| Posted January 18, 2008
Education |Immigration | Media
| Multiculturalism/Multicultural Society |
Religion | Social Trends & Demographics | Universities & Colleges
Election 2008: The Education Debate
Education Next, Winter 2008 v8 #1, online edition
"Will education matter in ’08? Are the political parties as deeply divided on education issues as on tax issues and foreign policy? Two leading political consultants—Democrat Chris Lehane and Republican David Winston—offer their takes. Lehane calls for the Democrats to seize the mantle of reform, while Winston assures GOP candidates they need only to stay the course."
The Democratic Take
Lehane, Christopher S.
Education Next, Winter 2008, v8, #1, online edition
Christopher S. Lehane, a California-based Democratic political consultant, served as press secretary for former vice president Al Gore and was special assistant counsel to President Bill Clinton.
The Right Republican Strategy
Winston, David
Education Next, Winter 2008, v8, #1, online edition
David Winston is the president and founder of The Winston Group, a Washington, D.C., survey research and strategic communications firm, and former director of planning for the Speaker of the House and senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation. Fulltext E1/07-07
The Pangloss Index: How States Game the No Child Left Behind Act
Carey, Kevin
Education Sector, November 13, 2007, online edition, 21p
"When Policymakers in the White House and Congress wrote the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, their goal was to steadily raise the bar for academic achievement. But many states have undermined the spirit of the law by lowering achievement goals every year. A new report form Education Sector explains how these states are gaming NCLB's accountability system and doing so with the approval of the U.S. Department of Education." Carey is Education Sector's research and policy manager. Fulltext E2/07-07
The 2007 Brown Center Report on American Education: How Well Are American
Students Learning
Loveless, Tom
Brown Center on Education Policy, December 11, 2007, online edition, 32p
“The 2007 Brown Center Report on American Education examines how well American students are learning in math and reading, the enrollment patterns in private and public schools, and whether more time spent learning math increases achievement.” Tom Loveless is the director of the Brown Center on Education Policy. Fulltext E3/07-07
You Say You Want an Evolution? A Role for Scientists in Science Education
The Coalition of Scientific Societies, December 2007, online edition, 12p
The coalition of Scientific Societies "conducted a national survey of likely U.S. voters to examine acceptance of evolution, attitudes toward science and scientists, and opportunities for promoting science education. Most respondents accepted that life evolved, many accepted that it evolved through natural processes, and more favored teaching evolution than creationism or intelligent design in science classes. The majority ranked developing medicines and curing diseases as the most important contributions of science to society, and they found promoting understanding of evolutionary science’s contribution to medicine to be a convincing reason to teach evolution. Respondents viewed scientists, teachers, and medical professionals favorably, and most were interested in hearing from these groups about science, including evolution. These data suggest that the scientific community has an important role to play in encouraging public support for science education." Fulltext E4/07-07
Reforming U.S. Immigration Policy: Open New Pathways to Integration
The Brookings Institution, Opportunity 08 Series, December 14, 2007, online edition, 15p
"In the face of polarized public opinion and an unresolved congressional debate on the issue of illegal immigration, reforming U.S. immigration policy will be high on the 2008 Presidential campaign agenda. Current federal policy has frustrated state and local officials and inspired some of them to craft their own laws. Not all of the new policies are anti-immigrant; however, many of the most restrictive measures are found in areas with little or no recent experience of immigration."
Audrey Singer is a demographer and Immigration Fellow at Brookings. Fulltext E5/07-07
The Immigration Debate: Controversy Heats Up, Hispanics Feel a Chill
Pew Hispanic Report, updated December 19, 2007, online edition
“The 2007 National Survey of Latinos finds that Hispanics in the U.S. are feeling a range of negative effects from increased public attention and stepped up enforcement measures.” Key findings include Hispanic views on deportation, illegal immigrats, enforcement policies, impact of immigration deabet, perceptions of discrimination, and quality of life. Fulltext E6/07-07
El Paso as Prologue
Stone, Nat
National Journal, September 8, 2007, pp 36-41
"The failures, and successes, of the 16-mile fence that for years has divided El Paso and Juarez may give insight into the impact of the Homeland Security Department's plan to build 153 miles of border fencing along the lower Rio Grande in a bid to deter illegal migration."Nat Stone is a freelance writer. Fulltext E7/07-07
Immigrants in the United States, 2007 - A Profile of America's Foreign-Born Population
Camarota, Steven A.
