Daily EducationNews.org
Tuesday, September 5, 2006

Arizona Republic
Playroom helps parents, kids
Children should be happy.

Baltimore Sun
States turn to teacher bonuses
Md., many others signing on to trend, but critics call such programs unproven
In an era of high-stakes testing in American public schools, politicians around the country are looking for strategies to motivate teachers.

Boston Globe
New governor to face test on student achievement
Thirteen years into a crusade to overhaul schools, the Bay State's students regularly are among the top in the nation on standardized tests.

Surge in younger students means new college activities
MANCHESTER, Conn. -- Connecticut's two-year colleges, experiencing a surge in enrollment of younger students, are updating their on-campus recreation offerings to better entertain those students between classes.

Harvard brainstorms on ways to emphasize teaching
CAMBRIDGE -- Harvard University today begins a new effort to figure out how to improve teaching and make it a bigger factor in whether professors get tenure or raises.

Charlotte Observer
She can't accept failing teachers
In Ruth Perez's case, Mom really did know best. When Perez was a girl in New York City, her mother always called her a natural teacher.

Chicago Tribune
Steroid tests considered for Illinois' high school athletes

Christian Science Monitor 
Push to win back dropouts
As students head back to school, there's an extra push to bring those who never graduated back into the classroom. By Amanda Paulson

America's youth must serve their country, one way or another
The US military has too many commitments and too few soldiers. That's why it's time to reinstate the draft. By Edward Bernard Glick

Cleveland Plain Dealer
Schools paring teachers, support staffs

Columbus Dispatch
Surge of students pushes district limits
ALBANY: Officials attribute abrupt rise in youngsters at Ocean View to increase in residents at University Village
The Albany Unified School District's elementary schools are packed. The district was expecting about 100 new elementary students over the next three years. Instead, it got them all at once

Dallas Morning News
Schools rising to meet needs
Old schools are overflowing - and school districts are building - in many of the region's aging neighborhoods, thanks largely to the influx of Hispanic families, which tend to be larger and younger than their black, Asian and Anglo counterparts. "It's a classic American story.

Deseret News
Study links older dads, high autism rates
Men who become fathers in their 40s or older are much more likely to have autistic children than younger dads, a new study released Monday shows, bolstering evidence that genetics contributes to the mental disorder.

Approvals slowing down for new charter schools
Fifteen new charter schools are opening their doors this fall, bringing the state's total of charter students up to around 15,000 - more than double what it was two years ago.

Detroit Free Press
School announcement today
Detroit Public Schools students and their parents will learn today whether classes really will begin this week, as officials reconsider an earlier threat to start without striking teachers. Also, two community leaders Saturday joined closed-door contract negotiations, which lasted late into the night.

Houston Chronicle
New instruments hit right note for three Houston high schools
New to his job as band director at Phillis Wheatley High School, Lonzie Jackson has found it hard to overlook the state of some of the campus's musical instruments.

Indianapolis Star-Tribune
Often undetected, lead posing new risk to kids
Toxin in imported toys is latest threat to children The 3-year-old boy's blood-lead level was among the highest Marion County health officials had seen in years -- and no one knew why.

Inside Higher ED
Silver Spoon Admissions  
Naming names (not to mention GPA's and SAT scores), new book takes on preferences for the rich and famous - and alumni children.

2 Suicide Suits Conclude  
Jury finds Allegheny not responsible for student's death; MIT settles closely watched case.

Strike at Eastern Michigan  
Professors say that changes proposed for health insurance would wipe out impact of salary increase being offered.

Los Angeles Daily News
Woodland Hills school model for reform
Eighth-graders learning about law and government from a retired Superior Court judge.

Los Angeles Times
On Labor Day, Bush Puts Emphasis on Education
By Joel Havemann
But college degrees are less financially valuable than before, a White House panel has shown.

New York Post
COLLEGE PHONE PLAN AN EASY 'CELL'
By DAVID ANDREATTA Education Reporter While city public schools are ramping up rules against cellphones in class, one city college is actually encouraging its student body to check their phones more often.

New York Times
Back to School in a System Being Remade
By ELISSA GOOTMAN
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's reforms allow principals to have greater authority over their budgets, staff and instruction, without answering to a superintendent.

A Little Learning Is an Expensive Thing
By William M. Chace
Hail to alma mater! We will pay thy bills forever.

Philadelphia Daily News
Catholic H.S. teachers walk out of talks
By VALERIE RUSS
Negotiators for the union representing Catholic high school teachers walked out of talks last night, refusing to bargain further with the archdiocese.

