Hurricane Sandy: Feds Extend Deadline for Race To The Top

Local school districts will get more time to complete applications for a share of $400 million in federal Race To The Top grant dollars, the U.S. Department of Education has announced.

The deadline was supposed to be Tuesday but Hurricane Sandy shut down districts across the Eastern Seaboard. The federal government was also closed for two days with the exception of some essential offices. The new deadline has not been finalized although Politics K-12 reports that the money will still be awarded as planned in December.

This is the first time Race To The Top applications have been solicited below the state education department level. In August, Lucy Gettman -- director of federal programs for the National School Board Association -- told me that the level of enthusiasm for the district-level Race To The Top grants was "all over the map. She added that:

“We’ve heard from school districts saying they have just the population this grant program is designed to assist, the grant is consistent with the kind of work they are doing with high-need students, and they have a vision for how to put the grant to work. We’ve talked to other districts that don’t believe the time required to complete the application—knowing how few of these awards there will actually be—is worth the investment. “

As I mentioned in a prior blog post, the size requirement means that about half of the nation's school districts are ineligible to apply on their own. I'm interested to see which smaller districts have successfully teamed up on their applications (one of the available options for districts with fewer than 2,000 students). While I'm all for teamwork and synergy, there are definite concerns among education observers that the rules will limit opportunities for individual districts.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. She also tweets @EWAEmily. 

Education Reading List: Hunkering Down For Hurricane Sandy

With the Metro system shut down and all but essential federal offices closed, Washington, D.C. has ground to a halt as Hurricane Sandy makes its way up the Eastern Seaboard. Similar shutdowns -- of schools, public transportation and businesses -- are in place from South Carolina to Maine. In New York City, the nation's largest school district, campuses have been converted into emergency shelters.

We have been warned repeatedly that D.C. could see significant and sustained power outages. While we are all hopeful that doesn't come to pass, I do have a few education-related books I've been saving for the proverbial rainy day (and I'd say that threshold has already been met).

If you're looking for a good read, I recommend Paul Tough's How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity and the Hidden Power of Character. In it, Tough argues that qualities like perseverance and self control matter more for long-term student success than scoring well on high-stakes exams that supposedly measure intelligence.

Tough's extensive New York Times Magazine piece on grit, and the role failure plays in student success,  prompted quite a few spirited conversations in education circles. I've since seen a number of seminars, panel discussions and workshops incorporate similar themes.

What's on your hurricane reading list? What classic education titles would you recommend in addition to some of the newer works? But most importantly, I hope those of you in Sandy's path stay dry -- and safe -- over the next few days.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. She also tweets @EWAEmily. 

EWA Seminars: Teacher Training, Common Core, And More

I'm off to the Twin Cities today to gear up for EWA's seminar:  Ready to Teach: Rethinking Routes to the Classroom.  We'll look at how colleges of education are working to improve the quality of their programs, as well as examine new accountability measures intended to better track teacher performance. I look forward to sharing with you some of the debate and discussion from our daylong event, hosted by the University of Minnesota.

In the meantime, session videos are now available from our recent seminar on what the new Common Core State Standards mean for English-language learners, teachers, and tests. Held at the California Community Foundation, the seminar was co-hosted by UC-Berkeley, Stanford University's Understanding Language Initiative, and Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE). The session videos offer a terrific way to get up to speed on these critical issues.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. She also tweets @EWAEmily.

Miami-Dade Wins $1 Million Broad Prize for Most Improved Urban District

Miami-Dade Public Schools, the nation's fourth-largest district, won the prestigious Broad Prize Tuesday for excellence in urban education.

The $1 million prize, awarded annually by the nonprofit Broad Foundation, recognizes districts that have made substantial gains in student achievement and outcomes.

"What is encouraging about Miami-Dade is its sustainable improvement over time," philanthropist Eli Broad said, according to U.S. News & World Reports. "Their gains are a testament to the hard-working teachers, administrators and parents who have embraced innovative new methods to modernize schools and ensure that students of all backgrounds get the support they need."

