'Tree Octopus' Hoax Shows Kids Believe Anything Online

Arne Duncan: Minorities suffer 'harsher discipline'

(NEWSER) - African-American students are arrested much more frequently than whites in America's large public schools, according to the government's largest-ever study of the subject. Among school systems with more than 50,000 students, 35% of arrests involved African-Americans, though they represent just 24% of the student body. White students represented 21% of arrests and 31% of the population, the Washington Post reports. Hispanic students accounted for 37% of arrests and 34% of enrollment. More»

California group trying to force school to become charter

(NEWSER) - Two dispatches from the education front, both speaking to underperforming students and angry parents:

• In Compton, California: Parents are trying to take advantage of a new state law to force their chronically awful school to be taken over by a charter operation. Advocates easily got the necessary 51% support of parents. The case is being closely watched because it essentially creates a "union for parents" to go up against teachers, explains the New York Times. It would be the first such action in the nation, and education chief Arne Duncan is in favor. Full story here .

Shanghai ranks at the top in all three areas

(NEWSER) - China is emerging as a world powerhouse, and that extends into the classroom. Shanghai teenagers outscored their peers around the world on the latest Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey, and Hong Kong also ranked high in all three areas: second in math and science, fourth in reading. This was China's first year participating in the tests, a generation after the Cultural Revolution badly damaged the country's school system, Time notes. More»

Before the Internet, plagiarism was easy to hide

(NEWSER) - Everyone can calm down now: The New York Times’ recent proclamation that we’re raising a generation of cheaters may have been a bit of an exaggeration. The Times article suggested not only that the Internet is making plagiarism easier and more widespread—but that today’s youth don’t see anything wrong with it. In reality, plagiarism has always been around—but these days, “people are just getting caught more,” editor Caroline Eisner tells Salon . More»

Twitter tries and fails to take down another celebrity

(NEWSER) - Bill Cosby is not dead, despite what you might have read on the Internet this afternoon. In fact, the 73-year-old comedy legend is alive, well, and making up words on Twitter, reports WPIX . Using a term he created after a similar false alarm in February, he tweeted today, "Again, I'm rebutalling rumors about my demise." He added , "Emotional friends have called about this misinformation. To the people behind the foolishness, I’m not sure you see how upsetting this is." To learn more about things the web has actually killed, click here . More»