What Obama said about education in speech - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

What Obama said about education in speech - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

What Obama said about education in speech

By Valerie Strauss

Here’s what President Obama said about education in his speech
(J. Scott Applewhite/AP)Thursday night to the Democratic National Convention:

... You can choose a future where more Americans have the chance to gain the skills they need to compete, no matter how old they are or how much money they have. Education was the gateway to opportunity for me. It was the gateway for Michelle. And now more than ever, it is the gateway to a middle-class life.

For the first time in a generation, nearly every state has answered our call to raise their standards for teaching and 

Why kids hate school — subject by subject

by Valerie Strauss

A little while ago I published a post by cognitive scientist Roger C. Schank who wrote that contrary to popular opinion, algebra is not necessary and STEM education is overrated. In this follow-up piece, Schank goes subject by subject explaining why he thinks they are useless and why so many kids hate learning them.
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A caveat on reading fiction in school

by Valerie Strauss

The new Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts call for students to read a lot more non-fiction and less fiction than they used to, a requirement that has caused some consternation among educators.
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