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The Hechinger Report, in partnership with CNNMoney, has done some terrific reporting in a new piece on college students who are Drowning In Debt. This critical issue is also the focus of EWA's upcoming seminar for journalists in Indianapolis. There are still a few spots remaining, and you can register here.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. She also tweets @EWAEmily.

Presidential Debates: College Coaches, High School Debaters on Power of Persuasion

I've gotten a kick out of how some regional publications and news stations are localizing the presidential debates -- asking high school and college debaters and their coaches to analyze the performances of President Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

(The third and final debate airs tonight, and it's on foreign policy. As I've mentioned, it's not difficult to make a case that the nation's public school system is a factor here.)

Jackie Massey, who has coached the University of Oklahoma's debate team to four national championships in six years, told Tulsa's KMRG TV that "Obama has kind of this Socratic, patient 'I'm the experienced one' (attitude) while Romney has the more 'I'm really excited to take this job, here's all my examples, and you know taking on the incumbent.'"

Over at CNN Todd Graham, director of debate at Southern Illinois University and a past coach of the year, said Obama won the last debate by employing "the primacy effect" -- a speaker's initial argument is ultimately more effective than anything that comes after it.

"I teach my debaters that you've got to make your best arguments early in the speech," said Massey, who has analyzed presidential debates for five election cycles. "Otherwise you might not have the judge's full attention when you get to your best arguments, thereby lessening the weight of your position."

The Palm Beach Post asked local high school debaters for their input, and the teens emphasized the need for specifics.

Vince Gasso, a junior at Wellington High School said Obama "could have had a lot better evidence. A lot of what he said was more hearsay and promise.” And Alexa Fortuna, also a junor at Wellington, said Romney "says all these great things about how he’d create this perfect world, but he doesn’t back it up with plausible evidence of how he’d do that.”

As a former college debater, I can tell you firsthand there is no better training ground for students of all ages to learn both critical thinking skills and the power of persuasive speech. Here are a few story ideas for education reporters to consider: What opportunities do students in your district have to participate in debate programs? Have those opportunities be reduced in recent years due to budget cuts? Do the students or their teachers see participating in debate as helping them academically beyond the extracurricular experience? Ask a student debater to watch tonight's debate with you, and you might just be surprised by some of their insights.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. She also tweets @EWAEmily.

EWA Higher Education Seminar: Keeping College Affordable

How much is a college degree worth? Does the risk of incurring enormous debt outweigh the potential value of a post-secondary education? What steps are policymakers and institutions taking to make college more affordable?

We'll tackle those questions, and hear from leading experts in the field, at EWA's 2012 Higher Education Seminar Nov. 2-3 in Indianapolis. This journalists-only event is hosted by the Indiana University School of Education and Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis.

This is an ideal opportunity for reporters to get up to speed - and get ahead -- on some of the most pressing issues facing students, their families and the higher education community. Register today!  

Have questions, comments or concerns for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. She also tweets @EWAEmily.

Second Presidential Debate: College Student Quizzes Candidates on His Future Prospects

There was indeed more attention paid to education during Tuesday's presidential debate -- a college student concerned about his own future snagged the very first question. Jeremy Epstein, who attends Adelphi University, later told a local NBC News affiliate that he was no longer undecided, although he doesn't make clear who is getting his vote.

Both President Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney got the chance to answer Epstein's query -- what would they say to reassure him, and his parents, that he'll be able to earn a living when he graduates in two years?

Romney's response included a folksy pledge to help Epstein find work when he graduates. Listening to Romney, Epstein said he felt like he was "staring into my soul, just right through me ... I felt like, you know he offered me a job five minutes into the debate, I felt like his answer was sincere," according to the NBC New York interview.

