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University admission quotas in China: parents and a teenage daughter gather outside the closed gate of a university
InformED Report

InformED Report: Chinese Parents Protest University Admission Quotas

by EdCircuit Staff
written by EdCircuit Staff 5 minutes read

Play video: The InformED Report: Episode 32 (1 minute 33 seconds)

The InformED Report: Episode 321 min 33 sedCircuit on Vimeo

The InformED Report from edCircuit for February 14, 2017, began in China, where parents had protested university admission quotas that moved places away from wealthy provinces. The edition then followed New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña’s call at New York University’s EdTech Week for teachers to act as facilitators rather than lecturers, and closed in Dubai, where schools were building programs to teach tolerance.

Taken together, the three stories dealt with fairness and culture in education: who gets access to scarce places, how the teacher’s role changes as technology spreads, and how a school community learns to treat difference with respect.

In this edition

  • Jiangsu province is setting aside 38,000 tier one university places for students from ten poorer inland provinces, and middle-class parents have protested in 13 cities.
  • Carmen Fariña told NYU’s EdTech Week that teachers should become facilitators, not lecturers, as technology becomes part of every classroom.
  • InformED Report spotlight: Dubai’s education authority gathered about 500 teachers to share programs that build tolerance and reduce bullying through positive education.

Why are Chinese parents protesting university admission quotas?

Foreign Policy reported on February 6, 2017, that anger among China’s middle class over the education system was growing. The immediate cause was an announcement the previous May that Jiangsu, a wealthy coastal province, would allocate 38,000 places at tier one universities to students from ten poorer inland provinces. Those places would no longer be available to Jiangsu students. Beijing and Shanghai, home to universities such as Tsinghua, Peking University, and Fudan, did not receive a comparable reduction.

The day after the announcement, more than a thousand parents gathered near the provincial education authority, and protests followed in 13 cities across Jiangsu and in Hebei, the other province hardest hit by the change. The article set out the arithmetic behind the frustration: about 24 percent of Beijing students were admitted to first-tier universities, against 9 percent of Jiangsu students, although entry depends on the same national entrance examination, the gaokao.

The article also described the pressure of that examination, with students in class until 9:30 in the evening and families paying for hours of extra study each day. For American schools and universities, the story helped explain why so many Chinese families were looking at education overseas.

Carmen Fariña: teachers as facilitators, not lecturers

Carmen Fariña, chancellor of the New York City school system, the largest public school district in the country, spoke at New York University’s EdTech Week, a weeklong event co-hosted by StartEd. NewsOne reported on February 2, 2017, that she urged teachers to become facilitators rather than lecturers as technology becomes a regular part of classroom life.

Fariña said the goal goes beyond buying the newest software, which can strain budgets. Technology, in her view, should support a range of teaching approaches suited to how children learn, and should help produce students who think critically rather than memorize and repeat information. She warned that schools risk losing tech-savvy middle schoolers if they do not engage them with technology, and she acknowledged that many teachers face a learning curve and may learn some software from their own students.

For district leaders, Fariña’s remarks were a reminder that purchasing is the easier half of technology adoption. Professional learning that helps teachers change how they run a lesson is what determines whether a device or program improves instruction.

InformED Report spotlight: Dubai schools teach tolerance

Schools in Dubai were starting programs to promote tolerance on campus. Gulf News reported on What Works, an event hosted by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) at Amity University in Dubai International Academic City and attended by about 500 teachers. Its theme was tolerance, with the aim of encouraging positive education across school communities.

Justin Robinson of Geelong Grammar School in Melbourne, Australia, described how his school had rebuilt its policies around kindness six years earlier, to the point that a student could not receive a detention even for misconduct and always had someone to talk to. He said that reducing bullying becomes possible when schools discuss empathy as part of positive education. KHDA director-general Dr. Abdullah Al Karam said tolerance leads to happier schools with fewer problems such as bullying. Students had prepared research projects on tolerance for the event, and the episode reported that they were responding well to the programs.

For school leaders elsewhere, the Dubai example showed a system-level approach to school climate, in which an education authority convenes teachers around a single theme and invites schools from other countries to share what they have tried.

