Robot English Teachers Start Work in South Korean Schools

"Almost 30 robots have started teaching English to youngsters in a South Korean city, education officials said Tuesday, in a pilot project designed to nurture the nascent robot industry."

Students Being Taught to Talk Things Out

"Restorative justice programs, an alternative to punitive treatment for student misbehavior like suspensions and expulsions is effective, U.S. researchers say."

When Good Teaching Pays Off

"A new study finds that a small improvement in teacher quality can have a big effect on students' future earnings."

New Research About the Adolescent Brain

"What new research reveals about the adolescent brain—from why kids bully to how the teen years shape the rest of your life".

Poll: Most Want Easier Way to Fire Bad Teachers

"The Associated Press-Stanford University poll found that 78% think it should be easier for school administrators to fire poorly performing teachers. Yet overall, the public wants to reward teachers — 57% say they are paid too little, with just 7% believing they are overpaid and most of the rest saying they're paid about right."

Study: Nearly All Parents See Their Kids as Well-Behaved

". . .just 4 percent of parents admit their children are generally not well-behaved or obedient, according to a new government report on family health."

Gates Study Offers Teacher-Effectiveness Clues

"'Value added' gauges based on growth in student test scores and students’ perceptions of their teachers both hold promise as components of a system for identifying and promoting teacher effectiveness, according to preliminary findings from the first year of a major study."

Study Confirms U.S. Falling Behind In Education

"New results from a test that compares education in developed and developing countries confirms that the U.S. is falling behind. NPR's Melissa Block talks with analyst Michael Davidson of the Program for International Student Assessment about the results of his organization's test."

Youth Sports Injuries Reaching Epidemic Levels, Experts Report

"Youth sports injuries have become rampant in the United States, with emergency departments treating more than 8,000 children a day for sports-related injuries, safety experts reported Tuesday."

A Mission to Transform Baltimore’s Beaten Schools

"Andres Alonso, a Cuban immigrant with a Harvard degree, brought sweeping changes that upset some people but helped improve one of the worst school systems in the country."

More U.S. Teens Getting High School Diplomas

"The number of so-called 'dropout factory' high schools in the United States has declined since 2002, translating into at least 100,000 more students getting a diploma, a new report shows."

8 Ways Technology Is Improving Education

"Despite these opportunities, adoption of technology by schools is still anything but ubiquitous. Knezek says that U.S. schools are still asking if they should incorporate more technology, while other countries are asking how. But in the following eight areas, technology has shown its potential for improving education."

Who Is Best Qualified to Run a School System?

"What kind of credentials do you need to run a school district? Especially a really big one? Is a degree in education a better predictor of a superintendent's success than, say, a track record of turning around distressed companies? These are hot questions in the education world right now. . ."

Teacher Training is Panned

"A panel of education experts has called for an overhaul of U.S. teacher-preparation programs, including a greater emphasis on classroom training as well as tougher admission and graduation standards for those hoping to teach in elementary and secondary classrooms. The panel's sweeping recommendations, released Tuesday, urge teacher-training programs to operate more like medical schools, which rely heavily on clinical experience."

Blacks Suffer 'Nerd Penalty' for Good GPA

"Good grades in whites are linked to social acceptance, but in blacks and American Indians, good grades result in a 'nerd penalty,' U.S. researchers say."

Stanford Study: American Math Achievement Trails Most Industrialized Nations

"In the first-ever international comparison of advanced math skills, a team of Stanford and Munich researchers found that American students rank 31st in the world, falling behind those in most industrialized nations. Only 6 percent of U.S. eighth-graders perform at the advanced level in math, compared with 28 percent of Taiwanese students and more than 20 percent of students in Hong Kong, Finland and South Korea. The scores of American students match those of students from Lithuania, Spain and Italy."

Bedtime Texting, Emailing Affect Teens' Sleep

"Texting and emailing long after bedtime are common among children and teens, according to a new study, and could help explain why some are sleep-deprived the next day."

Future teachers Must Show, Not Just Tell, Skills

"A new licensing system is being tested in 19 states that includes filming student teachers in their classroom and evaluating the video, also candidates must show they can prepare a lesson, tailor it to different levels of students and present it effectively."

A Minute With: School Principals on "Waiting for Superman"

"The documentary film 'Waiting for Superman' has been generating a lot of buzz since its release in September for its portrayal of problems within U.S. schools and what might be done to solve them."

