education

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Two Trains Leave a Station Going 30mph...

Stop! Story problems wrong way to teach math, study says

(Newser) - All those sacks of different-colored marbles and word problems about pizza slices may not actually teach kids effectively, Reuters reports. Though meant to offer a real-world grounding, story problems just add extra distractions, a new study says, suggesting that students might be better off learning abstract concepts than figuring out...

Clark: McCain Must Get Behind Update to GI Bill
Clark: McCain Must Get Behind Update to GI Bill
OPINION
Apr 10, 2008 6:18 PM CDT

Clark: McCain Must Get Behind Update to GI Bill

Convincing GOP on aid for fellow veterans a must, general says

(Newser) - John McCain is "casting doubt" on his "commitment to the newest generation of American heroes” by not throwing his support behind an extension of the GI Bill, Wesley Clark writes in the Los Angeles Times. A bipartisan overhaul would fix the bill that once guaranteed veterans a paid...

King Would Relish Today's Challenges
 King Would Relish 
 Today's Challenges 
OPINION
Apr 3, 2008 5:10 PM CDT

King Would Relish Today's Challenges

40 years after civil-rights leader's death, Jesse Jackson finds message undimmed

(Newser) - With tomorrow marking the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination, the Rev. Jesse Jackson pens an appreciation for the New York Daily News. Jackson worked with the civil-rights giant in 1968 on King's last, tragically unfulfilled project, the Poor People’s Campaign. "He'd keep on dreaming and...

Nurses With Doctorates Ease Shortage

Advanced degrees, 'hybrid practitioners' raise questions

(Newser) - As part of the effort to counter the worsening doctor shortage, some 200 American nursing schools plan to train "hybrid practitioners" with doctorates in nursing practice who can function as independent primary care givers. But even as the concept of the DNP catches on, some physicians and nurse practitioners...

Top Colleges Report Record Low Rates of Admission

Harvard accepts just 7% of applicants

(Newser) - Acceptance letters from the nation's top colleges will begin to arrive on prospective students' doorsteps today, but far more rejection letters are in the mail than ever before, reports the New York Times. Harvard and Yale accepted only 7.1% and 8.3% of applicants, respectively, both record lows as...

School Supers Draw Big Bucks, Bigger Perks

Turnaround experts find profitable niche in failing school districts

(Newser) - Teachers aren't living in luxury, but some school superintendents are, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Some are pulling in $325,000 a year, plus multi-million-dollar consulting budgets to restructure impoverished, underperforming public school systems. The Monitor calls them "central office rock stars," a product of the No Child...

Cost of Bringing Up Baby: $204K
 Cost of Bringing Up Baby: $204K 
Mar 25, 2008 9:27 AM CDT

Cost of Bringing Up Baby: $204K

And that doesn't include college

(Newser) - Raising that little bundle of joy will come with a not-so-cute $204,060 price tag for middle-income families, according to a new government study. Factoring in inflation, the parents of a child born in 2007 can expect to spend $269,040 by the time that baby turns 18. Actual costs...

UK Teachers Blame Parents for Bratty Kids

Pupils poor at behaving, good at manipulating adults

(Newser) - UK teachers complain that classrooms are getting tougher to control because kids throw more tantrums—and parents are to blame, the Daily Telegraph reports. A Cambridge University study says that parents are letting children indulge in video games, junk food, and TV. "Teachers described highly permissive parents who admitted...

States Hide Big High School Dropout Rates

They send 1 set of numbers to DC, keep another set at home

(Newser) - Many states report rosy high school graduation rates to Washington but publicize much lower figures at home, the New York Times reports. The higher rates often fail to account for the nation's growing legion of dropouts, but states are leery to give the feds bad numbers in part because of...

In Spain, Parents Divorce to Get Kids Into Top Schools

Points system leads to bogus split-ups

(Newser) - Spanish couples will do anything to get their kids into top schools—including break up, the Guardian reports. Thanks to a point-based admissions system that favors children of single parents, Spain has seen a staggering spike in divorces, suspiciously filed just ahead of the upcoming application deadline. Judges think many...

