Denver’s new school superintendent, Michael Bennet, formerly the mayor’s chief of staff is “incredibly smart” with “strong community relationships, but no K-12 experience, and not much background in the education wars,” writes Rocky Mountain News columnist Linda Seebach in an e-mail. Bennet says his first priority will be hiring a chief academic officer to […]
Archive for May, 2008
New warnings about psychiatric side effects will be added to the label of drugs used to treat children for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The FDA is reacting to “reports of hallucinations, suicidal thoughts, psychotic behavior and aggression” among users of Ritalin and similar drugs.
Using “the G word” (God) in a term paper on “Religion and its Place in Government” earned an F for Bethany Hauf, a community college student in Victorville, California. Adjunct English instructor Michael Shefchik had approved the topic on one condition: “No mention of big ‘G’ gods, i.e., one, true god argumentation.”
When she […]
Do secular kids need their own summer camp? Well, they’ve got one.
Providing a haven for the children of nonbelievers is what Camp Quest is all about. As the camp’s official T-shirt announces, it’s a place that’s “beyond belief.” More precisely, it claims to be the first summer sleep-away camp in the country for atheist, agnostic […]
Education isn’t a cure-all for economic problems, writes Peter Schrag in the Sacramento Bee.
Education is a necessary element of a successful high-tech economy; it’s emphatically necessary to help reduce social inequities, and imperative for civic and humanistic understanding and democratic unity. But it’s not enough in a high-tech global market where many jobs can be […]
School’s out but the Carnival Of Education goes on.
New York City’s public elementary and middle schoolers will be told not to make fun of each other. The New Yorker reports on “Don’t Laugh at Me.”
The program, which is the brainchild and heart’s desire of Peter Yarrow, of Peter, Paul & Mary, aims to combat bullying by emphasizing the moral lessons of folk […]
I just sold my house for the asking price to a couple with two little kids who claim they’re going to live in, not tear it down to build a bigger house. These days, buyers send a personal letter with a photo, as if the seller is putting the house up for adoption. […]
Virginia will drop a basic skills test for would-be teachers which measures high-school-level reading, writing and math performance. Instead, the state will develop its own test of college-level reading and writing skills. Only math teachers will be tested on math knowledge.
Here are “advanced math” test prep questions for Praxis I, which is […]
Spa camp starts with manicures, Newsweek reports. Then the girls move on to scrubbing technique.
“Who knows why it’s important to moisturize after we exfoliate?” asks the counselor. “Um, ’cause the skin’s all open and stuff?” says Hannah Vandeventer, 12. “Right. Girls, rub in the cream.”
Instead of roughing it in the wilds, some […]
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