3 Things to Do During Your Student Loan Grace Period

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Federal Student Aid

Student Loan Grace PeriodYour student loan grace period is a set amount of time after you graduate, leave school, or drop below half-time enrollment, but before you must begin repayment on your loan. The grace period gives you time to get financially settled and to select your repayment plan. Not all federal student loans have a grace period. Note that for many loans, interest will accrue during your grace period.

Here are three things you can do during your grace period to prepare for repayment:

1. Get Organized

Start by tracking down all of your student loans. There is a website that allows you to view all your federal student loans in one place. You can log in to www.nslds.ed.gov using your Federal Student Aid PIN to view your loan balances, information about your loan servicer(s), and more.

Note: Don’t forget to check to see if you have private student loans. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has a great Student Debt Repayment Assistant to help you learn about the repayment process, whether you have federal loans, private loans or both.

2. Contact Your Loan Servicer

A loan servicer is a company that handles the billing and other services on your federal student loan. Your loan servicer can help you choose a repayment plan, understand loan consolidation, and complete other tasks related to your federal student loan, so it is important to maintain contact with your loan servicer. If your circumstances change at any time during your repayment period, your loan servicer will be able to help.

To find out who your loan servicer is, visit nslds.ed.gov. You may have more than one loan servicer, so it is important that you look at each loan individually.

3. Explore Your Repayment Plan Options

Although you may select or be assigned a repayment plan when you first begin repaying your student loan, you can change repayment plans at any time. Flexible repayment options are one of the greatest benefits of federal student loans. There are options to tie your monthly payments to your income and even ways you can have your loans forgiven if you are a teacher or employed in certain public service jobs. Work with your loan servicer to determine which repayment plan is right for you.

 

Posted in Federal Student Aid, Headlines, News | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Celebrating CTE in Nevada

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Guest Blogger
Brenda Dann-Messier at Veterans

Assistant Secretary Brenda Dann-Messier talks with students at Veterans' dispatch training lab. Official Department of Education photo by Leslie Williams.

Traditionally, education has led many students into a career. However, at some schools, careers are leading students to an education.

Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education Brenda Dann-Messier recently met with the students, staff, and business partners of the Veterans Tribute Career & Technical Academy in Las Vegas to discuss career and technical education (CTE) and how it benefits students and the community.

Dann-Messier’s visit was part of ED’s Education Drives America back-to-school bus tour, and one of many stops she made during the tour to discuss the blueprint for transforming career and technical education and ways the Department of Education can support CTE education.

Student Marcus Montano explained during the visit that he chose to attend Veterans because he wanted a “real-world education and not just standard curriculum.” The school has two program areas, Law Enforcement Services and Emergency Medical Services, with multiple labs that allow hands-on learning experiences.

The type of CTE taught at Veterans increases motivation for students in all areas of study, as they realize the direct connection between the core curriculum and a career. Student Leah Bories said she felt “limited by not having the right teacher or the right material. I wanted this so bad. I want to learn. I want to succeed.”

Dann-Messier at Desert Rose

Assistant Secretary Brenda Dann-Messier talks to a students in the Environmental Horticulture Science program at Desert Rose Adult High School. Official Department of Education photo by Leslie Williams.

Veterans’ partnership with local employers is the type of community collaboration promoted in ED’s CTE blueprint. The community and business partners are also benefiting from Veteran’s unique career training. Students from Veteran’s are turning internships at local businesses into careers upon graduation. Some students have even used their training at Veteran’s to become dispatchers for emergency services, which is helping them pay for college. Sgt. Dan Lake of the North Las Vegas Police Department believes the program is future-focused, because “students can begin to build a future as juniors in high school.”

Assistant Secretary Dann-Messier also held a roundtable at Desert Rose Adult High School and Career Center, in North Las Vegas, to hear how CTE is being used to help students find success. Desert Rose serves a diverse population of students, many of whom have previously dropped out or become credit-deficient.

At Desert Rose, students can learn multiple trades while obtaining high school credit at their own learning pace. This combination of CTE and personalized learning has led to many students achieving success.

