In the ongoing push to fix America’s public schools, policymakers are overlooking principals, argues New York Times Columnist Andrew J. Rotherham. He says principals should come under closer scrutiny, and they “play a critical role” in education, but are “evaluated almost as an afterthought.”

Read More

Filed under: K-12 Education News | 1 Comment »

Tags: Education Policy, Principals, Research on Learning, School Budgets

Tuition continues to rise at public four-year colleges and universities — increasing this school year by an average 7.9 percent – but record increases in federal grant aid will help provide some relief for students, according to a new report from the College Board.

Read More

Filed under: K-12 Education News | 1 Comment »

Tags: Education Policy, Higher Education, Public Policy, Research on Learning

Countries with top-performing schools and students — think Singapore, Finland, and South Korea — recruit their teachers from the top third of college graduates, according to a new study. Yet only 23 percent of U.S. teachers come from the top third of graduates. Salary may be a key component.

Read More

Filed under: K-12 Education News | Comments Off on Overseas Schools Attract Top Graduates

Tags: Education Policy, International K-12 Education, Research on Learning, Teacher Training

Is there an algebra overkill? John W. Myres, a retired California school teacher and superintendent, thinks so. Myres notes that most school districts require all students to take one to two years of algebra to graduate and suggests this may be too much of a good thing.

Read More

Filed under: K-12 Education News | 6 Comments »

Tags: Education Policy, Math teachers, Mathematics

The standardized tests that K-12 students take each year will soon undergo an electronic overhaul. The U.S. Department of Education recently awarded two consortia of states $330 million to develop ways to improve, broaden, and speed up the tests by 2014 using interactive computing technologies.

Read More

Filed under: K-12 Education News | 2 Comments »

Tags: Classroom Technology, Education Policy, Technology for Learning, Testing

According to a new report released by the Center for Public Education, school districts across the U.S. are laying off teachers, cutting programs, and eliminating student activities because of the ongoing fiscal squeeze created by the recession. Only two states — Montana and North Dakota — do not face revenue shortfalls this year.

Read More

Filed under: K-12 Education News | Comments Off on Schools Still Hit by Recession

Tags: Education Policy, Public Policy, Research, School Budgets

A National Academy of Engineering report says it’s not time to introduce a new set of K-12 engineering education standards. Given the importance of national technological development, however, engineering learning should be incorporated into existing subjects.

Read More

Filed under: K-12 Education News | 2 Comments »

Tags: Education Policy, National Academy of Engineering, Public Policy, Publication, Research on Learning, STEM education

Lincoln Unified school district in Stockton, California, is betting that the newly-opened Jeff Wright Engineering and Construction Academy will be well worth its $8.5 million investment. Some 500 students will study topics ranging from carpentry to computerized drafting to mechanical engineering.

Read More

Filed under: K-12 Education News | Comments Off on A Boost for Vocational Education

Tags: Education Policy, Mechanical engineering, Public Policy, Technology Education, Vocational Education

The eleven states and the District of Columbia, which won the Race to the Top competition, will divvy up a prize of $4 billion in federal education grants. But the ultimate winner may be STEM education. All the winning states have plans to bolster STEM subjects and to fully integrate them into their future K-12 education reforms.

Read More

Filed under: K-12 Education News | 1 Comment »

Tags: Education Policy, School Budgets, STEM education, STEM subjects