This is where we will talk about improving Latino education, health, finance and so on.
December 02, 2011 USA Today
As more students spend large chunks of study and leisure time online, schools across the USA are adding coursework focused on privacy, cyberbullying and electronic plagiarism.Many schools not only are incorporating Internet safety into lesson plans but also shifting their focus from the pervasive “stranger danger” message typically given to young computer users.Read More
December 1, 2011 Boston Herald
The Herald is focusing on four successful Boston public schools in a five-part series on the city’s efforts to improve urban education. The series has featured TechBoston Academy, UP Academy and Orchard Gardens. Today, the focus is on the Joseph Lee Elementary School.Read More
November 30, 2011Boston Herald
Andover High students say they’re sickened and stunned by the news of a stomach-turning hazing stunt involving some of their classmates at a basketball camp last summer that is being investigated by police and school authorities.“A lot of kids are just really disgusted about it,” said senior Elizabeth Walther-Grant, 17. “Most of us are just asking, ‘What would make you want to do that?’ ”Read More
November 29, 2011 Boston Herald
The Herald is showcasing four standout Boston public schools that are operating largely under the radar with a five-part series on innovative efforts to boost urban education. Yesterday, the Herald profiled TechBoston Academy, which President Obama visited in March. In the second part today, the Herald visits South Boston’s UP Academy.Read More
November 28, 2011 Boston Herald
Kenny Vasquez, 17, is on track to be the first in his family to go to college — like many of his classmates at TechBoston Academy. In fact, the Roxbury teen will be the first in his family to graduate high school. Vasquez, a baseball player and vice president of TechBoston’s senior class, didn’t want to follow his buddies to other schools because they just wanted to “hang out,” and he wanted to hit the books.Read More
26 de Noviembre de 2011 La Razon
Miles de alumnos y profesores participaron el jueves en la primera “Jornada continental de movilización en defensa de la educación”, que tuvo como objetivo recordar que en América Latina la formación es un derecho no negociable.La manifestación fue convocada en un principio por estudiantes chilenos, ya que coincidía con una marcha similar de universitarios colombianos, a la que se sumaron alumnos y educadores de varios países de la región.Read More
November 21, 2011 Los Angeles Times
California voters want teachers’ performance evaluations made public, a new poll has found. And most also want student test scores factored into an instructor’s review.Of those surveyed, 58% said the quality of public schools would be improved if the public had access to teachers’ reviews; 23% said it would not help or could make things worse.Read More
17 noviembre, 2011 La Tribuna
Madrid.- Miles de personas, educadores, alumnos y padres de familia, se manifestaron hoy en Madrid y otras ciudades del territorio español para protestar, tres días antes de las elecciones generales del próximo domingo, por los “recortes” de docentes y para reivindicar una escuela pública de calidad.La jornada de movilización de hoy, a la que se unieron los estudiantes de más de treinta universidades, ha sido la octava desde septiembre pasado, cuando la llamada ‘marea verde’ -por las camisetas que visten los manifestantes- salió a las calles con lemas como “La educación no es gasto es inversión. No a los recortes”.Read More
11/15/2011 USA Today
Walk down any hallway in the new Germantown High School in Madison, Miss., and one thing stands out: You won’t spot a single locker.Lockers have served as a symbol of the American high school for decades, but with new technology — eBooks, interactive assignments and Web-based learning — they become a thing of the past.Read More
November 13, 2011 Boston Globe
It took some convincing for Marlborough High School freshman Danya Gaudet to warm up to the idea of enrolling in a new early-college program known as STEM - for science, technology, engineering, and math.But her mother encouraged her to try it.“In the fall of last year, STEM was just an idea,’’ said Veronica Gaudet, Danya’s mother and the district’s human resources director.“By springtime it had come to fruition. By the time they rolled it out to students, eighth-graders had already made their schedules, but I thought it would be a good program for her.’’Read More
NOVEMBER 12, 2011 WSJ
Ask hedge fund manager Daniel Ades about the future for recent college graduates and he likes to draw a picture, a very ugly picture. He sketches out a bell curve mapping the historical default rate on student loans.Then he draws another curve much higher to show the likely default rate for the Class of 2011. Read More
9 noviembre, 2011 La Tribuna
TEGUCIGALPA.- Partiendo de la premisa del control ciudadano sobre los aparatos de seguridad, las autoridades de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras (UNAH) continuaron delineando ayer la propuesta que en esa materia presentarán al gobierno para reformar los órganos operadores de justicia.Read More
08 Noviembre 2011 El Nuevo Dia
WASHINGTON – En una ponencia sometida por escrito ante la Legislatura de Puerto Rico, el grupo Pro English advirtió hoy que es “improbable” que el Congreso admita a la Isla como otro estado más mientras su Gobierno funcione en español y “más del 80 por ciento de sus ciudadanos” no dominen el inglés.Suzanne Bibby, directora de Relaciones Gubernamentales de Pro English, envió la ponencia por escrito ante la presidenta de la Cámara de Representantes y de la comisión especial de status, Jenniffer González.Read More
November 5, 2001 The New York Times
LAST FALL, President Obama threw what was billed as the first White House Science Fair, a photo op in the gilt-mirrored State Dining Room. He tested a steering wheel designed by middle schoolers to detect distracted driving and peeked inside a robot that plays soccer. It was meant as an inspirational moment: children, science is fun; work harder.Read More
11.03.11 The Miami Herald
Shrimp ceviche with tostones and avocado. Sweet-and-sour wonton pockets. Pumpkin pot de crème with ginger biscotti.