Sources

About the InformED Report

The InformED Report is edCircuit’s short news program on education. This edition first ran on February 14, 2017. In 2026, edCircuit re-presented it with a new anchor and this full written account. Both report the stories as they stood on that date and link the original reporting, so readers can see exactly where each claim came from.

Subscribe to edCircuit to stay up to date on all of our shows, podcasts, news, and thought leadership articles.

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Free college in San Francisco: a student walks up stone steps through the open doors of a college, a cable car on the hill behind
InformED Report

InformED Report: San Francisco Makes City College Free for Residents

by EdCircuit Staff
written by EdCircuit Staff 5 minutes read

Play video: The InformED Report Episode 31 (1 minute 30 seconds)

The InformED Report Episode 311 min 30 sedCircuit on Vimeo

The InformED Report from edCircuit for February 14, 2017, opened with San Francisco’s plan to offer free City College tuition to residents, the first city in the country to do so. The edition then turned to Ireland, which had doubled the time international postgraduates may stay and work after finishing their degrees, and closed with an Australian charity that equips children living in domestic violence shelters for school.

Each story dealt with a practical barrier between a student and the classroom, whether tuition, a visa deadline, or a school uniform a family cannot afford, and with who takes responsibility for removing it.

In this edition

  • San Francisco will cover tuition at City College for residents of at least a year and a day, backed by nearly $5.4 million a year from a real estate transfer tax.
  • Ireland has extended its stay-back option for non-EU master’s and doctoral graduates from 12 months to 24 months, with work of up to 40 hours a week allowed.
  • InformED Report spotlight: Zephyr Education delivers uniforms, shoes, and school supplies to children living in domestic violence shelters in Queensland, Australia.

San Francisco makes City College free for residents

Mayor Ed Lee announced on February 6, 2017, that City College of San Francisco would become free for students who live in the city, regardless of income. To qualify, a student must have lived in San Francisco for at least a year and a day, and both full-time and part-time students are eligible. ABC7 News reported that about 30,000 local students were expected to benefit from the following fall.

The city committed nearly $5.4 million a year to City College to cover tuition. The money comes from an increase in the real estate transfer tax on commercial and residential properties valued above $5 million, giving the program a dedicated local revenue source. Supervisor Jane Kim said free tuition would give more San Franciscans the opportunity to enter and stay in the middle class.

Tuition is only part of what a community college student pays. The college’s student expense budget estimated textbooks and supplies at about $1,700 a year for a full-time student, before transportation. Some of the new funding was set aside to offset those costs, and full-time students receiving financial aid were to receive an additional $500. For San Francisco counselors, the change opened a cheaper path from high school to college and a reason to explain the residency rule to families.

Ireland gives international postgraduates two years to stay and work

Ireland extended its stay-back option for graduates from outside the European Union and European Economic Area who complete a master’s degree, postgraduate diploma, or doctorate at an Irish institution. ICEF Monitor reported on February 8, 2017, that the permitted period after graduation rose from 12 months to 24 months for these graduates. Honours bachelor’s graduates kept a 12-month option.

During the stay-back period, graduates may work up to 40 hours a week while they look for employment or decide whether to continue their studies, and they may then apply for a work permit or green card. The change built on a national strategy launched in October 2016 that aimed to raise international enrollment in Irish higher education by 33 percent, to 44,000 students, by 2019/20.

For American educators, the story showed how other countries were competing for internationally mobile students. Post-study work rights are part of what families weigh when a student considers graduate study abroad.

InformED Report spotlight: school supplies for children in domestic violence shelters

The spotlight turned to Zephyr Education, an Australian charity founded in 2013 to help children whose schooling has been disrupted by domestic and family violence. When a mother and her children move into a shelter, the children often have to start at a new school with little of what that school expects. Zephyr’s volunteers deliver what a child needs to begin, including uniforms, shoes, and school supplies, so that the child can arrive ready to learn alongside classmates.

