Secretary Spellings today announced the release of Great Expectations.  The document examines the history of public education in America and how students once left behind are now leading the way.  Secretary Spellings announced the release at an education reform roundtable President Bush hosted at General Philip Kearny Elementary School in Philadelphia celebrating the seventh anniversary of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Great Expectations – PDF (3.1M)
Great Expecations (with citations) – PDF (556K)
Press release
Fact sheet

FOR RELEASE: January 8, 2009

Contact: Samara Yudof or Elissa Leonard (202) 401-1576

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today announced the release of Great Expectations. The document examines the history of public education in America and how students once left behind are now leading the way. Secretary Spellings announced the release at an education reform roundtable President Bush hosted at General Philip Kearny Elementary School in Philadelphia celebrating the seventh anniversary of the No Child Left Behind Act.

“Great Expectations explores education’s evolution in America from a privilege for a few to a necessity for all. It tells the story of a remarkable comeback by our nation’s students who are achieving record high test scores in reading and math and reveals the reforms that have led to these results,” said Secretary Spellings. “Most importantly, Great Expectations reminds us that our work has just begun - we cannot turn back or slow down - in fact, we must pick up the pace to ensure a quality education for all.” Read More »

“We can be proud of this record of bipartisan accomplishment. Expectations were raised for what our students can achieve and what our government can get done.”

–U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings

---

Today, Secretary Spellings released Great Expectations, an overview of the movement to hold schools accountable for the achievement of every child. Named for the common denominator of all successful schools, Great Expectations begins with a look back at the history of public education in America. It tells the story of a remarkable comeback by our nation’s students, many of whom are achieving record-high test scores in reading and math. Above all, it proves that reforms are yielding results.

As Americans prepare for a change in government, one thing that must not change is the remarkable progress being made by our nation’s schools. Schools are expecting more from students. And our students are meeting the challenge. Read More »

Earlier this week, I spoke at the National Math Panel Forum at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC. There, leading mathematicians, teachers, researchers, and policymakers gathered to discuss how to spread the findings of the National Math Advisory Panel to homes and classrooms across the country. This panel, composed of 19 experts who have a combined six centuries of experience in the mathematics field, was created by President Bush to determine the best ways of teaching and learning math. Together, they spent two years reviewing over 16,000 research studies to come up with their recommendations. I was proud to receive their final report this past March.

This report represents our nation’s body of research-based strategies to improve math instruction. It contains lots of useful information for students and families. For example, effort and persistence count! And there are many things parents can do at home to give their kids a solid foundation in school - it can be as simple as talking about fractions when you’re at home cooking dinner, or when you make change at the grocery store.

The need for knowledge of these concepts has never been greater or more urgent. Nearly half of our 17-year-olds lack the math skills needed to work on the production line of a modern auto plant when they finish high school. Math-related jobs are growing at three times the rate of other jobs. Yet the U.S. ranks 25th out of 30 developed nations in math literacy and problem solving.

Thanks to No Child Left Behind, we have a lot more information than we did six years ago, because states test kids annually, disaggregate that data, and provide consequences like getting kids extra help. We know which students are falling behind, and where. Now that we have this information, our challenge is to do something about it! We need to make the Math Panel’s recommendations actionable in our classrooms and at home.

Read More »

Earlier this week I was honored to speak at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, named for President John F. Kennedy. He and his brothers have been the very models of public service – especially my friend Ted Kennedy, who, to no one’s surprise, is fighting just as hard to win his own personal battle as he does on behalf of the nation’s children.

While I was there, I was proud to announce a plan to make the process of applying for federal financial aid simpler and easier for students and families.

The current application form is 6 pages long, has more than 120 questions, and it asks how old you are three different ways. It makes you wish for tax day!

It’s red tape like this that keeps 40 percent of college students from even applying for federal aid. That’s nearly 8 million students. And we believe most would have been eligible for assistance.

We should be knocking down barriers, not putting up hurdles. It starts with a new form that, coupled with other financial aid reforms, will provide real-time information on how much aid students can expect to receive, as opposed to how much they and their families are expected to contribute under the current system. This will put students in the driver’s seat, with more time to investigate their options.

While I was in Boston, I also visited Charlestown High School, where Teacher Ambassador Fellow Steven Berbeco teaches Arabic. I spoke to students there about my financial aid plan and also shared a new online resource, www.college.gov, to help families prepare for college. I hope that you’ll check it out, too!

See my remarks, the press release, and a fact sheet on our effort to simply the process of applying for student aid.