That’s a small sampling of the menu planned for a fundraiser Tuesday, when South Florida celebrity chefs like Michelle Bernstein and Douglas Rodriguez will join culinary students from Miami-Dade County Public Schools.Read More
10.30.11 The Miami Herald
A long line of tests stand between students and summer — baseline exams, interim tests, FCAT and end-of-course state exams, to name a few.Many Miami-Dade students can scratch some tests off the list. No more midterms or finals for students in grades 6 through 12.
The longtime staples have been quietly eliminated by the Miami-Dade public schools and the school board. Approved at the October meeting, the policy makes midterms and finals optional.Many students are elated, even shocked.Read More
28.10.2011 El Pais
En 2010, más de 12.000 jóvenes de entre 15 y 25 años dejaron de asistir a los centros educativos, según la Encuesta Contínua de Hogares 2010. El problema se acentúa en los quintiles más pobres de ingreso.El informe del Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) muestra que la proporción de jóvenes de entre 15 y 17 años que asisten a un centro educativo pasó de 77,7% en 2009 a 75,5% en 2010. Es decir que el 24,5% de los adolescentes de entre 15 y 17 años no asisten a un centro educativo, lo que suma unos 39.800 jóvenes, según las proyecciones de población por edades del INE.http://www.elpais.com.uy/111028/pnacio-602717/nacional/hay-12-000-jovenes-mas-fuera-de-sistema-educativo/Read More
October 24, 2011 Los Angeles Times
A major change in freshman admission requirements for the University of California this year was supposed to ease the burden of standardized test-taking for high school seniors and allow more students to apply.But the new rules have caused widespread confusion and anxiety among students about whether to take the supplemental tests known as SAT subject exams.Read More
October 20, 2011 Los Angeles Times
California and other states are spending billions of tax dollars on community college students who drop out before completing their studies, according to a report released Thursday.The report by the nonprofit American Institutes for Research found that from 2004 to 2009, federal, state and local governments spent nearly $4 billion on full-time community college students who dropped out after their first year.Read More
10/19/2011 USA Today
Students and workers seeking retraining are borrowing extraordinary amounts of money through federal loan programs, potentially putting a huge burden on the backs of young people looking for jobs and trying to start careers.The amount of student loans taken out last year crossed the $100 billion mark for the first time and total loans outstanding will exceed $1 trillion for the first time this year. Americans now owe more on student loans than on credit cards, reports the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.Read More
18/10/2011 El Comercio
Si hubiera que señalar una urgencia común de la educación latinoamericana sería, sin dudas, la escuela secundaria. El nivel que completa la formación básica y prepara a adolescentes con edades entre 12 a 17 años para los estudios superiores y el trabajo concentra las mayores tasas de abandono y repitencia.También registra los resultados más preocupantes en los aprendizajes y recibe la mayor cantidad de críticas por estar desactualizado y alejado de las realidades sociales y culturales de los jóvenes que recibe.Read More
10.14.11 The Miami Herald
Last school year, Florida raised the bar on its standardized test for public school students, debuting a more challenging FCAT 2.0. This year, expect tougher grading standards for the new test.The state is revising how it scores the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.The new system could make it more difficult for some students to pass the FCAT, but preliminary calculations show some would do better.Read More
October 10, 2011 Boston Herald
PROVIDENCE, R.I.—A federal judge has ordered Brown University to turn over fundraising and donation records of an alumnus whose daughter says she was raped in 2006Judge John McConnell Jr. last week ordered the school to release the documents, which were requested by lawyers for William McCormick III and his parents.Read More
09.10.2011 Siglo XXI
Los Ángeles. El gobernador de California, Jerry Brown, firmó este sábado la Ley Sueño de California (Dream Act), que convierte a los inmigrantes ilegales en posibles beneficiarios de dinero estatal para acudir a estudiar a universidades estadounidenses, comunicó su oficina.Read More
8 Oct 2011 El Espectador
En el marco de un evento de gobierno en el municipio antioqueño de Cocorná, el presidente Juan Manuel Santos salió a a la defensa una vez más, del proyecto de Reforma a la Educación Superior.
