Six Kentucky districts are testing a new inquiry-based math teaching method called “formative assessment.” The teaching and testing program was designed by experts to emphasize classroom activities that help teachers gauge the learning needs of individual students.

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Tags: Education Policy, Math, Math teachers, Mathematics

High school graduates from low- to middle-income families are finding it harder to enroll in four-year, public universities because the costs of attending the schools are rising well beyond what federal, state, and institutional grants will cover, the Department of Education reports.

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

LaMar Queen, a teacher at the Los Angeles Academy, has boosted his eighth-graders’ math grades by his use of rap music — which he writes and performs — to help them learn the rules of algebra.

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Tags: Education Policy, Math, Math teachers, Mathematics, Teaching Aids

At the annual meeting of the International Society for Technology in Education, attendees were told that in classrooms of the not-too-distant future, each student will be armed with a handheld digital education device, teachers will encourage tweeting and texting, and more lessons will be taught using computer games.

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Tags: Classroom Technology, Education Policy, Teaching Aids, Technology for Learning

A bipartisan group of senators is pressing to give states a financial incentive to incorporate engineering education in K-12 curricula, letting them compete for grants from the U.S. Department of Education.

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Tags: Corporations, Education Policy, Organizations, Public Policy

A growing number of cash-strapped U.S. school districts are opting for 4-day weeks to cope with tight budgets. Some districts say it’s that or laying off teachers. For some districts, the shorter week has proved a boon: test scores went up, as did student and teacher attendance.

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The long-awaited set of national academic standards — The Common Core State Standards — was released this month, indicating which math and English skills students should master during their K-12 years. Written by the National Governors Association and the country’s state school chiefs, the voluntary standards are expected to be adopted by 40 states by year’s end. Yet some lawmakers protest that the standards are an unneeded federal intrusion into local schools.

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Tags: Education Policy, Public Policy, STEM education

If you’re young, gifted, and male, will your talents be overlooked? In New York City, boys comprise 51 percent of the student population; but in the city’s gifted kindergarten classes, fifty-six percent of the students are female, the New York Times reports. While boys have long lagged behind girls in high school graduation rates and college enrollment, educators fear that this new finding may suggest that gender disparity starts at a very early age, according to the Times.

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Tags: Education Policy, Elementary Education, Girls Education, Research on Learning

A survey conducted by Public Agenda and funded by the GE Foundation has found that Americans are conflicted when it comes to mathematics and science instruction. While a big majority say that strong math and science education is key to the country’s future, most parents think that the science and math classes that their kids take are “just fine.”

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Tags: Education Policy, Public Policy, Research on Learning