Senior Elizabeth Gomez said that this personalized focus is helping her succeed in school and getting her ready for a job. “I have a really good resume now” she said. The blueprint for transforming CTE calls for accountability for improving outcomes and building technical and employable skills. Desert Rose students are already realizing the benefits of obtaining such skills at a young age.

Some students have already obtained a job through the CTE offered at Desert Rose. After winning numerous awards, including a gold medal from the Skills USA competition, and obtaining multiple certifications from Desert Rose high school, student Keith Griffin was able to find a job in Hawaii and is preparing to move his family “from the desert to the tropics,” he says.

Aaron Bredenkamp is a 2012 Classroom Teaching Ambassador Fellow who teaches at Westside Career Center, an Alternative High School in Omaha, NE. He joined Assistant Secretary Dann-Messier during her visit to Las Vegas.

Posted in Back To School Tour, Back to School Tour 2012, Headlines, News | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

A View from the Inside: ED Staff Observes the Principal’s Perspective

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Tyra Mariani
Shadowing a Principal

Deputy Chief of Staff Tyra Mariani visited a classroom at DC Bilingual while shadowing the school's principal. Official Department of Education photo by Joshua Hoover.

A week ago, I had the pleasure of shadowing principal Wanda Perez at DC Bilingual Public Charter School. While Wanda admitted she spends more time in meetings than she’d like, we spent the majority of my visit walking the school and observing students and teachers in learning and teaching. I also observed Wanda planning the week’s professional development session with New Leaders Resident Principal Daniela. There was so much to talk about – home visits, instructional strategies, assessments and the like – with not enough time.

My visit was part of weeklong effort by ED’s senior staff to gain a glimpse into the daily work of principals, while also providing principals with the opportunity to discuss how federal policy, programs, and resources impact their schools. At the end of the week we joined the principals and Secretary Arne Duncan for a debrief at ED.

Shadowing

ED's Camsie McAdams (left) shadowed the principal of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Va. Official Department of Education photo by Joshua Hoover.

We asked each of the principals to tell us, if they had a check from the federal government, what would they invest in based on the needs of this school. When I asked Wanda this question, her response somewhat surprised me. She said building teacher capacity. On the one hand, I wasn’t surprised; Wanda had been trained to become a principal through New Leaders and it’s clear from my visit that she’s focused on instruction.

In our classroom visits, Wanda was on the laptop she carries around to take notes on what she observed of the classroom instruction. On one of our visits, two adults entered the room while we were there. I later learned one woman was the coach (let’s call her Monica) and the other was the coach’s coach (let’s call her Deborah). After they all observed the same teacher’s lesson, Wanda and Deborah were going to observe Monica giving feedback to the teacher so that they could build Monica’s skills but also to ensure alignment within and across teams.

We know the principal can’t do it all, so Wanda is building the capacity of her instructional leaders to help support and develop great teachers. Why was I surprised? Because Wanda walks between two buildings every day since neither of the two buildings can hold all of the students; because the playground is literally on the rooftop of the building; and because the gym may have been large enough for a standard court but nothing else.

So while Wanda could have easily focused on facilities, Wanda knew what her students were learning and the quality of the teaching to enable their learning was most important. I appreciated that.

We won’t get a highly effective teacher corps unless we have principals as instructional leaders who are surrounded by and supporting strong teacher leaders who in turn help teachers get better. DC Bilingual was one example of that idea in practice.

Tyra Mariani is deputy chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Education

Posted in Headlines, News | Tagged , | 2 Comments

ED Mailbag: Arne Answers Your Questions

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Cameron Brenchley

Secretary Arne Duncan sat down recently to answer questions he received from social media, email and regular mail.

Duncan responded to Dillon’s question about the future of charter schools, saying that “good charter schools are part of the solution, bad charter schools are part of the problem.” Arne noted that there needs to be more successful coordination between charters and school districts. ED recently announced new grants to help foster this coordination.

Ethan asked the Secretary how we can make our schools more competitive on a global scale. Duncan noted that 46 states have voluntarily adopted higher college- and career-ready standards, which will help put American students on a level playing field, and he noted that we have to look at high-performing countries like Finland and Singapore for new ideas on what works.

Duncan also received a question from Brett who asked about the importance of collaboration. Arne says that he can’t overstate the importance of collaboration on “multiple fronts.”