Aseguró que “lo único que tiene el proyecto de Reforma a la Educación Superior son cosas positivas”, entre ellas el aumento de la cobertura y la calidad educativa, agregó el mandatario.Read More
06.10.11 Heraldo
El presidente de Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, designó este miércoles a la cantante colombiana Shakira para una comisión presidencial que busca mejorar el nivel educativo de los hispanos.Shakira, quien dirige la fundación Pies Descalzos que ayuda a niños en América Latina, fue seleccionada por Obama junto a otros destacados líderes estadounidenses que han trabajado por mejorar la educación de las minorías.Read More
04.10.2011El Pais
La Universidad de la República se ubicó en el lugar 94 de un ranking de universidades latinoamericanas que será divulgado hoy. La Universidad de San Pablo ocupó el primer lugar, seguido por la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.El primer Ranking de Universidades Latinoamericanas elaborado por la consultora en educación universitaria QS (Quac-quarelli Symonds), con sede en Londres, mostró que Brasil colocó 65 universidades entre las 200 primeras de la lista, a la vez que México ubicó otras 35 y Chile y Argentina 25 cada uno.Read More
Octubre 03, 2011 Miami Herald
El presidente Barack Obama y otros han pedido que Estados Unidos aumente de manera dramática su cifra de graduados de college, pero un informe dado a conocer el viernes por el College Board alerta que los estudiantes hispanos del país —actualmente la mayor minoría en las escuelas públicas hasta grado 12— están siete veces por detrás de sus compañeros de aula en obtener títulos. A menos que cambie esa tendencia, agrega el informe, sufrirá la competitividad de la nación en la economía mundial.
“Sabemos que esos estudiantes tienen las habilidades necesarias”, dijo Gaston Caperton, presidente del College Board, “pero necesitan más apoyo y estímulo”.Read More
September 28, 2011 Boston Herald
Massachusetts private universities are doling out lavish, Wall Street-style pay packages of a half-million dollars or more to dozens of “key employees,” causing many to question their nonprofit status as tuitions spiral out of control, according to a new study.Read More
September 27, 2011 Boston Globe
WARWICK, R.I. - A state higher education board approved a measure yesterday that allows students who immigrated to the United States illegally to pay in-state tuition rates at Rhode Island’s public university and colleges after the General Assembly declined to take up the issue.Read More
24 de septiembre de 2011 Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Los jóvenes en Estados Unidos están quedando rezagados respecto a sus pares del exterior en lectura, matemáticas y ciencias, dijo el sábado el presidente Barack Obama, indicando que la reforma educativa era una parte esencial de la recuperación económica.En su discurso semanal por radio e internet, Obama dijo que un máximo de un cuarto de los estudiantes estadounidenses no terminan la escuela secundaria y muy pocos jóvenes buscan obtener títulos universitarios."Es un hecho innegable que los países que hoy consiguen niveles educativos superiores a los nuestros serán mañana más competitivos que nosotros. Las empresas contratarán a los más calificados, a trabajadores altamente capacitados, donde quiera que estén”, dijo el presidente demócrata.Read More
September 21, 2011 Boston Globe
Massachusetts’ 18-month effort to overhaul nearly three dozen of the worst-performing schools appears to be showing a glimmer of success, state education officials said yesterday as they released MCAS scores for schools and districts across the state.At 16 of the 35 underperforming schools, scores increased by double digits on either the English or math sections of MCAS, while a few other schools made smaller gains. The gains reflect the higher portion of students who ranked in the top two scoring categories, “proficient’’ and “advanced.’’Read More
September 20, 2011 Los Angeles Times
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled Monday that the city school district can allow an outside group to run two long-struggling campuses.The teachers union had sued to stop the Los Angeles Unified School District from letting Green Dot Public Schools, a charter school organization, take over all of Clay Middle School in Athens and half of Jordan High in Watts. The other half of Jordan is operated by a nonprofit group backed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Classes have started at both campuses.Read More
September 19, 2011 Los Angeles Times
When it comes to cheating at schools, education officials usually turn themselves in.Because of budget cuts, the state Education Department no longer conducts random audits at schools or scans test booklets for irregularities.Twenty-two California schools had their test scores thrown out this year for reasons ranging from outright cheating to comparatively minor mistakes, such as failing to cover up bulletin boards or stumbling over instructions, according to a review by The Times.Read More
