Note: All APRs are linked to 2008-09 Accountability Progress Reporting available on CA Department Education API website.

According to this article, “Over 100 Score Perfect 2400 in New SAT”:

• as the 300,000 students who took the first sitting of the new test March 12, 2005 began receiving scores, the College Board reported that 107 scored a perfect 800 on each of the three sections – writing, critical reading and math. [That is 1 out of 2803, 0.000356%]
• Of the 1.4 million 2004 high school graduates who took the old SAT, 939 scored a then-perfect 1600 [That is 1 out of  1490, 0.00067%]

According to this article, “Michigan Teen Gets Perfect Scores On SAT, PSAT, ACT Tests” (April 27, 2009):

• The College Board has reported that roughly 1 in every 5,000 students taking the SAT gets a perfect score.
• The ods for the PSAT are 1 in every 1,000
• 17-year old Willa Chen, a senior at Canton High School in Canton, Michigan, has made history by getting a perfect score on all 3 of her exams (PSAT, SAT, and ACT).

According to this article, “Willa Chen scores perfect on her ACT, SAT and PSAT”:

• The College Board reports approximately one student in 5,000 taking the SAT gets a perfect score of 2,400, while the odds are a little better, one in 1,000, on the PSAT, The Detroit News reported.
• The other major college entrance test, the ACT, which comes from a contending organization, states the odds of a perfect finish are one in 14,000.

According to this article, “How many people have gotten a perfect score on the SAT”:

• Of the 1.5 million students who took the SAT in 2008, only 294 students earned a perfect score.

According to this article, “Four area students score 2400 on SAT — perfect” (September 5, 2009):

• Profile for: Tom Hui is a self-described video game lover. Michelle Liu calls herself a nerd. Marissa Pan simply likes books, and Tanya Nguyen prefers balance in her life.
• What do they have in common? All scored 2400 on the SAT, putting them in the elite company of 297 nationwide and 10 in Georgia earning perfect scores last year (2008).

According to this article, “Perfect score on the SAT?” (link to PDF file):

• 294 college bound seniors out of a total of 1,518,176 who took the test in the year 2008 got 2400
• 5683 college bound seniors out of a total of 1,518,176 who took the test in the year 2008 got 2300 or more

Is CA ranked 47th or 25th?

10 Facts About K-12 Education Funding

Interactive Map: Title I Education Grants

Comparing California (June 2008)

Analysis of the 2008-09 Budget Bill: Education – Per-Pupil Funding

Getting the Facts Straight on Per Pupil Spending in California (Posted on April 03, 2008)

The Census Bureau report strongly refutes the oft-cited "fact" that California is near the bottom in per-pupil school spending. The national average was $9,138 in 2005-06. California was at $8,486, with New York the highest at $14,884 and Utah the lowest at $5,437 – one of 22 states, in fact, that fell below California’s level.

In terms of school revenues, California was 25th among the states at $10,264 per pupil, just under the national average. It was above average in per-pupil income from federal and state sources and about $1,700 per pupil below average in local revenues, thanks to Proposition 13, the 1978 property tax limit measure.

Per-pupil spending rankings all relative

Why are the rankings so different?

Education Week adjusts per-pupil spending to reflect regional variations in cost of living, particularly teacher salaries, and the National Education Association does not.

Both start with similar spending in California during fiscal 2004-05. Education Week uses federal data, $7,905 per pupil; the NEA uses its own data, $7,942 per pupil.

Then Education Week applies a 1990 federal “geographic cost of education index” that drops California from 30th to 46th at $7,081 per pupil, well below the national average of $8,973 per pupil.

Spending more than $12,000 per pupil in Education Week’s ranking are New York, New Jersey, Vermont and the District of Columbia. Below California are Idaho, Arizona and, at the bottom, Utah at $5,463 per pupil.

Per-pupil spending in public schools (2001-2002)

National Per Student Public School Spending Nears $9,000 (US Census – May 24, 2007)

The nation’s public school districts spent an average of $8,701 per student on elementary and secondary education in fiscal year 2005, up 5 percent from $8,287 the previous year, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today.

New York spent $14,119 per student — the highest amount among states and state equivalents. Just behind was neighboring New Jersey at $13,800, the District of Columbia at $12,979, Vermont ($11,835) and Connecticut ($11,572). Seven of the top 10 with the highest per pupil expenditures were in the Northeast.

Utah spent the least per student ($5,257), followed by Arizona ($6,261), Idaho ($6,283), Mississippi ($6,575) and Oklahoma ($6,613). All 10 of the states with the lowest spending per student were in the West or South.

Education spending, per pupil, apples to apples

More spending doesn’t equal more learning

• Over the past quarter century, wage gaps between workers with different education levels have increased, largely due to falling real earnings for those with less education.
• Real weekly earnings for workers with less than a high–school diploma fell from $462 in 1979 to $337 in 1998. This downward trend continued for all workers who were not college graduates.
• Twenty years ago, the average college graduate earned 38 percent more than the average high-school graduate. Today, it is 71% more.
• Occupations requiring a bachelor’s degree will grow almost twice as fast as the overall average.
• The three fastest growing occupations, require at least a bachelor’s degree and have higher average earnings.
• All of the 20 highest paying occupations require at least a bachelor’s degree.

From the Department of Labor Statistics, 2000.

