Compass Point
A Weekly Collection of Data, Articles and Insights from the Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute
A project of the Virginia Commonwealth University's Center for Public Policy
L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs
CEPI in the News
State & Local Education News
The Va. Board of Education Honors 55 Schools for Academic Achievement
ABC 13 (WSET)
January 6, 2016

The Virginia Board of Education is honoring 55 schools for academic achievement.

The awards are based on student performance on Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments during the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 school years.


Each school and division will receive a certificate to document the honor.

"The Title I schools we are honoring combine effective instruction with the non-instructional supports that inspire many children in poverty to focus and succeed," Board of Education President Billy K. Cannaday Jr. said.

Governor announces educational exchange program between Virginia and Cuba
Fairfax County Times
January 6, 2016

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe today announced that Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the University of Havana allowing both institutions to work together to develop cooperative programs in a variety of academic disciplines studied at both institutions. While on an historic marketing and collaboration mission to Cuba, Governor McAuliffe witnessed the signing during a meeting with Dr. Gustavo Cobreiro, Rector of the University of Havana, and Dr. Gail Hackett, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at VCU.

“World class higher education institutions like Virginia Commonwealth University play a vital role in our work to build a new Virginia economy, and they serve as key ambassadors to nations across the globe,” said Governor McAuliffe. “The University of Havana and VCU both have rich histories and bright futures. This MOU will ensure that the future includes significant engagement and collaboration between these great academic and research institutions, as well as between the Commonwealth of Virginia and the nation of Cuba.”

Virginia colleges see higher graduation rate for minority students - but only women
The Roanoke Times
January 6, 2016

Virginia Commonwealth University has received national recognition for closing the graduation gap between minority and white students, but the accolade comes with an asterisk.

The six-year graduation rate for African-American students is 63 percent, edging out the overall university rate of 62 percent and the rate of 61 percent for white students.

National & Federal Education News

The new federal education law returns power to the states. But how will they use it?
The Washington Post
January 11, 2016

With the passage of a federal education law that returns a significant amount of authority to the states, lawmakers and state school officials around the country are readying for an opportunity to reshape local education policies without the onerous requirements of No Child Left Behind.

Signed into law last month, the Every Student Succeeds Act puts strict limits on the extent of federal influence in schoolhouses, giving states more say over how they evaluate teachers and over their own academic standards. States will be looking to build their own systems for measuring whether their schools are effective — and will decide what to do when they’re not. States also will have much greater latitude to decide how teachers are evaluated.



2016 Education Rankings Put States, Nation to the Test

EDWeek
January 7, 2016

As Education Week's Quality Counts turns 20, the nation has posted a solid C—the same as last year—on the report's 2016 summative-grading indicator.
The report card has evolved through the years, taking on its current, streamlined form in 2015. That form incorporates state and national grades on three indices developed by the Education Week Research Center.
• The Chance-for-Success Index provides a cradle-to-career perspective on the role that education plays in promoting positive outcomes throughout a person's life.
• The K-12 Achievement Index rates states on current academic performance, change over time, and poverty-based gaps.
• The school finance analysis assesses spending patterns and equity.


College degree gap grows wider between whites, blacks and Latinos

The Hechinger Report
January 7, 2016


The racial gap in who’s graduating from college has widened since 2007, a new report shows.

While more blacks and Latinos are graduating from college now, the percentage of whites graduating has grown even faster.

About 33 percent of African-American adults had at least a two-year college degree in 2015, up from about 28 percent in 2007. For Latinos, that figure grew to about 23 percent from 19 percent, while whites grew to 47 percent from 41 percent.

At the same time, states have cut the funding they provide to public colleges, per student, by 21 percent since the economic collapse in 2008, and have raised tuition by 28 percent. As public colleges become more costly, it’s harder for low-income students to finish a degree. In many states, those students are disproportionately black and Latino.

Many states have increased public-college funding in the past year, but in only two states has the level of funding recovered to where it was before the recession. Amid the presidential race, the national conversation has become infused with debate about student debt and the importance of college degrees in the future job market. But even the most affordable state colleges are a long way from providing access to those who need it most.
Is There Public Support for Increasing K-12 Funding?

The short answer is a substantial "Yes."  Based on the newly released results of the 2016 Commonwealth Education Poll, conducted by CEPI,  more than two-thirds of Virginians (67 percent) say that Virginia schools do not have enough funds to meet their needs, while only 25 percent say schools have enough funding now.