September 17, 2011 Boston Globe
The door is open and she’s standing in the light of the entryway. She is very pretty. Certainly he notices this.When he gives her the signal, she steps up, smiles a nice smile, and hands him her ID.It is the real driver’s license of a pretty 21-year-old girl, but the girl is not her. The doorman looks down at the ID closely and without looking up asks her for backup, which at Mary Ann’s means he wants to see her Boston College ID. As she reaches into her purse to get it, her posture shifts, ever so slightly, to a studied naturalness. It’s the tell that comes from trying to avoid a tell.Read More
September 15, 2011 Boston Globe
If your child hasn’t found a good fit educationally, a conference this weekend in Marlborough aims to help.Charter? Private? Home-school? Unschool? These are just a few of the options to be discussed during the free conference, which starts at 5 p.m. Saturday in the Hillside School’s auditorium, 404 Robin Hill Road.Read More
09/14/2011 Boston Globe
US News and World Report has released its 2012 US college rankings, and many New England schools made the list of national universities.The annual lists rank 1,600 schools in a number of categories based on, among other features, class size and alumni satisfaction. Click here for the full methodology.We have highlighted the New England schools that ranked among the top 150 nationally.Read More
September 10, 2011 Boston Globe
BOSTON—State education officials say fifth-graders made marked improvements on the math and English portions of the MCAS exam in the past year, while 10th-graders showed improvement on the English section.Not all the news was positive when statewide results were released on Thursday.There was a slight decrease in the performance of third-graders on the English portion of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exam.Read More
September 9, 2011 Boston Globe
MADRID—The mood in Spain’s classrooms is gloomy as the academic year begins with public school teachers announcing a wave of national rallies Thursday to protest against spending cuts they fear will undermine education in a country with a 45 percent youth jobless rate.Read More
September 8, 2011 Boston Globe
School bullies, beware: Your prey is more likely than ever to report your bad behavior to a teacher or principal this year.Student culture is changing, administrators say. Spurred by increased programming after the suicide of two Massachusetts students in the last few years and the antibullying law that followed, students are more aware of the damage bullying can do. Victims are less stigmatized, and witnesses are more comfortable speaking to authority figures.Read More
September 7, 2011 Boston Globe
Governor Deval Patrick is expected to announce today that for the first time in decades, Massachusetts is awarding some money to public colleges and universities based on their plans to boost academic performance, rather than on how many students they enroll.The money will go mostly to schools that proposed strategies to raise graduation rates, strengthen science instruction and career development, and close achievement gaps among minorities.
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September 7, 2011 Boston Globe
BOSTON—The state is handing out $2.5 million in grants to state colleges based on their plans to boost academic performance.The money scheduled to be handed out Tuesday will go mostly to schools that proposed strategies to raise graduation rates, strengthen science instruction and career development, and close achievement gaps among minorities.The determine who gets the grants under the Vision Project, the Department of Education’s master plan for colleges and universities , higher education commissioner Richard Freeland appointed a panel of five specialists from outside Massachusetts.Read More
September 6, 2011 Boston Globe
PROVIDENCE - As more than 20,000 Providence children returned to class last week, students at Mount Pleasant High School embarked on the new school year with a veteran educator at the helm on special assignment.Nkoli Onye, the city’s executive director of high schools, is taking over as principal this year as part of a plan to transform Mount Pleasant from one of Rhode Island’s persistently lowest-achieving schools to a “world-class institution.’’Read More
05 Septiembre 2011 El Nuevo Dia
Mariangelie Delgado camina de un lado a otro por los pasillos de la farmacia, velando por que todo esté en orden. Hace cinco años aceptó este trabajo, cansada de esperar por un empleo como maestra de historia, para lo que estudió durante cinco años. “Estuve varios años en la búsqueda de empleo para mi profesión, pero el campo está saturado, las oportunidades no son muy viables”, dijo. Ahora “no estoy buscando trabajo en mi profesión”, agregó.Read More
03.09.2011 Siglo XXI
Los Ángeles. La Asamblea de California aprobó la legislación AB131, que completa el llamado Dream Act estatal y por medio de la cual los estudiantes indocumentados tendrán acceso a becas estatales para financiar sus estudios universitarios.La ley acordada con 45 votos a favor y 27 en contra pasa ahora al despacho del gobernador Jerry Brown para su firma o veto en los próximos 30 días, aunque los activistas tienen esperanzas de que sea respaldada por el mandatario demócrata.Read More
