Part of the Volume on Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth. Teaching young people how to use digital media to convey their public voices could connect youthful interest in identity exploration and social interaction with direct experiences of civic engagement. Learning to use blogs ("web logs," web pages that are regularly updated with links and opinion), wikis (web pages that non-programmers can edit easily), podcasts (digital radio productions distributed through the Internet), and digital video as media of self-expression, with an emphasis on "public voice," should be considered a pillar -- not just a component -- of twenty-first-century civic curriculum. Participatory media that enable young people to create as well as consume media are popular among high school and college students. Introducing the use of these media in the context of the public sphere is an appropriate intervention for educators because the rhetoric of democratic participation is not necessarily learnable by self-guided point-and-click experimentation. The participatory characteristics of online digital media are described, examples briefly cited, the connection between individual expression and public opinion discussed, and specific exercises for developing a public voice through blogs, wikis, and podcasts are suggested. A companion wiki provides an open-ended collection of resources for educators: https://www.socialtext.net/medialiteracy.

Part of the Volume on Digital Young, Innovation, and the Unexpected

Online backchannel chat rooms offer the potential to transform classroom learning in unexpected and powerful ways. However, the specific ways in which they can influence teaching pedagogy and learning opportunities are less well understood. Activities in a backchannel may include the dissemination of ideas, knowledge building, asking and answering questions, engaging in critical discourse, and sharing information and resources. This chapter describes a backchannel chat room that has taken place over multiple years in a large university student community. It explores unforeseen and exciting opportunities, as well as possible limitations, for designing teaching and learning practices to leverage this communication medium. With a deeper understanding of the opportunities and limitations of the backchannel, educators and instructional designers could transform the classroom experience from a passive lecture model to one of active, collaborative, and engaged knowledge production.

Part of the Volume on Digital Young, Innovation, and the Unexpected

Online backchannel chat rooms offer the potential to transform classroom learning in unexpected and powerful ways. However, the specific ways in which they can influence teaching pedagogy and learning opportunities are less well understood. Activities in a backchannel may include the dissemination of ideas, knowledge building, asking and answering questions, engaging in critical discourse, and sharing information and resources. This chapter describes a backchannel chat room that has taken place over multiple years in a large university student community. It explores unforeseen and exciting opportunities, as well as possible limitations, for designing teaching and learning practices to leverage this communication medium. With a deeper understanding of the opportunities and limitations of the backchannel, educators and instructional designers could transform the classroom experience from a passive lecture model to one of active, collaborative, and engaged knowledge production.

Part of the Volume on Digital Young, Innovation, and the Unexpected

Online backchannel chat rooms offer the potential to transform classroom learning in unexpected and powerful ways. However, the specific ways in which they can influence teaching pedagogy and learning opportunities are less well understood. Activities in a backchannel may include the dissemination of ideas, knowledge building, asking and answering questions, engaging in critical discourse, and sharing information and resources. This chapter describes a backchannel chat room that has taken place over multiple years in a large university student community. It explores unforeseen and exciting opportunities, as well as possible limitations, for designing teaching and learning practices to leverage this communication medium. With a deeper understanding of the opportunities and limitations of the backchannel, educators and instructional designers could transform the classroom experience from a passive lecture model to one of active, collaborative, and engaged knowledge production.

Final Report and Recommendations of the California Citizens Commission on Higher Education.

"Education and Public Safety," one of four briefs, finds that states that invest more in education have lower rates of violent crime and incarceration. The upcoming briefs will examine the intersection of policies on housing, employment, and drug treatment with safety and crime rates.

Key findings from "Education and Public Safety" include:

Graduation rates were associated with positive public safety outcomes. Researchers have found that a 5 percent increase in male high school graduation rates would produce an annual savings of almost $5 billion in crime-related expenses.

States that had higher levels of educational attainment also had crime rates lower than the national average. Nine out of the 10 states with the highest percentage of population who had attained a high school diploma or above were found to have lower violent crime rates than the national average, compared to just four of the 10 states with the lowest educational attainment per population.

States with higher college enrollment rates experienced lower violent crime rates than states with lower college enrollment rates. Of the states with the 10 highest enrollment rates, nine had violent crime rates below the national average. Of the states with the lowest college enrollment rates, five had violent crime rates above the national average.

States that made bigger investments in higher education saw better public safety outcomes. Of the 10 states that saw the biggest increases in higher education expenditure, eight saw violent crime rates decline, and five saw violent crime decline more than the national average. Of the 10 states that saw the smallest change in higher education expenditure, the violent crime rate rose in five states. The risk of incarceration, higher violent crime rates, and low educational attainment are concentrated among communities of color, who are more likely to suffer from barriers to educational opportunities. Disparities in educational opportunities contribute to a situation in which communities of color experience less educational attainment than whites, are more likely to be incarcerated, and more likely to face higher violent crime rates.

School achievement at the elementary and secondary level is crucial for children's future success in higher education and the workplace. All children deserve an education that provides them with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed.

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, a federally mandated education policy signed into law by President Bush, has filtered through our educational system with the promise of preparing disadvantaged students for academic achievement and countering educational inequities. NCLB requires that all states establish a timeline to ensure Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) toward the goal that 100% of students overall and in all designated subgroups are proficient in language arts and math by 2014. If a school or school district has at least forty students in a particular subgroup (White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, Multiracial, Limited English Proficiency, Individualized Education Program, or Low Income), it is accountable for the progress of students in that subgroup toward 100% proficiency.

To demonstrate the local effects of NCLB and AYP, MCIC has compiled data that shows where the schools in the metropolitan Chicago region stand in the program. Maps of the six-county area, school achievement by district and Chicago show schools' overall achievement of AYP for the 2003-2004 school year, the most recent data available.

There are some clear geographic patterns: The majority of schools not making AYP are in Chicago, most of which are located on the South and West sides. Chicago schools represent 52% of non-performing AYP schools in the region, though they represent only 30% of the total number of reporting schools. However, it is important to note that there are schools not making AYP in each of the six counties in the metropolitan Chicago region.

School achievement at the elementary and secondary level is crucial for children's future success in higher education and the workplace. All children deserve an education that provides them with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed.

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, a federally mandated education policy signed into law by President Bush, has filtered through our educational system with the promise of preparing disadvantaged students for academic achievement and countering educational inequities. NCLB requires that all states establish a timeline to ensure Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) toward the goal that 100% of students overall and in all designated subgroups are proficient in language arts and math by 2014. If a school or school district has at least forty students in a particular subgroup (White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, Multiracial, Limited English Proficiency, Individualized Education Program, or Low Income), it is accountable for the progress of students in that subgroup toward 100% proficiency.

To demonstrate the local effects of NCLB and AYP, MCIC has compiled data that shows where the schools in the metropolitan Chicago region stand in the program. Maps of the six-county area, school achievement by district and Chicago show schools' overall achievement of AYP for the 2003-2004 school year, the most recent data available.

There are some clear geographic patterns: The majority of schools not making AYP are in Chicago, most of which are located on the South and West sides. Chicago schools represent 52% of non-performing AYP schools in the region, though they represent only 30% of the total number of reporting schools. However, it is important to note that there are schools not making AYP in each of the six counties in the metropolitan Chicago region.