Philadelphia Inquirer
Radnor still working on teacher pact
By Susan Snyder and Marie McCullough, Inquirer Staff Writers
Labor Day was a day of labor for Radnor Township school board members and teachers union leaders, who were still meeting late into the evening trying to settle a new contract and avert a strike planned for Friday.

Providence Journal
Colleges refocusing on community service
BRISTOL -- Between game-show night and an ice-cream social came the highlight of Robert Auger's college orientation.

Richmond Times Dispatch
Teachers program seeks recruits
The Troops to Teachers program is a favorite among schools looking for experienced teachers to fill tough jobs in urban and rural school systems.

Saint Paul Pioneer Press
It's back to class - and back to fundraising
No one may like them, but those school-sponsored sales are filling critical needs as budgets tighten
Students will sharpen their No. 2 pencils, stack their folders neatly and zip their bulky backpacks before heading to their first classes today.

USA Today 
Fear is shaping our children
By Patricia Pearson
"Summertime," goes that wonderful old song by the Gershwins, "and the livin' is easy."
The helmet perfectly symbolizes childhood today. Nothing is safe, kids should be wary of everything, pass the Ritalin. This phenomenon would be laughable if it weren't so serious.

Wall Street Journal
Dissent at Dartmouth
Ivy League liberals try to stifle democracy.
The left-leaning faction that dominates American higher education doesn't take kindly to strangers--particularly those who challenge the prevailing academic orthodoxies. Just ask Harvard's Larry Summers.

Washington Post
Chicago Principal Loses Battle on Overcrowding
Struggling school to admit 200-300 more students than building can hold after city refuses to cap enrollment, fires administrator for trying.

Waiting Lists Greet Loudoun Students
Roughly 200 families are on waiting lists for their neighborhood schools in an area where the school-aged population has tripled over 15 years.

City Opens New Charter School
Arrival of Washington Latin is heralded as a great alternative to taking a chance on public schools or paying for private school.

Parents To Give Opt-Out Reminder:  Personal Data Can Be Kept From Military Recruiters

After Beslan, the Media in Shackles
MOSCOW -- Two years ago the new school term began in horror for the town of Beslan in North Ossetia. Chechen terrorists seized School Number One, and in the tragic events that followed, more than 330 civilians were killed, including 186 children. Today the organized relatives of Beslan victims claim that the officials have done nothing to establish the real picture of the tragedy.

The U.S. Edge In Education
By Richard H. Brodhead
Even as they welcome students back to campus, our country's colleges and universities are deluded by their own historical excellence, and their many contributions to U.S. strength may be eroding. That, at least, is how a special commission of the U.S. Education Department sees it.

Wilmington News Journal
Vo-tech schools renew focus on academics
Specialized schools shake off underachieving image

Nonprofit gives teachers a voice
Rodel Foundation provides educators with forum to raise policy issues

International Articles

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Ritalin prescription fears raised
By Gail Champion
Producer, The Investigation
Children with the behavioural condition ADHD are continuing to be prescribed drugs such as Ritalin, despite an ongoing investigation.

Chips down as school term starts
Children are being given healthier choices for school dinners and will be offered cookery lessons.

Schools open despite snub
Two proposed integrated schools open despite the government's refusal to fund them.

The Globe and Mail
Parents opting for private over public middle schools
CAROLINE ALPHONSO 
Sydney Wells and her twin sister, Katharine, will not be attending the same public school as their friends this morning. Instead, the 11-year-olds will don white shirts, kilts and blazers for their first day at a private school.

The Guardian 
Schools facing heads crisis, warns survey
Education: Poll reveals deep hostility to academies and tables.

The Jordan Times
King launches JD10 million Teachers Housing Project
Plan envisions construction of 35,000 housing units on land donated by Monarch
AMMAN - His Majesty King Abdullah on Monday launched the Teachers Housing Project seeking to make it easier for the country's teachers to own their own homes.

The Peninsula
Cellphones with camera banned in schools

Sheikha Mozah visits independent schools
DOHA . H H Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, the Vice President of the Supreme Council for Education, made a surprise visit to two independent schools, Al Yarmouk preparatory school for boys and Al Rifaa elementary school for girls, to check up first hand on their condition and performance.

The Toronto Star
Compulsory workout for student body
Students dragging their feet back to classes will have to pick up the pace as the starter's pistol sounds today on the latest addition to the Ontario curriculum. By Education Reporter Tess Kalinowski.

Women rule schools
One catch: It's at a time when university degrees are worth increasingly less
A discussion on education, jobs at Sears and pursuing happiness, by Jen Gerson

Post your comments