Watch the video and join the conversation in the comments below:


Click here for an alternate version of the video with an accessible player.

Posted in Arne Answers Questions, Headlines, Labor-Management, News | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Student Art Transforms Lives and ED

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Guest Blogger

On Oct. 12, young artists from all across the nation convened at the U.S. Department of Education to be honored for their award-winning works of art and writing. The works of more than 50 of the 2012 winners of the 90-year-old Scholastic Art and Writing Awards competition—comprising photography, portraiture, multi-media, 3-D work, film, animation, teen writing and game design—are currently exhibited at both the Department of Education and the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities headquarters in Washington D.C. The competition is sponsored by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers.

Ribbon Cutting

Student artists officially open the exhibit by cutting the ribbon.

With eagerness and jubilation, students, families, and teachers arrived at the Department early that Friday morning to participate in workshops on video game design and on best practices in teaching art, to watch the winning films, and to be honored for their artistic achievements. For the Kim family that left New York City at 2 a.m. to travel to the opening, the excitement of coming to Washington D.C. to be honored for a national award took precedence over any fatigue incurred. Eager to experience the festivities of the day, award winner Alex Kim, with his proud father standing by his side, stated, “This has been such a great honor. I can’t express in words what it means to be here right now and be honored by the U.S. Department of Education and Scholastic for something that I created and am so passionate about.”

With the auditorium at ED headquarters filled to capacity, the students received congratulatory remarks by the leaders of the U.S. Department of Education, the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, and the National Art Education Association (Read Under Secretary Martha Kanter’s blog about the event). After the last student introduction was completed, the students—filled with excitement and anticipation—marched towards the exit and officially opened the art exhibit by ceremoniously cutting the ribbon. Smiles and laughter abounded as the students filed through the auditorium doors to stand beside their works displayed on the walls, in sculpture boxes, and on TV monitors and Kindles.

Alexandria Bennett, an award winner from Saint Petersburg High School in Saint Petersburg, Fla., stated that the inspiration behind her piece, Johnny from Haiti, was a young Haitian boy she met while on a mission trip to Haiti with her church. Continued correspondence allowed her to develop a friendship with him and to depict his experience through her eyes. Alexandria hopes that her work will inspire others to creatively reflect on and tell about their transformational life experiences. While reflecting on her experience in Haiti and how it inspired her artistically, Alexandria stated, “With many students experiencing hardships in their daily lives, hopefully the arts will help some of them to develop a new perspective on how they believe that the world should be.”

Shannon Levin

Shannon Levin poses for a photo with her portrait, Look at Me Now.

Shannon Levin’s portrait, Look at Me Now, shows a smile that is far from one usually seen.  When asked about the inspiration behind the work, JoAnn Onnembo, Levin’s art teacher from Bergen Academies in Hackensack, N.J., provided the following interpretation: “ Shannon’s art is aiming to stop you in your tracks as it is very colorful […] many times people are judged unfairly for their appearance. Smiles usually draw you in, but this smile will startle you.”

Throughout the ceremony, the young artists and writers were asked to think about how they will use their artistic talents when they embark on their future careers. A few offered ideas about how they believe art transforms life.

“Art gives life a different perspective. It shows how spontaneous life is and how you can’t plan for certain things.” —Aisling Flaherty, The Dalton School, New York, N.Y.

“Art will help people express themselves. In life it is important for people to share what they feel and think.”— Megan Oppenheim, The Mirman School, Los Angeles, Calif.

Click here to view additional photos from the event.

Chareese Ross is an Information Resource Specialist in the Office of Communications and Outreach and is on temporary assignment with the Student Art Exhibit Program.

The Department’s Student Art Exhibit Program provides students and teachers an opportunity to display creative work from the classroom in a highly public place that honors their work as an effective path to learning and knowledge for all. To visit the exhibits or for information about exhibiting contact Jackye Zimmermann at 202-401-0762 or at jacquelyn.zimmermann@ed.gov.

