education

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Et tu, Barack? Teachers Lose Another Ally

Embattled unions don't want evaluation based on test scores

(Newser) - Teachers union members are fuming over President Obama's desire to stay the course and evaluate educators based on student test scores, McClatchy reports. Obama is even threatening to withhold California stimulus money unless the state enshrines the student-teacher performance link into law. "It takes more than the ability to...

3 of 4 Oklahoma Students Can't Name First President

Only 3% would pass US citizenship test

(Newser) - Are you smarter about American history than a recent immigrant? Most of the students in Oklahoma’s public high schools aren’t. A conservative think tank asked thousands of high school kids to answer 10 questions drawn from the citizenship test given to recent immigrants. Would-be citizens have to answer...

Pick Your Poison: Swine Flu or Hand Sanitizer

Recent H1N1-inspired flood of alcohol-based products into schools are also flammable

(Newser) - Schools are loading up on hand sanitizer in an effort to fight swine flu—but the alcohol-based panacea has problems of its own, the Chicago Tribune reports. Bottles and dispensers of the stuff are ubiquitous in classrooms, and officials have belatedly realized the dangers of its 65% alcohol content. “...

Top-Paying College Degrees
 Top-Paying College Degrees 
Sep 9, 2009 10:13 AM CDT

Top-Paying College Degrees

Engineering, economics, computing take top spots

(Newser) - As the school year begins, students seek out fulfilling and enlightening majors—that will hopefully bring in the big bucks down the road. PayScale lists the highest-paying undergrad degrees and their mid-career median salaries:
  1. Aerospace engineering, $109,000
  2. Chemical engineering, $107,000
  3. Computer engineering, $105,000
  4. Electrical engineering, $102,000
...

Obama Speech Didn't Turn My Kids Into Commies

School budget cuts more of a worry than socialist indoctrination

(Newser) - Despite the worst fears of some right-wingers, President Obama's back-to-school speech yesterday didn't turn Mary Elizabeth Williams' two daughters into "commie zombies," she writes in Salon. Her 5-year-old decided the speech was boring and left the room in a huff, while the 9-year-old decided to "work extra...

Obama to Students: 'You Make Your Own Future'

(Newser) - President Obama drew on his own childhood today to encourage students to stick with school to discover their passions and talents, a message nearly overshadowed in advance by criticism from conservatives who feared a socialist agenda. Some of the furor had died down before the noon address—the Florida GOP...

Laura Bush: Obama Doing a Good Job

Former first lady addresses school speech controvery in CNN interview

(Newser) - President Obama's doing a good job, Laura Bush tells CNN during a wide-ranging chat yesterday about life after the White House. "I think he has got a lot on his plate, and he has tackled a lot to start with," she said, "and that has probably...

Emoticons Invade Academia
 Emoticons Invade 
 Academia 
Sep 7, 2009 4:44 PM CDT

Emoticons Invade Academia

Teaching millennials causes new frustrations for college writing professors

(Newser) - College professors have lamented the state of student writing for centuries. But today’s Internet-obsessed culture brings new, infuriating errors to Writing 101 as students brazenly use colloquialisms like “:-)” and “LOL” in essays. “Occasionally, I've seen someone using the number 4 for the word 'for,'”...

Obama Speech: Handwashing, Not Brainwashing

(Newser) - The eagerly anticipated speech President Obama will deliver to the nation's schoolchildren tomorrow contains none of the socialist indoctrination conservatives had apparently feared, Politico reports. Rather, an advance text indicates, he urges kids to work hard, not expect to get something for nothing, and "wash your hands a lot,...

School Speech Uproar Shows Country Divided
School Speech Uproar Shows Country Divided
Analysis
Sep 4, 2009 12:44 PM CDT

School Speech Uproar Shows Country Divided

In addressing kids, Bush 41 didn't have problems like Obama's

(Newser) - When George HW Bush gave a televised address to a public school in 1991 and urged schools around the country to show it in class, no one much cared. When President Obama announced plans to do the same, he drew outrage and comparisons to Chairman Mao. That’s America in...