More than seven in 10 respondents (71 percent) said that the amount of funding affects education quality a great deal or quite a lot. Additionally, most Virginians (56 percent) would be willing to contribute more in taxes to increase money for schools, while 40 percent say they are not willing to do so. A willingness to pay more in taxes grows to 63 percent for additional funding targeted to high-poverty, low-performing schools that are working to increase student performance.

The proportion willing to pay higher taxes for overall education funding is 3 percentage points higher than last year but a partisan breakdown of support shows 66 percent of Democrats willing to see taxes increased, compared to only 48 percent of Republicans and 43 percent of independents. For funding targeted to high-poverty, low-performing schools, the breakdown is similar, with support from 76 percent of Democrats, 51 percent of Republicans and 57 percent of Independents.

Given this window into public support, it will be interesting to see how lawmakers respond to the proposed budget from Governor Terry McAuliffe.  CEPI's Policy Analyst David Blount provides a preview of the education related legislation in his first General Assembly Update of the year and we excerpt a portion below.

Lawmakers looking to pull funds from other programs to support education will likely leave funding for mental health services untouched if public opinion is any guide. According to the poll, that area of state government is the only one that Virginians see as a higher priority than public school funding.


More than seven in 10 respondents (72 percent) said they would be willing to pay more in taxes to keep public schools funded at the current level and 76 percent said the same regarding mental health services. Compared to the previous year, willingness to support programs for aid to low-income families increased six percentage points to 62 percent and support for transportation grew eight percentage points to 54 percent. Willingness to support higher education (50 percent) and prisons (27 percent) was statistically unchanged.

Though there was significant variation along partisan lines, a majority of Democrats and Republicans would support higher taxes to keep funding levels stable for mental health services, public schools, aid to low-income families and transportation. Conversely, Republican willingness to support higher education was only 34 percent while Democratic support was 62 percent.


Recent actions to reduce the number of standardized tests also appear in line with public opinion. More than three-quarters of Virginians (80 percent) agree that preparations for SOL testing take so much class time that teachers can’t cover all the important material and a strong majority (67 percent) agree that SOL tests are putting too much pressure on students.

Most Virginians (58 percent) disagree with the statement that SOLs help improve student achievement. However, a narrow majority overall (55 percent) see a benefit of the SOLs in holding schools accountable and a similar proportion (53 percent) think SOLs make sure that all students in Virginia meet the same academic standards.

We look forward to releasing the higher education and workforce development sections of the poll on January 18 and we'll feature some of the results in next week's Compass Point.  We hope you have a great week!

Sincerely,
CEPI
General Assembly Preview
Excerpted from CEPI's General Assembly Update, written by Policy Analyst David Blount.  The update will be published weekly during the General Assembly session.

"The 2016 General Assembly session gavels to order on Wednesday, January 13. The session runs 60 days and is scheduled to end on March 12. During the session, legislators will consider more than 2,500 bills and hundreds of resolutions. A two-year state budget for fiscal years 2017 and 2018 also will be developed. “Cross-over day,” the last day for each house to act on its own bills, is February 16. House and Senate versions of the FY17/18 budget are slated to be released on February 21.

The Proposed FY17/FY18 State Budget
Governor McAuliffe submitted his proposed FY2017/2018 state budget to the General Assembly money committees in mid-December. The two-year plan exceeds $100 billion (general and non-general funds) for the first time, with $40.6 billion in general fund appropriations and $68.6 billion non-general fund. The proposed general fund budget proposes an additional $3.2 billion in spending over the current budget for FY16. The plan also anticipates revenue growth of three percent (3%) in FY17 and 4.5 percent in FY18.

In his remarks to the legislative budget writers, Governor McAuliffe stated, “I am confident that the investments that I will outline today are appropriate at this point in the economic cycle when we can see tangible improvements to our bottom line. These investments represent promising strategies to strengthen our future economic and fiscal position, and to make sure we are as prepared for prosperity as we have been for hardships.”

New state funding for education (K-12 and higher education) totals over $1 billion, with the bulk of that targeted for K-12. The governor’s introduced budget adds nearly $430 million to re-benchmark Standards of Quality (SOQ) costs for the biennium, making technical adjustments to the cost of continuing current programs without policy changes. These changes also capture savings from non-participation in the Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) and from revised student enrollment projections, and add sales tax dollars and more funding due to changes in the local composite index figures."

(To read the full update, visit our website.)