Year-Round School Gains Ground Around U.S.

"Ten years ago, according to Education Department statistics, about 1.5 million public school children went to class on a 'balanced schedule' — usually shorthanded as YRE, for 'year-round education.' Six years ago, that number was up to 2 million. By 2008, nearly 2.5 million pupils were on a YRE plan."

Study: Half of High School Students Admit to Bullying

"Half of all high school students say they have bullied someone in the past year, with nearly as many saying they have been the victims of bullying, according to a new study released this week. The study of the 'Ethics of American Youth' released Tuesday surveyed more than 40,000 high school students and has been conducted every other year since 1992."

Evaluating School Leaders

"School leaders have a multiplier effect — they can put in place conditions that help or hamstring effective teaching."

A Focus on Technology

"If technology is well designed, experts say, it can help tailor the learning experience to individual students, facilitate student-teacher collaboration, and assist teachers in monitoring student performance each day and in quickly fine-tuning lessons."

1 in 6 Students is Regularly Bullied, Survey Shows

"In the largest survey of its kind to look at the issue, researchers surveyed 524,054 students at 1,593 schools across the nation over the last two year to get a better picture of bullying in grades three through 12."

Non Devotional Bible Study in Public Schools

"The average American can’t answer basic questions about world religion, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey, which prompted renewed calls for religious study in public schools. In many states, however, that education already exists."

1 in 5 U.S. Teens Has Serious Mental Disorder

"About one in five teens in the United States suffers from a mental disorder severe enough to their impact daily activities, either currently or at some point in their lives, according to a startling new study."

Study: Memory Improves More With Testing

"Regular testing and practicing for tests can improve memory by helping the brain become more efficient at storing and recalling facts, U.S. researchers say."

Education Dept. Sees 11% Spike in Civil Rights Complaints

"The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights received nearly 7,000 complaints this fiscal year, an 11% increase and the largest jump in at least 10 years, according to data provided by the department. The increase comes as the office proceeds with 54 compliance reviews in districts and institutions of higher education nationwide, including cases involving disparate discipline rates and treatment of students with disabilities."

Pennsylvania School District Settles Laptop Privacy Lawsuit

"Several lawsuits involving privacy concerns in a laptop computer distribution program at a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-area school district were settled late Monday."

Six U.S. States Excel in Education Funding: Study

"Six U.S. states, primarily along the East Coast, have the highest level of education funding per student and also excel in making sure money reaches the poorest schools, according to a study released on Tuesday."

LA Teacher Layoff Pact Seen as Model for Districts

"A proposed agreement that would change how teachers are laid off in the nation's second-largest school district is being hailed as a landmark that could pave the way for changes in urban districts across the nation."

4,100 Students Suggest ‘Small Is Better’ Rule May Be Wrong

"A turnaround at a large Massachusetts high school is drawing new attention."

Obama Calls for Longer School Year

"President Obama said on the 'Today' show Monday morning that American students attend school a month less than kids in other countries -- contending that the school-year gap puts them at a competitive disadvantage in the global economy."

Obama's New Goal: 10,000 New Science, Tech, Engineering, and Math Teachers

"President Obama set a new goal today of recruiting 10,000 new teachers in science, technology, engineering, and math, calling these subjects essential to competing in the 21st century global economy."

Secret to Teen Health, Happiness: Sports

"Young teens who play sports feel healthier and happier about life than those who do not, U.S. researchers say."

Girls May Learn Math Anxiety From Female Teachers

"Now, a study of first- and second-graders suggests what may be part of the answer: Female elementary school teachers who are concerned about their own math skills could be passing that along to the little girls they teach."

Report: Poor Science Education Impairs U.S. Economy

"Stagnant scientific education imperils U.S. economic leadership, says a report by leading business and science figures."

Merit Pay Study: Teacher Bonuses Don't Raise Student Test Scores

"Offering middle-school math teachers bonuses up to $15,000 did not produce gains in student test scores, Vanderbilt University researchers reported Tuesday in what they said was the first scientifically rigorous test of merit pay."

Fitter Children Have Better Test Scores

"U.S. researchers link brain development in children ages 9-10 to physical fitness."

What Common Standards for Schools Can and Can't Do

"Today states, school districts, and in some cases individual schools are allowed to set both their academic standards and the tests to determine whether students are reaching them. In other words, lots of different entities get to decide whether to call themselves "education capitals.'"