The charity was started by Isabella Bevan, who managed the uniform shop of a large secondary school and was moved by a newspaper article about these children. The episode reported that almost 3,000 children in the Queensland area spend time in domestic violence shelters.

The lesson reaches beyond Australia: a child who enrolls mid-year after leaving an unsafe home should not also stand out for lacking a uniform or supplies. Registrars, counselors, and principals who know which local agencies can provide those things quickly, and who handle such enrollments discreetly, can make the first day at a new school considerably easier.

Sources

About the InformED Report

The InformED Report is edCircuit’s short news program on education. This edition first ran on February 14, 2017. In 2026, edCircuit re-presented it with a new anchor and this full written account. Both report the stories as they stood on that date and link the original reporting, so readers can see exactly where each claim came from.

Subscribe to edCircuit to stay up to date on all of our shows, podcasts, news, and thought leadership articles.

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Frustrated teenager over a heavily erased math worksheet, lacking math skills
GlobalInformED ReportSTEM and STEAM EducationK-12Math Education

U.S. Teenagers Lacking Math Skills

by EdCircuit Staff
written by EdCircuit Staff 5 minutes read

Play video: The InformED Report: Episode 24 (1 minute 25 seconds)

The InformED Report: Episode 241 min 25 sedCircuit on Vimeo

When the 2015 Programme for International Student Assessment results came out in December 2016, the headline for American schools was hard to soften: U.S. 15-year-olds ranked 31st of the 35 OECD countries in mathematics, and their scores had fallen since 2012. The InformED Report for February 10, 2017 looked at what educators were saying in response. One argument was that the math gap starts long before high school. The other was that districts already sat on the data they needed to act, if they had the time and tools to use it. The edition closed with a scholarship offer for 21 young women freed from Boko Haram in Nigeria.

In this edition

  • U.S. 15-year-olds ranked 31st of 35 OECD countries in math on PISA 2015, and their scores had fallen since 2012.
  • Educators argued that math, like reading, has to start in the early years, and PISA linked preschool attendance with higher math scores at 15.
  • Learning analytics could help districts act on the data they already collect, but teachers and leaders lacked the time to use it.
  • Robert F. Smith offered to pay for the education of 21 Chibok schoolgirls freed from Boko Haram.

U.S. math scores and the case for starting early

The PISA results gave the debate its numbers. American teenagers scored below the OECD average in math, and the gap with high-performing systems such as Singapore, Japan and Estonia had widened. Writing in The Virgin Islands Daily News, John Green argued that the response had to begin with the youngest learners. His case was that schools and families treat early reading as essential but leave early math to chance, and that number sense built before kindergarten shapes how children handle math for years afterward.

Education Week’s Sarah D. Sparks reported a related thread in the same PISA data. Students who had attended preschool tended to score higher in math at 15, and many of the countries at the top of the table invest heavily in early childhood education. Sparks was careful about the limits of that finding. PISA shows an association, not a cause, and the researchers she spoke with warned that it was hard to know which parts of other countries’ preschool systems would carry over to the United States.

For district leaders, the practical point was the same in both pieces. A weak result at 15 is the end of a long chain. Schools that wanted different math outcomes in high school had reasons to look at what happened in pre-K and the early grades: how much time went to number work, how confident early-childhood teachers were with math, and whether families were given ways to practise counting and measuring at home.

Learning analytics and the time problem in K-12

The second story turned from test results to the data schools already collect. In EdTech Magazine, Elizabeth Combs argued that learning analytics could point teachers and district leaders to where students needed help. Too little of that data reached the classroom, she said, because educators simply lacked the time to find relevant research and pull out the figures that mattered to them. Turning those figures into a plan for a school was harder still.

Her answer was support rather than another mandate. That meant tools and partners that do the sorting, and research summaries written for the decisions a principal or curriculum director actually faces. The underlying question has not gone away. Most districts gather attendance, assessment and course data every week. Far fewer have the staff time and the clear questions that turn it into changes in instruction.

