Washington — If President Obama’s administration fails to make major changes in federal education policy, it probably won’t be for lack of ideas from think tanks based here. He has barely been in the White House a week, and already four reports calling for an expanded federal role in education have been sent his way.
The most recent such report was issued today by the New America Foundation, which labels itself as ideologically centrist. Titled “Bridging the Gap: How to Strengthen the P-16 Pipeline to Improve College Readiness,” the report concludes that far too many students leave high school unprepared for college, and says low college success rates reflect “a massive failure of the pre-kindergarten through college system as a whole.”
Among its recommendations, the foundation calls on the federal government to provide states with incentives to come together and adopt national college- and work-readiness standards; work directly with states to foster partnerships between high schools and colleges; and play a leading role in restructuring the current college remediation system.
Three other reports were issued this week by the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress. One, “Barriers to College Attainment: Lessons From Chicago,” is based on a long-term study of Chicago public-school students. It concludes that “few minority students and their families fully understand the requirements of college application and admission,” and many students do not conduct broad college searches and could go to more-selective institutions than the ones they end up attending. It urges the federal government, states, and school districts to develop policies aimed at making sure students have enough information about college.
The center makes similar arguments in another report issued this week, “Improving Academic Preparation for College,” which calls for the federal government to invest in research and development to support programs that align high-school and college education; provide funds to improve college preparation; and improve the collection of data that can be used to help bring improvements in that area.
A third report from the center, “From Qualifications to Results: Promoting Teacher Effectiveness Through Federal Policy,” argues that federal law should stop focusing on the qualifications of teachers going into the classroom and start focusing on how effective they are in practice. Among its recommendations, it urges the federal government to put money into systems to evaluate teacher performance and an alternative-certification grant program that would expand the pool of talented teachers, particularly in high-poverty schools. —Peter Schmidt