What Makes a School Great

"At least 12 states have passed laws requiring student-progress data to be used in making teacher-evaluation or tenure decisions, a notion that would have been unimaginable five years ago. And 35 states and the District of Columbia have agreed to adopt common standards for what kids should learn at every grade level."

U.S. Asks Educators to Reinvent Student Tests, and How They Are Given

"Standardized exams — the multiple-choice, bubble tests in math and reading that have played a growing role in American public education in recent years — are being overhauled. Over the next four years, two groups of states, 44 in all, will get $330 million to work with hundreds of university professors and testing experts to design a series of new assessments that officials say will look very different from those in use today."

New Study: Young Children Surprisingly Perceptive

". . .a paper published recently in the journal Psychological Science shows that very young children can be far more attuned to the 'desires, preferences, beliefs [and] emotions' of others, including adults, than the Piaget theory assumes."

Japan Fattens Textbooks to Reverse Sliding Rank

"Alarmed that its children are falling behind those in rivals such as South Korea and Hong Kong, Japan is adding about 1,200 pages to elementary school textbooks. The textbooks across all subjects for six years of elementary school now total about 4,900 pages, and will go up to nearly 6,100."

Sister: 'Little Rock Nine' Member's Mission was Education for All

"Jefferson Thomas was risking his well-being by leaving an African-American school for Little Rock's all-white Central High School with eight other students in 1957. But a simple comparison of the schools' biology classes helped compel the then-15-year-old to go through with it, his sister Alma Hildreth recalled Monday, a day after Thomas died of cancer at age 67."

Formula to Grade Teachers’ Skill Gains Acceptance, and Critics

"A growing number of school districts have adopted a system called value-added modeling to answer that question, provoking battles from Washington to Los Angeles — with some saying it is an effective method for increasing teacher accountability, and others arguing that it can give an inaccurate picture of teachers’ work."

Award-Winning Teachers Dole Out Advice on Fixing Public Schools

"Almost every teacher has thoughts on how to improve schools. So this month, as students began to trickle into classrooms, CNN listened to the ideas of award-winning teachers at public schools across the country."

Kindergartens See More Hispanic, Asian Students

"The kindergarten class of 2010-11 is less white, less black, more Asian and much more Hispanic than in 2000, reflecting the nation's rapid racial and ethnic transformation."

Class Sizes are Getting Bigger, But Does it Really Matter?

"But while smaller classes are popular, decades of research has found that the relationship between class size and student outcomes is murky."

The Teacher Who Spends $1,000 on her Kids

"Vicky Halm spends a $1,000 a year out of her own pocket to equip her Brooklyn classroom. She buys star stickers to help motivate her students, but she also spends a great deal on basic supplies -- such as pencils and paper -- that the parents in her area cannot afford."

Study: States 'Misuse' SAT, ACT Tests

"Using college admission and placement exams to measure high school student achievement can produce misleading and inappropriate results, a U.S. report says."

Survey: Gang Presence Increasing in Public Schools

"Nearly a third of students aged 12 to 17 in public schools say their schools are 'infected' with both gangs and drugs, according to a survey by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA)."

One Million Children May be Misdiagnosed With ADHD: Study

"Almost one million children in the United States are potentially misdiagnosed with Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) because they were the youngest and least mature in their kindergarten classes, a US Study released Tuesday found."

Birth Order Affects Child's Intelligence and Personality

"Birth order within families has long sparked sibling rivalry, but it might also impact the child's personality and intelligence, a new study suggests."

House of Representatives Passes $26B Teachers Bill

"The House has passed a $26 billion jobs bill to protect 300,000 teachers and other nonfederal government workers from election-year layoffs."

Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age

"Digital technology makes copying and pasting easy, of course. But that is the least of it. The Internet may also be redefining how students — who came of age with music file-sharing, Wikipedia and Web-linking — understand the concept of authorship and the singularity of any text or image."

Poll: Language a Barrier for Latinos in Schools

"With Hispanic enrollment surging in schools, many Spanish-speaking parents are having trouble helping their children with homework or communicating with U.S. teachers as English-immersion classes proliferate in K-12."

Too Much Internet Can Lead To Teen Depression

"Spending too much time on the Internet can lead to depression in teenagers, according to a recent study. A study in China showed those using the Internet pathologically were 2.5 times more likely to become depressed."

