By Matthew M. Chingos and Kristin Blagg. The release of institution-level earnings information as part of the Obama Administration’s new College Scorecard data has already spawned new “value-added” rankings based on the economic outcomes of students who attended similar institutions. These emerging rankings are an improvement on simple unadjusted rankings, but the wide variance within and among these rankings prompt questions about the precision of this methodology. More...

By Stuart M. Butler. Most proposals to improve access for low-income students focus on tweaking the financial aid system. But what's required instead is a complete overhaul of what we mean by "college." It's time for an entirely different business model, not just to get the cost down but to change fundamentally the way higher education is delivered. More...

By Jared Knowles. In the past year the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction—my employer—has shifted its focus to racial inequality in student outcomes, like the state black-white graduation gap which is among the nation's worst. More...

By Arnold Packer. Greater investment in human capital is needed for economic and social reasons. We risk years of less-than-adequate productivity growth unless a way is found to boost skills. Prospects for social mobility are also closely tied to the acquisition of the skills and mindset needed to earn a middle class income and participate as informed citizens and effective parents. More...

By Santiago García da Rosa, César Guadalupe and Julia Ruiz Pozuelo. The Latin America Learning barometer is an interactive tool developed to showcase the state of education in Latin America, and allow users to see how it compares over time and across countries. The barometer uses the latest available data, and is the third in a series that illustrates the state of education across world regions. The previous barometers can be found here: the Arab Learning Barometer and the Africa Learning Barometer. More...

By Elizabeth King. There are now more girls attending school in the developing world than ever before, and the gender gap in education has narrowed considerably. But hold the celebration. Despite the progress indicated by the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) statistics, there are some countries where gender equality in education is still far from being reached. And unless progress is accelerated in those countries, the global goals for education will not be met. More...

By Patrick McGuinn. States are working hard to realign education policies, institutions, and personnel in the wake of the flurry of reforms prompted by No Child Left Behind (NCLB), Race to the Top (RTT), and the NCLB waiver process. More...