Center for Immigration Studies, Backgrounder, November 2007, online edition, 44p
"This Backgrounder provides a detailed picture of the number and socio-economic status of the nation’s immigrant or foreign-born population, both legal and illegal. The data was collected by the Census Bureau in March 2007.
Among the report’s findings:
• The nation’s immigrant population (legal and illegal) reached a record of 37.9 million in 2007.
• Immigrants account for one in eight U.S. residents, the highest level in 80 years. In 1970 it was one in 21; in 1980 it was one in 16; and in 1990 it was one in 13." Steven A. Camarota is the Director of Research at the Center for Immigration Studies. Fulltext E8/07-07
Covering the World
Ricchiardi, Sherry
American Journalism Review, December/January 2008
"As U.S. news organizations have backed away from foreign news coverage, the Associated Press’ international report has become increasingly vital. [...] Foreign bureaus continue to fall like dominoes. The Boston Globe closed the last of its three international offices in Berlin, Bogotá and Jerusalem earlier this year. The Baltimore Sun plans to shut down South Africa and Russia by the end of 2007 and already has left China. For TV networks, the modus operandi long has been to parachute in for short stints to report high impact stories." Sherry Ricchiardi is an AJR senior contributing writer. Fulltext E9/07-07
The Video Explosion
Layton, Charles
American Journalism Review, December/January 2008
"News organizations are embracing video on their Web sites in a big way. The quality ranges from bad to basic to superb. And for some journalists, the advent of video is a terrific new career opportunity. [...] The bulk of online news video occupies a broad, gray middle ground in terms of quality, as the industry stumbles toward a goal it cannot yet quite perceive or articulate. 'We're still in the figure-it-out stage,' says Chet Rhodes, washingtonpost.com's assistant managing editor for news video. 'How to tell really powerful stories on the Web, nobody knows how to do that yet in what I would call a sustainable way. To do that every day is really hard. It's going to be awesome, though.'" Charles Layton is an AJR senior contributing writer. Fulltext E10/07-07
FCC Chairman’s Big Media Giveaway Exposed
Aaron, Craig et.al.
Free Press, November 2007, online edition, 29p
Free Press released Devil in the Details, a report exposing 10 key facts that Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is "hiding from the public about his recent proposal to lift the longstanding ban on 'newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership.' Devil in the Details exposes how the loose and ambiguous 'waiver standard proposed by Martin creates a giant loophole for big media companies to sidestep the ban in any market and for any station." Fulltext E11/07-07
The Invisible Primary — Invisible No Longer: A First Look at Coverage of the 2008 Presidential Campaign
Project for Excellence in Journalism/ Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, October 29, 2007
"In the early months of the 2008 presidential campaign, the media had already winnowed the race to mostly five candidates and offered Americans relatively little information about their records or what they would do if elected, according to a comprehensive new study of the election coverage across the media." Fulltext E12/07-07
Journalists in Iraq - A Survey of Reporters on the Front Lines
Project for Excellence in Journalism/Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, November 28, 2007
After four years of war in Iraq, the journalists reporting from that country give their coverage a mixed but generally positive assessment, but they believe they have done a better job of covering the American military and the insurgency than they have the lives of ordinary Iraqis. And they do not believe the coverage of Iraq over time has been too negative. If anything, many believe the situation over the course of the war has been worse than the American public has perceived, according to a new survey of journalists covering the war from Iraq. Fulltext E13/07-07
Unplugging Plug-and-Play Regulation
Thierer, Adam
The Progress & Freedom Foundation, Progress on Point Release 14.21, October 27, 2007, 7p
The Federal Communications Commission should refrain from regulating technical standards in the cable industry, explains Adam Thierer in “Unplugging Plug-and-Play Regulation,” a Progress on Point released today by The Progress & Freedom Foundation. The author warns that leaving standards creation in control of the government, as opposed to private negotiation, would do little to benefit consumers. Instead, FCC-controlled standards could hinder the cable applications and platform market by restricting future development and innovation to inferior technology. Adam Thierer is a senior fellow with The Progress & Freedom Foundation and the director of its Center for Digital Media Freedom. Fulltext E14/07-07
