Education News
2013 NCSS Board of Directors election
Assistant Professor of Anthropology
University of Maine
You can do anything in this world if you are prepared to take the consequences.
Pr. George’s schools chief launches anti-violence effort after 7 teens slain
Prince George’s County Interim School Superintendent Alvin Crawley announced Thursday night that the school system will launch an anti-violence campaign in the coming weeks in response to the recent teen killings in the county.
Read full article >>Four reasons why teachers should not teach creationism
Evolution is the animating principle of modern biology, uniting all biological fields. It's a theory in the sense that everything in science is considered a theory but biologists have no doubt of its essential truth. Creationist theory is not a scientific alternative view to evolution -- though you wouldn't know it given all the efforts in state legislatures to pass bills insisting teachers teach it alongside evolution. From 2004 to spring 2011, at least 40 such bills were filed in 13 states but only in Louisiana was one signed into law. Efforts continued, however, with eight bills so far being introduced in state legislatures this year, according to the National Center for Science Education. Here cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham explains why teachers should not teach creationism. Willingham is a psychology professor at the University of Virginia and author of "Why Don't Students Like School?" His latest book is "When Can You Trust The Experts? How to tell good science from bad in education." A version of this appeared on his Science and Education blog.
Teacher questions value of AP program
Earlier this month I published what turned out to be a very popular post by veteran educator Kenneth Bernstein -- known online as teacherken -- that was a warning to college professors about the level of preparation for higher education that high school students were receiving. My colleague Jay Mathews this week published on his blog, Class Struggle, a critique of Bernstein's piece. Here, by Ken Bernstein, is a critique of the critique, largely but not exclusively focused on the worth of the Advanced Placement program.
Next steps toward achieving equity in education
I reported earlier this week on a new report on equity in education that was released by a congressionally mandated commission, and noted that it had some important points as well as some flaws. Here is a piece by two people who were involved with the commission in different ways, Rep. Michael Honda of California and Stanford University Professor and education researcher Linda Darling-Hammond.
The Learning Network Blog: Student Opinion | Have You Ever Found Something Valuable?
The Learning Network Blog: 6 Q's About the News | 3-D Printers Might Be the Must-Have Gadget of the Future
The Learning Network Blog: Test Yourself | Editing Practice, Feb. 22, 2013
U.S. teachers' job satisfaction craters -- report
Half of America's public school teachers say they feel great stress several days a week and are so demoralized that their level of satisfaction has dropped 23 percentage points since 2008 and is at its lowest in 25 years, according to an annual survey of educators.
Providers of free online college courses add schools, including many foreign ones
Two major providers of free online higher education are expanding the ranks of universities that contribute courses to their Web sites, adding many schools from outside the United States.
Coursera, based in Mountain View, Calif., plans to announce Thursday that 29 universities and institutes are joining the online venture that was launched last spring, bringing the total to 62. Among the newcomers are prominent schools in Mexico and Spain, which will enable free courses to reach the Spanish-speaking world, and schools in Hong Kong and Taiwan, which will provide access to those who speak Chinese.
Read full article >>N.Y. State Cannot Bar Aid to City Schools, Judge Says
