Obama Calls for Innovation in High School and Higher Ed.
"In [Tuesday] night's State of the Union address, President Barack Obama issued a challenge to high schools to better prepare graduates for the modern workforce and to colleges to improve affordability and value. ... To help a high school diploma put students on a path to a good job, Obama urged more collaborative efforts between public schools, community colleges, and employers," Education Week's College Bound blog reports. "The president referenced the German system where students can graduate from high school job-ready with the equivalent of a technical degree at community colleges. ... Justin Draeger, president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators in Washington, said today his organization agrees with the president's broad proposals of investing in education and job training, but will be following how "value" and "affordability" are defined in any possible policy changes. "We remain concerned about efforts to tie federal student aid to student outcomes until we can correctly identify metrics that won't penalize schools that serve disproportionately high numbers of at-risk and low income students," he said. While the focus is often price to students, new policies should consider the cost of providing education and make sure benchmarks don't penalize schools doing the "heavy lifting" serving at-risk students, says Draeger."
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