Between Here and There: How Attached do Latino Immigrants Remain to their Native Country
Waldinger, Roger
PEW Hispanic Center, October 25, 2007, 29p
“Whether Latino immigrants maintain active, moderate or limited connections is an important marker of their attitudes toward the United States, their native country and their own lives as migrants. Those with the highest levels of engagement have deeper attachments to their country of origin than immigrants whose connections are less robust. They also havemore favorable views of their native country in comparisons with the U.S. Nonetheless, a clear majority of even these immigrants see their future in the U.S. rather than in the countries from which they come.” Roger Waldinger is affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles. Fulltext E15/07-07
Protestants Today: Can U.S. Protestants Survive Today's Challenges?
Clemmitt, Marcia
CQ Researcher, December 7, 2007, v17, #43, pp1109-1032
"The overwhelming majority of Americans once were Protestants, but church membership has been dropping for decades. Today, religious diversity reigns, with Protestantism only one among an array of American faiths. But declining numbers haven't dimmed church leaders' efforts to influence public issues, just as early Protestant churches drove social movements from abolition and Prohibition to the civil rights struggle. Some progressive political groups are linking up with so-called mainline Protestants like Methodists and Presbyterians to push for gay rights and anti-poverty programs. And conservative evangelical churches continue to speak out against gay marriage and for closer ties between the federal government and the Christian faith. But with the death this year of some old-guard conservative ministers, including Jerry Falwell, the evangelical agenda is being shaped by a new generation, some of whom want to add traditional liberal issues to the policy mix, like the environment." Marcia Clemmitt is a veteran social-policy reporter who recently joined the CQ Researcher after serving as editor in chief of Medicine and Health, a Washington-based industry newsletter, and staff writer for The Scientist. Order article E16/07-07
The Law of Church and State: U.S. Supreme Court Decisions Since 2002
Brougher, Cynthia M.
Congressional Research Service (CRS), October 30, 2007, online edition, 17p
“Recent political developments have raised new questions of church-state relations. Since taking office in 2000, President George W. Bush has implemented the Faith-Based Initiative, which has brought several First Amendment issues to the Court. Recent legislation provides vouchers for private schools and public funding to religious organizations with a social purpose. Furthermore, the makeup of the Court has changed within the last five years, with Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito replacing Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justice O’Connor. This may result in a shift in the Court’s understanding of the religion clauses. In recent cases, the Court has decided somewhat similar cases differently, with the outcome turning on the details, suggesting that specific context may be the most determinative factor in church-state decisions. This report explains the holdings of each of the Court’s church-state cases since 2002, and also explains the position of Justices who concurred in the judgments or dissented in each case.” Cynthia M. Brougher is a Legislative Attorney at CRS’ American Law Division. Fulltext E17/07-07
Public Expresses Mixed Views of Islam, Mormonism; Benedict XVI Viewed Favorably But Faulted on Religious Outreach
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, Pew Research Center, September 25, 2007, online edition, 31p
“In the past few years Muslim and Mormon religions have gained increasing visibility in the U.S. Yet most Americans say they know little about either religion, and most believe their religion is very different from Islam and Mormonism. This survey of 3,002 adults finds that 53% of the people polled say they have a favorable opinion of Mormons, while an identical percentage views Muslim Americans favorably. The survey also revealed notable similarities as well as major differences in how Americans view these faiths.” Fulltext E18/07-07
Social Trends & Demographics
Blueprint for American Prosperity
The Brookings Institution, Metropolitan Policy at Brookings, Website, released November 2007
More than four out five Americans reside in a metropolitan area, and the importance of these regions to the nation's economy is hard to overstate.