However, the president's assertion that he believed not only in Epstein but in his whole generation also seemed to make an impact on the 20-year-old. 

"The way the president spoke to me and kind of said you know 'We believe in the youth of America' ... that really, you know, hit a soft spot and I understood what he was talking about," Epstein said.

The first question aside, as Inside Higher Ed notes, the most pressing issues for the post-secondary crowd were "mostly on the margins." While I didn't come close to filling up my Education Buzzwords Bingo card, there was certainly more direct discussion than during either the first presidential debate or the vice presidential debate. Education Week blogger Michele McNeil has a nice wrap-up over at Politics K-12.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. She also tweets @EWAEmily. 

Education Buzzwords Bingo, Episode II: The Town Hall Strikes Back

By popular demand, we'll be playing Education Buzzwords Bingo again during tonight's presidential debate, which will be held in a town hall format with questions from the audience at Hofstra University in Elmstead, N.Y.. Get your official EWA card here, and be sure to follow via Twitter (hashtag is #ewabingo).

The debate topics are foreign and domestic policy, and I'm not sure we'll hear much more (which is not much at all) about public schools than we did in the first debate. The Atlantic's David Graham makes a strong argument that other crucial topics -- including gay rights and climate change -- have also been neglected when the presidential candidates have faced off.

However, as I have previously argued, it's tough to solve problems like unemployment and spiraling health care costs without addressing shortfalls in the public education system. So listen tonight for buzzwords including college affordability, accountability, competition, and choice.

And speaking of education buzzwords, personalized learning is near the top of the list right now. Educators and researchers are looking for the most effective means of tapping classroom technology to meet students' individualized needs. The Washington Post's Emma Brown has a terrific piece on a new approach being tested in D.C.'s public schools: the "Teach to One" learning system.

The pilot program, in which large groups of students work independently on computers with a handful of teachers coaching and supervising, is being tested at one of the district's lowest-performing middle schools. The idea is let students work at their own pace, so that kids who are ready to move ahead quickly can do so, while those who are struggling will get more tailored instruction to help them fill in gaps in their knowledge.

“If it works like we think it will, it’ll be a game-changer,” D.C. schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson told the Washington Post.

For more on classroom technology, check out EWA's Story Starters website. We've pulled together the leading research, the latest reporting, and a wealth of resources to help you better understand the complex underlying issues. 

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. She also tweets @EWAEmily.

The Stories Behind the Numbers: Why Education Data Matters

Today's guest blogger is Lori Crouch, assistant director of the Education Writers Association. This post also appears on the Data Quality Campaign website.

The old joke in the newsroom goes something like this: “I majored in journalism because I’m no good at math.”

You hear that sentiment too often in newsrooms. Reporters pride themselves as wordsmiths, not number crunchers.

That attitude is slowly changing. And those journalists on the education beat will have to adapt even more quickly with the wealth of data that are becoming more prevalent, more accessible, and more essential. A reporter at the smallest news organization can now download spreadsheets from the US Department of Education’s National Center on Education Statistics or Office for Civil Rights, and from various state education divisions -- to say nothing of megabytes of accessible test scores, graduation statistics, and discipline numbers.

Journalists who cover education not only have to write compelling stories about what happens in the classroom, but also must examine the data—and the numbers—that describe why those important stories are taking place.

The National Education Writers Association (EWA) has seen plenty of good data projects by our members. Just last month, California Watch posted a story that showed not as many educators in lower-performing classrooms lacked credentials as the state originally projected. And certainly USA Today’s look at test-erasure data nationwide led to heated discussions in schools, parent chat rooms, and school board chambers. The same holds true for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s examination of potential cheating. EdNews Colorado found that full-time online high school students were losing ground to their peers on every academic indicator.

But journalists’ use of data has considerable room to grow. The practice of using data in the newsroom should go beyond special projects to become daily practice. We need more reporters like Holly Hacker of the Dallas Morning News who can find the stories in numbers as few others can.

