Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki visited President Obama at the White House on Monday to discuss regional security issues, as well as trade, energy, American investment in Iraq and education. Sadly, I was not invited, but I want to pose a question to PM Maliki about the last, and surely least, point of discussion: education.

First, a little background: As you may know, Saddam Hussein banned political and religious freedoms – and mobile phones. So my question, PM Maliki, is how you plan to use the relatively recent introduction of mobile technology to improve educational access, opportunity and outcomes.

As more students take the leap into virtual learning, we’re witnessing increased discussion about student success and retention in the online realm. And as even casual observers of the conversation know, an effective and efficient mix of student services that keeps these non-traditional students from falling through the cracks is really important.

But with a limited budget and increased enrollments, where should you begin?  We asked virtual learning administrators across the country to highlight effective practices in student services for online learners – and with that information we published a short snapshot to guide other educators looking to better support students’ long-term educational success, which we’ll release at BbWorld 2011.

Texas is facing a potential $4 billion slash in school funding, which brought protestors to the State Capitol in Austin on Saturday.  But public education cuts are one thing that may not be bigger in Texas.  In California, general fund spending for K-12 schools dropped $9.4 billion over the past two years.

Administrators are searching high and low for places to cut and areas where they can increase effectiveness for the same money or less.  In many cases, education technology is one piece of the puzzle.

Does this sound familiar?

• Data is not accessible – only a small group of people know what’s there, how to get to it and what to do with it.
• Data is siloed, and how/where it’s stored (index card?) varies greatly across the institution
• Strategic decisions are sometimes 100% not strategic, like a 15% across-the-board budget cut
• Everybody (and nobody) wants to own the data

Only 18% of today’s ninth-graders will eventually graduate with a postsecondary degree.  To help mitigate this impending crisis, Blackboard clients and contacts across the globe are implementing innovative policies and practices to close the gap between high school and college.  And in true educator fashion, they allowed us to share their greatest challenges and opportunities with you in Closing the Gap between High School and College – the newest publication in Blackboard’s growing body of practice-driven research.

For the report, we interviewed 24 education experts and leaders to pinpoint the three key challenges to closing the achievement gap: disparity between high school exit requirements and college entry expectations; lack of understanding and support for the modern student; and disconnect between skills being taught in high school and skills necessary for success in college and career.