 

Posted in Headlines, News | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Five Things to Know About Your Student Loans

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Federal Student Aid

Over the next few months, many students who graduated or left school in the spring of 2012 will reach the end of their grace period and start repaying their student loans. Now is a great time to brush up on the basics of student loans.

student loans logoFinancial aid comes in many forms. Grants and scholarships are often called “gift aid” because they don’t have to be repaid. Another form of financial aid is work-study.  Federal Work-Study provides part-time jobs for undergraduate and graduate students with financial need, allowing them to earn money to help pay education expenses.

Student loans are the other major form of financial aid. A loan is money that a student borrows and must pay back, so it is important that you understand your options and responsibilities.

Here are five things you should know about your student loans:

1.     Federal vs. Private Loans

Federal loans are managed and backed by the U.S. government.  These loans are designed to provide students with fair treatment.  Because they offer the best terms for borrowers, federal loans are the best option for students.

Private loans are managed and backed by private banks.  These banks are not subject to the same rules and regulations of federal loans, and may feature higher (or variable) interest rates, stricter repayment plans and penalties, or other terms that may make them more expensive.

You also may encounter other, less common types of loans, such as state loans (managed by your state) or institutional loans (managed by your college or university).  In all cases, carefully read and understand the loan terms before deciding to accept.

2.     Unsubsidized vs. Subsidized Loans

Federal loans can be either subsidized or unsubsidized.  A subsidized student loan means that the government pays the interest for you while you’re in school, as long as you’re enrolled at least half time.  That means that if you take out a $5,000 subsidized student loan to pay for your freshman year, and graduate in four years of full-time classes, you’ll still owe $5,000 when you graduate.  Interest will only “accrue,” or be added to the repayment amount, after you stop being a student.

An unsubsidized student loan means that interest “accrues” even while you’re in school.  Some federal loans and nearly all private loans are unsubsidized.  You don’t always have to pay the interest while you’re a student, but the total amount you’ll need to repay is still growing.  If you have an unsubsidized student loan, it’s a good idea to pay the monthly interest while in school, even if you don’t need to.

3.     Loan Interest Rate

The interest rate is a percentage that determines how much your loan balance increases each year.  Consider it the price that you pay for being able to borrow money from the lender.  For example, if you have a $5,000 loan with a 5 percent interest rate, your annual interest will be $250 (5% x $5,000), which means at the end of the year you will owe $5,250.

4.     Loan Length of Repayment

When you start repaying a loan, you have a set amount of time to repay your loan known as the length of repayment.  A longer length of repayment means a lower monthly payment, but it also means a higher total amount repaid over the life of the loan.

Federal loans typically follow a ten-year repayment plan schedule, but depending on the type of repayment plan, your length of repayment could last as long as thirty years.  One key benefit of Federal loans is the ability of the borrower to switch repayment plans without penalty.  If you find a given repayment plan too difficult, research your options regarding extended repayment plans to determine if one is right for you.

5.     Monthly Loan Payments

The principal, interest rate, and length of repayment of a loan determine your monthly loan payment.  This is the amount you’ll need to pay each month.  Each loan has a separate monthly loan payment, so if you have more than one loan, you will have to pay several loan payments each month.  If you prefer to have a single loan payment, you should consider researching the Federal Loan Consolidation program to see if it’s right for you.

You may find that the monthly loan payments are too high and that you cannot pay them all.  If this occurs, seek help.  Research options such as income-based repayment, the public service loan forgiveness program, loan deferment, or loan forbearance to determine if one is right for you.  Remember, however, that options designed to decrease your monthly loan payments may increase the total amount you have to repay over the life of the loan.

Loans have many different characteristics, but they don’t have to be confusing.  Always carefully read and understand a loan’s features before accepting it. Your loan servicer or financial aid counselor can be great resource if you need help understanding the terms of a loan. Additionally, The Department of Education offers a number of tools, such as our repayment calculators and the Financial Awareness Counseling Tool (FACT), to help you research your options. By educating yourself, you will be prepared to make the best decisions for your own future.

Posted in Federal Student Aid, Headlines, News | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

It’s Never Too Late to Learn

Posted on October 16, 2012 by John White

Two young men, from different backgrounds, each tell a tragically similar story of their mistakes, which resulted in felony convictions and incarcerations. Their names aren’t important, but their stories are.

Both men are using education to take charge of their futures and be productive citizens.

