Author: Educational Policy Institute

The Educational Policy Institute (EPI) is a Virginia-based research think tank on education and the social sciences. EPI conducts evaluation and policy studies on various educational issues from Pre-K to workforce outcomes in the United States, Canada, and beyond. Visit us at educationalpolicy.org.
2008, College Affordability, Research/Policy

Still Arguing About the Cost Issues

Yesterday, Yahoo Finance posted an article on the worst-paying college degrees in 2010 (see below). Among them are education ($35,100 starting; $54,900 mid-career), special education, child and family studies, and social work. For those of you that follow the trends on return on investment from advanced degrees, the stable outcome of the past decade-plus is that only advanced degrees, such as law, medicine, and other professional levels, are beating inflation. BAs are holding steady, but anything else, including the now-vaulted associate degrees, are losing ground. Continue reading Still Arguing About the Cost Issues

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2008, 2010, Research/Policy, ROI/College Outcomes, Workforce

Living a Lie?

By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute Last night I had the pleasure of speaking at the College Board Major Systems Meeting in Napa, California. The audience included superintendents and principals from mostly California, but also Washington state, Utah, and other states in the western region. The purpose of my discussion was to provide a macro overview of the changing world, ala my … Continue reading Living a Lie?

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2007, K12

International Comparison not Kind to the US

By Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute Last week was not a good week for the United States, depending upon what one’s measure is. But if it happens to be mathematics and science—it wasn’t good. (EDITOR’S NOTE: If you are Canadian, it wasn’t a bad week at all!). This is because PISA came out last week. For those not in the know, … Continue reading International Comparison not Kind to the US

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2007, K12, Student Success

Foreign Affairs One School at a Time

By Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute Without getting too political, I’m not very happy about the war in Iraq. In total, 3,866 confirmed US deaths and 4,170 total “allied” deaths as of this morning. On top of this, over 28,000 US wounded. Not very pretty numbers. A few more targeted IEDs and we could hit 4,000 before the ball drops in … Continue reading Foreign Affairs One School at a Time

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2007, College Access, Research/Policy

Testing to Death

By Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute This summer, Education Week’s Scott Cech wrote about test scores in 12 states, based on a study authored by Bruce Fuller of UC-Berkeley and the Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) at Stanford. The report finds that while academic progress appears to be increasing in mathematics, the growth rates are below those posted before and … Continue reading Testing to Death

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