Negative Stereotypes Shown to Affect Learning, Not Just Performance

"Negative stereotypes not only jeopardize how members of stigmatized groups might perform on tests and in other skill-based acts, such as driving and golf putting, but they also can inhibit actual learning, according to a new study by Indiana University researchers."

Music May Harm Your Studying, Study Says

"If you're studying for a test, putting on background music that you like may seem like a good idea. But if you're trying to memorize a list in order - facts, numbers, elements of the periodic table - the music may actually be working against you, a new study suggests."

Higher-Education and School Leaders Meet to Work on Common Goals

"An association of state higher-education executives and one of school leaders met with each other for the first time last week, to try to get beyond finger pointing and find ways to improve student performance."

A Popular Principal, Wounded by Government’s Good Intentions

"Ms. Irvine was removed because the Burlington School District wanted to qualify for up to $3 million in federal stimulus money for its dozen schools."

Study: Practicing 'Intelligently' Makes Perfect

". . .it's not just practice that makes perfect. It's practicing intelligently that improves performance. Such are the conclusions of a study published this week in the journal Nature Neuroscience by a group of neuroscientists at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles."

The Creativity Crisis

"With creativity, a reverse trend has just been identified and is being reported for the first time here: American creativity scores are falling. . .The necessity of human ingenuity is undisputed. A recent IBM poll of 1,500 CEOs identified creativity as the No. 1 'leadership competency' of the future."

An Interview with Delia Stafford: About Alternative Certification

An Interview with Delia Stafford: About Alternative Certification.

What Happened to Studying?

"In survey after survey since 2000, college and high school students are alarmingly candid that they are simply not studying very much at all."

States Work Together to Create New Academic Tests

"Two big coalitions of states are competing for federal dollars to create a series of new national academic tests to replace the current patchwork system."

E is For Explosion

Subtitle: "E-Readers, Etextbooks, Econtent, Elearning, E-Everything"

Lure of Teaching Jobs Fades in Tough Times

"With tax receipts down across the nation and funds from the federal stimulus plan drying up, school districts in a number of states are expected to lay off thousands of teachers this summer. Tenured teachers who don't fall under the ax may be hit with the unpleasant one-two punch of stagnant wages and higher age requirements in order to retire with full benefits."

Bill Gates Interview: Charters Should Lead Innovation

"The Microsoft founder sat down with Education Week at the National Charter Schools Conference in Chicago to discuss innovation, technology, and his foundation's influence on school policy."

Study Shows Teens Benefit From Later School Day

"Giving teens 30 extra minutes to start their school day leads to more alertness in class, better moods, less tardiness, and even healthier breakfasts, a small study found."

Schools Can Help Obese Kids Shed Weight, Get Healthier

"Fewer middle school students were obese after three years at schools that emphasized exercise and nutrition compared with those that did nothing special."

Chinese Youths' Education Decisions Have Lifelong Effects

"Education through middle school has been compulsory and free in China since 2007, but it's upon leaving middle school that the problems start for poor and disadvantaged students. After that, families must foot the bill themselves, and poorer students are faced with the reality that high school may not be a viable option."

Cost of Progress at a Failing School

"Locke High represents both the opportunities and challenges of the Obama administration’s $3.5 billion effort, financed largely by the economic stimulus bill, to overhaul thousands of the nation’s failing schools."

How Time on the Field Helps Women in the Workforce

"In her paper titled, 'Beyond the Classroom: Using Title IX to Measure the Return to High School Sports,' Wharton business and public policy professor Betsey Stevenson offers empirical evidence that playing sports leads to more education and better employment opportunities."

Final Bell: Kansas City's Effort to Save Its Schools

"After years of foot-dragging, infighting and wild spending sprees, Kansas City is finally making a last-gasp attempt to save its school district by abruptly cutting it by half. School districts all over the country are wrestling with problems in urban centers, but Kansas City's plan has caught national attention because of its scope."

Microsoft's 'School of the Future' Graduates First Class

"Although the school's creative ambitions have been frustrated by high principal turnover, curriculum tensions and a student body unfamiliar with laptop computer culture, the school graduates its first senior class Tuesday with each student having been accepted to an institution of higher learning."

CDC: 1 in 5 High School Students Abuse Prescription Drugs

"A new report shows one in five high school students have taken a prescription drug that they didn't get from a doctor."

