Welcome New Deputy Director
 The White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics (Initiative) welcomes Jaqueline Cortez-Wang to serve as Deputy Director.
In this role, Jaqueline will serve as primary advisor to the Executive Director and help ensure that the objectives of the Initiative are fully executed. Jaqueline has served as Hispanic Communications and Outreach Director at the U.S. Department of Education (Department) since 2011 and has been instrumental in the development and execution of the public affairs, public engagement, and education efforts focused on Hispanic stakeholders.
Prior to joining the Department, Jaqueline built her career at NASA Johnson Space Center, starting as a high school cooperative education student. She ended her NASA career 13 years later leading the development of youth education programs focused on motivating young students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
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#BeyondTheBox
 The Department urged America’s colleges and universities to remove barriers that can
prevent the estimated 70 million citizens with criminal records from pursuing
higher education, including considering the chilling effect of inquiring early
in the application process whether prospective students have ever been
arrested.
The Department made the recommendation in a new resource guide, Beyond
the Box: Increasing Access to Higher
Education for Justice-Involved Individuals, which encourages alternatives
to inquiring about criminal histories during college admissions and provides
recommendations to support a holistic review of applicants.
 The White House released the report, "Giving Every Child a Fair Shot: Progress Under the Administration's Education Agenda Report". It provides an overview of the most significant education policies advanced during the Obama administration, and illustrates the metrics associated with progress during the President’s two terms in office. Additionally, it offers a description of areas where we, as a nation, must continue to drive improvement so that we can put all students in a position to fully realize their potential.
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Surprise Call for Teacher in Puerto Rico, #ThankATeacher
 In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, Department staff made calls to teachers throughout the country to thank them for their dedication to our nation's students. Secretary King also made surprise calls, including the call to an educator in Puerto Rico.
[Listen to the call from Puerto Rico.]
[Listen to the call from the Secretary's Office.]
DID YOU KNOW?
- Over the last decade, Hispanic students’ dropout rate was cut by more than half and graduation rates have risen to 76%.
- More Hispanic students are graduating college than ever before; now, 70,000 more students are completing a bachelor’s degree, annually.
- Hispanic unemployment rate has
dropped from its peak of 13% in August 2009 to 5.6% in March
2016.
- Hispanic entrepreneurs started more
than 1M small businesses, growing the number of Hispanic-owned firms
by 47% to more than 3.5 million companies. These businesses
contributed more than $75 billion to the U.S. economy.
- Under ACA, 8.8 million Hispanics
with private insurance now have access to expanded preventive services,
including immunizations and certain cancer screenings with no co-pay or
deductible.
Throughout his presidency, President Obama has worked
to expand opportunities for all Americans, including the Hispanic community. Learn more about the Obama Administration's efforts to expand opportunities to the Hispanic community.
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List of HSI's: Access the recently published List of FY 2016 Eligible Hispanic-Serving Institutions.
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Peer Reviewers Needed for HSI STEM and Articulation, Spring 2016 Grant Competition: The Department is seeking peer reviewers to evaluate discretionary grant applications for the Hispanic-Serving Institutions Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics and Articulation program. The Department is interested in peer reviewers from various backgrounds and professions including: teachers and administrators with STEM background, college and university faculty, educational evaluators, strategy consultants, grant makers, and others with expertise in postsecondary education and STEM fields. Interested? Send your resume or curriculum vitae to HSISTEM@ed.gov.
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The Peace Corps announced its 2016 rankings of the top volunteer-producing Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) nationwide, with two California schools tied for the top spot. The University of California, Santa Cruz and San Diego State University secured the top spot with 32 undergraduate alumni from each school currently serving as Peace Corps volunteers. The University of New Mexico held on to the No.3 spot for the third year in a row with 27 alumni currently in service.
If you are an educator, here are a few of the Department's most popular resources to help support you in your classroom:
Interested in learning from other teachers? Are you involved in special education? Are you passionate about equity and civil rights? Access the entire list of educator resources.
#HeadsUpAmerica
The Vice President and Dr. Jill Biden celebrated 27 new free
community college programs launched in states, communities, and
institutions and announced a $100 million investment for America’s
Promise Job-Driven Training Grants. [Video]
The U.S. Department of Education, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, announced $5.7 million in new grants aimed at improving outcomes for students who have been involved in the criminal justice system. The Department also released a new toolkit providing guidance to educators and others to support a successful reentry for formerly incarcerated youth and adults. [Press Release]
"Because the simple fact is, every kid in this country needs and deserves access to the subjects that go into being a well-educated person. Music and art; world languages; physics, chemistry, and biology; social studies, civics, geography, and government; physical education and health; coding and computer science – these aren’t luxuries that are nice to have. They’re what it means to be ready for today’s world."
Secretary King calling for a renewed focus on well-rounded education. [Press
Release] [Remarks] [Video]
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Since 2014, First Lady
Michelle Obama has encouraged schools across the country to hold College
Signing Day ceremonies to recognize the achievements of high school seniors and to announce which college they will be attending. The Initiative was
involved in two ceremonies:
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Commissioner JoAnn Gama held a College Signing Day at IDEA schools in McAllen, TX |
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Executive Director Alejandra Ceja gave encouraging words at Ramon Cortines School of Performing and Visual Arts in Los Angeles, CA. |
To help
students make better decisions about higher education, the Department’s Office
of Federal Student Aid (FSA) has several learning resources:
Below are a list of both internal and external education related reports and publications.
The My Brother’s Keeper Task Force released its second year report and
announced a series of new commitments
spotlighting continued progress. The report tracks progress achieved over
the past year on efforts to make a measurable difference in the lives of young
people. These priorities fall into three interdependent priorities
articulated by the President: (1) engaging state and local communities; (2)
increasing engagement by business, philanthropic, and non-profit organizations;
and (3) reviewing and reforming public policy.
The White House hosted the first-ever symposium to highlight the importance of
promoting science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning among the
nation’s youngest children and celebrate more than 200 public and private
sector commitments
to promoting early STEM learning across the country. A set of early STEM tip-sheets for families and educators called “Let’s
Talk, Read, and Sing about STEM!” were also released. They provide resources and recommendations for families, caregivers, and
infant, toddler, and preschool educators on easy ways to incorporate STEM
concepts and vocabulary into everyday routines, as well as suggestions for
activities to engage young children in STEM learning. [Video] [Joint Blog Post].
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