Tech Prep News and Notes

Oklahoma Housing Affordability Study
In a By Richard Mize article, “Oklahoma incomes trailing home price hikes,” a discussion is held regarding the fact that in a recent report by the Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency in Oklahoma County a wage of $18.40 per hour would be required for someone to buy the average-price home, which the agency calculated at $150,297 using Realtor sales data. A wage of $11.29 would be required to rent the average apartment in Oklahoma City, a two-bedroom unit going for $587 per month, the housing agency said.

Complete study: http://www.ohfa.org/affordabilitystudy.htm
Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency: http://www.ohfa.org
NewsOK Article: http://newsok.com/article/3204477/1202966201

OK Dept of Commerce wants better educated workforce
http://www.okinsider.com/readstory.oki?type=headline&storyid=0A712KBL4

CareerTech proposes changes in lottery funding
http://www.okinsider.com/readstory.oki?type=headline&storyid=0A611P5HA

Oklahoma gets B for Charter Schools
http://newsok.com/article/3204792/1203056101

2nd Century Entrepreneurship
http://www.okstartup.com

Common Ed, Higher Ed performance report
http://www.okinsider.com/readstory.oki?type=headline&storyid=0A611RS6R

Free Ebooks
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/free-books-on-the-internet-harpercollins-oprah-and-yale-join-the-fray/

Industry seeks CareerTech partnership
http://www.okinsider.com/readstory.oki?type=headline&storyid=1A10ZDSMP

Corn calls for OHLAP expansion
http://www.okinsider.com/readstory.oki?type=headline&storyid=2A112BUFW

Online Archiving Open Source
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/02/20/omeka


ALLIANCES AND COLLEGE TRANSITION

State students should not look for tuition waivers
http://newsok.com/article/3206125

Salaries of Scientists, Engineers and Technicians
This is a comprehensive summary of recent surveys on salaries of scientists, engineers and related technical professionals. This resource contains nearly 300 tables and charts from more than 80 public and private sources on starting and advanced salaries by field, experience level, degree level, and type of employer, with differentials by sex, race/ethnicity, type of job, geographic area, and more.
http://www.cpst.org/


CAREER MAJORS

Career Paths
Meridian’s Career Paths event brought in over 1,200 8th grade students.
http://www.stillwater-newspress.com/local/local_story_051105729.html

Free IBM Game
A free IBM game that teaches kids to save the planet.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/61702.html


PREPARATORY SERVICES

1 in 10 high schools are drop out factories
Nationally, about 70% of U.S. students graduate on time with a regular diploma. For Hispanic and black students, the percentage drops to about half.
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2007/10/30/1_in_10_schools_are_dropout_factories/

Japan looks to India for a better way to learn
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/01/business/yen.php

Saturday schools prepare students
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/bal-ar.saturday17feb17,0,4134839.story
National Indian Education Association
http://www.niea.org/

Beyond Rigor
A look at the need for 21st Century Skills
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/news-by-subject/research/?i=50114

USDA unveils high tech plans for eating
http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/news/ng.asp?n=83332-usda-mypyramid

USDA kids game: http://www.mypyramid.gov/kids/kids_game.html


PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Partnership for 21st Century Skills
http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/


ACCOUNTABILITY

Oklahoma High School Dropouts
In a story about lottery funding, the student droputs for Oklahoma were quoted. “While 7,227 students dropped out during the 2001-2002 school year, only 5,768 students dropped out during the 2006-2007 year.”
http://www.okinsider.com/readstory.oki?type=headline&storyid=0A812NSYD