States to Establish Nationwide Standards for Students, Teachers

"States are expected to use the standards to revise their curriculum and tests to make learning more uniform across the country, eliminating inequities in education not only between states but also among districts. The standards also will ensure students transferring to a school district in a different state won't be far behind their classmates or have to repeat classes because they are more advanced."

Report: Percentage of High-Poverty Schools Rises

"The percentage of public schools where more than three quarters of students are eligible for free or reduced price lunch — a key indicator of poverty — has increased in the past decade, and children at these schools are less likely to attend college or be taught by teachers with advanced degrees."

Most Youth Don't get One Hour of Exercise Daily

"Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC, says the report finds 17 percent of the nation's high school students say they get the minimally recommended 1 hour of physical activity daily."

High-School Dropout Rate a Key Barrier to Obama's College-Completion Goal

"A senior Education Department official, speaking at a college-readiness forum here on Tuesday, singled out the nation's dropout rate among high-school students as a key obstacle to fulfilling President Obama's goal of putting the United States atop the world by 2020 in the proportion of residents with a college degree."

States Make Huge Education Cuts Across the U.S.

"With all the cuts the next school year is looking like the bleakest and most austere in 50 years, with school districts not only cutting teachers, but cutting programs, cutting school hours, enlarging classes, closing schools - all to save money. In many schools, art, music, physical education, even counseling could be history."

Most Never Sent to the Principal's Office

"About 80 percent of U.S. students in primary and secondary school are never sent out of class to go to the principal's office, U.S. researchers say."

Study: Rural Children Not Anthropocentric

"U.S. researchers say they have found children from rural communities don't share the human-centered pattern of reasoning evident in urban children."

High School Students Admit to Cheating

"A small study of U.S. high school students indicates teens understand what constitutes cheating, but they do it anyway, researchers say."

Educational Technology in Public Schools

"This First Look report presents data from a fall 2008 Fast Response Survey System (FRSS) survey of public schools on the availability and use of educational technology. This includes information on computer hardware and Internet access, availability of staff to help integrate technology into instruction and provide timely technical support, and perceptions of educational technology issues at the school and district level. "

More Than 80% of School Districts to Cut Jobs

"More than 80% of U.S. school districts are expected to eliminate jobs and more than half will likely freeze hiring during the upcoming school year, an education organization said Tuesday. Based on a survey of school administrators from 49 states, a total of 275,000 education jobs are expected to be cut in 2011, according to the American Association of School Administrators."

Pa. School District's Webcam Surveillance Focus of Suit

"As the result of a student lawsuit, Lower Merion School District has admitted theft-tracking software for the district's 2,600 student laptops activated webcams and automatically snapped photos of kids in school and at home. Over two years, the district captured 56,000 images, including shots of students and the images on their computers."

Highlights of the 40th PDK/Gallup Poll

The highlights of the poll are found here.

Digest of Education Statistics, 2009

"The Digest contains data on a variety of topics, including the number of schools and colleges, teachers, enrollments, and graduates, in addition to educational attainment, finances, and federal funds for education, libraries, and international comparisons."

Trends in the Use of School Choice: 1993-2007

"This report uses data from the National Household Surveys Program (NHES) to present trends that focus on the use of and users of public schools (assigned and chosen), private schools (church- and non church-related), charter schools, and homeschoolers between 1993 and 2007."

A Classroom Revolution Proposed in Britain

"Turning schools around matters both for economic growth and for social justice. Britain is an unequal place, with income disparities higher than in most rich countries (see chart 1). It is a rich country where 4.8m adults and 1.9m children under 16—a sixth of all of children—live in workless households; where four in every 100 girls under 18 get pregnant each year; where even during steady economic growth a tenth of 16-18-year-olds were neither studying nor working. And a child’s chances are strongly shaped by the prosperity of the family into which he is born."

Study: Better Teachers Help Children Read Faster

"Genetics play the biggest role in determining how fast a child learns to read, but a good teacher can make a measurable difference as well, according to a study released Thursday."

Merit Pay for Students Fails to Raise Scores, Study Finds

"A multicity experiment to test the effect of paying students for performance succeeded in increasing achievement when the payments were tied to specific behaviors related to learning, such as reading books, but not when the awards depended directly on test scores, new findings show."

International Study - Problems With U.S. Math Textbooks

"Constant changes to the national curriculum have left school textbooks floundering in their wake, according to a major international study of maths performance published today."

