science education – News Stories About science education - Page 1

Americans Have Big Gaps
in Their Knowledge of Science

SURVEY SAYS

Sep 11, 2015 6:46 AM CDT

Americans Have Big Gaps in Their Knowledge of Science

Only 6% got all 12 questions right in basic quiz

(Newser) - Most Americans have a good grasp of some areas of scientific knowledge but are relatively clueless on others, according to Pew Research Center analysis based on a quiz that you may wish to try out here before reading on—and if you get a perfect score, congratulate yourself on being...

New School Regs: Start Teaching Climate Change

Apr 10, 2013 8:23 AM CDT

New School Regs: Start Teaching Climate Change

Standards formulated by 26 states, educators

(Newser) - For the first time since 1996, educators have released major national guidelines for science in schools. The big news this time: They include a call for climate change education, potentially beginning in middle school, the New York Times reports. They also strongly urge schools to teach evolution. The Next Generation...

Sex-Ed Teacher
in Trouble for
Teaching
Sex-Ed

Sex-Ed Teacher in Trouble for Teaching Sex-Ed

Among the complaints in Idaho district: using the word 'vagina'

(Newser) - An Idaho science teacher is being investigated by the state over the content of his 10th-grade biology class. Complaints about Tim McDaniel by scandalized Dietrich school parents include: using the word "vagina," talking about orgasms, showing a video clip of genital herpes, and teaching different forms of birth...

Why the Earth's Age Does, Actually, Matter in Politics

paul krugman

Nov 23, 2012 1:28 PM CST

Why the Earth's Age Does, Actually, Matter in Politics

Paul Krugman: Republican Party becoming increasingly 'anti-rational'

(Newser) - When Marco Rubio deflected a question about the Earth's age recently, the Florida senator argued that such issues have nothing to do with politics—but he's wrong, writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times . Let's not forget that Rubio himself once "provided powerful aid to...

Just 32% of US 8th-Graders Proficient in Science

May 10, 2012 12:35 PM CDT

Just 32% of US 8th-Graders Proficient in Science

Assessment shows only a slight gain from 2009

(Newser) - Just 32% of US eighth-graders are proficient in science, according to the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress exam. While that is a slight gain from 2009’s 30%, teachers and policy makers are concerned with the continued low numbers, the Wall Street Journal reports. "This is deeply disappointing,...

Texas congressman uses porn to kill science funding

Texas Republican Uses
Porn to Kill Science Bill

May 18, 2010 9:17 AM CDT

Texas Republican Uses Porn to Kill Science Bill

(Newser) - US Rep. Ralph Hall misused a House procedural rule, meant to insure that minorities have a voice, to effectively kill a science funding bill last week. Hall killed a bill that would renew Bush-backed support for science innovation and education by tying a vote to stop it from reaching the...

US Innovation
Stagnates: Survey

Nov 16, 2009 2:08 PM CST

US Innovation Stagnates: Survey

Americans think China is winning—and China thinks we're on top

(Newser) - Most Americans are anxious about a future they believe will be fueled by innovation—innovation they are doubtful will come easily in this country without major changes to the education system. Nearly two-thirds of Americans say the recession has hobbled the country’s ability to innovate, and just 41% see...

Bail Out America's Brains

OPINION

Jan 11, 2009 10:08 AM CST

Bail Out America's Brains

To stay afloat, we need more Gateses and Jobses

(Newser) - Building roads and bridges will give our economy a short-term boost—but we need to look farther into America’s future on the global stage, writes Thomas Friedman in the New York Times. That means investing to make sure the next Microsofts and Googles are home-grown. How? For a start,...

Title IX Turns to Science: Where Are the Women Physicists?

Jul 15, 2008 8:59 AM CDT

Title IX Turns to Science: Where Are the Women Physicists?

Gender-equality law looks beyond sports

(Newser) - Title IX, the federal mandate that requires gender equality in education funding, has been applied mostly to sports teams, but recently a new push has begun to apply it to university science departments. Decrying a dearth of women in physics and engineering programs, some women's groups and members of Congress...

Teacher
Who Branded Students Fired

Jun 21, 2008 8:20 AM CDT

Teacher Who Branded Students Fired

He slammed evolution, burned crosses onto 8th-graders' arms

(Newser) - An Ohio school board has voted unanimously to fire a science teacher who used an electrostatic device to brand 8th-graders with a cross, the AP reports. Science teacher John Freshwater, who says the marks were simply Xs, had been in trouble with the board before for teaching creationism, slamming evolution...

US Needs More Visas, Gates Tells Congress

Mar 12, 2008 5:14 PM CDT

US Needs More Visas, Gates Tells Congress

America's status as tech leader is in jeopardy, he says

(Newser) - Bill Gates exhorted Congress today to increase the number of available H-1B visas for highly skilled foreigners, and invest more in domestic education in science and technology, cNet reports. "It makes no sense to educate people in our universities, often subsidized by US taxpayers, and then insist they return...

Why US Math, Science Ed is OK

Oct 26, 2007 11:50 AM CDT

Why US Math, Science Ed is OK

Writer cites against-the-grain report ranking US in second place globally

(Newser) - Americans aren’t as deficient at math and science as usually reported, writes entrepreneur and Harvard Law Fellow Vivek Wadhwa in a Business Week op-ed. He cites an Urban Institute report with results contradicting many long-held beliefs about American science education, which places American science students consistently second in the...