The Brookings Institution is well aware of the problems and opportunities facing metropolitan areas and they have created this site as a gathering place for policy analysts, planners, and the general public to learn more about metropolitan areas. Along the right-hand side of the homepage, visitors will find sections that answer questions that include: "What is a metro area?" "Why are metro areas important?" and "What is the blueprint?" Moving on, the site also includes research reports, a press room, and a place where visitors can sign up to receive "Metro Update", which is the bi- monthly newsletter of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program. The site is rounded out by webcasts and video clips of recent metropolitan policy events and commentaries by experts at the Institution. Fulltext E19/07-07
The Basics: The Middle Class at Risk
Lesmerises, Monica
Century Foundation Press, Guide to the Issues, The Basics Series, October 15, 2007, online edition, 52p
The pamphlet “attempts to lay out straightforward facts and data that are useful to anyone attempting to understand the makeup of the American middle class, how their circumstances have changed over time, and the economic conditions and problems they confront.” Monica Lesmerises is a consultant to The Century Foundation. Fulltext E20/07-07
Economic Mobility of Black and White Families
Isaacs, Julia
The Brookings Institution, November 2007, online edition, 19p
"The dream that one can rise up from humble beginnings and achieve a comfortable middle-class living, if not attain great wealth, transcends racial lines. But is this a reality for black and white families alike? [...] In brief, trends show that median family incomes have risen for both black and white families, but less so for black families. Moreover, the intergenerational analysis reveals a significant difference in the extent to which parents are able to pass their economic advantages onto their children. Whereas children of white middle-income parents tend to exceed their parents in income, a majority of black children of middle-income parents fall below their parents in income and economic status." The report is authored by Julia Isaacs of The Brookings Institution and is a product of the Economic Mobility Project, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts. Fulltext E21/07-07
What Was -- and Wasn't -- On the Public's Mind in 2007
Kohut, Andrew; Doherty, Carroll
Pew Research Center, December 18, 2007
A compilation of the top 15 stories in which public opinion played a significant role, and the year's most notable non-barking dogs. "As in previous years, public opinion played an important role in shaping many of
2007's major news stories. This year, fewer dominant trends were carryovers from
the preceding year and those that were assumed a somewhat different -- and in
the case of the Iraq war less pessimistic -- cast. Economic concerns remained
high on the public's worry list but focused less exclusively on rising gasoline
prices, and more on rising income inequality. Overall, the speed-up in the
presidential primary season meant that politics claimed more of the public's
attention than is usually the case in a non-election year." Andrew Kohut is the President and Carroll Doherty the Associate Director of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.Fulltext E22/07-07
Maternity Leave in the United States: Paid Parental Leave Is Still Not Standard, Even Among the Best U.S. Employers
Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), Fact Sheet, #A131, August 2007, online edition, 3p
“A new fact sheet released by IWPR reports that nearly one-quarter (24 percent) of the best employers for working mothers provide four or fewer weeks of paid maternity leave, and half (52 percent) provide six weeks or less. Nearly half of the best companies fail to provide any paid leave for paternity or adoption. While more than one-quarter of the best companies (28 percent) provide nine or more weeks of paid maternity leave, many of the winners’ paid parental leave policies fall far short of families’ needs. IWPR’s analysis is based on data provided by Working Mother Media, publisher of Working Mother, regarding the 2006 list of Working Mother 100 Best Companies.” Fulltext E23/07-07
Universities & Colleges
MLA releases Enrollments in Languages Other Than English in United States Institutions of Higher Education, Fall 2006
Webrelease November 13, 2007, 29p
