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NEWS ABOUT: education reform

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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,... More »

Want to Kickstart Economy? Cut the Dropout Rate

Money invested will be paid back, and then some: Henry M. Levin and Cecilia E. Rouse

(Newser) - In his State of the Union address , President Obama called on all states to require that students stay in school until they graduate or turn 18. It's a good start, but it doesn't go far enough, write economics professors Henry M. Levin and Cecilia E. Rouse in the... More »

California Parents Prepare to Fire School

Group plans to use state's Parent Trigger law

(Newser) - The Parent Trigger is cocked and ready to fire at an underperforming elementary school in California. A 2010 state law gives parents the power to take over schools, and a parents group at Desert Trails Elementary outside Los Angeles plans to do so if the district doesn't overhaul the... More »

Taxing Rich Won't Help Middle Class

Government has hurt Americans, not the rich, says Ross Douthat

(Newser) - You can raise taxes on the rich to fight inequality, but that will only "trim the tallest poppies" and won't do anything to help the middle class, says Ross Douthat in the New York Times . "True social mobility and broadly shared prosperity are not so easily achieved,... More »

Obama's Newest Education Adviser: Shakira

Colombian singer joins education advisory board

(Newser) - The newest member of the Obama administration is ... Shakira. Yes, the hip-shaking singer will be appointed to a position on the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics because of her education reform activism, the Huffington Post reports. Shakira started a foundation in 1995 to fund schools in... More »

What If NFL Players Were Paid Like Teachers?

The league would suffer, just like our education system: Fran Tarkenton

(Newser) - Imagine if every NFL player's salary was based on how long he had played, and if players who made it through three seasons could almost never be fired. "It's about tenure, not talent" in this alternate reality, writes NFL Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton in the Wall ... More »

We Need a Match.com for College Admissions

Our current system is badly outdated: Kevin Carey

(Newser) - It's time to bring the college admissions process into the modern age, writes Kevin Carey at the Atlantic . He doesn't mean the process by which elite students get into Ivy League schools—he means the real world, where the vast majority of students end up picking a school... More »

Obama to Let States Out of No Child Left Behind

If they agree to his education reform push

(Newser) - Barack Obama is today offering states a deal: If they adopt his preferred education reform policies, he’ll let them waive some of the more stringent and unpopular provisions of the No Child Left Behind law—most notably the 2014 deadline for making all students proficient in reading and math.... More »

For Backbreaking Work, Teacher Pay Is Staggering

Like soldiers, teachers need more resources to compete, not blame.

(Newser) - When America fails in combat, we don't blame the troops for being lazy, we blame the top brass. So why is it that our response to a failing education system is to blame the teachers? asks Dave Eggers, writing with Nínive Clements Calegari in the New York Times... More »

Forget the J-20. We Should Be Worried About China's Schools

The US needs to get its priorities straight and focus on education

(Newser) - While many Americans worry about China's rising military might and new stealth fighter, they would be better off worrying about "the rise of China’s education system and the passion for learning that underlies it," writes Nicholas Kristof at the New York Times . He cites how China and... More »

Obama's Next Target: Education Reform

'No Child' despised by both sides, but scope of reform disputed

(Newser) - Seemingly leaving no sweeping overhaul behind, even under the changed dynamics of the 112th Congress, the Obama administration is readying its next legislative push: education reform. An overhaul of No Child Left Behind has broad support on both sides of the aisle, reports the AP, but divisions begin to show... More »

We Have to Move Now on Education Reform

Michelle Rhee: Let's take advantage of the public support for change

(Newser) - American students continue to do miserably compared to their peers, and strapped states keep looking for more ways to stretch education dollars. That combination is all the more reason why we need comprehensive reform, writes Michelle Rhee, who recently left her post as DC schools chancellor to begin a group... More »

'No Child Left Behind' Needs a Bipartisan Facelift

There's a lot that both parties agree on in education reform

(Newser) - The new Congress is set to update No Child Left Behind, and it’s a chance to get both sides of the aisle behind real change, writes Arne Duncan in the Washington Post . Both parties share similar concerns about NCLB—its way of labeling schools “failures,” its bubble... More »

Let's Face It: School Reform Will Always Be Political

Conflict can't prevent reform, says ex-DC schools chief Michelle Rhee

(Newser) - Michelle Rhee intends to keep fighting for school reform—but she doesn't expect to make friends doing it. Education is an inherently political issue, the ex-DC schools chancellor argues in an op-ed for Newsweek , announcing her plans to launch a "new national movement to transform public education." Rhee,... More »

Tea Partier: Get Rid of Public Schools

David Harmer says public schools are "socialism in education."

(Newser) - The Tea Party-backed frontrunner in a California congressional race has some unorthodox views on education: he wants to abolish public schools entirely, Mother Jones reports. In past articles, Republican David Harmer—currently leading in California's 11th Congressional District—writes that "government should exit the business of running and funding... More »

DC Schools Chief Michelle Rhee Resigning

She'll make it official tomorrow

(Newser) - One of the most prominent names in education reform is leaving her post. Michelle Rhee will resign tomorrow as chancellor of the DC school system, the Washington Post reports. The move had been expected since her political ally, Mayor Adrian Fenty, lost his bid for re-election in the Democratic primary.... More »

Rupert Murdoch: Schools Can Learn From Idol

Show has tougher standards, he says

(Newser) - Place Rupert Murdoch squarely in the Waiting for Superman camp, the new documentary about how lousy the US school system is. The News Corp. chief takes to the pages of his own Wall Street Journal today to complain that teachers unions and their political cronies are being richly rewarded while... More »

NJ Fails Math, Loses Millions in School Funding

Christie office commits costly error on 'Race to the Top' application

(Newser) - New Jersey lost out on hundreds of millions of dollars in federal education funding because of a simple mistake in its application, the Newark Star-Ledger reports. A staffer in Gov. Chris Christie's office filled out a field for budget data that called for a comparison of the 2008 and 2009... More »

US Sinks Like a Stone in College Grad Rankings

Now in first place: Canada

(Newser) - So along with chronic social networking and oversharing, America's newest generation of young adults has another distinction: Possibly the first to be less-educated than their parents. The US has plummeted from first to 12th place among nations with the highest percentage of 25- to 34-year-olds with a postsecondary degree. Blame... More »

DC Teacher's Union Agrees to Merit Pay

Hard-won deal could become model for country, but it's pricey

(Newser) - Washington DC’s school district has struck a breakthrough deal with its teacher’s union that includes a merit-based pay system and eliminates what DC’s school chancellor called “ridiculous hurdles” to firing ineffective teachers. Teacher’s unions have long opposed linking pay to classroom performance, but they agreed... More »

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