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Time to kick off fall campaigns

Wednesday September 8th

Now that not only Primary Election Day but also Labor Day has come and gone, it's time in Arizona ... LEARN MORE »

TUSD begins a shuffle of some teachers

Wednesday September 8th

Teachers will be pulled from classrooms that have been deemed too small as the Tucson Unified ... LEARN MORE »

Feds probing claims of bias against Arizona's non-native English speaking teachers

Wednesday September 8th

The federal government is investigating whether Arizona has discriminated against teachers who ... LEARN MORE »

NAU-Yavapai in Prescott Valley offers cheaper degrees

Tuesday September 7th

Northern Arizona University is making the state's boldest move yet to confront the problems ... LEARN MORE »

Future hiring will mainly benefit the high-skilled

Tuesday September 7th

Whenever companies start hiring freely again, job-seekers with specialized skills and education ... LEARN MORE »

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Statistical Sources

Two-thirds of the jobs of the future will require a college degree or advanced training.
Source:  Educating Arizona:  Assessing our Education System (Birth - Grade 12), January 2008.
http://www.educatingarizona.org/report.          

America was the only country out of 23 that didn’t show an increase in postsecondary degree attainment from 2000-2005.
Postsecondary Education Opportunity (2007, November).  Upper Secondary and Tertiary Graduation and Attainment in OECD and Partner Countries:  1996-2005.
 
The United States’ production of college graduates has fallen from 30% to 14% globally.     
OECD, PISA 2003 Results, Chart A4.1.
 
Fifty percent of college freshmen have to take some level of remedial courses, costing education institutions and taxpayers an estimated $2 billion annually.
Source:  http://www.makingopportunityaffordable.org.
 
America ranks 21st in high school graduation rates among the top industrialized countries.
http://www.strongamericanschools.org/sas-says-facts
 
America’s 15 year olds rank 25th in math and 21st in science compared to their peers around the globe.
Source:  Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (2007) PISA 2006:  Science Competencies for Tomorrow's World, Exeuctive Summary.
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/15/13/39725224.pdf
 
Only 24% of Arizona 4th and 8th graders demonstrate proficiency in reading.
Source:  Educating Arizona:  Assessing our Education System (Birth - Grade 12), January 2008.
http://www.educatingarizona.org/report.
 
Arizona is ranked 38th in the nation for 8th graders who are proficient in math.
Source:  http://www.strongamericanschools.org/themes/edin08/flash/your-state.
 
Arizona is frequently cited as having one of the highest high school dropout rates in the nation.
http://www.strongamericanschools.org/themes/edin08/flash/your-state
http://www.arizonafuture.org/news/articles/2008-05-grad-drop.html
 
Arizona is ranked 43rd in the nation for high school graduates who go directly to college.
NCES; Common Core Data, Private High Schools Survey, courtesy of NCHEMS Information Center, higheredinfo.org.
 
Fewer than half of our public high school graduates qualify academically to enroll in public universities.
Source:  Green, J. & Winters, M. (2005).  Public high school graduation and college-readiness rates:  1991-2002.  New York:  Manhattan Institute. 
 
For every 100 ninth graders in Arizona, only 17% will graduate from college on time.
Source:  The National Center for Higher Education Management Systems Information Center for State Higher Education Policy and Analysis, 2003-2004.