U.S. Falls Short in Measure of Future Math Teachers

"America’s future math teachers, on average, earned a C on a new test comparing their skills with their counterparts in 15 other countries, significantly outscoring college students in the Philippines and Chile but placing far below those in educationally advanced nations like Singapore and Taiwan."

Play Creatively as a Kid, Be a Healthier Adult

"Children who engage in creative and active play may grow up to be healthier adults, suggests a British study."

Analysis: Pension Funds for Teachers are Short Billions

"The multibillion-dollar pension funds that promise to pay lifetime benefits to millions of the USA's retired teachers are more than $900 billion in the red, a new analysis shows."

Study: Physical Activity Can Boost Student Performance

"And now a government review of research shows that kids who take breaks from their class work to be physically active during the school day are often better able to concentrate on their school work and may do better on standardized tests."

Should Kids Be Bribed to Do Well in School?

Based on studies, "if incentives are designed wisely, it appears, payments can indeed boost kids' performance as much as or more than many other reforms you've heard about before — and for a fraction of the cost."

Issue of Paying Teachers Based on Performance

"In a massive survey of the nation's teachers released in March, most said they value non-monetary rewards, such as time to collaborate with other teachers and a supportive school leadership, over higher salaries. Only 28 percent felt performance pay would have a strong impact and 30 percent felt performance pay would have no impact at all." The survey was conducted by Harris Interactive and paid for by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Scholastic Inc."

U.S, India Parents Seen as Worst Behaved at Kids' Sports

"The survey of 23,000 adults in 22 countries by market research company Ipsos showed that irate, screaming, over-enthusiastic parents are not only found in Hollywood films and on television. People living in the United States (60 percent) were most likely to witness unsavory behavior by a parent followed closely by residents of India (59 percent), Italy (55 percent), Argentina (54 percent), Canada (53 percent) and Australia (50 percent)."

Report: English Language Learners Making Gains

"Schoolchildren who are still learning English made progress on state tests over the last three years, according to a report that may indicate tougher accountability standards have resulted in positive gains among a growing segment of the U.S. public school population."

Schools Tackle Teacher-on-Teacher Bullying

"Most schools have policies that target bullying, but they are usually aimed at students. Now, school districts in Iowa and California are developing rules to prevent teachers from bullying teachers."

A 'Watershed' Case in School Bullying?

"Educational psychologists describe a new kind of bullying. The perpetrators are attractive, athletic and academically accomplished — and comfortable enough around adults to know what they can and can't get away with, in school and online."

Reforming Teacher Ed

"A group representing colleges of teacher education on Thursday called for its member institutions to work with the rest of their universities, as well as schools, states and the federal government to emphasize and improve in-school preparation for teachers-to-be."

Obama Outlines Sweeping Education Revamp

"The Obama administration plans to upend how the government measures and encourages success in the country's public schools as part of a sweeping proposal to rewrite President George W. Bush's signature No Child Left Behind law."

Duncan Wants Three Ratings for Schools in Education Overhaul

"The Obama administration will ask Congress to toss out the two-tiered pass/fail school rating system of the No Child Left Behind education law and replace it with one that labels schools one of three ways: high-performing, needs improvement or chronically low-performing, according to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan."

Many Nations Passing U.S. in Education, Expert Says

"One of the world’s foremost experts on comparing national school systems told lawmakers on Tuesday that many other countries were surpassing the United States in educational attainment, including Canada, where he said 15-year-old students were, on average, more than one school year ahead of American 15-year-olds."

Tougher New National Math, English Standards Drafted

"Math and English instruction in the United States moved a step closer to uniform — and more rigorous — standards Wednesday as draft new national guidelines were released."

Scholar Diane Ravitch: 'We've Lost Sight' of Schools' Goal

"In her new book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System, Ravitch blasts No Child Left Behind, which she says promotes 'a cramped, mechanistic, profoundly anti-intellectual definition of education' — as well as virtually every other recent reform effort that has sought to inject more free-market competition and accountability into education. She finds much to dislike: charter schools, high-stakes tests, corporate-style school management teams and the rising influence of foundation-funded reforms."

Teach Self-Control, Improve Kids' Behavior

"Children taught skills to monitor and control their anger and emotions improved their classroom behavior, U.S. researchers found. The study, published in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, found children in a school-based mentoring program were about half as likely as others to have any discipline incident during the 3-month period of the study."

