Latest news with #NCES
Forbes
5 days ago
- General
- Forbes
Education Success: How To Successfully Graduate
Graduating is not just a milestone—it is a mission. Whether you are returning to school mid-career, picking up your education after years away, or navigating college for the first time, the road to graduation is rarely a straight line. Success is not driven by talent alone, nor by sheer willpower in isolation. It requires a thoughtful blend of strategy, structure, and support. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), adult learners, first-generation college students, and individuals juggling work and education often need tailored strategies and dedicated institutional support to stay on track and complete their degrees. This makes it clear: effective graduation planning must account for real-life responsibilities and provide students with systems that support—not just expect—success. This article outlines the core practices that help learners stay the course and cross the finish line with confidence. According to a 2024 survey published in Higher Ed Dive, students often don't leave college due to a lack of intelligence or motivation. This research shows that Financial hardship (86%), emotional or mental stress (80%), family or job responsibilities (73%), health issues (66%), misalignment of courses with career goals (65%), lack of belonging or campus engagement (65%), technology challenges (59%), and inconsistent campus support (57%) are among the top factors impacting students' ability to persist in higher education. These factors, combined with emotional burdens like burnout or imposter syndrome, can make it exceedingly difficult for students to persist in their academic journeys. But here is the thing: the students who do finish often have something powerful in common, they know why they are doing this. As per the research by Tope et al. (2020), students who utilize effective coping strategies, including mindfulness and emotional regulation, tend to develop greater academic resilience, which supports improved academic performance and helps them overcome challenges more successfully. Not just vaguely. Not just 'to get a better job.' Their why is personal, urgent, and emotionally anchored. It is what keeps them going when motivation runs dry and life throws curveballs. So before diving into study strategies and time hacks, take a moment to reflect on these three questions: Write down your answers. Keep them on your phone, post them on your wall, or even turn them into a screensaver. When midterms get rough or you feel like giving up, return to your 'why.' Let it speak louder than your doubts. Every winning team needs a playbook. Your graduation game plan should include: Grit is the ability to keep pushing forward when things get tough—and they will. Deadlines, unexpected life events, or a disappointing grade can shake your confidence. What makes the difference? Resilience. To build grit, break down overwhelming tasks into manageable steps, celebrate small wins along the way, and regularly reflect, adjust your approach, and keep moving forward. Angela Duckworth's research on grit shows that perseverance, not talent, is the key predictor of long-term success. She suggests that grit may be even more crucial than intelligence, as students who cultivate grit tend to recover more effectively and come back stronger after facing setbacks. Seek Resources Before Crisis Hits Do not wait until you are overwhelmed to seek help. Most colleges provide a variety of support services aimed at helping students succeed, such as tutoring and writing centers, mental health counseling, financial aid advising, and faculty office hours. Accessing these resources early demonstrates proactive commitment to your education and is a smart strategy for graduation—not a sign of weakness. As Gray and Swanston explain in their Forbes article, colleges typically offer a comprehensive range of services, including libraries, tutoring services, writing centers, mental health services and medical care. that support students throughout their academic journey. Align Your Environment With Your Goal Your physical and digital surroundings play a crucial role in your success. Create a dedicated study space free from distractions, limit screen time during critical focus periods, and use apps like Forest or Freedom to block distractions. As James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, reminds us, quoted in Homayun's Forbes article, 'You do not rise to the level of your goals; you fall to the level of your systems.' In other words, the habits you develop and the environment you create ultimately determine your success. Graduation Day getty Finally, hold a mental picture of your graduation day. Picture the gown, the applause, the sense of achievement. This vision anchors your 'why' and re-energizes you in tough moments. Graduating is not an accident. It is the result of purpose, planning, perseverance—and people. Whether you are juggling work, raising a family, or simply navigating a challenging curriculum, you can graduate. The key lies in doing it deliberately. With a clear mind, the right habits, and a supportive circle, your path to the finish line is not only possible—it is inevitable.