InformED Report spotlight: an education for 21 Chibok girls

The spotlight went to Nigeria. In April 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped 276 schoolgirls from their school in Chibok. Twenty-one of them were released in October 2016, and The Huffington Post’s Taryn Finley reported that American businessman Robert F. Smith, founder of the private equity firm Vista Equity Partners, had offered to pay for their education. Nigerian officials said the young women would study at the American University of Nigeria in Yola. Smith also said he would take responsibility for the education of any other Chibok students who were later freed.

The story was a reminder of why the original attack was aimed at a school. Boko Haram’s name is commonly translated as “Western education is forbidden,” and the Chibok kidnapping became a global symbol of attacks on girls’ schooling. A scholarship could not undo what the students had lived through, but it put the right to an education back at the centre of their story.

Further reading from that week

Sources

About the InformED Report

The InformED Report is edCircuit’s short news program on education. This edition first ran on February 10, 2017. In 2026, edCircuit re-presented it with a new anchor and this full written account. Both report the stories as they stood on that date and link the original reporting, so readers can see exactly where each claim came from.

Subscribe to edCircuit to stay up to date on all of our shows, podcasts, news, and thought leadership articles.

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Close-up top view of hands typing on a laptop at a home desk surrounded by study materials
InformED ReportDigital CitizenshipK-12

Students Using Social Media to Become Online Influencers

by EdCircuit Staff
written by EdCircuit Staff 4 minutes read

Play video: The InformED Report: Episode 23 (1 minute 28 seconds)

The InformED Report: Episode 231 min 28 sedCircuit on Vimeo

The InformED Report for February 2, 2017 looked at students using social media to become online influencers, and at how colleges and universities were adapting. The edition also covered the spread of flexible seating in early grade classrooms and featured Megan Gross, a Poway special education teacher named one of four finalists for National Teacher of the Year.

Taken together, the stories described classrooms changing in two directions at once: in how young children sit and work during the day, and in what older students hope to do with the media skills they bring to school.

In this edition

  • Teachers such as first-grade teacher Sheremy Haas of Harvey Dunn Elementary School replaced rows of desks with flexible seating so young students can move while they learn.
  • Syracuse University professor Corey Takahashi told NPR that many of his students now aspire to be online influencers rather than writers or filmmakers.
  • Northern State University opened Twitter conversations with President Timothy Downs to engage students and the community.
  • Poway special education teacher Megan Gross was named one of four finalists for National Teacher of the Year.

Flexible seating in early grade classrooms

Many early grade teachers were moving away from rows of desks and chairs. The Argus Leader reported on Sheremy Haas, a first-grade teacher at Harvey Dunn Elementary School, whose students choose where they sit. Some use cushions on the floor, while others sit on yoga balls or wobble chairs, which tip gently from side to side. Her colleague, second-grade teacher Kelly Allen, described the purpose as helping students find ways to wiggle while they work.

Teachers who adopted flexible seating reported that their students were more engaged. The evidence at the time came mainly from teacher observation rather than controlled studies, so principals considering the approach would do well to treat it as a classroom management choice to be tested, with attention to cost, durability and the needs of students who work best at a traditional desk.

Students using social media to become online influencers

Corey Takahashi, who teaches multimedia storytelling at Syracuse University, told NPR about a change he was seeing in his students. His classes were once filled with students who hoped to become writers and filmmakers. Now many wanted to become online influencers. Takahashi said that teaching these students had been as much a learning experience for him as for them, since they often arrived knowing platforms and audiences better than their instructors.

Institutions were also using social media to reach students directly. KSFY reported that Northern State University in South Dakota opened its Twitter account so that anyone could put questions to the new university president, Timothy Downs. The exchange went well enough that the university hoped to bring the president and other staff back for more. Justin Fraase, the university’s new director of marketing and communications, said the aim was to engage with students in as many ways as possible, including social media. For high school and college leaders, both stories pointed to the same need: students who build an online audience also need instruction in judgment, credibility and the responsibilities that come with being widely read.

InformED Report spotlight: Megan Gross, National Teacher of the Year finalist

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Megan Gross, a special education teacher in Poway, California, was one of four finalists for National Teacher of the Year. Gross had spent nine years teaching special education. In her classroom, students are encouraged to be brave and to feel a sense of belonging.