More college students are taking foreign languages and language and language enrollment is at its highest since the 1960 survey. The overall increase from 2002 to 2006 in 11 of the 15 most popular languages grew faster than the overall 6.2% increase in the number of college students. Spanish, French and German continue to grow and are the most popular languages. Together they represent more than 70% of language enrollments. However, their dominance is slowly decreasing in the face of growing interest in languages such as Arabic (up 127%), Chinese (up 51%), and Korean (up 37%). The strong increase in Arabic enrollments moved the language onto the top 10 most studied list for the first time. 466 institutions of higher learning offer Arabic. The 15 most popular languages on college campuses in fall 2006 were (percentage of students and increase from 2002): 1) Spanish: 52.2% (+ 10.3%) - 2) French 13.1% (+ 2.2%) - 3) German 6.0% (+ 3.5%) - 4) American Sign Language 5.0% (+ 29.7%)
5) Italian 5.0% (+ 22.6%) - 6) Japanese 4.2% (+ 27.5%) - 7) Chinese 3.3% (+ 51.0%) - 8) Latin 2.0% (+ 7.9%) - 9) Russian 1.6% (+ 3.9%) - 10) Arabic 1.5% (+126.5%) - 11) Ancient Greek 1.4% (+ 12.1%) - 12) Biblical Hebrew 0.9% (- 0.3%) - 13) Portuguese 0.7% (+ 22.4%) - 14) Modern Hebrew 0.6% (+ 11.5%) - 15) Korean 0.5% (+ 37.1%). The survey also shows a 31.2% increase in the number of languages outside the top being offered for study, for example languages such as Swahili, Persian, Hindi, and Catalan. Fulltext E24/07-07
Distance Education Choices, Choices, and More Choices
Bedord, Jean
Searcher, October 2007, v15, #9, pp18-23
Jean Bedord, part time faculty-member at the School of Library and Information Sciences, discusses the advantages and challenges of distance education. The demand for classrooms without walls, elearning, distance learning, virtual universities - the buzz words for the world of nontraditional teaching – is increasing. She describes how she had to adapt teaching materials and style, and the technology she uses to communicate with her students. Jean Bedord is a consultant specializing in search strategies and content findability. She is also a conference speaker, analyst for Shore Communications, and part-time faculty member at the School of Library and Information Sciences, San Jose State University. Fulltext E25/07-07
Social Science PhDs - Five+ Years Out
The Center for Innovation and Research in Graduate Education, University of Washington
December 2007, online edition
More than 3000 people receive a PhD in the social sciences each year. On average, getting the degree takes eight years. This survey surveyed PhD recipients who received their degrees between 1995 and 1999 in six disciplines—anthropology, communications, geography, history, political science, and sociology. Information was gathered on current employment status, type of job sector and job satisfaction to better understand career trajectories among recent PhD awardees. Some key results are: Nearly 80% of PhD recipients work as professors or hold other jobs in colleges and universities; 58% of first-time positions were part-time; a majority of respondents felt their programs had neglected career preparation, sozializing into the academic world and writing and publishing. The study suggests that PhD programmes should prepare students better for employment outside of academia. Fulltext E26/07-07
Deciding on Postsecondary Education
National Postsecondary Education Cooperative. Report released December 11, 2007
The report focuses on the decision making process students use to decide on a college. Special emphasis was given to underserved students (non-traditional aged, minority, and students of low- and moderate- socioeconomic status). In three section, the report deals with the "The Stages of College Planning and Choice", "The Influential Role of Others" and "Types of Information Sought, Sources Used, and Application of Information". The survey, and an analysis of over 80 sources of research literature, showed that for all applicants cost, major/program of study, and convenience/location were major determinants. Online web-based resources were used mostly by current and recent high school graduates. Findings suggest the need for comprehensible information, additional resources, and improved assistance for prospective college students and their families. Fulltext E27/07-07
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