Over in the trenches, Dennis Fermoyle keeps hearing that Americans want academic rigor. It’s a top priority — after vacations. The tourism industry wants long summers, so state legislators are passing laws to push back the start of school till September.
Some schools have been opening in August to get in more teaching time before state […]
Archive for May, 2008
Full-day kindergarten will give Maryland children more time for learning, but less for play, reports the Baltimore Sun.
In a corner of her room at Manor View Elementary on Fort Meade, kindergarten teacher Laura Hobbs neatly arranged a little kitchen set, dolls, a small bed and play-food. She likes watching her students pretend, but she […]
The “discussion draft” of changes to No Child Left Behind is a “work in progress,” says Rep. George Miller, D-California. Miller and Republican Buck McKeown plan to introduce a NCLB reauthorization bill after Labor Day. The draft uses growth models to measure schools’ effectiveness, reports Education Week.
In outlining the use of growth models, […]
Mickey Kaus predicts a scandal of the future at the next Democratic Convention:
At 1216 hours suspect tapped his right foot. I recognized this as a signal often used by persons wishing to criticize teachers’ unions. Suspect tapped his toes several times and moved his foot closer to my foot. I moved my foot up and […]
It’s hard to find tween couture that’s neither trampy nor dowdy, writes Emily Yoffe on Slate. Her 11-year-old daughter doesn’t want to flash her underwear by wearing low-rise jeans; she doesn’t like glitter. Mom has vetoed “Nitwit Wear.”
These are T-shirts with slogans such as: “I Left My Brain in My Locker,” “I […]
SAT scores declined slightly this year, as a wider range of students try the college-admissions test.
Last spring’s seniors scored on average 502 out of a possible 800 points on the critical reading section of the country’s most popular college entrance exam, down from 503 for the class of 2006. Math scores fell three points […]
It’s back-to-school time at the Carnival of Education, hosted by Matthew K. Tabor.
Mister Teacher writes a letter to parents. Among other things:
# Let’s agree that a 2-pound bag of Hot Cheetos and a liter of Dr Pepper does not constitute a healthy lunch.
# Dogfighting, convenience store robbery, and “making it rain” will not be […]
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has raised and contributed $40 million to experiment with paying low-income parents to get their child a library card ($50), a dental check-up ($100) or a disabilities assessment ($150).
Some 2,500 families earning no more than $22,321 for a family of three will be eligible for Opportunity NYC payments; a […]
Alexandria, Virginia parents are complaining the schools have made it harder for students to qualify as TAG (Talented and Gifted); kids left behind in mainstream classes aren’t being challenged, parents say. Virginia’s Standards of Learning exam is a minimum competency test for fairly bright students, writes Patrick Welsh in the Washington Post. Other students need […]
Why is it that one fifth of Americans can’t find the U.S. on a map? It’s hard to imagine a tactful answer to the question. At the Miss Teen USA pageant, Miss South Carolina settled for complete incoherence. The video is a dumb-blond joke brought to life.
Recent Comments