Friday Roundup

Here is a listing of articles of interest that have been published within the last 7-10 days:

Education
1. More Hispanic students graduating and attending college Census says, 6/8/11, Huffpost Education
Brief Intro: "A higher percentage of young Hispanic adults is finishing high school, and the number attending a two-year college has nearly doubled over the last decade, according to Census data released Wednesday."

2. Detroit Public Schools scales back its plan for charter conversions, 6/10/11, Detroit Free Press
Brief Intro:"The ambitious plan to convert one-third of Detroit Public Schools buildings to charter schools by fall has slowed significantly, scaling back to only five charter school conversions this year."

3. Study:Preschool kids less likely to grow up as criminals, 6/10/11, Public News Service
Brief Intro:"The study, published in the journal Science, is one of the largest and longest of its kind, tracking youths from age 3 to 28 - about 1,000 who attended a Chicago preschool program and about 500 who did not. Those left out were 27 percent more likely to have been arrested for a felony by age 28 and were 39 percent more likely to have spent time in jail, according to study author Arthur Reynolds."

Health
1. Study sees cuts to health plans, 6/8/11, WSJ
Brief Intro:"A report by McKinsey & Co. has found that 30% of employers are likely to stop offering workers health insurance after the bulk of the Obama administration's health overhaul takes effect in 2014."

2. Hospitals push to reduce preventable re-admissions, 6/7/11, WSJ
Brief Intro:"The animated character on a computer screen, who explains medical instructions, is one of several new strategies hospitals are using to help patients make the transition to home, including sending patients off with a "Home with Meds" packet of medications and having real-life case managers and nurses monitor patients by phone."

Charter schools: Success and protests

A recent article on CNN discusses the success and challenges some charter schools have experienced. The story focuses on the success of one particular charter school in particular in Philadelphia. In 2005, Mastery Charter was asked to take over a public school that had 7th grade students scoring 16% proficient in math and 20% in reading. Now state results show that 7th graders in that school are now scoring 80% proficient in math and 66% in reading.

In contrast to this success story, the article also takes a look at another school that transitioned from a public to charter school in 2008. In February, students of that school staged a walkout over the proposed transition. This was one of three protests by district teens who were upset about the change. A junior at the school, Eva Reeves, commented "Just because it turns into a charter school doesn't mean it's going to be a good school."

Detroit Schools: Proposal to turn 41 schools to charter operators

An article on CNN describes how Detroit Public Schools has proposed turning over 41- low performing schools that were scheduled for a shut-down to charter operators. The Renaissance Plan 2012 would select operators to run the schools as public academies as with DPS as their authorizer.