Miami Herald
6 days ago
- General
- Miami Herald
Education Department misses key deadline for delivering statistics report
UPDATE: After this story was published, the Education Department updated its website late Monday afternoon, June 2, explaining that the new Report on the Condition of Education would no longer be a 'singular report' and instead update indicators on a rolling basis. The department published a sparse Part I highlights report on five topics. For nearly 160 years, the federal government has been producing a statistical report on the condition and progress of education. In 2002, as part of the Education Sciences Reform Act, Congress gave the Education Department an annual deadline for that report: June 1. But no "Report on the Condition of Education" was delivered by June 1 of this year, the first time the Education Department has failed to meet this statutory obligation. The Education Department did not respond to email questions about the reasons for not meeting the deadline. But several former department employees, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation, said that outside contractors do most of the work to produce the report and those contracts were canceled in February by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Then, in March, Education Department employees who work on the report within the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) were fired as part of mass staff reductions. There was no one left - inside or outside the department - to do the work. Related: Our free weekly newsletter alerts you to what research says about schools and classrooms. "The Condition of Education is a herculean effort every year that requires so many people at NCES to coordinate and prepare for Congress," said Stephen Provasnik, a deputy commissioner of NCES who retired in January. "We've never missed a deadline before. But NCES has never had only three staff since the 1860s," he added, referring to its predecessor statistics office. The NCES produces a wide array of statistics on students and teachers throughout the year. The Condition of Education bundles all of these tables together with explanations, charts and figures so that the public can understand trends, such as how the demographics of students have changed over time. Educators, researchers and policymakers use the report as a reference manual, akin to a corporate annual report. The tables that would have been assembled for this year's report were largely produced before President Donald Trump took office. Related: DOGE's death blow to education studies Going forward, however, fewer data tables are expected to be produced because separate contracts for a range of data collections were also terminated in February. Some of those data collections have been restarted, but with less funding. Three contractors were supposed to have helped produce the Condition of Education: Research Triangle Institute (RTI), Manhattan Strategy Group and Optimal Solutions. A federal website that tracks federal contracts shows that "other administrative action" occurred on May 28 on the Manhattan Strategy Group and Optimal Solutions contracts, but it is unclear what those actions were. Committee staff for Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Michigan), the chairman of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, did not reply to emails asking for a comment on the Education Department's failure to meet its statutory obligations. Contact staff writer Jill Barshay at 212-678-3595, jillbarshay.35 on Signal, or barshay@ This story about the Condition of Education report was written by Jill Barshay and produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Proof Points and other Hechinger newsletters. The post Education Department misses key deadline for delivering statistics report appeared first on The Hechinger Report.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US teacher quits, saying kids ‘can't even read' — and she says they need to be ‘cut off' from technology ASAP
A 10th-grade English teacher is walking away from the classroom — and lighting up social media on her way out. Hannah Maria, a 20-something former educator, says she's quitting because of a sharp drop in literacy and bad behavior in her classroom. 'I really don't have a lot of faith in some of these kids that I teach,' she said in a TikTok video circulating on X. Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers. Here's how I'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 5 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast) Nervous about the stock market in 2025? Find out how you can access this $1B private real estate fund (with as little as $10) Her emotional announcement has since gone viral — even though her account is now private, the video has roughly 7 million views. According to her, kids in her class can't sit still, have diminished attention spans and can barely read or write. And the biggest factor contributing to this decline in learning ability and behavior, she believes, is their excessive reliance on technology. 'Technology is directly contributing to the literacy decrease we are seeing in this country right now,' Maria said in her post. Here's why she believes the problem could get worse if lawmakers, regulators and school boards don't step in right away. The overreliance on AI-enabled devices has become a crutch that most students can't do without, according to Maria. 'A lot of these kids don't know how to read because they've had things read to them or they can click a button and have things read out loud to them in seconds,' she explained. 