Bipartisan move to rewrite No Child Left Behind
Following Obama's lead, both parties begin tackling education law.
The trouble with algebra
My guest today is Debra Viadero, who reports on education research for Education Week and writes a daily blog,Inside School Research.
By Debra Viadero
Studies have long suggested that algebra is a “gateway” course. Students need to pass it in order to move on to more advanced mathematics--and they need to have at least a couple of higher-level math credits on their high school transcripts to make it into a competitive college.
That realization has led a growing number of school districts over the last couple of decades to try to ensure that all students, regardless of ability level, study the subject as early as possible, which in many cases means by 8th or 9th grade. Some newer research is beginning to suggest, however, that getting all students past the algebra hump has proved to be a knotty problem.
Continue reading this post »By Debra Viadero
Studies have long suggested that algebra is a “gateway” course. Students need to pass it in order to move on to more advanced mathematics--and they need to have at least a couple of higher-level math credits on their high school transcripts to make it into a competitive college.
That realization has led a growing number of school districts over the last couple of decades to try to ensure that all students, regardless of ability level, study the subject as early as possible, which in many cases means by 8th or 9th grade. Some newer research is beginning to suggest, however, that getting all students past the algebra hump has proved to be a knotty problem.
Life habits schools can teach
[This is my column for the Local Living section of Feb. 18, 2010. It is the cover piece.]
I learned at an early age from my mother that there was more to school than reading, writing, arithmetic and lunch. She was a teacher. I was an eager student of the academic sort. That didn’t impress her. She told me later it was clear I was ready to read when I was four, but she refused to teach me because I needed more work on my social skills.
She will turn 93 at the end of this month. I am tempted to call and ask her to evaluate how I turned out, but I fear the answer. My life has been a lot of reading and writing, with some arithmetic. Even as a parent I rarely considered how well my children’s schools were teaching life skills that went beyond what is assessed under No Child Left Behind.
The habits of the heart are probably learned almost as much at school as at home. But which ones can we reasonably expect teachers to address? What should we look for to make certain these unmeasurable immeasurable but invaluable traits are being reinforced?
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At DCPS, it's 'purge purge, purge!'
D.C. schools will begin moving its central offices next week, decamping 825 N. Capitol St. NE for 1200 1st St. NE near the New York Ave. Metro station. To save money on rent, the new digs are smaller, and that means about 40 percent less storage space, officials said.
The space crunch has triggered a crash program of document shredding. The school system has hired two firms, Iron Mountain and Shredit, to help scan documents that need to be kept and dispose of others.
"The new location has less storage space so it is imperative to purge, purge, purge!" say the notes from chief operating officer Anthony J. Tata's Dec. 16 "sync meeting" for school business managers and other staff. The purge imperative was voiced in a briefing by James Tanious, a Tata staffer.
"The new location has less storage space so it is imperative to purge, purge, purge!" say the notes from chief operating officer Anthony J. Tata's Dec. 16 "sync meeting" for school business managers and other staff. The purge imperative was voiced in a briefing by James Tanious, a Tata staffer.