During a recent trip to Iowa, Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education Brenda Dann-Messier and I met these men and several more like them, trying to make positive changes in their lives through education. We spent a day learning about adult education and corrections training programs in Cedar Rapids, before traveling to Dubuque for the Rural Community College Association’s annual conference.

Group Photo

Deputy Warden Bill Sperfslage, Anamosa Education Coordinator Mary Feeney-Wilfer, Kirkwood Community College High School Completion Director Marcel Kielkucki, Deputy Director of Offender Services Jerry Bartruff (front row) Kirkwood C.C. Executive Director of Government Relations Steve Ovel, Warden John Fayram, Assistant Secretary Brenda Dann-Messier, Deputy Assistant Secretary John White outside the Anamosa State Penitentiary in Anamosa, Iowa.

Having served their sentences and exited the correctional system, these two men now support each other and their fellow classmates in Kirkwood Community College’s Kirkwood Pathways for Academic Career Education and Employment (KPACE) program.

Kirkwood seeks to help lower-skilled, low-income adults, the unemployed and underemployed advance to successively higher levels of education, employment, and financial stability through the KPACE program. KPACE weaves together basic skills and workplace-readiness training, academics and certification attainment with support services through partnerships with the United Way of East Central Iowa and community-based organizations.

Believing that everyone’s situation is unique, Kirkwood has taken bold steps beyond simply offering courses and certifications. Kirkwood and its community partners, including United Way, are working with formerly incarcerated adults to make a successful re-entry into society.

According to the National Reentry Resource Center, federal and state corrections facilities held more than 1.6 million prisoners at the end of 2010 – approximately one of every 201 U.S. residents. At least 95 percent of state prisoners will be released back to their communities at some point.

The U.S. Department of Education recently released a new resource, Take Charge of Your Future, to help justice-involved adults connect to education and training opportunities. ED also provides funding for efforts to reduce recidivism by supporting in-prison education services through two formula grant programs: the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act and the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006. A federal Office of Correctional Education was created in 1991 by the Perkins Act and currently resides in ED’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education.

Rapid increases in the U.S. prisoner population over recent decades have increased the need for educational services in correctional settings.

Inside and outside of Iowa’s Anamosa State Penitentiary, a maximum/medium security institution that currently houses more than 1,150 offenders, we witnessed the hope that literacy and job skills training can bring.

The Iowa Department of Corrections and Kirkwood Community College are working together to offer inmates opportunities to earn a GED, learn computer skills and programs, including the production and printing of books in brail for the blind, and trades that include welding and carpentry while behind bars.

Kirkwood is also working with its community partners to help ex-offenders find stable employment and housing—other key success factors—upon re-entry. Two hundred businesses have committed to hiring Kirkwood students, including ex-felons. The Corporation for National and Community Service’s AmeriCorps program and Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) are providing social and educational services, and helping the community work on prison re-entry issues.

Community colleges have long offered innovative and valuable career training opportunities for youth and adults of all ages and in various stages of their lives. Kirkwood is offering solutions for safer communities through education and public-private partnerships.

John White is deputy assistant secretary for rural outreach at the U.S. Department of Education. 

Posted in Community Colleges, Headlines, News, Schools and Community | Tagged | Leave a comment

Walking in Their Shadows: ED Officials Team Up with Principals

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Cameron Brenchley

EducationIn celebration of National Principals Month, dozens of senior ED leaders and staff members are visiting schools today, tomorrow and Thursday across the country as part of an organized effort in which federal education officials are shadowing school leaders.

These shadowing visits, in partnership with the National Association of Elementary School Principals, the National Association of Secondary School Principals and New Leaders, will offer Department staff a glimpse into the daily work of principals, while also providing principals with the opportunity to discuss how federal policy, programs, and resources impact their schools.

To complete the week-long partnership effort, principals and ED staff who participated in the job shadowing will join Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on Friday afternoon for a debrief discussion to reflect on their experiences and lessons learned. Earlier this year, ED officials shadowed fifty teachers across the country as part of Teacher Appreciation Week.

Stay tuned for stories from our participants and see a complete list of who is participating and at what location.