With that in mind, EWA launched an annual “Diving Into Data” workshop for journalists who cover education last March in Denver, with the help of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.

Our participants brought sets of data to the workshop, where they worked with data coaches to analyze the numbers. Not all data sets led to substantive projects, but the reporters have applied the skills they learned to daily news as well.

Here are some highlights:

· Two reporters from the workshop explored teacher turnover rates in their communities. Francisco Vara-Orto of the San Antonio Express-News found that local charter schools experienced dramatically higher turnover rates when compared to traditional bricks-and-mortar campuses. Hayley Ringle of the Arizona Republic discovered that teacher turnover rates had climbed in two-thirds of the school districts in Maricopa County.

· Alyson Klein of Education Week used her Excel skills to build a spreadsheet on sequestration to inform her story on its impact.

· Ann Dornfeld of KUOW in Seattle found that Native American students were pulled out of classes to have their fluency in English tested despite resistance from parents and students.

· Julie Mack of the Kalamazoo Gazette used her data training to launch a four-part series looking at a school district’s efforts to turn itself around.

· Maggie Gordon of the Stamford Advocate found a high rate of absenteeism among Stamford teachers, tying it to research showing the more a teacher is absent, the further his or her students will fall behind.

Other efforts are in the works and EWA would love to share them with the Data Quality Campaign in the future. In addition, we’ll be holding our second annual “Diving Into Data” workshop at the University of Texas at Austin, tentatively scheduled for February 22–25.

Journalists are only getting started in mining the data, and we hope to see more of these stories in the very near future.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. She also tweets @EWAEmily.

Vice Presidential Debate: Education Waits on Back Burner

Education got short shrift during the vice presidential debate Thursday, with nary a mention of the role of the federal government in public K-12 schools or higher education.

However, there was ample time dedicated to the overarching theme of this election cycle – which presidential candidate is more likely to guide the nation to full economic recovery. On that front, there was plenty of competing views and often data-heavy rhetoric. But in the context of how best to address a laundry list of pressing concerns including health care and unemployment, neither candidate invoked education as critical factor. As Education Week’s Politics K-12 blog noted, the exceptions were Vice President Joe Biden’s denouncement of Republican plans to cut funding to Head Start programs, and Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan’s assertion that the federal stimulus used to backfill budget shortages at the state level – which in turn helped public schools -- had been a mistake.

I’m always puzzled when education doesn’t come up more during debates at all levels. You don’t have to look far to find research that suggests education is the closest thing we have to a silver bullet. Let’s start with health care: how educated we are has a direct impact on our overall wellness. The less education an individual has, the less likely they are to have health insurance, and the more likely they are to use public emergency rooms for basic care. Rates of obesity are also higher among those with lower levels of educational attainment, which means they are at greater risk for a plethora of associated diseases. Those costs add up to billions annually for states in emergency room costs and lost productivity.

What about unemployment? It’s arguable that there’s no time that education is of greater potential value than during an economic downturn, when individuals who lack a high school diploma are typically the hardest hit. Community colleges can play an essential role in retraining working adults for new jobs. That means communities that invest in public education can reap long-term dividends.

Here’s just one example: In a recent report from the Brookings Institution, researchers determined that the education level of a city’s workforce, as well as the diversity of its economic base, was a significant factor in how deeply it was affected by the recession. Cities with more educated workers (including Denver) have rebounded more quickly than those where the average level of educational attainment is lower (such as Las Vegas).

Clearly, there are exceptions: Some cities, such as San Francisco, have struggled during the recession despite having a relatively well-educated populace. But overall, the report concluded, from 2005 to 2011 the highest unemployment rates were in metropolitan areas with larger “education gaps” – meaning a shortage of educated workers available to fill employer demand. The difference in unemployment rates for individuals with a bachelor’s degree compared with those with only a high school diploma is significant, ranging from 2.8 in Poughkeepsie to 14.7 percent in Detroit, according to the Brookings report.