School Drink Deal Has Cut Sugar By 95 Percent

"An initiative by The American Beverage Association --including The Coca-Cola Co, Dr Pepper Snapple Group and PepsiCo -- the Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association has helped cut shipments of full-sugar soft drinks to schools by 95 percent compared with 2004, Clinton said."

Schools' New Math: the Four-Day Week

"A small but growing number of school districts across the country are moving to a four-day week, in a shift they hope will help close gaping budget holes and stave off teacher layoffs, but that critics fear could hurt students' education."

Teachers Share Their Views on How to Improve Education

"In one of the largest national surveys of public school teachers, thousands of educators agreed that today’s students aren’t college-ready when they graduate from high school. Teachers’ suggestions for solving this problem include clear, common standards; multiple measures of student performance; and greater innovation, including differentiated instruction and more use of digital resources."

No Child Left Behind Could Get a Makeover

"Senior House Republicans and Democrats plan to announce Thursday that they will team up to http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/18/politics/washingtonpost/main6219771.shtml?tag=cbsnewsSectionsArea;cbsnewsSectionsArea.3, a rare show of bipartisanship in the polarized Congress."

Fire the Teachers? When Schools Fail, it May Work

"No one keeps firm numbers on how often wholesale firings have been used. But William Gunther, president of the Boston-based Mass Insight Education and Research Institute, estimates that mass teacher firings are tried in about 20 to 30 schools annually. Many more schools adjust other elements, such as curriculum and teacher training, to boost performance without substantially changing the staff."

Principal Succession in a Fast-Growing District

"As Delaware's fastest-growing school system, Appoquinimink has learned firsthand the necessity of succession planning. With about 500 additional pupils enrolling each year, the school district since 2004 has constructed two elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. . ."

Report: African Schools' Money Mismanaged

"A study of education in seven African countries finds financial mismanagement and poor accountability are hurting children, a report released Tuesday said."

Muslims Turning to Home Schooling in Increasing Numbers

"Although three-quarters of the nation's estimated 2 million home-schoolers identify themselves as Christian, the number of Muslims is expanding 'relatively quickly,' compared with other groups, said Brian Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute."

The Unknown World of Charter High Schools

"Charter schools have become a popular alternative to traditional public schools, with some 5,000 schools now serving more than 1.5 million students, and they have received considerable attention among researchers as a result."

Banning School Junk Food Slows Obesity

"Banning sugary beverages and junk foods from schools appears to slow childhood obesity, U.S. researchers found."

High School Guidance Counselors Get 'Poor' Score

"Sixty percent of young adults who pursued college say the advice they got from high school counselors was poor or fair at best, a survey shows."

Charter Public Schools Dashboard

A helpful site where one can search on a specific charter school or statistics for a larger grouping of them.

2009 MetLife Survey of the American Teacher

"Sixty-nine percent of teachers do not believe their voices are heard in the debate on education, according to the latest MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Collaborating for Student Success. Now in its 26th year, the MetLife Survey, conducted by Harris Interactive®, examines the views of teachers, principals, and students on their respective roles and responsibilities, current practices and priorities for the future. MetLife will release the full results over the next two months."

Routine Heart Tests for Athletes Would Save Lives

"A new study suggests that routine electrocardiogram testing of young American athletes would save lives and be cost-effective."

Homeschooling Limitations in Other Countries

"The ruling is tricky politically for Washington and its allies in Europe, where several countries — including Spain and the Netherlands — allow homeschooling only under exceptional circumstances, such as when a child is extremely ill."

Why Paying Kids To Study Works In Texas

"According to the report, Texas high-school students who earned cash for passing Advanced Placement exams showed not only better GPAs, but also bumps in college attendance, performance, and the likelihood of earning their degrees. The effects were most pronounced among minorities, with African--American students 10 percent more likely to enter college, and 50 percent more likely to persist through graduation."

Teachers Who Begin in Other Fields Lack Preparation, Survey Finds

"Teacher-education programs do not adequately prepare teachers who switch to the profession from other careers, according to a report out today from the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation and Hart Research Associates."

Physical, Academic Fitness Tied at the Hip: Study

"Physically fit students tend to score higher on standardized tests than their less fit peers, hint findings from a new study."