Cameron Brenchley is director of digital engagement at the U.S. Department of Education

Posted in Headlines, News, Teachers, Teaching Profession | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Secretary Duncan Hosts First Meeting with National Council of Young Leaders

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Samuel Ryan
Students meet with Duncan

Leaders from the National Council of Young Leaders met with Secretary Duncan as part of his regular Student Voices series. Official Department of Education photo by Leslie Williams.

They are resilient. They are smart. They are united. They have beaten the odds and last week six leaders from the National Council of Young Leaders met with Secretary Arne Duncan and Deb Delisle, assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education to share their recommendations for increasing opportunities for youth and decreasing poverty.

The National Council of Young Leaders is a newly established council with a diverse group of young people. The council, which launched on September 19, has 14 founding members ranging in ages 18-34, representing both urban and rural low- income areas, who advise policy makers, business leaders and foundations on issues affecting low-income youth and their communities.

Secretary Duncan encouraged the students to be straight forward, “We’re always trying to have a real candid conversation about what we’re doing well, and what we’re not doing well,” he said. “We feel this huge sense of urgency to improve what’s going on around the country.”

In August and September the council researched issues and used their personal experiences to create a comprehensive list of six recommendations they believe will help create safe, welcoming, opportunity-rich communities for every child born in America.

Ending the school-to-prison pipeline was of great concern to the council. Ladine Daniels shared his experience of struggling to re-enter society having been through the school-to-prison pipeline.  “One of my biggest problems with the criminal justice system,” Daniels explained. “Is that too often the time doesn’t fit the crime and we don’t have a lot of opportunities when we get out of jail because we’re still looked upon as criminals.”

What kept Daniels from re-incarceration was a mentor who introduced him to the “Pathways to a Green Economy” program. The program provides people who are ex-offenders, a single parent, or low-income the opportunity to learn marketable skills for the green economy. Secretary Duncan mentioned restorative justice concept, emphasizing repairing the harm caused by criminal behavior, which is incorporated in ED’s Correctional Education work.

Council member, Anays Antongiorgi, discussed the importance of keeping students engaged in school by providing them culturally relevant curriculum and high-quality teachers who are passionate, culturally competent and incorporate strengths-based youth development in their approaches to teaching.

“I had two teachers that were very caring, however they were teaching 200+ students so they didn’t have time to provide me with individual attention,” Antongiorgi said. “Nor did they provide classroom materials that supported my learning style.”

In reflecting on the meeting, Secretary Duncan noted that “it is powerful to see a Council with different mix of people ethnically and geographically- rural, urban, suburban speak with one voice, even though you don’t agree on everything. You are all leaders and could teach us here in Washington a thing or two.”

Read the Council’s policy call to action Recommendations to Increase Opportunity and Decrease Poverty in America.

Samuel Ryan is a regional and youth outreach associate in the Office of Communications and Outreach 

Posted in Headlines, News | Tagged , | 2 Comments

#AskFAFSA Office Hours with Secretary Arne Duncan

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Federal Student Aid

On October 12th at 4pm ET, Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan will join @FAFSA to answer your financial aid questions during the October edition of #AskFAFSA Office Hours. Maybe you have a question about completing the FAFSA or understanding your loan repayment options? Maybe you want to know more about the new resources we just launched? If you have a financial aid question for Secretary Duncan, now’s your chance to ask!

AskArneEvent_PosterHere’s how it works:

  • Have questions for @ArneDuncan You can start submitting your questions on Twitter and Facebook today. Be sure to include the #AskFAFSA  hashtag in your tweets. We will be monitoring for questions on Facebook and Twitter from now through Friday.
  • On Friday, October 12th, at 4pm ET, follow @FAFSA or the #AskFAFSA hashtag on Twitter to join the conversation. Arne will be answering your questions live. Don’t use Twitter? You can also follow along using the Twitter app on our Facebook page.
  • Can’t make the live session? A summary of #AskFAFSA Office Hours, including the full Q&A, will be posted on Storify following the event.

Posted in Federal Student Aid, Headlines, News | Tagged , | 14 Comments

Standing Up for Teachers is an International Endeavor

Posted on October 5, 2012 by Guest Blogger
2012 International Summit on the Teaching Profession

The 2012 International Summit on the Teaching Profession was held in New York City. In 2013, the Summit will be hosted by the Netherlands, OECD and EI. It will be held in Amsterdam.