Education will hopefully get more attention during next week’s presidential debate, a town hall format to be held at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. The topics are both domestic and foreign policy. If you’re wondering what education might have to do with the latter, the answer is plenty – a task force of the Council on Foreign Relations argues that the shoddy state of the nation’s public schools are putting the nation’s security at risk.

And just how threatened are oppressive regimes by the American export of an equitable public school system? The Taliban actually put out a hit on 14-year-old girl who had spoken up for her right to learn, shooting her in the head and chest as she got off her school bus in northwestern Pakistan.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. She also tweets @EWAEmily.

Affirmative Action: What You Need to Know About Fisher v. University of Texas

If you're looking for an easy way to track the affirmative action case of Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin -- now being heard by the Supreme Court --  head over to EdMedia Commons. There's a concise breakdown of the history of race-based and race-neutral admissions policies, specifics about this and other related cases, and additional background that will help make sense of what's at stake.

Also on EMC, check out the overview of the legal issues central to the case, as well as what you can expect to hear during oral arguments. For more from the perspective of social scientists, EMC has  summaries of recent  studies on the issue of race-based admissions.

We will  be tracking some of the fine work being done by education journalists at the regional and national level who are following this contentious case. An early standout: the Hechinger Report's Sarah Garland. Garland offers a smart take on the Unfinished Work of Affirmative Action, taking a deeper look at exactly how Abigail Fisher's rejected application to UT-Austin triggered a  journey to the nation's highest court.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. She also tweets @EWAEmily.

EWA Seminar: How Well Is the U.S. Preparing Its Teachers?

How well are teachers being prepared for their jobs? How can colleges of education improve the quality of their programs and the effectiveness of their graduates? On Saturday, Oct. 27 at the University of Minnesota, the Education Writers Association will hold a one-day seminar for journalists that will tackle these pressing questions for the nation's school system. 

We'll look at the groundswell for teacher preparation programs to overhaul how aspiring educators are trained, and how those programs are being held newly accountable for how well their graduates perform on the job. The keynote speaker with be Arthur Levine, past president of the Teachers College at Columbia University. And Kate Walsh of the National Council on Teacher Quality and Linda Darling-Hammond of Stanford University will discuss NCTQ's controversial plans to rate teacher training programs for the first time.  

There are limited scholarships available to help cover your travel costs -- including airfare and hotel. However, time is running out so be sure to apply today. 

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. She also tweets @EWAEmily.

Columbus Day: Different Viewpoints on `Discovering' America

Growing up, my early education about Christopher Columbus didn’t drill much deeper than a sanitized version of the journeys of the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. That perspective changed when a member of a New England American Indian tribe visited my eighth-grade history class. He described the devastating impact on his ancestors and subsequent generations following being “discovered” by European explorers. As philosopher George Santayana wrote, Columbus "gave the world another world." And that world was far more complex than had been hinted at in my middle school textbooks.

Bill Bigelow, co-director of the Zinn Education Project and co-editor of the Rethinking Columbus, writes that over the course of his 30 years of teaching history, he’s regularly asked students who was already “here” when the explorers' ships arrived. Not once has a student answered “the Tainos” – the name of the indigenous people who populated the continent in 1492.

"How do we explain that?” asks Bigelow, writing in the Huffington Post. “We all know the name of the man who came here from Europe, but none of us knows the name of the people who were here first -- and there were hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of them. Why haven't you heard of them?"

(It's worth noting that Bigelow's book was banned last winter by the Tuscon School District after Arizona lawmakers voted to prohibit ethnic studies programs.)

There are efforts at work to make sure Columbus' role in history is understood, and taught, as a more complex element of America’s creation. The National History Education Clearinghouse, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, even offers a “Mythbusters” website of teaching materials to help educators provide a more nuanced portrait of the European explorer. But as Bigelow argues, there’s still a long way to go.

