education

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Most Americans Lack Basic Political Knowledge: Survey

Less than 42% know Condi runs State; acumen better among highbrow-mag readers

(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%...

US Culture Stifles Girls' Math Skills

Smaller countries that nurture students have more prodigies

(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...

$700B Goes a Long Way in Space&mdash;and on Earth
$700B Goes a Long Way
in Space—and on Earth
ANALYSIS
Oct 5, 2008 6:03 AM CDT

$700B Goes a Long Way in Space—and on Earth

Bailout bucks could fund 7 space stations, pay salaries for 16M teachers

(Newser) - With the Treasury Department now in charge of figuring out what holes to plug with its $700 billion in bailout bucks, the San Francisco Chronicle takes a look at what else that money could do. Some highlights:
  • Hire 16,062,414 public-school teachers.
  • Pay the average weekly wages of 22
...

UK University Helps Students Learn Ways of the Jedi

Prof explores 'wider issues behind the Star Wars universe;' light saber not included

(Newser) - The force will now be with university students: Queen’s University in Belfast is offering a new course on Jedi knights that it hopes will impart universal lessons to students, be they fans of Star Wars or not, the Telegraph reports. The one-day class, entitled “Feel the Force: How...

42% Would Dump Job to Teach
 42% Would Dump Job to Teach 
Sep 11, 2008 2:15 PM CDT

42% Would Dump Job to Teach

But schools will have to show them the money

(Newser) - Almost half—42%—of college-educated adults would consider becoming teachers, the Christian Science Monitor reports.That's good news, since US schools will be on the hunt for 3 million to 5 million teachers by 2020, thanks to rising enrollment and baby boomers who are laying down the chalk. But to...

Fewer Medical Students Considering Primary Care

Shortage of family doctors looms: study

(Newser) - Just 2% of graduating medical students say they plan to work in primary care, forecasting a shortage of doctors who coordinate care and keep costs low, the AP reports. And it’s not just higher pay luring them away: They fear the paperwork and increased workload. Primary-care doctors must “...

Prof Argues for Looser Spelling

English-speaking pupils hamstrung by non-phonetic words, apostrophes

(Newser) - A British academic argues that English-speaking schoolchildren waste time learning the peculiarities of spelling, and should be given more freedom to spell phonetically, the Times of London reports. Children studying in languages with more phonetic writing systems, like Finnish or Italian, don’t need to waste classroom time on spelling,...

TV Not All Bad for Kids, Study Discovers

Some couch potatoes apparently got wise watching boob tube

(Newser) - TV has long been blamed for social ills from childhood obesity to plunging SAT scores, but a pair of researchers say the "idiot box" could actually be doing kids some good, the Wall Street Journal reports. Examined test data from 1965 showed that children with more access to TV...

Chicago School Boycott Moves Downtown

'Teach-ins' at corporate offices protest unfair funding

(Newser) - Civic leaders held "teach-ins" at downtown Chicago businesses today to protest uneven education funding in Illinois, the Tribune reports. Educators joined students boycotting a second day of school in the lobbies of buildings including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Boeing Corp. Most businesses said they would welcome the students...

Boycott Disrupts Chicago's 1st Day of School

Inner-city students make symbolic visit to wealthy suburb

(Newser) - Hundred of Chicago students missed the first day of school today as they tried to enroll in more affluent suburban schools, the Tribune reports. Students and parents are protesting the uneven division of wealth among Illinois public schools by attempting to enroll en masse in top-rated North Shore schools. It’...

Georgia School System Loses US Accreditation

Atlanta-area district becomes first in nearly 40 years stripped of recognition

(Newser) - 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.

Put Catcher to Rest Already
 Put Catcher to Rest Already 
opinion
Aug 28, 2008 7:16 PM CDT

Put Catcher to Rest Already

Salinger standby should make way for newer books

(Newser) - JD Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye may have once been edgy, coming-of-age literature, but does it deserve a place in today's curricula? It's time to retire Holden Caulfield, argues Anne Trubek in Good magazine. "Salinger’s novel lacks the currency or shock value it once had," she...

'Saving' Public Schools Not a Money Thing

Better education can't be legislated, or bought—parents have to make the effort

(Newser) - As dissatisfaction with the nation’s No Child Left Behind policy grows, it seems educators, politicians, and businessmen all have their own take on how to “save” the US public school system—with little consensus. Gary Stager, in Good, examines the overwhelmingly complex difficulties facing the nation’s ailing...

Colleges Make iGadgets Part of Course Load

Schools give students iPhones, iPods as learning tools

(Newser) - Some US universities have started handing out free iPhones and Internet-enabled iPods to students, the New York Times reports. The institutions view the gadgets as tools for online research, student polling, and as-yet undeveloped educational applications, while Apple gets an in with a new generation with consumers. Professors with easily...

200K US Students Spanked Last School Year: Report

Blacks make up disproportionate number of the punished

(Newser) - Over 200,000 US children were on the receiving end of corporal punishment last year, and a disproportionate number were black, a pair of human-rights groups finds. Black students, who make up 17.1% of the national school population, made up 35.6% of those paddled, CNN notes. Overall spankings...

Nothing to Fear in Public School as Costco

Author/radio host/mom Sandra Tsing Loh outlines latest quest

(Newser) - For many urban, middle-class parents, sending kids to public school is a terrifying prospect. If you’re among that fretting class, Sandra Tsing Loh has a message: Chill out. In Mother on Fire: A True Motherf%#$@ Story About Parenting, Loh recounts her own journey through the school conundrum, and realizes...

To Turn Boys Into Readers, Gross Them Out

Publishers embrace books about farts, boogers, blood

(Newser) - Young boys, who trail far behind their female peers as readers, are reversing that trend with help from publishers who seek to exploit their love for everything gross. The Wall Street Journal examines the wave of children's’ titles rife with farts, boogers, blood, and flesh-eating bacteria—and talks with some...

Pioneering Doc Accused of Sex Abuse
Pioneering
Doc Accused
of Sex Abuse
Aug 6, 2008 12:11 PM CDT

Pioneering Doc Accused of Sex Abuse

Pediatrician became famous for his work on learning disabilities

(Newser) - Dr. Melvin Levine, famous in his field for pioneering new ways of understanding children with learning disabilities, is followed by allegations of sexually abusing young patients. The accusations span decades of his career, the New York Times reports in investigating the trail of charges. In March, a lawyer who had...

Unschooled Keira Driven to Prove Her Smarts

Star has 'chip on shoulder' after she skipped university

(Newser) - Oscar nominations? Check. Intelligent, literary roles? Check. College education? Not so much. “I am completely uneducated,” Keira Knightley told the Daily Telegraph, which “leaves you with a slight chip on your shoulder.” To battle intellectual insecurity, the Atonement star, who is dyslexic and dropped out of...

Does Surfing Equal Reading?
Does Surfing Equal Reading?
Jul 27, 2008 2:34 PM CDT

Does Surfing Equal Reading?

Experts debate whether kids' online time is as educational as hitting the books

(Newser) - As kids spend more time on the internet and less time reading books, a debate is raging over whether online reading is as educational as the traditional kind, the New York Times reports. While the Web allows readers to quickly gobble up multiple perspectives and information, some experts worry that...

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