Source: Building a College Culture by Leslie Hays (Powerpoint)

Proposition 74: Teacher Tenure Ballot Measure
January 2006
Prop. 74: Support 44.8%, Oppose 55.2%

• California was the first state in the country to establish teacher tenure law in 1921.
• Current state law mandates that teachers gain tenure in California after completing a two-year probationary period during which time they can be dismissed for poor performance by their school district.
• Once tenured, teachers gain a degree of security in their positions and can be dismissed only for just cause. State law dictates conditions under which a tenured teacher can be dismissed including unsatisfactory performance or misconduct. Low student achievement is not included as a condition for dismissal.

• The Initiative

  • It would raise the amount of time new teachers must wait before they are covered by job protection rules from two years to five years for a certified position.

  • It would also allow the school district to dismiss an employee after two consecutive unsatisfactory performance evaluations.

Other Reference

• The Hidden Costs of Tenure
• The Facts, Myths and Realities about Teacher Tenure
• Teachers agree: Bad teachers with tenure too tough to fire (USATODAY.com)

Richard C. Morais, 03.10.09, 06:00 PM EDT
Programs offering academic credit for paid internships have new appeal.
(Forbes)

Drexel is among a subset of major schools in the nation–including Northeastern, the Rochester Institute of Technology, the University of Cincinnati and Kettering–that offer highly sophisticated work-for-credit programs called "co-ops.”

Takach, a communications major who is also an editor at Drexel’s student newspaper, is enrolled in the school’s five-year "co-op" B.A. What this means is that this month, in her sophomore year, Takach begins a six-month stint working at Philadelphia’s Chamber of Commerce for $442.50 a week. She will continue in this way–six months of paid work in an organization related to her field of study, six months of classes–until she graduates in the spring of 2012.

Drexel has 1,600 firms and organizations participating in its work-and-study program, the biggest of which are Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT – news - people ), Siemens (nyse: SI – news - people ), Comcast (nasdaq: CMCSA – news - people ), GlaxoSmithKline (nyse: GSK – news - people ), Lockheed Martin (nyse: LMT – news - people ), Motorola (nyse: MOT – news - people ), Sunoco (nyse: SUN – news - people ) and Johnson & Johnson (nyse: JNJ – news - people ).

Most of the university’s 13,197 undergraduate students, says Peter Franks, executive director of Drexel’s Steinbright Career Development Center, are drawn to the 91-year-old co-op program, covering 73 majors, because they believe the practical, mostly paid internships built into their college degree give them a competitive advantage when they are looking for a job after graduation.

The school offers four- or five-year versions of the B.A./B.S. work program, and claims 50% of its students are offered full-time jobs after graduation by one of their co-op employers. Over a third of Drexel’s alumni take up these offers.

"The co-op allows students to make better career decisions, because they have tried different kinds of jobs while at school," says Franks. It also gives employers a chance to kick the tires of prospects. Drexel has retained 85% of its employer-partners during these hard times.

But in this sobering moment in history, co-op programs like Drexel’s are not just good job-procurement programs for graduating students. They can also be an attractive way for students and their families to defray costs while in college.

A year of room and board (but not food) in Drexel’s five-year program costs Takach $39,437. According to the university, Drexel’s work-study program generates for students, on average, an additional $14,500 per six-month work stint.

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Posted: 03/10/2009 01:59:02 PM PDT
Updated: 03/10/2009 03:40:01 PM PDT
(ContraCostaTimes.com)

The rising cost of college and plunging stock market have combined to create a disparity between what some of the 18 states’ prepaid tuition plans have on the books and what they’re supposed to pay. The worst case is in Alabama, where the sour economy has sliced off nearly half of the fund’s assets, and state officials are telling parents the full cost of college isn’t a sure thing.

Among the other states with fewer assets than anticipated liabilities are Tennessee, South Carolina, West Virginia and Washington. Seven of the 18 — Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Texas, Virginia and Washington — back their plans if money runs short.

Many state plans are being hit from two sides. Their investments are dropping in value and public universities are raising tuition by higher-than-normal amounts because the economic downturn is shrinking state funding for higher education.

West Virginia’s plan stopped letting people enroll their children more than four years ago. Its investments have lost $23 million since July 1, or nearly 27 percent of their value.

College opportunities for state residents dwindle (Los Angeles Times)

• The state ranks near the top nationally for residents over age 65 who have at least an associate of arts degree, but places only 29th in the nation for those between 25 and 34 who have the same level of education
• California ranks 40th in the nation in the percentage of high school graduates who head directly to college
• 45th in high school students taking advanced science and math classes
• near the bottom in the percentage of students earning college degrees and certificates

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The 4 Rules of Paying for College in a Recession (U.S. News – Education)

1. Grades matter more than ever.

2. Early birds will get more scholarship worms.

3. Students should apply to at least a couple of affordable schools.

4. Students should apply to at least a couple of generous schools.

• 49 States Flunk College Affordability Test (U.S. News – Education)
  California, the only state that passed in the study, scraped by with a C minus
• How to Maximize Your Student’s Chances for Merit Aid (U.S. News – Education)
• How Can I Improve My Chances of Getting Need-based Grants? (U.S. News – Education)

Last Updated: January 16, 2009

By guiding students to adopt these principles and tools, you’ll empower them to become effective partners in their own education, giving them the outer behaviors and inner qualities to create greater success in college and in life.  Here are the eight On Course Success Principles:

Source: On Course Principles

Last Updated: January 16, 2009