White House Backs Off on Lesson Plan
White House Backs Off on Lesson Plan
UPDATED
Sep 3, 2009 5:45 PM CDT

White House Backs Off on Lesson Plan

Teachers won't ask kids to say 'how they can help the president'

(Newser) - In response to criticism over a speech President Obama plans to deliver to schoolchildren Tuesday, the White House will make the text of the speech available for review by teachers and school officials a day earlier, the Dallas Morning News reports. The administration also changed a widely criticized part of...

Obama School Address Infuriates Critics

Republicans denounce speech as 'socialist' indoctrination

(Newser) - Conservative critics are blasting President Obama’s plan to give a speech on education in Virginia next week as a ploy to brainwash the nation’s children, the Washington Post reports. The address, which the White House is encouraging educators and students to watch, is part of a push to...

Student Borrowing Soars 25% to Record Levels

Students' fed loans jump 25% from previous year

(Newser) - Some two-thirds of students borrow for college today, and they’re borrowing more than ever: For the 2008-2009 school year, the federal government loaned students $75.1 billion—25% more than the year before. That’s the biggest increase on record, the Wall Street Journal reports. The trend has troubling...

Online Colleges: Ready for Some Respect

Department of Ed. study shows e-learning is effective

(Newser) - The educational establishment has been slow to accept online colleges as serious teaching institutions—programs like the University of Phoenix are commonly dismissed as “diploma mills.” But a new study by the Department of Education shows that, in many cases, students perform better with e-learning than in a...

11-Year-Old Finally Snags His Obama Interview

(Newser) - Damon Weaver, not yet out of elementary school, made his name on the Internet when he interviewed Joe Biden during the 2008 campaign for his school's TV station. Yesterday, the grizzled journalistic veteran bagged his biggest sit-down yet following 8 months of requests—a 10-minute grilling of Barack Obama at...

LA Mayor Wants Outsiders to Run 'Failing' Schools

Teachers union says plan will lead to 'chaos in education system'

(Newser) - The mayor of Los Angeles wants to allow outside groups to place bids for control of hundreds of the city’s schools, the LA Times reports. Antonia Villaraigosa’s education reforms would allow bidding by charter-school organizations and other education nonprofits to run 50 schools scheduled to open over the...

Duncan Poised to Be Most Powerful Ed Sec Ever

Tight with prez, Duncan holds keys to $5B in stimulus funds

(Newser) - Tight with President Obama and with $5 billion at his disposal, Arne Duncan may become the strongest education secretary in history, writes Nia-Malika Henderson for Politico. “Never ever have they had $5 billion to decide what to do in the education system,” says an education advocate. And it’...

Married 41 Years, Profs Turn Sex 101 Into an Institution

UC Santa Barbara profs

(Newser) - For more than 20 years, John and Janice Baldwin have instructed students at UC Santa Barbara about sex, love, and everything in between, while implicitly offering their own 41-year-old marriage as a positive example, the LA Times reports. Their “Sociology of Human Sexuality” is one of the most popular...

Texas Education Chief: Stop Hiring Dropouts

Wants 'voluntary ban' by state biz to get more to finish high school

(Newser) - Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott, reeling from criticism that the state is underreporting its dropout rates, called yesterday on the state’s leading business group to institute a voluntary ban on hiring dropouts, the Dallas Morning News reports. “It would send a powerful message to these kids,” Scott...

New GI Bill Gives Veterans Better Shot at College

Vastly expanded aid begins tomorrow

(Newser) - The new GI Bill, called the biggest veterans’ educational benefit program since 1944, takes effect tomorrow—and it’s poised to make a big difference, the Houston Chronicle reports. Some 90% of vets will receive two to three times more help paying for college, says one advocate. “This type...

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