Can technology help curb sexual assault on campus?

Wendy Mandell-Geller was just putting the finishing touches on a mobile app focused on reducing the incidences of sexual assault on college campuses—while also encouraging safer sex—when a new, 5-year study validating her beliefs was published in Adolescent Health, Medicine and Therapeutics. The report suggested that mobile cell phone interventions are an effective mode for delivering safe sex and sexual health information to youth and young adults (19-24 years of age).

“Youth and young adults account for nearly half of the new infections, primarily as a result of risky sexual behaviors,” according to the report, which points to mobile technology as a popular option for delivering safer sex interventions for adolescents. According to a Pew Research Center survey, 78 percent of teens now have a cell phone and almost half (47 percent) own smartphones. One in four teens (23 percent) has a tablet computer, and 93 percent have a computer or have access to one at home.

And while the report also outlined some key limitations of delivering safe sex information to youth (e.g., the fact that some of the higher risk groups may not have access to smartphones), it did validate Mandell-Geller’s assumption that mobile technology could be effectively combined with safe sex information and consent tools.…Read More

Department of Education proposes new rules for schools providing online courses

The Department of Education proposed new rules today for schools providing distance education, such as online courses, in order to get the state authorization needed to qualify for federal financial aid dollars.

The proposal will help ensure students get a quality education and that taxpayer dollars aren’t wasted on schools that fail to deliver, according to Consumers Union, the policy and advocacy division of Consumer Reports.

“Online courses have become an increasingly popular option for students seeking a higher education, especially for vocational training” said Suzanne Martindale, staff attorney for Consumers Union, who participated in the Department of Education’s negotiated rulemaking process which led to the proposed reforms. “Today’s proposal represents an important step towards creating baseline federal standards for distance education programs that will help protect students from poor quality schools that do little more than burden them with debt.”…Read More

Members introduce bipartisan bill to strengthen career and technical ed

Legislation for career and technical education aims to help more Americans obtain knowledge, skills for in-demand jobs.

Led by Republican and Democratic members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, policymakers today introduced the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act. Introduced by Reps. Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson (R-PA) and Katherine Clark (D-MA), the legislation reauthorizes and reforms the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act and will help more Americans enter the workforce with the skills they need to compete for high-skilled, in-demand jobs.

“The importance of career and technical education has grown exponentially across the country since the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act was passed unanimously by Congress in 2006,” Rep. Thompson said. “This well-engineered and robust reauthorization aims to close our nation’s skills gap by creating clear pathways to education and training for students eager to pursue careers in vital technical fields.   As co-chair of the House Career and Technical Education Caucus, I am proud to join my colleagues in introducing the bipartisan Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act.”

“Every student deserves a fair chance to earn the skills needed to thrive in the modern workforce,”said Rep. Clark. “That’s why I’m introducing the bipartisan Strengthening Career and Technical Education Act for the 21st Century Act. This bill ensures our career and technical education system is flexible enough to adapt to the needs of emerging industries, is accountable to ensure every child has a chance to succeed, and is providing robust support for our educators. I look forward to working with the House Education and Workforce Committee to pass it into law.”…Read More

The 5 un-sexy higher-ed issues candidates should discuss

Many say the presidential candidates’ debates and discussions lack a focus on higher education—here are the issues the candidates should research and discuss.

The presidential campaign and debates among candidates have shed light on the issues most important to the U.S. public—and among those issues is higher education, from financing it, to institutions’ accreditation, to accessibility.

As Generation Z takes ownership of its higher-education future, the following issues will become even more important as a new president takes office.

Here, we offer a handful of higher education issues, along with important developments pertaining to each issue, which should be on the presidential candidates’ radar and present in their debates as November nears.…Read More

Why traditional institutions must assess or be assessed

Purdue University scholar discusses what standardized assessments for institutions may look like, what they should incorporate.

It’s a debate that’s spreading across the country: should colleges and universities have standardized assessments to measure student performance metrics? The Obama administration says yes, while most campus faculty and students say no. What should be done?

According to Fredrik deBoer, a scholar and lecturer at Purdue University, it’s only a matter of time before institutions are forced to assess student performance in a standardized way, so they might as well get ahead of the curve in order to retain control of those assessments.

“Every conversation that’s taking place about higher education today ultimately ends up around assessments,” said Kevin Carey, New America’s education policy program director, during a recent New America panel hosted in Washington, D.C.  “Whenever there’s talk about price, value, outcomes, accreditation, innovation implementation, et cetera, it always comes down to proving student learning somehow. And weirdly enough, there’s very little solid research on student learning at the individual student- and department-level.”…Read More

Can $47M help improve universities’ principal training?

District administrators say university principal programs need to improve

A new five-year, $47 million initiative from the Wallace Foundation will help improve universities’ principal training, especially for the nation’s highest-need schools.

The initiative is prompted in part by new studies pointing to a concern that many programs are falling short of school district needs and expectations.

The University Preparation Program Initiative will fund the redesign of up to six university programs, all in states with policies supportive of high-quality principal training.…Read More

New service helps with digital accessibility requirements

Perkins School for the Blind launches Perkins Access to help organizations comply with upcoming federal rules for digital accessibility

accessibility-policyA new resource from Perkins School for the Blind will help higher education institutions and other organizations become ready to ensure their digital content is accessible to those with special needs, as required by forthcoming federal rules.

The Perkins Access digital accessibility service is designed to help those organizations that lack in-house expertise to fully and adequately evaluate their digital assets and ensure they meet accessibility standards.

The service was spurred in part by the growing importance of online and digital communications in school and the workforce.…Read More

5 higher-ed issues that should dominate presidential debates

Many say the presidential candidates’ debates and discussions lack a focus on higher education—here are the issues the candidates should research

presidential-candidatesThe presidential campaign and debates among candidates have shed light on the issues most important to the U.S. public—and among those issues is higher education, from financing it, to institutions’ accreditation, to accessibility.

As Generation Z takes ownership of its higher-education future, the following issues will become even more important as a new president takes office.

Here, we offer a handful of higher education issues, along with important developments pertaining to each issue, which should be on the presidential candidates’ radar and present in their debates as November nears.…Read More

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