Century-old 8th-grade exam: Can you pass a 1912 test?
Here’s a copy of the eighth-grade exam used in schools in Bullitt County, Ky., in 1912. It was recently donated to the Bullitt County History Museum, which is a service of the Bullitt County Genealogical Society and which gave me permission to republish it.
Read full article >>Tim Tebow’s unusual education
Tim Tebow’s life story is now familiar to football fans, who know this about the Denver Broncos quarterback: * He was born in the Philippines to Christian missionaries. * His mother was very ill while pregnant with him and was urged by doctors to have an abortion, but she refused. Read full article >>
Report: We still don’t know much about charter schools
A new study on the effectiveness of public charter schools concludes that most of the research on the subject has been conducted with methods that “tell us little about causal effects.” The study, just published in the journal Science, was conducted by two well-known researchers: Julian Betts, an educational economist at the University of California at San Diego and executive director of the San Diego Education Research Alliance, and Richard Atkinson, president emeritus of the University of California, former director of the National Science Foundation and professor emeritus of co... more »
Re that Mathews notion on evolution: Oy vey, Jay
My unrivaled colleague, Jay Mathews, wrote a column urging Republican Rick Santorum to stay in the presidential race so that he can promote his belief that high schools should discuss alternatives to evolutionary theory. Read full article >>
Another ailing school district may be forced to close
*Correction: An earlier version of this said the Highland Park School District was in Illinois. It is in Michigan and not the Highland Park in Illinois.* A Michigan newspaper reports that a cash infusion of $188,000 from the state is the only reason that the Highland Park School District can meet its payroll today. Read full article >>
The problem with math education
This* was written by Timothy S. Norfolk, who is the interim chair of the Department of Mathematics at The University of Akron, where he has been teaching since 1984.* By Timothy S. Norfolk While most of what I have to say below concentrates on mathematics (my area of specialty), much applies equally to the sciences and engineering. Read full article >>
U.S. Attorney activates ‘school corruption hotline’
The United States Attorney in the Western District of Pennsylvania has activated a hotline where citizens can report “suspected possible corruption in public education.” U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton wants citizens to report on potential abuses that, his office’s website says, can include “misuse of federal funds, spending irregularities, corruption in the contract and bidding process, theft and embezzlement of district funds, and bribery, kickbacks or other forms of illegal collusion with outside vendors.” Read full article >>
What U.S. can learn from Finland, Hong Kong on tests, equity
This *was written by Cathy N. Davidson, a Duke University professor and author of “Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn.” * * Correction: An earlier version of this said there were no private schools in Finland. There are a few. Read full article >>
Playing school with scantrons
This *was written by Carol Corbett Burris, principal of South Side High School in New York. She was named the 2010 New York State Outstanding Educator by the School Administrators Association of New York State. She is also one of the organizers of the New York principals’ revolt against evaluating teachers by student test scores.* Read full article >>
Pennsylvania school district on verge of collapse (and using free labor to stay open)
A tragic story is unfolding in Pennsylvania’s troubled Chester Upland School District, where a combination of drastic budget cuts, poor management, student attrition to charter schools and other factors have left the immediate future of the traditional public schools in doubt. Read full article >>
10 super geeky tips for 2012 (for educators, parents and kids)
This *was written by The Daring Librarian, otherwise known as Gwyneth Anne Jones, who works as a teacher-librarian in Laurel, Md., and who writes The Daring Librarian blog. She was named a “mover and shaker” of 2011 by the Library Journal, and is on the board of directors of the International Society for Technology in Education. A version of this post appeared on her blog.* Read full article >>
