The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education has released Measuring Up 2008: The National Report Card on Higher Education. The report presents indicators on higher education nationally and for all 50 states. The data used to create the indicators can also be downloaded in Excel format.

The US is the only industrialized country in which children are less likely than their parents to graduate from high school, according to a new report from the Education Trust.

Citation: Habash, A. (2008). Counting on Graduation: An Agenda for State Leadership.  Washington, DC: The Education Trust.

A new study shows that girls today do just as well as boys on math tests, defying lingering stereotypes (CNN.com).

Citation: Hyde, J. S., Lindberg, S. M., Linn, M. C., Ellis, A. B., & Williams, C. C. (2008). Diversity: Gender Similarities Characterize Math Performance. Science, 321(5888), 494-495.

The Institute for Education Sciences (US Department of Education) is hosting a series of webinars on research funding at the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) and the National Center for Education Research (NCER). They will cover a basic overview, grantwriting, and the application process.

Comprehensive state education data warehouses, such as Florida’s, are a gold mine for education researchers, but ensuring student privacy will be a major challenge. The Chronicle of Higher Education explores the issues.

The PRI Library has received announcement of a NCES and ECLS datasets training seminar at the 2008 PAA annual meeting in New Orleans.

The Statistics Department within the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs has just launched a new internet-based data service for the global user community. The service brings UN statistical databases within easy reach of users through a single entry point. Users can search and down load a variety of statistical resources of the UN system. Click here for more information and access to the service.

Widening gaps in educational attainment threaten economic mobility for the poor, according to a report from the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Economic Mobility Project (Chronicle of Higher Education News Blog).

See also: New York Times article,  Getting Ahead or Losing Ground: Economic Mobility in America (Economic Mobility Project report)

Growing up poor alters brain development, and new research presented at the annual meeting of American Association for the Advancement of Science could help ameliorate the effects of poverty on academic achievement, according to a report in the Chronicle of Higher Education. (Note: The Chronicle article is available online to subscribers. PRI affiliates can read the Chronicle in the PRI Library or request online access from library@pop.psu.edu.)

Citation: Farah, M.J., Betancourt, L., Shera, D.M., et al. (in press). Environmental Stimulation, Parental Nurturance and Cognitive Development in Humans. Developmental Science. (available online)

More high school students are taking and scoring well on Advanced Placement tests, but underserved groups are not gaining at the same rate, according to the 4th Annual AP Report to the Nation from the College Board.

See also: Chronicle of Higher Education article (Note: The Chronicle article is available online to subscribers. PRI affiliates can read the Chronicle in the PRI Library or request online access from library@pop.psu.edu.)