Ensuring Diversity in Higher Education

By Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute The affirmative action debate has been hanging around the collective heads of public higher education for the last three decades, with the debate coming to a head more recently with the impact of Proposition 209 in California and the expansion of similar legislative actions in a number of states. Higher education has always had preference … Continue reading Ensuring Diversity in Higher Education

Climbing the “College Ladder”

By Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute I have a pet peeve. And it involves all those state and provincial coalitions or organizations or strategies that use the term “K-20.” The “K-20” partnerships, like those found in GEAR UP and other programs, which are supposed to engage practitioners at the secondary and postsecondary levels to provide a seamless transition and opportunity for … Continue reading Climbing the “College Ladder”

Getting What We Asked For…

By Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute The National Assessment Governing Board, or NAGB, released test results yesterday on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), better known as the Nation’s Report Card. NAEP has become well known over the years because, outside of the SAT and ACT college admissions tests, it is the only true national test that allows us to … Continue reading Getting What We Asked For…

The Problem with Pell

By Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute This week there has been much talk about increased funding for the Pell Grant program in the United States. For those new to this discussion, the Pell Grant, named after former Senator Claiborne Pell, is the federal government’s “foundation” program for student aid, providing need-based aid to low-income students. That roughly equates to those students … Continue reading The Problem with Pell

Resolutions for 2007

By Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute Between the options of looking back at 2006 and looking forward to 2007, I am choosing the latter. I’m a half-full type of guy anyway. As we close this year, I am hopeful that some of us will get our act together and push education forward in 2007. Here are some thoughts. No Child Left … Continue reading Resolutions for 2007