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I read that the University of Massachusetts is raising its tuition rates by 15 percent, while Dartmouth College is raising theirs by "only" five percent. This is in a year in which the Consumer Price Index rose by only 0.1 percent, the smallest increase in over a half a century. It is more of the same old thing. Raise real tuition fees a lot. If legislatures won't let universities do it, they do it anyhow through the back door --new fees and charges. Slim down staff a tad, give small or no salary increases. But do not try to make...

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. ... After decades of grooming a handful of high school students in an exclusive research class to succeed in the elite national Intel Science Talent Search, school administrators this year, for the first time, required every seventh grader to do original research. With similar goals in mind, the district has added honor societies in English, art and music — for a total of seven — to recognize students whose overall grades may keep them out of the National Honor Society. Since 2003, it has expanded its menu of Advanced Placement courses to 25 subjects and opened them...

... An equity and excellence gap appears when traditionally underserved students comprise a smaller percentage of the successful student group than the percentage these students represent in the graduating class. For example, if 20 percent of students in a state’s graduating class are African American, true equity and excellence would not be achieved until at least 20 percent of the students scoring 3 or higher on AP Exams are African American. • 18 states have closed the equity and excellence gap for Hispanic or Latino students. • 16 states have closed the equity and excellence gap for American Indian or...

College Board Announces Increased College Readiness by: Bethany Stotts, February 20, 2008 On Thursday, February 14, the College Board released its annual Advanced Placement exam findings, announcing that the number of high-school test-takers gaining a score of 3 or more on AP tests has risen 3.5% nationwide over the last five years. The CB board celebrated these increases because rising scores not only indicate that more high-school graduates are prepared to succeed in college (15.2% nationwide), but because studies have shown that AP test-takers are more likely to understand key subjects such as math and physics, making America more competitive...