Diana King, a teacher At Waubun High School located on a Minnesota reservation and a member of the White Earth Indian Nation, approaches Columbus Day as an opportunity to focus on the power of survival.

 "We should have been wiped out," said King, in a piece published as part of the McClatchy News Service’s Progressive Media Project. "It's a miracle Native people still exist. I have never liked the word 'conquered.' We are still here after 500 years. And maybe every time Columbus Day comes around, we should rethink who the real heroes are: the explorer or the survivors?"

Some states and local municipalities, along with their school districts, have dropped observance of the federal Columbus Day holiday. A handful of communities have gone so far as to replace it with Indigenous Peoples Day, which started in Berkeley, Calif. in 1992 (the 500th anniversary of Columbus' voyage).

When it comes to the current business of schooling, America has pressing concerns beyond how to approach the teaching of Columbus: There’s a sizeable, and stubborn, achievement gap for students of American Indian and Alaskan Native (AI/AN) descent stretching from kindergarten through higher education.

On the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as “the Nation’s Report Card,” AI/AN students in grades 4 and 8 lag behind nearly all of their peers. In mathematics, the gap has widened since 2005, with AI/AN students scoring on average 16 points lower than their non-AI/AN peers in grade 4, and 19 points lower in grade 8. In reading, scores for AI/AN students have stagnated since 2005, again with significantly lower scores than those posted by non-AI/AN students.

Addressing those gaps is a priority for the Obama administration, says U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. So is responding to concerns among tribal communities that they don’t have enough resources for the education of their own children. To that end, late last week Duncan announced close to $2 million in new grants to Tribal Education Agencies, including nearly $740,000 for the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma. The goal is to improve the level of community engagement, along with increased responsibility and accountability, Duncan said.

“We have a profound obligation to ensure that all children, including American Indian and Alaska Native students, have the opportunity to receive a 21st century education,” Duncan said in a statement. “Tribal leaders, teachers, and parents are best-suited to identify and address the needs of their children, and tribal communities deserve to play a greater role in providing American Indian and Alaska Native students with the tools and support they need to be successful in school and beyond.”

So where does America stand on this anniversary of the discovery of the `New World?’ Historians are pushing for a more nuanced view of the history of the United States’ origins, and schools are grappling with how to address the equity and achievement gaps that persist more than 500 years after Columbus set sail. Achieving those goals will require looking back – and forward -- with clearer eyes.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. She also tweets @EWAEmily.

The Presidential Debate: Education Issues Break the Surface

The first presidential debate was peppered with references to education issues, although some of the more controversial topics, such as vouchers and teacher evaluations, barely surfaced. However, education did come up significantly earlier and more frequently than in 2008, when it wasn't referenced until the closing moments of the final debate in the series.

Based on my unofficial score card, President Obama made more direct references to education than Republican nominee Mitt Romney. CNN also clocked the total speaking time on education at around four minutes for Obama compared with about two minutes for Romney. That totals about six minutes out of the 90-minute debate.

Obama twice invoked the importance college affordability, and gave a shout-out to community colleges as vital to workforce retraining and boosting economic opportunity. Romney mentioned school choice, but not specifically vouchers, as well as the importance of teacher quality. The former Massachusetts governor also sang the praises, repeatedly, of the Bay State's top-ranked schools, citing them as evidence of his commitment to public education.

Romney made it clear he's a fan of Race To The Top, a central component of Obama's education policy reform. Education Secretary Arne Duncan was also the only member of the president's cabinet to be singled out for praise during the debate.

There were some education-related zingers. Obama pointed out that not every student can borrow money from their parents to pay for college, a direct reference to Romney having had the advantage of his family's wealth. Romney questioned the need for 47 different education training programs spread out across eight federal agencies.

