Time Nov 7, 08 8:12 PM CST
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Sweet sixteen is the right time to leave high school and leap into higher education, New Hampshire education officials say. Following advice from a blue-ribbon panel that warned of America's educational decline 2 years ago, the state plans to test 10th graders with tough new exams. Those who pass can attend community or tech colleges instead of high school, Time reports.
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Brain scans show agressors feel reward watching others suffer
Reuters Nov 7, 08 12:33 PM CST
(Newser)
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Bullies appear to enjoy seeing other people in pain, Reuters reports. Researchers in Chicago took brain scans of two sample groups of teens while showing them videos of one person hurting another. When showed violence, one group of teens, who were diagnosed with aggressive-conduct disorder and had recently attacked schoolmates, had consistent activity in the brain’s reward centers.
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Tenn. neo-Nazis would have shot, decapitated 102 blacks before going after candidate
Associated Press Oct 27, 08 5:21 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Federal agents have broken up a plot by two neo-Nazi skinheads to assassinate Barack Obama and shoot or decapitate 88 black people, the AP reports. ATF agents said the pair planned to rob a gun store and target a predominantly African-American high school in a murder spree that was to begin in Tennessee, with Obama as its final target.
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School sets up testing lab in gym after learning dozens may be infected
St. Louis Post-Dispatch Oct 24, 08 7:46 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Health officials in a small town near St. Louis have set up an HIV testing clinic in a high school gym after an infected person said up to 50 students may have been exposed, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch . School officials won't say whether that person is a student or how the virus may have been spread. They are scrambling to stop the spread of infection, and panic, in the community.
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Schools pay students for good behavior, grades
NPR Oct 22, 08 6:45 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Schools in Washington, DC, hope to expand children's minds by filling their wallets. Students who get good grades, attend class, and behave earn points that will net them paychecks of up to $1,500 each year, NPR reports. "Every child has a switch, and it's our job as educators to find it," said one principal of the "Capital Gains" program, the brainchild of a Harvard economist.
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System rewards as much as $50 for A's—and half depends on graduation
Chicago Tribune Oct 17, 08 1:55 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Chicago public high schools are paying students for good grades under a program funded partly by Harvard University, the Tribune reports. Freshmen get $50 for A’s, $35 for B’s and $20 for C’s, with half their earnings held until they graduate. Some 20 other Chicago-area schools, encompassing about 1,650 students, are participating in the program, which also relies on private donations.
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'Her smile was as big as Texas,' aunt says
ABC News Oct 15, 08 5:02 AM CDT
(Newser)
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There wasn't a dry eye in the house when a Texas football stadium erupted into wild cheers last weekend to honor their homecoming queen, a pretty 18-year-old high school senior with Down syndrome. "Her smile was as big as the state of Texas," queen Kristin Pass' aunt told ABC News. "Everyone was on their feet yelling, 'Yeah, Kristin!' louder than they had been cheering during the game."
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School where 17 teens got pregnant last year OKs birth control plan
Boston Herald Oct 9, 08 4:46 AM CDT
(Newser)
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A Massachusetts high school where 17 teens got pregnant last year presumably as part of a "pregnancy pact" has decided to distribute birth control pills and condoms to students, the Boston Globe reports. A school official said birth control would only be available with parental consent, adding that he hoped the school could now move on following national news reports of the pregnancy pact, allegedly made by teens who wanted to raise their babies together.
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Perry's 'I Kissed a
Girl' at heart of Texas high school flap
ABC News Oct 3, 08 7:39 AM CDT
(Newser)
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A trio of Texas high schoolers have had their baton-twirling privileges suspended after performing a routine to Katy Perry’s hit “I Kissed a Girl,” ABC News reports. The school says it is simply disciplining the girls for disobeying their coach, who told them to “choose a more appropriate song"—but at least one of the girls disagrees. “The school is way overreacting,” she says.
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Panel recommends move away from standardized testing
New York Times Sep 22, 08 8:28 AM CDT
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Colleges should make admissions decisions without requiring the SAT or ACT, says a group of deans led by Harvard's admissions chief in a yearlong study that concluded standardized tests distort students' high school experiences, exacerbate class disparities, and enrich only the billion-dollar test prep industry. Instead, say the admissions officers, colleges should place greater emphasis on high school coursework and introduce a new, broader achievement test.
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12- and 13-year-old girls first targeted by program that could reach 2M by 2011
Times (UK) Sep 3, 08 4:13 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The UK kicked off a campaign to give 12- and 13-year-old girls the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, the Times of London reports. Schools will begin offering the shot, which is not mandatory, this week. The government estimates that it will vaccinate over 2 million girls by 2011. Beside official programs, the campaign also includes youth-oriented advertising.
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TV REVIEW
90210 spinoff relies heavily on original series
Variety Sep 3, 08 1:51 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Same Beverly Hills, same premise, same Kelly Taylor. 90210 , the CW's much-hyped spinoff, sticks too close to the original series and lacks its power to shock, Laura Fries writes in Variety . The show that premiered last night “is a pallid copy of the original fish-out-of-water story, only with shinier cars, fancier clothes, and Botox aplenty.”
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Atlanta-area district becomes first in nearly 40 years stripped of recognition
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Aug 29, 08 10:58 AM CDT
(Newser)
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A Georgia school system has become the country's first in almost 40 years to have its accreditation yanked, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Clayton County parents and students were devastated by the move, blamed on the district's "dysfunctional" school board. An exodus of students is expected to accelerate.
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Military needs more eligible recruits
to fill its ranks
Associated Press Aug 27, 08 6:50 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The US Army today opened its first prep school to prepare high school dropouts for military service, the AP reports. With wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and not enough eligible recruits, the Army wants unqualified prospects to earn their GEDs. "Only three out of every 10 people of military age" qualify, says one Army rep. "We are going to have to do something different."
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