Updated – KIPP today released its first college completion report for students attending its two earliest middle schools. The report says that, as of fall 2010, 33 percent of students who completed 8th grade at a KIPP middle school ten or more years ago have graduated from a four-year college.
“This rate is above the national average and four times the rate for students from low-income families,” reads a statement from Richard Barth, CEO of the KIPP Foundation. “In addition, 5 percent of the earliest KIPP students have completed a two-year college degree and 19 percent are still persisting in college.”
Nationally, 31 percent of Americans aged 25 to 29 have earned a bachelor’s degree. The figure is much higher for more affluent students – “Over 80 percent of Americans from the highest economic quartile have earned a bachelor’s degree by age 29.”
Read, critique, ponder the full report and the executive summary. Or visit the KIPP report webpage for more info.
What’s churning:
Now that he’s been unanimously confirmed as director of the Department of Higher Education, Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia apparently feels it is time to raise his profile as the Hickenlooper administration’s point person on education.
He’s holding a news conference at 9:30 this morning in the west foyer of the Capitol to “outline his priorities for education in Colorado and his responsibilities in his joint role as Lieutenant Governor and Executive Director of the Department of Higher Education.”
Garcia also is supposed to head the Education Leadership Council created last January but which isn’t yet up and running.
It’s been expected since before last year’s election that Garcia would take a lead role on the issue, given his background as a community college and state university president and his active role in Ritter administration education initiatives (see background story).
What’s on tap:
The 2nd Annual Colorado Summit on Blended Learning, cosponsored by the Donnell-Kay Foundation, runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at The Curtis Hotel in Denver. Participants include Michael Horn from the Innosight Institute; Susan Patrick, executive director of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning; Judy Bauernschmidt, Jeffco director of online learning, and Strasberg Superintendent Ed Vandertook. Glenn Jones, CEO of Jones Knowledge Inc., will be honored with an award. You can follow the summit live on Twitter @edreformer and #dkf.
The Colorado League of Charter Schools is sponsoring a Charter Schools Rally at the Capitol, with various events starting at 9 a.m. and a gathering on the west steps from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The state Concurrent Enrollment Advisory Board will meet from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the conference center at the Community College System Lowry campus, 1061 Akron Way, Bldg. 697 in Denver. Agenda
Denver school board members meet at 5 p.m. at 900 Grant St. Agenda.
Jefferson County school board members meet at 5 p.m. for a work session at district headquarters, 1829 Denver West Drive, Bldg. 27, in Golden. Agenda.
Good reads from elsewhere:
Voucher growth: Indiana lawmakers approve implementation of the nation’s broadest voucher program. AP/U.S. News & World Report.
Bush influence: How Jeb Bush’s efforts in Florida are affecting education agendas across U.S. New York Times.