Today teachers across the globe, from Budapest to Ramallah, are celebrating World Teachers’ Day. Using the theme “Taking a Stand for Teachers!” educators are meeting with students to encourage them to become teachers, holding rallies and leading discussions about the strengthening the teaching profession. Learning about these events excites me and makes me want to connect with my international peers.

In 2011, leaders in the US Department of Education did just that when they met with some of their peers from around the world at the First International Summit on the Teaching Profession. As a result of their participation in the Summit, the Department developed the RESPECT project. Over 3500 teachers provided input into the RESPECT vision statement for strengthening and elevating the teaching profession in the United States.

Building on that work, leaders gathered again in March 2012 for a second international summit.  The US participants (including Secretary Duncan, the Presidents of AFT and NEA and the Executive Director of CCSSO) developed a framework to guide their respective work. This vision aligns with RESPECT, by calling for better teacher preparation, building the capacity of teachers to share leadership and responsibility, and improving professional development for teachers and principals.

A teacher and 2010 Teaching Ambassador Fellow, Linda Yaron, recently worked with teachers in India as part of the State Department’s Teachers for Global Classrooms Program. Linda feels “that the more we can structure relevant, global experiences in and out of the classroom, the more we can deepen what it means to teach and learn in the 21st century.”

Secretary Duncan’s statement for World Teachers’ Day echoes Linda’s words. Teachers, he said, “empower students with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in the 21st century, and they connect them to people, languages, and experiences beyond their home borders. “

As a teacher I try to prepare my students to succeed in the 21st century. Yet, on World Educator Day, I find myself inspired to model 21st century skills for my students by connecting with teachers across different languages and beyond borders at the local and global level just as Secretary Duncan did with his colleagues from around the globe at the international summits.

Do you know of ways to connect with teachers in other countries?

Lisa Clarke is 2012-2013 Washington Teaching Ambassador Fellow on loan to the Department from Kent, Washington.

Posted in Headlines, News, Teachers | Tagged | 3 Comments

Driving Productivity in Postsecondary Education Through Innovation

Posted on October 5, 2012 by Guest Blogger
Innovation Symposium

Secretary Arne Duncan and Assistant Deputy Secretary Jim Shelton discussed discuss technological innovations to improve higher education. Official Department of Education photo by Joshua Hoover.

The Department of Education (ED) seeks to encourage innovation in higher education teaching and learning to drive productivity, quality, and equity. To contribute to the national conversation in this arena, ED, in collaboration with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, convened 175 people at Georgetown University this week to discuss technological innovations that can be instrumental in transforming teaching and learning.

The group was intentionally diverse: college and university leaders; innovators in the education technology space; foundation officials; associations and accreditors; researchers and policy analysts as well as state and federal officials. Participants were encouraged to talk across sectors and blur any real or perceived boundaries.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan kicked off the symposium by challenging the participants to continue to be innovative and to push ED to support innovation.  “We need to catalyze innovative changes that can be sustained and have the potential to dramatically increase completion while enhancing quality and gaining productivity,” he said.

The need to discuss innovation in teaching and learning for higher education has never been more pressing, with at least three dynamics converging at this moment in time. First, we know more than ever before about the learning sciences. Second, there is a proliferation of innovative resources that aim to transform teaching and learning, many of which take advantage of rapidly changing technology. And third, it is a time when colleges and universities are being asked to do more with less, in a climate of increased attention to affordability.

While participants reported leaving with new energy and armed with new information and tools, the symposium was not just a series of conversations. Its success is measured by the commitments made and actions taken after the event.  Near the end of the day, participants had the opportunity to gather with one another to discuss collaborations, partnerships, and commitments.  ED collected these written commitments and will follow-up with the participants to ensure that this symposium is a catalyst toward creating new momentum and broader action around innovation to drive productivity, quality and equity.

Tweets from the day:

Rosemarie Nassif is a special advisor to the Assistant Secretary in the Office of Postsecondary Education, and David Soo is policy adviser to the Under Secretary of Education

Posted in Headlines, Innovation, News | Tagged , | Leave a comment