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A Dragon Slayer With a Smile: Recalling Education Trust Board Member Bob Sexton

A quiet fighter for education has passed from the scene. Robert F. Sexton, of Lexington, Ky., a board member of The Education Trust, died last Thursday at 68 after a long battle with cancer.

As the longtime leader of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, Bob brought his special blend of passion, persistence, and civility to the movement for better schools in Kentucky and nationwide.

Undaunted by Finishing Out of the Money in Race to the Top Competition, States Will Press Reforms

If there was any doubt that the Race to the Top competition has spurred education reforms nationwide, officials in the states that won (and nearly won) a share of the coveted federal funds have put that speculation to rest.

Nine states and the District of Columbia joined first-round winners Delaware and Tennessee in meeting the reform criteria the competition demanded to earn extra education dollars. (An Ed Trust analysis breaks down the student demographics in the winning states.) Seven other states finished within shouting distance of the tenth-place finisher in the second round.

EQUITY EXPRESS FAST FACT: Most Say High School Students Need More Rigorous Courses

For today’s children to be successful adults, they’ll need more than just a high school diploma. But all too often, high school students are not assigned to the kinds of rigorous courses that will prepare them college or a career. If it were up to voters nationwide, however, that would all change.

Eighty-six percent of Americans polled believe that all high school students should be pushed to complete a college and career-ready curriculum, according to a new survey by Achieve, Inc. The numbers are comparably high across race, region, and party affiliation. Learn more.

Graduation-Rate Gaps Persist Within Colleges, But Some Campuses Build Success for All Student Groups

College-completion gaps among individual institutions lurk under national averages, according to two new Ed Trust reports that probe disaggregated six-year graduation rates at hundreds of the nation’s public and private institutions.

“Big Gaps, Small Gaps: Some Colleges and Universities Do Better Than Others in Graduating African-American Students” 

“Big Gaps, Small Gaps: Some Colleges and Universities Do Better Than Others in Graduating Hispanic Students”

What Does It Take to Close Achievement Gaps and Help All Students Learn at High Levels?

Find answers in How It’s Being Done: Urgent Lessons from Unexpected Schools. Karin Chenoweth’s latest book takes you on a coast-to-coast tour of schools that turn high expectations into academic success--whether they serve low-income white kids in rural Arkansas, Latino teens in California, or black middle schoolers in Boston.

And be sure to vote for Karin's first book, It's Being Done, in Education Next's poll of the top education books of the decade.

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