The honor could make Gross an ambassador for the profession and an advocate for welcoming students with developmental disabilities into mainstream classes. Gross said she was shocked but thrilled by the news and saw the award as an opportunity. Her selection drew national attention to inclusive practice at a time when many districts were expanding it.

Further reading from that week

Sources

About the InformED Report

The InformED Report is edCircuit’s short news program on education. This edition first ran on February 2, 2017. In 2026, edCircuit re-presented it with a new anchor and this full written account. Both report the stories as they stood on that date and link the original reporting, so readers can see exactly where each claim came from.

Subscribe to edCircuit to stay up to date on all of our shows, podcasts, news, and thought leadership articles.

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Red FREE EDUCATION TO ALL banner hanging from a brick building with a clock and an American flag
InformED ReportHigher EducationCollege AdmissionsFAFSA and Financial Aid

A Closer Look at Free Tuition

by EdCircuit Staff
written by EdCircuit Staff 4 minutes read

Play video: The InformED Report: Episode 21 (1 minute 36 seconds)

The InformED Report: Episode 211 min 36 sedCircuit on Vimeo

The InformED Report for January 27, 2017 took a closer look at free tuition, as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed covering in-state college tuition for eligible families. The edition also examined whether the record 83 percent U.S. high school graduation rate reflected real learning gains, and it featured two Oakland schools that won $17.2 million in federal school improvement grants.

Each story touched on the same question from a different angle: what it takes to move students successfully from high school into college, and how public money is used to get them there.

In this edition

  • The Washington Post questioned whether the record 83 percent high school graduation rate was inflated by credit recovery programs used in 88 percent of districts.
  • Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed free tuition at New York’s public two- and four-year colleges for families earning up to $125,000 a year.
  • Two Oakland Unified elementary schools were awarded $17.2 million in federal school improvement grants.

Is the record high school graduation rate real?

In mid-October 2016, federal data showed the U.S. high school graduation rate had reached an all-time high of 83 percent for the 2014-15 school year, with gains for every student group, including low-income students, students with disabilities and English learners. In the District of Columbia, the rate rose from 53 percent to 69 percent, the largest increase anywhere.

A January column by Jay Mathews in The Washington Post argued that the figure may be an illusion. Mathews pointed to the spread of credit recovery, used by 88 percent of school districts, in which students who fail a course can make up the credit, often through an online course. Reports suggested the bar for passing those courses had been lowered, and Mathews noted that no research showed the higher graduation numbers reflected learning gains. For district leaders, the column raised a practical point: a graduation rate is only as meaningful as the standards behind each credit, and credit recovery programs need the same scrutiny as regular coursework.

A closer look at free tuition in New York

Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed free in-state tuition at New York’s public colleges for eligible residents. He announced the plan at LaGuardia Community College in Queens alongside Senator Bernie Sanders, who had campaigned for free tuition at public colleges during his presidential run. The proposal, called the Excelsior Scholarship, would cover tuition at two- and four-year public colleges for families earning up to $125,000 a year.

Critics responded quickly. Many said the plan did not do enough for low-income students, whose tuition is often already covered by federal and state aid. Robert Kelchen, a professor at Seton Hall University, pointed out that students face many expenses in addition to tuition. For high school counselors and college access staff, the debate was a reminder that “free tuition” and “free college” are different things, and that families need help planning for the full cost of attendance.

InformED Report spotlight: Oakland schools win $17.2 million in improvement grants

Two East Oakland elementary schools, Futures Elementary School and Community United Elementary School, were awarded a combined $17.2 million in federal school improvement grants. The five-year grants come through the California Department of Education. Both schools share the Havenscourt-Lockwood campus and serve mainly low-income students, many of them English learners.

School leaders welcomed what they described as a second chance. David Montes de Oca, the district’s senior deputy chief of continuous school improvement, said the district was committed to using the funds to raise the quality of education over the long term. A five-year grant of that size allows a school to plan staffing and programs over several years rather than one budget cycle at a time.

