeracy teaching, and a discussion of issues surrounding assessment of adult numeracy.

Achievement Gains Equals Education Reforms
A new Fordham report examining student achievement for low-income, African-American, and Hispanic students finds that states making the most significant achievement gains, including California, Delaware, Florida, New York, Massachusetts, and Texas are also national leaders in education reform -- indicating that tough accountability, solid standards, and greater school choice is successful in the classroom.

Preschool Is School, Sometimes -- New Studies Shed Light on Pre-K Today
Two new recent studies of the early education system indicate that only about twenty-five percent of classrooms practice high-quality preschool teaching. The report, from the winter issue of Education Next, discusses the definition of high-quality teaching and the state of pre-K education today.

Bridging the Income Gap
The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development has released a new brief on the income gap, one of the most complex, difficult to control achievement gaps. This brief, the fourth in a series on the achievement gap, discusses the income gap's effects on the economy, education, and mobility, and offers ideas on how to work towards bridging this gap.

Meeting the Needs of English Language Learners
A new article from Colorin Colorado discusses the challenges in meeting the needs of English language learners and offers suggestions on what can be done to improve academic performance, such as the use of collaborative learning communities, culturally responsive instruction, and technology-enriched instruction.

Entry-Level Math Skills Are Strongest Predictor of Future Success (PDF, 12 pages)
Greg Duncan from Northwestern University has analyzed six long-term studies to find that the strongest predictor of later achievement at school entry is math skills, followed by reading and the ability to pay attention. Other indicators, such as aggression or moodiness, did not prove to be strong predictors of later achievement.

Youths and Parents Disagree on the Importance of Academic Internet Use
Eight out of ten students under the age of 18 find using the Internet is very important for schoolwork, while most parents deny any improvement in their children's schoolwork since home Internet use, according to a survey from the Center for the Digital Future of over 2,000 adults and children throughout the U.S. over a six-year period.

Quality Counts 2007: From Cradle to Career
Quality Counts, a yearly chat from Education Week, investigates which states provide their youth with the best opportunity to succeed academically, based on an index measuring the importance of education throughout a lifetime and the need to begin education from preschool onward.

Student Sues Law School Admission Council for ADHD Accommodations
Opening statements have begun in the law suit of a would-be law student claiming that the Law School Admission Council, Inc. has violated the American with Disabilities Act by denying his request for extra time to take the LSAT to accommodate for his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Changes to the U.S. Education System Recommended (PDF, 28 pages)
The New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce has released Tough Choices or Tough Times, a new report that suggests some large-scale changes to the U.S. education system, such as high-quality early education for all four year olds and at-risk three year olds.

Reporting on Evidence-Based Practices
The National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET) has released a brief reporting on a research demonstration project aimed at increasing the use of evidence-based practices in special education programs in order to improve student outcomes.