The New Forgotten Half and Research Directions to Support Them

This is one of a series of five papers outlining the particular domains and dimensions of inequality where new research may yield a better understanding of responses to this growing issue.Using data from the nationally representative Educational Longitudinal Survey (ELS), the authors examine the circumstances of youth who drop out of community college before attaining a credential, discuss institutional challenges in the era of increased college access, and outline a research agenda to help youth move beyond "some college" and achieve their potential

Data Acquisition and Processing Program: A Meteorological Data Source

The Data Acquisition and Processing Program (DAPP) is a unique and valuable data system. The sensors, communications, and data processing contribute to form the most responsive operational system of its kind. Data from DAPP will soon be routinely available to the meteorological community

Pooling and Correlated Neural Activity

Correlations between spike trains can strongly modulate neuronal activity and affect the ability of neurons to encode information. Neurons integrate inputs from thousands of afferents. Similarly, a number of experimental techniques are designed to record pooled cell activity. We review and generalize a number of previous results that show how correlations between cells in a population can be amplified and distorted in signals that reflect their collective activity. The structure of the underlying neuronal response can significantly impact correlations between such pooled signals. Therefore care needs to be taken when interpreting pooled recordings, or modeling networks of cells that receive inputs from large presynaptic populations. We also show that the frequently observed runaway synchrony in feedforward chains is primarily due to the pooling of correlated inputs

NEPC Review: Hard Work and Soft Skills (American Enterprise Institute, April 2018)

A study published by the American Enterprise Institute seeks to illuminate how students in career and technical education (CTE) programs demonstrate higher high school graduation rates, overall educational attainment, and earnings than students in academic programs whose previous test scores are similar. Although those students who take many CTE courses by 12th grade tend to have significantly lower test scores, this study finds that these students have higher noncognitive skills (e.g., attendance and homework time). The most remarkable feature of this study is the broad array of indicators it compiles, including how much effort students exhibit on a routine task (e.g., a long and boring survey in school), and teacher reports of student effort. Using such data, the study suggests that CTE may improve attainments by improving noncognitive skills. The key implication is that, instead of the narrow policy focus on academic skills, educators need to consider how to improve students&rsquo; other skills to improve education and job outcomes. While this implication is reasonably drawn from the study, educators need a clearer interpretation of these &ldquo;noncognitive skills&rdquo; and whether they are persistent attributes or highly changeable behaviors. Overall, however, the study presents a strong empirical analysis of a strong dataset and should prove useful for policymakers.</p