Education

(Newser) - 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. More »

(Newser) - The practice of locking misbehaving children in school "time-out rooms" is troubling a growing number of parents and educators, the AP reports. The rooms—often tiny converted storage spaces—are meant to give kids a place to calm down, but experts say they are being used instead to discipline children with behavior disorders and probably do more harm than good. More »

(Newser) - 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. More »

(Newser) - The economic downturn is hitting college students hard, the New York Times reports. Job losses and the disappearing loan market are strangling formerly robust family plans to foot college tuition fees. Private lenders, used by many students to fill the gap between federal aid and the total cost of college, are hiking interest rates and tightening standards. More »

(Newser) - Only 18% of Americans can correctly name the current secretary of state, Britain’s prime minister and which party controls the US House, a LiveScience survey finds. Among the survey’s 3,612-person sample, more than half correctly said that the Democrats have a majority in the House, while 42% correctly identified Condoleezza Rice. Less than 30% said Gordon Brown is current UK prime minister. More »

(Newser) - The women who have won the world's most elite math competitions come disproportionately from small countries with computation-friendly cultures, such as Bulgaria and Romania, a new study finds. The reason the US lags isn't related to talent, but rather to culture. Americans don't value math enough to put kids on track for high potential, reports the Boston Globe . More »