The Politics K-12 blog noted via Twitter during the debate that Romney's brand-new pledge not to cut education funding was arguably the big news of the night. It will be interesting to see how that plays out in the coming days and weeks. As the Fordham Institute's Michael Petrilli tweeted last night, Romney's comments "are going to make it harder for him to cut ed(ucation) funding if elected."

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. She also tweets @EWAEmily. 

Bingo! Education Buzzwords to Look for in the Presidential Debate

Update: Click here for your official EWA Education Bingo card for tonight's debate.

The first presidential debate – on domestic policy issues – will be held tonight at the University of Denver, and it’s expected that education issues will come up at some point during the 90-minute face-off.

But historically, education issues tend to get short shrift from the format. As Carol Rasco, president and CEO of the nonprofit literacy advocacy organization Reading Is Fundamental recently noted, education issues didn’t surface until the tail end of the final presidential debate in 2008.

That’s not because the candidates don’t have anything to say on the issue, or that they don’t differ in their approaches. At the National Press Club on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was asked what the biggest difference might be between a second-term Obama administration and a Romney presidency. Duncan summed it up thusly: Obama believes education is an investment, while Romney sees it as an expense. That’s an oversimplification, but it certainly crystallizes the Democrats’ dire predictions of the slash-and-burn budget cuts to key programs that serve at-risk students if Romney were elected. And Romney has been decidedly light on specifics about the central planks of his education platform, although he made it clear at NBC's Education Nation last week that using federal dollars to fund the new Common Core State Standards  wouldn’t be one of them.

For more on how the two candidates differ on their education platforms, check out the Christian Science Monitor’s Five Differences on Education between Obama and Romney. And if you’re prepping your edu-speak bingo card to follow along tonight, I asked education reporters from across the country what they are expecting to hear. The list includes choice, vouchers, rigor, accountability, compete, college readiness and affordability, expectations, standards, technology, teacher quality, personalized learning, evidence based, STEM, opportunity, equity, family involvement, 21st Century learning, and deeper learning.

In all seriousness, the state of public education isn’t a joking matter. And however many minutes are ultimately devoted to the issue in tonight’s debate, it’s surely not going to be enough to satisfy the legions of students, parents, educators and community stakeholders who are waiting for answers.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. She also tweets @EWAEmily.

'Deferred Action' Program For Immigrant Students Slows Amid Concerns

The Wall St. Journal's Miriam Jordan had an interesting story about a slowdown in applications for President Obama's controversial "deferred action" program for immigrant students. Apparently uncertainty about how much information applicants must share with immigration authorities, as well as concerns about the outcome of the presidential election, is making some people reluctant to apply.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program offers a means of obtaining a legal two-year permit to work or attend school, and is not a pathway to citizenship. To qualify, individuals must be 30 years old or younger, and have lived continuously in the U.S. since June 15, 2007. They must also have stayed out of trouble with no record of serious crimes. 

As Jordan notes in her story,  Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said in a speech in June that he would put his "own long-term solution" in place that would "replace and supersede the president's temporary measure."

As a result, "a lot of people are waiting to see what happens Nov. 6 before deciding whether to take the plunge," Maurice Goldman, an immigration attorney in Tucson, Ariz., told the Wall St. Journal.

At the same time, school districts with large populations of immigrant students have been flooded with requests for transcripts from young adults who are eager to prove a central requirement of the program -- that they are either in school, have graduated, or have earned a GED.

The Los Angeles Times' Howard Blume reports that the nation's second-largest school district has an estimated 200,000 current and former students who could be eligible for the new federal program. Faced with an overwhelming number of requests and a shortage of staff due to statewide budget cuts, the city's Board of Education has set an ambitous goal of clearing out the current backlog and processing future requests within seven days.

Some questions for education reporters to consider; What has been the response to the DACA program in your community? Are schools holding informational sessions for students and families to help improve understanding of the policy? How are community groups getting involved?

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. She also tweets @EWAEmily.