'Their attention spans are weaning because everything is high-stimulation and they can just scroll [away from something] in less than a minute. They can't sit still for very long.' Annual reading and math skill assessments by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) seem to confirm her observation. Average scores have declined 7 points in reading and 14 points in mathematics over the past decade. Younger kids are struggling too. Less than half (47%) of kindergarten students were able to read at grade level during the 2021 to 2022 school year, according to Real Clear Education. School-aged children may be struggling with reading because they're not practicing as much as they used to. According to Steam Ahead's analysis of National Assessment of Educational Progress data, only 17% of 13-year-olds reported reading for fun almost daily — the lowest rate since 1984. Instead, children find screen time more engaging and enjoyable. A study published in the JAMA Pediatrics medical journal found that adolescents aged 13 to 18 years spend 8.5 hours daily on average using screen-based media. This tech addiction is leaving many young Americans unprepared for life outside school, according to Maria. 'I understand that the world is going in a direction where AI is going to be more prevalent, even in the workforce someday,' she said. 'That still doesn't take away [from the fact that] these are basic skills you need to survive.' She calls on regulators and school boards to step in and solve the issue before it's too late. Read more: Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says — and that 'anyone' can do it Maria's recommended solution for the problem is to 'cut off technology from these kids, probably until they go to college.' More than a third of U.S. adults seem to share Maria's view that the use of AI has 'very or somewhat negative' impacts on the K12 education system, according to a 2023 YouGov poll. However, most adults are not in favor of restrictions or an outright ban. Only 24% of U.S. adults said students should be prevented from using AI while 52% said schools should teach children how to use AI appropriately. Nevertheless, if AI tools become more potent and pervasive while literacy rates continue to drop, teachers, regulators and parents may have to rethink the way they educate the next generation. Here are 5 'must have' items that Americans (almost) always overpay for — and very quickly regret. How many are hurting you? Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market — here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead Robert Kiyosaki warns of a 'Greater Depression' coming to the US — with millions of Americans going poor. But he says these 2 'easy-money' assets will bring in 'great wealth'. How to get in now This is how American car dealers use the '4-square method' to make big profits off you — and how you can ensure you pay a fair price for all your vehicle costs Like what you read? Join 200,000+ readers and get the best of Moneywise straight to your inbox every week. This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Louisiana's rural, low-income schools will be hit hardest by DOE cut. What to know
On March 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to close the U.S. Department of Education, giving states' the authority over education. The executive order expresses that funds for schools and students that are dependent on funding will not be cut, such as K-12 students, students with special needs, college student loans and other various programs for students. However, since department experts handling statistics and data who work to determine if schools qualify for funding will no longer hold those job positions, it's currently unclear how grants are to remain intact. The U.S. Department of Education provides federal funding and support to schools in Louisiana in order to improve the access to education, as well as the quality of education. This is done through financial aid based on need or merit, instruction and assessment resources, as well as support for special needs students. However, without the U.S. Department of Education, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) will be lost, which will have an especially negative impact on low-income schools, NPR reported. Without the NCES, there will not be the necessary staff needed to properly allocate funds and, in the absence of such funds, school districts' budgets are likely to suffer. While state and local governments are responsible for providing the majority funding for schools, the federal government can provide essential funding for high-needs schools. High-needs schools with high percentages of low-income students rely on the Title 1 federal education program in order to receive supplemental funding. There are approximately 864 schools in Louisiana that are eligible for Title 1, which represents 50.7% of all students within those schools, according to the NCES. The recent executive order does not specifically outline, nor mention, any details regarding the Title 1 program. Additionally, the executive order does not mention the future of the Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP), which grants funding to low-income and rural school districts. In Louisiana, 31 out of 89 school districts are considered rural, according to NCES data. Presley Bo Tyler is a reporter for the Louisiana Deep South Connect Team for Gannett/USA Today. Find her on X @PresleyTyler02 and email at PTyler@ This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: How will rural, low-income Louisiana schools struggle without DOE?
