education

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Just 32% of US 8th-Graders Proficient in Science

Assessment shows only a slight gain from 2009

(Newser) - Just 32% of US eighth-graders are proficient in science, according to the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress exam. While that is a slight gain from 2009’s 30%, teachers and policy makers are concerned with the continued low numbers, the Wall Street Journal reports. "This is deeply disappointing,...

Student Loan Rate Hike Is Overhyped
Student Loan Rate Hike Is Overhyped
OPINION
May 10, 2012 11:33 AM CDT

Student Loan Rate Hike Is Overhyped

Congress is screwing college students in much bigger ways

(Newser) - Congress is up in arms over how to keep rates on Stafford student loans from doubling in July, but Mark Kantrowitz and Lynn Shaughgnessy have a question: Who cares? "The partisan posturing is a distraction from far more pressing issues that face students," the college experts write in...

Brooklyn School Bans Hugs
 Brooklyn School Bans Hugs 
Apr 27, 2012 2:14 PM CDT

Brooklyn School Bans Hugs

Parents outraged, rebellious kids keep embracing in protest

(Newser) - The Brooklyn Prospect Charter School is cracking down on that most deviant of tween behaviors: hugging. The school has instituted a rule banning hugs in the hallways, outraging many students and teachers, the Brooklyn Paper reports. Though the rule was purportedly instituted after a sixth-grader said a hug from an...

Your Major Is Hard? Pay More Tuition

Math, science, and business students face price hikes

(Newser) - The tougher your major in college is, the more tuition you could have to fork over. More and more public universities are billing a higher tuition to students who major in math, business, and science programs. The schools' rationale is that it's more expensive to teach these specialties, and...

The 13 Most Worthless Majors

Want a job? Avoid fine art, according to 'Daily Beast' list

(Newser) - Hey, college students: If your life plans include getting an actual job, you may want to avoid the stars of the Daily Beast 's "most useless" majors list. Majors are ranked in terms of employment, taking into account unemployment rates among recent and experienced grads, earnings, and likely...

NY Test Asks Kids About Baffling 'Talking Pineapple'

Bizarre story befuddles New York students, teachers

(Newser) - No amount of studying could prepare students to assess the wisdom of a talking pineapple, but that's what New York kids were asked to do on a state test. The eighth-grade reading exam offered a fable-like story about a pineapple challenging a hare to a race. Other animals weigh...

150 Schoolgirls Poisoned in Afghan Attack

Militants suspected of striking again

(Newser) - About 150 Afghan girls were poisoned today after drinking the water at their Takhar province school, in what officials believe was a deliberate attack by Islamist militants opposed to educating girls. "We are 100% sure that the water they drunk … was poisoned," an education department spokesperson tells...

Study: UC Leftism Not Right
 Study: UC Leftism Not Right 
Apr 2, 2012 1:30 AM CDT

Study: UC Leftism Not Right

Campuses a 'sanctuary for narrow ideology,' says conservative group

(Newser) - Leftist faculty and "politically correct" thinking at University of California campuses are giving students a dangerously unbalanced education, according to a study by an organization of conservative educators. Humanities departments in particular have been hijacked by a leftist agenda that merely teaches about minorities grievances, according to the report,...

School Backs Free Condoms for Kids 12 and Up

Massachusetts measure would include counseling

(Newser) - In a 5-1 preliminary vote, a school committee for a Massachusetts town has approved providing free condoms to students ages 12 and older. The service, which requires a second vote for final approval, would provide the condoms through Springfield school nurses and clinics. Those given the contraceptives would receive counseling...

Black Students Face More Arrests Than Whites: US

Arne Duncan: Minorities suffer 'harsher discipline'

(Newser) - African-American students are arrested much more frequently than whites in America's large public schools, according to the government's largest-ever study of the subject. Among school systems with more than 50,000 students, 35% of arrests involved African-Americans, though they represent just 24% of the student body. White students...

Obama Preaches Value of Education to Governors

Speech seen as message to tight-pursed GOP governors

(Newser) - President Obama today urged the nation's governors to invest more state resources in education, saying that a highly skilled workforce is crucial for the US to remain competitive with other countries. "The fact is that too many states are making cuts in education that I think are simply...

Faith Experts to Santorum: Stop Ripping Colleges

Calls Obama academic 'snob'

(Newser) - Rick Santorum has a bone to pick with college. This weekend, he called President Obama "a snob" for wanting "everybody in America to go to college"—perhaps a bit strange coming from a man with more degrees than the president, the Washington Post notes. Added Santorum: “...

Utah Bill Bars Sex Ed Unless It's Abstinence-Only

Schools must drop instruction if they want to talk contraception: bill

(Newser) - A bill passed by Utah's House of Representatives gives schools a choice: Teach sex education that's all about not having sex, or drop sex ed. The bill, which allows schools to skip sex education, and bars those that keep it from discussing contraception, was passed 45-28 after a...

'Don't Say Gay' Bill Advances in Tennessee

Bill bans teachers from discussing homosexuality before High School

(Newser) - A controversial bill banning Tennessee elementary and middle school teachers from teaching students about homosexuality got approval from the state's House Education subcommittee yesterday, inching it closer to law. The committee approved the same version of the so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill that the Senate passed late...

Rich, Poor Kids Face Widening Education Gap

Achievement divide soars since 1960s, studies say

(Newser) - There's a vast gap in educational success between lower-income and wealthy children, studies say—a divide that has received relatively little attention until now. In recent decades, the achievement gap between rich and poor children has grown as the gap between black and white students has shrunk, the New ...

No Child Left Behind Waiver Granted to 10 States

At least 28 more plan to seek one

(Newser) - Ten of the first 11 states to apply for a waiver from the controversial No Child Left Behind law will be freed from the law's requirements by President Obama today, the AP reports. Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Tennessee received the waivers; New...

NH Bill Would Require Bible Class in Schools

Rep. Jerry Bergevin says it's key to understanding American history

(Newser) - A bill being pushed in New Hampshire would force schools to offer an elective Bible studies class—because the Bible is an inescapable part of American history, according to the bill's sponsor. "The Holy Bible is the bedrock of Western civilization," and it was essential to the...

God Doesn't Want Teachers to Be Paid More: State Sen.

Alabama's Shadrack McGill: But lawmakers should definitely get raises

(Newser) - Teacher pay shouldn't be increased, an Alabama lawmaker explained at a prayer breakfast this week, because the Bible says so. "If you double what you're paying education, you know what's going to happen?" asked state Sen. Shadrack McGill. "I've heard the comment many times,...

Obama to Colleges: No More Jacking Up Tuition

Introduces plan to control tuition costs

(Newser) - President Barack Obama today called for an overhaul of the higher education financial aid system, warning that colleges and universities that fail to control spiraling tuition costs could lose federal funds. Speaking to students at the University of Michigan, Obama said he was "putting colleges on notice" that the...

Want to Kickstart Economy? Cut the Dropout Rate
Want to Kickstart Economy? Cut the Dropout Rate
OPINION
Jan 26, 2012 12:54 PM CST

Want to Kickstart Economy? Cut the Dropout Rate

Money invested will be paid back, and then some: Henry M. Levin and Cecilia E. Rouse

(Newser) - In his State of the Union address , President Obama called on all states to require that students stay in school until they graduate or turn 18. It's a good start, but it doesn't go far enough, write economics professors Henry M. Levin and Cecilia E. Rouse in the...

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