California ELL report

Report criticizes instruction of long-term ELL students in Calif.
Students learning English as a second language in 40 California school districts may not be receiving the instruction they need, according to a report by a coalition of education and civil rights groups. The study concluded that 59% of English-language learners in secondary schools and with more than six years in U.S. schools had not achieved proficiency, and few programs were in place to meet the long-term needs of ELL students. State education leaders disputed the findings, but acknowledged the challenge for students to achieve English fluency in higher grades, where academics become more rigorous.
Californians Together. (2010). Reparable Harm: Fulfilling the Unkept Promise of Educational Opportunity for California’s Long Term English Learners. Long Beach, CA: Author.
http://www.californianstogether.org/

Reading report

This report highlights fourth-grade reading scores as a predictor for dropping out, with lower earning potential, global competitiveness, and productivity. Examines factors undermining poor minority students' reading proficiency and outlines reforms to address them.
Annie E. Casey Foundtation. (2010). 2010 KIDS COUNT Special Report: Why Reading by the End of Third Grade Matters. Baltimore: Author.
http://www.aecf.org/~/media/Pubs/Initiatives/KIDS%20COUNT/123/2010KCSpecReport/AEC_report_color_highres.pdf

Women in STEM report

A new research report by AAUW presents compelling evidence that can help to explain why so few women are in STEM careers. The report presents in-depth yet accessible profiles of eight key research findings that point to environmental and social barriers – including stereotypes, gender bias and the climate of science and engineering departments in colleges and universities – that continue to block women’s participation and progress in science, technology, engineering, and math. The report also includes up to date statistics on girls' and women's achievement and participation in these areas and offers new ideas for what each of us can do to more fully open scientific and engineering fields to girls and women.
AAUW. (2010). Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.
http://www.aauw.org/learn/research/whysofew.cfm

Books and education study

The difference between having no books in the home and having 500 books in the home has an enormous impact on schooling: Evans, Kelley, Sikora and Treiman (2010) did a study of about 70,000 15 year olds in 27 countries, interviewed. Their major result: Controlling for parental education, fathers' occupation, and social class, young people in homes with 500 books stay in school three years longer than children in bookless homes.
The effect of books in the home was about the same as the effect of parental education: Controlling for all other factors, those from homes in which parents had a college education stayed in school three years longer than those from homes in which parents had three years of education.
The effect of books was twice as strong as the effect of fathers' occupation. Children from homes in which fathers were professionals stayed in school about a year and a half longer than children from homes in which the father was a laborer, all other factors equal.
The effect of books was stronger than the effect of GDP (gross domestic product); children in the country with the highest GDP (United States) stay in school two years longer than children in the country with a much lower GDP (China).
In other words: Access to books is as strong as or stronger than economic factors, once again suggesting that access to books can mitigate the effects of poverty .
Another important result was the finding that the effects of books in the home are more powerful for children whose parents have little or no schooling. The results of the study predict that children of parents with little or no schooling who have 25 books in the home will have two more years of education than a similar family with no books in the home. Also, 500 books in the home predicts an additional two years of education.
Here is another way of looking at this result: 40% of children of parents with little or no education in bookless homes finish grade 9. In book-filled homes (500 or more books), 88% do.
Evans, Kelley, Sikora, and Treiman (2010) Family scholarly culture and educational success: Books and schooling in 27 nations. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility
(above review written by S. Krashen)

School technology survey

Survey reveals gaps in school technology perceptions
The results from a recent survey on education technology suggest that schools are making progress on integrating technology into the curriculum—but the survey also reveals key disparities in how students, educators, administrators, and even aspiring teachers think of various technology tools.
(2010). Unleashing the future. Irvine, CA: Project Tomorrow
http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/pdfs/SU09UnleashingTheFuture.pdf

This survey reports on how Californians view issues in the K-12 education system, including the impact of state funding cuts, high school dropout rates, college and workforce preparation, merit pay for teachers, and higher taxes to help fund schools.
Baldassare, M., et al. (2010). PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Education. San Francisco: Public Policy Institute of California
http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/survey/S_410MBS.pdf