U.S. Department of Education Awards more than $6 Million to develop Indian Education and Specialized Development

The U.S. Department of Education today awarded 22 grants totaling more than $6 million to improve educational opportunities and achievement for American Indian children in 13 states and to provide professional development for individuals of American Indian descent who serve in the education field. 

"Reforming Native education has never been more important," Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said. "To do what is best for Native students, we must collaborate with people who know the students and communities. These grants will help schools offer more opportunities for students and provide training and support to educators and others in the communities that are serving the students." 

The Department awarded 12 grants totaling $3,329,938 under the Demonstration Grants for Indian Children program, a competitive discretionary grant program that supports projects to develop, test and demonstrate the effectiveness of services and programs to improve the educational opportunities and achievement of Indian children. This grant focuses on increasing the school readiness skills of three- and four-year-old Indian children to prepare them for successful entry into kindergarten. Program funds also are used to enable Indian high school students to transition successfully to post secondary education by increasing their competency and skills in challenging subjects, including mathematics and science. 

Under the Indian Education Professional Development program, 10 grants totaling $3,329,939 are being awarded to increase the number of qualified Indian individuals in professions that serve Indian people and to provide training to qualified Indian individuals to become teachers and administrators.

US Department of Education grants $750000 for Research for people with disabilities

The U.S. Department of Education today awarded a $750,000 grant to SEDL of Austin, Texas, to carry out activities to help people with disabilities through a Center on Knowledge Translation of Disability and Rehabilitation Research. This grant will develop resources for, support the training of, and provide technical assistance to disability and rehabilitation researchers to effectively communicate new research knowledge to people with disabilities and other stakeholders in a timely manner and in easy-to-understand formats.

“This grant will help to ensure that valuable new knowledge about how to improve the lives of those with disabilities gets to the hands of those who can use it to inform their decision-making,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “This project will support research and training that promote goals of inclusion, integration, employment and self-sufficiency – ultimately providing opportunities for individuals with disabilities and helping them achieve their full potential.”

The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), a component of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), is the main federal agency that supports applied research, training and development to improve the lives of individuals with disabilities

New State-by-State College achievement Numbers Show development Towards 2020 target

"Every capable, hard-working, and responsible student should be able to afford to go to college. That's not a Democratic dream or a Republican one. It's the American Dream," Duncan will say.

Today, the Administration released new numbers showing college attainment state-by-state based on census bureau data from 2009 to 2010. All told, the percentage of 25-34 year olds with some kind of postsecondary degree rose half a percentage point from 38.8 percent to 39.3 percent. America used to be No. 1 in the world for the percentage of adults with college degrees but has recently slid to 16th. President Obama has called for America to increase the number of degree-holders to 60 percent by the end of the decade.

"To meet the president's goal for America to become No. 1 in the world for college graduates all of us—the federal government, states, and institutions—must work together. We've made some progress, but the combination of deep state budget cuts and rising tuition prices is pushing an affordable college education out of reach for middle class families," Duncan will say. "As the President has said, the countries that out-educate today will out-compete us tomorrow. The federal government has done a tremendous amount to increase the amount of aid available to students. But we need states and institutions to meet us halfway by doing more to keep college costs down."

While 40 states have cut funding for higher education in the past year and tuition at four-year public universities has risen 15 percent on average in the last two years, Duncan plans to highlight states that are doing a good job of controlling costs and boosting completion.

He will also discuss the Administration's record in keeping college affordable, including boosting Pell Grant funding, streamlining the student aid system, and maintaining interest rates on federal subsidized Stafford loans at 3.4 percent.

Finally, at the NGA meeting, Duncan and his predecessor Margaret Spellings will discuss the status of reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (No Child Left Behind) and the Administration's ongoing efforts to offer temporary flexibility to states from the law in exchange for a commitment to high standards, teacher effectiveness and accountability.

New Tool Helps Students Manage Loan liability

The Department of Education launched a new tool this week that helps students with financial management basics including information about current loan debt and estimates for student loan debt levels after graduation.

The US Department of Education launched a new tool this week that helps students with financial management basics.

The new tool—the Financial Awareness Counseling Tool—has five interactive tutorials that are tailored for each student after they sign in and access their individual loan history. The five tutorials are:

1. Understand Your Loans
2. Manage Your Spending
3. Plan to Repay
4. Avoid Default
5. Make Finances a Priority

The Counseling Tool is part of a larger effort by the Obama Administration to make it easier for students and their families to understand the cost of college. In the coming weeks the Administration will also launch its model financial aid shopping sheet, and encourage colleges to adopt the sheet to ensure prospective students understand the cost of college before their first semester.