Two new books address two issues of critical concern on the eve of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA): how confident can teachers, principals, parents, district administrators, and state education agencies be in the quality of the evidence upon which school improvement plans and educational reform policies are based?

Michigan Virtual High School, a division of Michigan Virtual University (MVU), and Bridges Transitions Co., a Xap Corporation company, have signed an agreement to provide online test preparation tools for portions of the Michigan Merit Exam (MME) to all high school students in the state.

In a move that reflects the ever-increasing importance of teaching entrepreneurship to high school students, the Florida Department of Education has introduced Entrepreneurship as a high school major course, to be taught at participating schools statewide. As part of the A++ Education Act signed by Gov. Jeb Bush in June 2006, students can sign up for the Entrepreneurship major starting in the 2007-2008 school year, which will become one of 442 majors offered under the Education Act.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on H.R. 5, the College Student Relief Act of 2007, which cuts the interest rates on student loans and passed on the House floor by a vote of 356 to 71, with all Democrats and 124 Republicans voting for the bill: "Today's bipartisan vote to cut the interest rate in half on federally subsidized student loans over the next five years will help make a college education more affordable and more accessible for our next generation of leaders and innovators. At a time when college tuition continues to skyrocket, this crucial legislation will help remove some of the barriers to a higher education.

Thacher Proffitt & Wood LLP announced today that Erik Klingenberg, a partner in the Structured Finance Practice Group, has accepted a position as an adjunct professor at St. John's Law School. Erik teaches "Securitization, Structured Finance and the Capital Markets", which commenced on January 10, 2007, while he continues to practice law full-time at Thacher Proffitt.

Glenn Hubbard, Dean of Columbia Business School, has announced the appointment of Troy Eggers as Associate Dean for Executive Education at the School, effective January 3, 2007. Mr. Eggers, who received his MBA from Columbia Business School in 2005, moves into his new role from the School's Executive MBA program, where he served as Assistant Dean. Previously, he was Director of Administration in the Executive Education program for five years.

The California Student Aid Commission launched the official start of the 2007 Cal Grant application period today at Mission Bay High School, vowing to help boost the state's diminishing college entrance rates by getting more students to apply for financial aid and head to the state's post-secondary campuses and technical programs. Recent education trends in California show the state ranks 40th in the U.S. for high school students going directly to college. With nearly 400,000 California high school seniors in 2007, the new campaign is designed to aggressively raise awareness about the availability of Cal Grants as a financial aid option to low- and middle-income students and encourage students to apply by the March 2 Cal Grant deadline. The Cal Grant application window is January 1 - March 2.

Over 150 students from 25 colleges gathered at Xavier University to begin their week-long campaign to generate interest in the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project, which would hire 100,000 residents to build and repair houses, schools, and other structures in New Orleans and the surrounding region.

The British School of Washington (BSW) announced today that it has finalized negotiations on a 75,000 sq. ft. lease at 2001 Wisconsin Avenue, NW. The new building, conveniently located in upper Georgetown, will allow for expansion of the school. BSW, which has outgrown its current facilities on 16th Street, NW, is expected to move to its new location in January 2008. The building will be completely refurbished to provide state-of-the-art educational and administrative facilities along with adequate parking.

China Education Alliance, Inc (BULLETIN BOARD: CEDA) , one of China's leading e-learning and online education enterprises, announced the launch of the "Employment Crossroads for College Graduates" program by its subsidiary, Hua Yu Hui Zhong Science and Technology Co., Ltd. The Crossroads program is designed to connect college undergraduates and graduates with relevant career opportunities, leveraging support from related government agencies. Planned future initiatives include the launch of a comprehensive training campaign for career education, career guidance, and career planning.