Music Training Helps Children to Read

"Cash-strapped school districts are making a mistake when they cut music from the kindergarten to 12 curriculum, a U.S. researcher said. Nina Kraus of the Northwestern University said that music training has profound effects that shape the sensory system and should be a mainstay of K-12 education."

High Schools to Offer Plan to Graduate 2 Years Early

"Dozens of public high schools in eight states will introduce a program next year allowing 10th graders who pass a battery of tests to get a diploma two years early and immediately enroll in community college."

Many U.S. Kids Have Chronic Health Problems: Study

"More than a quarter of American children have a chronic health condition such as obesity or asthma, but many children overcome these problems with time, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday."

A Quick Fix for America's Worst Schools

"The Obama Administration has a plan: take the 5,000 worst schools in the U.S. and give them more than $4 billion over three years to get a lot better — fast. It's the emphasis on speed that makes this endeavor something new."

Obama Outlines New Education Vision in Budget

"President Barack Obama proposed an overhaul of how the government funds education in his budget proposal on Monday as part of a 'new vision' for elementary and secondary schools."

States Struggle to Keep Top Teachers

"Most states are holding tight to policies that protect incompetent teachers and poor training programs, shortchanging educators and their students before new teachers even step into the classroom, according to a new national report card."

Obama to Seek up to $4 Billion in New Education Spending

"As he prepares to ask Congress for billions of dollars in new spending for education, Obama said the nation's students need to be inspired to succeed in math and science, and that failing schools need to be turned around."

Study Tries To Track Louisiana Teachers' Success

"How do you train the best teachers? Leaders at the nation's teacher education programs don't know. The state of Louisiana has decided to figure this out, and the effort is attracting national attention — and causing some local discomfort."

Girls May Learn Math Anxiety From Female Teachers

"Math anxiety in girls can be catching – they get it from their female teachers. That’s according to a study in today’s edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academies of Science."

Foreign Languages Fade in Class — Except Chinese

"Thousands of public schools stopped teaching foreign languages in the last decade, according to a government-financed survey — dismal news for a nation that needs more linguists to conduct its global business and diplomacy. But another contrary trend has educators and policy makers abuzz: a rush by schools in all parts of America to offer instruction in Chinese."

Quality Counts 2010 Press Release

"The nation received a C when graded across the six distinct areas of policy and performance tracked by Quality Counts, the most comprehensive ongoing assessment of the state of American education. Maryland topped the nation with a B-plus overall, followed closely by Massachusetts and New York, both of which earned a B. The majority of states received grades of C or lower."

California Law Requires Digital Textbooks by 2020

"While it seems increasingly likely that e-books will one day become the standard in education, California has passed a law to to guarantee it -- and to set a deadline."

Recession Fuels Shift From Private to Public Schools

"Enrollment figures for the current school year won't be available until next year, but the U.S. Department of Education's latest estimate finds that from 2006 to 2009, public school enrollment grew by nearly a half-million students, or about 1%, while private school enrollment dropped by about 146,000, or 2.5%".

Study: Youth Now Have More Mental Health Issues

"A new study has found that five times as many high school and college students are dealing with anxiety and other mental health issues than youth of the same age who were studied in the Great Depression era."

Teacher Humor

It was the kindergarten teacher's birthday and the students decided that they would each buy their teacher a gift.

The first student, whose parents own a florist shop, gave her a present. She held it and said, "I guess that it is flowers."

"How did you guess?" asked the little boy. She laughed and thanked him.

The second student, whose parents own a candy store, gave her a present. She held it and said, "I guess that is some candy."

"How did you guess?" asked the little boy. She again laughed and thanked him also.

The third student, whose parents own a bottle shop, gave her a box which was leaking. The teacher touched the liquid with her finger and tasted it. "Mmmmm is it wine?" she asked.

"No," said the little girl. So she tasted it again. "Is it champagne?" she asked.

"Noooooooo," replied the little girl, "It's a puppy!"

The Top 10 Ed-Tech Stories of 2009

"eSchool News counts down the ten most significant developments in education technology during the past year."

Obsolete Learning Technologies

"From the iPhone to the Garmin, advancements and gadgets introduced this decade changed the whole world. . . .In the process, a few things that once were considered social mainstays are now either obsolete or well on their way."

Can Inner-City Charter School Succeed? Students say 'YES'

"More than 90% of YES Prep students are first-generation college-bound; 80% come from low-income families and 96% are Hispanic or African-American. Most students enter the charter school at least one grade level behind in math and English."