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
After Gutting Staff, Education Department Remains Quiet on Future of NAEP Test
The fallout from last week's purge at the U.S. Department of Education has left a cloud of uncertainty surrounding what is perhaps its most basic job: measuring how much students know. Among the hardest-hit offices in Education Secretary Linda McMahon's elimination of more than 1,300 employees: the National Center for Education Statistics and the Institute for Education Sciences. IES now employs fewer than 20 people, down from 175 at the beginning of the second Trump administration, according to several sources familiar with the layoffs. And NCES, which administers the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as The Nation's Report Card, went from about 100 employees to just three. None of the three works directly with NAEP. Mark Schneider, who served as IES director under both presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden — and as NCES commissioner under President George W. Bush — said the layoffs left just a single testing expert at NCES. Related 'Somewhere along the line,' he said, 'somebody's going to have to decide: 'We want to protect NAEP. What do we do? We can't just run NAEP with one person in NCES.'' Several experts said the layoffs put NAEP's future in jeopardy, even as the pandemic's aftermath has put a sharper focus than ever on deficiencies in students' basic math and literacy skills. A paper airplane or a 747? Ten people familiar with the cuts, who asked not to be identified due to ongoing professional commitments with the department, said they have heard suggestions that NAEP could soon be administered by the National Assessment Governing Board, a 25-member, independent group of researchers, policymakers, testing experts and educators that sets policy for the tests and oversees dissemination of its results. It is co-led by former Democratic North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue and Martin West, a professor of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and its academic dean. NAGB was spared in last week's cuts, but it wasn't immediately clear how the board, with a $7 million budget and a small staff of 11, would administer the massive assessments in schools nationwide. A few NAEP tests rely on samples of 10,000 to 20,000 students, and in years in which it runs multiple tests, the number of test-takers can exceed 100,000. Related The board typically creates the NAEP framework that lays out what's assessed in each subject, sets achievement levels and approves assessment schedules. An Education Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment and the department hasn't publicly said how it will continue to shepherd a test it has administered since 1969 without a dedicated staff. In previous rounds of cuts, administration officials have said NAEP would not be affected. 'What folks don't necessarily appreciate is that NAGB is basically the management, public relations and communications arm for NAEP,' said Frederick Hess of the conservative American Enterprise Institute. 'The actual work is coordinated by a unit within NCES, and that subcomponent got wiped out.' While NAGB members can strategize and talk about big-picture issues, Hess said, 'the people who handle relationships with the districts and states, those folks have been laid off.' Even if educators like board co-chair West are intimately familiar with testing, Hess said, many others on the board 'know little or nothing about assessment.' He estimated that 30 to 40 people were employed in the NAEP unit of NCES before last week. That may well have been more than needed to run the program, he said. He's not exactly sure how many it would take, but the correct number 'is somewhere north of zero.' Andrew Kolstad, a former longtime Education Department statistician who retired a decade ago, said NCES personnel must constantly review draft NAEP reports to ensure there are no errors, a 'labor-intensive process with multiple stages of review.' If a state score rises or falls sharply, for instance, NCES staff talk to state officials about whether it's a mistake or an actual improvement. And of course they keep the bills paid and contracts signed. 'If the government doesn't do its work,' he said, 'then things can fall apart.' Related A former Democratic Education Department staff member who is familiar with NAEP, and who asked not to be identified so as not to jeopardize future professional opportunities, was a bit more blunt, saying the board is too small to effectively oversee the tests and lacks the expertise to do so. 'I mean, NAGB gets together at fancy hotels and talks about things around the periphery of the program. They are a bunch of people who are appointed to a policy board, and they think they're doing important work — and the important work is actually done in the field.' NAGB members, this person noted, 'don't do any of the analysis of the data. They just take the analysis that NCES does, and then they communicate it as if it's their own.' Two NAGB spokespersons either didn't immediately respond to requests for comment or said they couldn't comment. Two board members also declined to speak. But Schneider, the former IES director who served until 2024, said the 'fancy hotels' criticism isn't true. 'I've been to many NAGB meetings,' he said. 'They don't stay in swanky hotels.' He recalled a recent meeting in Los Angeles. 'The hotel was a true dump,' he said — NAGB members must abide by government rules on lodging costs.
