At Issue: Student Data Collection and Jeopardized Privacy Rights
With the expansion of student and school data collection and its use: Teachers in 35 states can now access student information via secure websites or portals, up from 28 in 2011. Currently, parents in 14 states can access their children’s...
Zero-Tolerance in Schools Run Amok
In the good old days, when a kid misbehaved—shoved another child, disrupted a class, pointed his finger and said, “Bang!”—the result was a sit down with the parents and principal, along with a subsequent detention or two or three. Then came 1994 when Congress, in an...
Quotable Education Quotes: 12/30/2013
** "Often ignored is the importance of the civic mission of schools--schools' role in preparing students to be active and engaged citizens in their communities and the world. Our country's founders viewed education as a cornerstone to our democracy and designed our...
Bill of Rights Day and Our Collective Lack of Civics Knowledge
The Bill of Rights went into effect back on December 15, 1791, and so that date is observed every year by folks in the know. How about you, though? Are you in the know? Can you define the Bill of Rights? If not, you have lots of company, as suggested in Newsweek’s...
Education Websites to Visit: 12/18/2013
** www.pestworldforkids.org ~ Here visitors become pest-wise via guides, games, science fair kits, and more. ** http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/classroom ~ This site "was designed to enhance the breadth, flexibility, and knowledge of science, math, and technology between...
It’s an Education Fact: 12/17/2013
1) About 4% of public school teachers report having been attacked physically during the 2007-08 school year, according to the U.S. Department of Education. 71% were threatened with injury by a student. 2) According to a 2011 American Psychological Association survey,...
Making Education News: 12/12/2013
1. Both PARCC and SBAC consortiums are creating online assessments for the Common Core but will also offer paper-and-pencil versions, as states transition to fully online testing. Question is, does one version have an advantage over the other? 2. Some built-in...
Education-Related Websites to Visit: 12/11/2013
** www.masteryconnect.com ~ This site says it's been designed with teachers in mind and provides content-area assessments, curriculum maps, standards-based student reports, and so much more. ** www.teach.org ~ This site "provides the information and community support...
College: Skyrocketing Costs, Student Debt, and Budget-Wise Choices
Not only do student loans and their accompanying debt keep making news, such lending has become big business for the federal government. In fact, federal student loans have nearly doubled since 2007, with the result that the U.S. Department of Education realized a...
It’s an Education Fact: 12/10/2013
1) A 7-year-long study finds that effective elementary teachers who transferred to low-achieving schools under a $20,000 bonus-pay program helped their new students learn more on average than those in a control group. 2) Nearly 50% of all American public school...
Quotable Education-Related Quotes: 12/9/2013
** "Teaching materials aligned with the controversial national educational standards ask fifth graders to edit such sentences as 'The president makes sure the laws of the country are fair,' 'The wants of an individual are less important than the well-being of the...
It’s an Education Fact: 12/5/2013
1) 8 states have already adopted the Next Generation Science Standards. 2) 35 states and D.C. require student achievement to be a significant or most important factor in teacher evaluation. 44 states require classroom observations be added, too, and 19 states and D.C....
Making Education News: 12/4/2013
1. Parents and gifted education advocates worry that until teachers have a stronger understanding of the Common Core, gifted learners may not receive the education they need to stay engaged and challenged. 2. 130 Catholic scholars have written to U.S. Catholic...
Quotable Education Quotations: 12/3/2013
** "Teachers should be compensated based on their ability to improve student learning, their ability to be a leader in the school, and their ability to continue to grow as a teacher through a career ladder. So to be a mentor, a master teacher, to take on...
Making Education News: 11/27/2013
1. "Flipped classrooms" have been all the rage of late, but researchers at Harvey Mudd College are finding that the benefits of "flipping" are dubious and that's it's no more effective than traditional teaching methods. 2. The Khan Academy, a free online library of...
Education-Related Sites to Visit: 11/27/2013
*** www.peacecorps.gov/wws ~ This Peace Corps World Wise School site "provides students with a view of life in more than 80 countries where Peace Corps volunteers serve." *** www.sparky.org ~ This National Fire Protection Association Sparky the Fire Dog site "allows...
It’s an Education Fact: 11/26/2013
1) In 2011, among 25- to 34-year-olds, having a bachelor's degree or higher increased their average earnings by 69% for men and 70% for women over those with only a high school diploma. 2) On the international PIACC, which tested 16- to 65-year-olds on a set of skills...
Quotable Education Quotes: 11/25/2013
** "There is an obsession with bad teachers. It is destroying the teaching profession." ~ Diane Ravitch, education historian ** "Right now we have a misalignment. Testing now has replaced instruction, and that's a bad place for us to be." Randi Weingarten, AFT...
Food Allergy Alert: Even a Trace Can Kill
It happens—and probably more often than you might think. Indeed, every three minutes someone with a food allergy reaction ends up in an emergency room. That makes for more than 200,000 such visits every year. And that’s both a very big deal and a growing problem,...
Americans’ Collective Civics/Government Ignorance Taking a Costly Toll
Okay, so maybe most of us don’t know that, when, in 1935 and ’36, the Supreme Court found against certain parts of Roosevelt’s New Deal, he responded by threatening to appoint additional Supreme Court justices who shared his views. Surely, though, we all know how many...