Further reading from that week

Sources

About the InformED Report

The InformED Report is edCircuit’s short news program on education. This edition first ran on January 27, 2017. In 2026, edCircuit re-presented it with a new anchor and this full written account. Both report the stories as they stood on that date and link the original reporting, so readers can see exactly where each claim came from.

Subscribe to edCircuit to stay up to date on all of our shows, podcasts, news, and thought leadership articles.

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Early education pays off: a preschooler builds a rising staircase of colorful blocks toward a sunlit window
InformED Report

InformED Report: Early Education Pays Off, From Preschool to Eighth Grade

by EdCircuit Staff
written by EdCircuit Staff 4 minutes read

Play video: The InformED Report: Episode 15 (1 minute 32 seconds)

The InformED Report: Episode 151 min 32 sedCircuit on Vimeo

The InformED Report for January 15, 2017 looked at early education and why it pays off for children long after preschool. The edition covered a 13-year study reported by MindShift, a call from Save the Children for more early years support in Scotland, and the passage of Proposition 58, which reopened the door to bilingual education in California public schools.

The three stories shared a common thread. Each one concerned what happens to children before and during their first years of formal schooling, and each raised practical questions for district leaders about how early learning and language support are funded, staffed and offered.

In this edition

  • A 13-year study reported by MindShift found that children in quality early education programs had higher test scores all the way through eighth grade.
  • Save the Children reported that 46 percent of the primary one teachers it surveyed in Scotland said some pupils struggle to understand simple instructions.
  • California voters approved Proposition 58 with 72.6 percent of the vote, allowing public schools to offer bilingual education again.

What does a 13-year study say about early education?

MindShift wrote about a 13-year study that examined the value of early education programs over time. According to the research, the years as early as preschool play a major role in later academic success. Young children who took part in quality programs had higher test scores, and the advantage was still visible in eighth grade rather than fading in the first years of elementary school.

The finding matters because a common objection to early education spending is that its benefits wash out by the middle grades. A result that holds through eighth grade gives district and state leaders a stronger basis for treating preschool as part of the K-12 pipeline rather than as a separate service. The word “quality” carries weight in the finding, however. The benefits were tied to programs that met a standard, which means staffing, training and curriculum decisions shape the return as much as access does.

Scotland: poverty and the early years

The picture is not the same everywhere, inside or outside the United States. In Scotland, Save the Children called on the Scottish government to boost resources for early education. The charity surveyed 100 primary one teachers. Of those, 46 percent said some pupils struggle to understand simple instructions, 84 percent said children with delayed development can struggle to concentrate in class, and 88 percent said pupils with speech and language problems fall behind their peers.

Save the Children asked for more teachers working in nurseries and more staff with specialist training in speech and language development. Vicky Crichton, the charity’s policy manager in Scotland, said that poverty is damaging too many children’s learning before they have even set foot in a classroom. The charity’s research found that children in poorer communities were twice as likely to have these problems as children in the least deprived areas. For school leaders, the survey is a reminder that gaps in language often arrive at the school door already formed, and that the first year of school is where they are first measured.

Bilingual education returns to California

EdSource reported that on Election Day, 72.6 percent of California voters approved Proposition 58, a measure that brings bilingual education back to public schools. The vote carried all 58 counties and effectively set aside Proposition 227, the 1998 initiative that had required most English learners to be taught in English.

While many educators welcomed the result, some warned that the work was only beginning. As the Los Angeles Times noted, Proposition 58 does not technically require anything. Districts now have the option to start bilingual programs, but none is obliged to. That choice matters for the roughly 1.2 million Spanish-speaking students in English learning programs across California. For district leaders, the measure moved the decision from the ballot to the local level, which means program design, bilingual teacher recruitment and parent outreach became questions each district has to answer for itself.

Sources

About the InformED Report

The InformED Report is edCircuit’s short news program on education. This edition first ran on January 15, 2017. In 2026, edCircuit re-presented it with a new anchor and this full written account. Both report the stories as they stood on that date and link the original reporting, so readers can see exactly where each claim came from.

Subscribe to edCircuit to stay up to date on all of our shows, podcasts, news, and thought leadership articles.

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