State Budgets Caught in Economy's Freefall

Spending cuts, tax increases in store

(Newser) - Politicians from New York to California are wringing their hands, wondering whether to cut spending or raise taxes. As the economy barrels towards recession, income and sales taxes are coming in well below expectations, and about half the states in the country are facing budget shortfalls, the New York Times...

Panel: US Math System 'Broken'
 Panel: US Math System 'Broken' 
Mar 13, 2008 1:38 PM CDT

Panel: US Math System 'Broken'

Group, worried about future competitive disadvantage, advises focus on basics

(Newser) - A presidential panel today called US math education “broken” and demanded greater focus on key skills ranging from preschool to middle school, the Washington Post reports. The National Mathematics Advisory Panel responded to concerns that Americans are growing less competitive in the realm, and pointed the way to better...

Obama Quits School Reform Talk on Trail
Obama Quits School Reform Talk on Trail
OPINION
Mar 12, 2008 6:29 PM CDT

Obama Quits School Reform Talk on Trail

Senator may be caving to old guard where he'd been breath of fresh air

(Newser) - Barack Obama has been backing off post-partisan rhetoric on education, looking more like a stick-in-the-mud Democratic regular on schools and less like the reformer who supported test-based accountability and performance pay for teachers. The Chicagoan had bucked teachers' unions and other stodgy liberals, supporting charter schools in Illinois and mentorship...

NYC Charter School To Pay Teachers $125K

Only public funds and grants to be used in test of teacher quality

(Newser) - A New York City charter school plans to employ a radical new setup meant to test the value of teacher quality over extras in the educational experience, the New York Times reports. Though the Equity Project, set to open in 2009, will have large classes and fewer classroom resources, teachers...

Court Sends Homeschoolers to Detention

Calif. says kids must be taught by teachers with credentials

(Newser) - California homeschoolers are breaking the law, an appeals court ruled yesterday, by not having certified teachers instructing their kids. California’s law has been clear since 1953, the court said: Kids must go to school full time or be tutored by a credentialed teacher. The decision puts the parents of...

Why Girls Are Better at Language
Why Girls Are Better at Language
Mar 6, 2008 11:12 AM CST

Why Girls Are Better at Language

Study finds brain wiring gives girls the edge

(Newser) - Study after study has found that girls have better language skills than boys, and scientists now think they've found a biological reason why, Scientific American reports. Researchers discovered that girls showed more activity in the language part of their brains, which deciphers abstract encoding, than boys. The boys had more...

Credit Crunch Ups Price of College Loans

Federal, private lenders will raise rates, increase rejections

(Newser) - Even as college costs soar, the credit crunch is about to make student loans more expensive—and tougher to come by. Fees for federally guaranteed loans, which offer below-market rates, are expected to rise, and some states have dropped out of the program. At least a dozen private firms have...

Are Black Immigrants Black?
Are Black Immigrants Black?
OPINION
Mar 1, 2008 7:31 PM CST

Are Black Immigrants Black?

Debra Dickerson on the divide between 'native' and 'immigrant' blacks

(Newser) - The notion that a black American must be a “descendant of West African slaves brought here to labor for whites against their will” just reinforces the “invisibility that black immigrants face in America,” Debra Dickerson writes in Mother Jones. But she can’t escape it herself, she...

Don't Know Much About History...
Don't Know Much About History...
Feb 26, 2008 7:00 PM CST

Don't Know Much About History...

US teens have big holes in history, lit education: study

(Newser) - US teens know little history and less literature, says a study out today. Only 52% of 17-year-olds could name the theme of George Orwell's 1984, and 43% knew when the Civil War was fought. Students faired far better on topics that schools cover, however, such as Pearl Harbor and Martin...

Digital Tutors May Edge Out Real Thing

Virtual educators don't get frustrated and kids aren't afraid of errors

(Newser) - The best education available these days may be a virtual one, scientists are finding. Today´s digital educators can teach anything from social to language skills—and don't get tired, bored or irritable, LiveScience reports. The programs are a perfect match for autistic kids, who often find face-to-face interactions overwhelming.

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