September 1, 2011 Boston Globe
WASHINGTON - Dozens of Massachusetts colleges are scrambling to find alternate ways to pay for research programs, campus construction, and other initiatives to make up for the loss of federal money once delivered through so-called earmarks.Read More
August 29, 2011 Boston Globe
The tweets from the 31-year-old Harvard Business School graduate flowed freely this summer as he chronicled his company’s historic launch of a public school in Boston:“We received the keys to UP Academy today, a big moment in our history,’’ Scott Given, the chief executive officer of Unlocking Potential, wrote July 1.“4,000 applicants for teaching positions at UP Academy. . . We’ve hired 53 unbelievable team members. Just a few more spots to fill,’’ Given wrote July 14.Read More
August 28, 2011 Boston Globe
Two years after a study showed that most Boston public school graduates who go on to college fail to earn diplomas, Massachusetts colleges and universities are mobilizing to try to keep students from dropping out.Twenty-five schools are planning to implement new strategies - more scholarships, for example, and free summer sessions to ease the transition into college life - as part of Success Boston, a citywide initiative that aims to double the number of local students who earn degrees.Read More
August 26, 2011 Boston Globe
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Harvard College is opening campus housing early for all sophomores, juniors and seniors to help them avoid traveling at the height of Hurricane Irene.Harvard College Dean Evelynn Hammonds announced that all upper class houses are open for move-in beginning Thursday.The move was triggered by weather forecasts showing Irene will likely unleash powerful winds and torrential rains in the Boston and Cambridge areas on Sunday and Monday.Read More
August 25, 2011 Boston Globe
HARTFORD, Conn.—Members of Connecticut’s congressional delegation are calling on parents, teachers and school officials for proposals on how to change the federal No Child Left Behind Act.U.S. Rep. Christopher Murphy met Wednesday with a group at Tunxis Community College in Farmington. He says he plans to set up several more discussions over the next few weeks.Read More
August 23, 2011 Boston Globe
WASHINGTON—Backpack. Notebooks. Whooping cough shot? If you haven’t worried about back-to-school shots since your tween or teen was entering kindergarten, better put vaccines on the to-do list.Older kids need a few new immunizations starting at age 11, including a shot to guard against the worrisome resurgence of whooping cough. And for the first time this year, 16-year-olds are supposed to get a booster shot, too, for a scary type of meningitis.Read More
August 23, 2011 Boston Globe
Massachusetts parents are saving more for college than they have at any time since the recession, but rapidly rising costs are requiring them to adjust expectations and approaches to financing their children’s education, according to a survey released today by Fidelity Investments.Read More
August 22, 2011 Boston Globe
BOSTON—What makes zombies shuffle and lurch in their relentless quest for human flesh? What are the undead thinking as they break down doors and smash windows to satisfy their ravenous appetites?Fans of the Coolidge Corner Theatre’s “Science on Screen” series know the answers.The theoretical science behind the functioning of zombie brains was just one of dozens of topics discussed during the independent Brookline cinema’s popular program, which brings in a scientist or other expert to talk about the science behind a movie.Read More
August 20, 2011 Boston Globe
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has sharply increased charitable giving in Boston amid a campaign to improve its image and build public support, as the nation’s largest retailer looks to open in the city’s underserved neighborhoods.Since the first of the year, Wal-Mart has donated more than $2.1 million to Boston nonprofits, four times the amount it gave in the past four years.Read More
08.17.11 The Miami Herald
One look at math word problems and many students cringe.Even worse, many elementary school teachers seem to have the same reaction.Math anxiety, a fear that first gained recognition as a feminist issue in the 1970s, remains a big problem that psychologists, educators, and parents are trying to crack.A negative emotional reaction to math or even the prospect of solving a problem that has to do with mathematics, math anxiety is now the topic of many books, research papers and seminars.Read More
August 17, 2011 Boston Globe
Members of the high school class of 2011 posted a slight gain on the ACT college entrance exam, but nearly three in 10 recent graduates failed to meet a single benchmark that predicts they are ready for college.Twenty-five percent of ACT test-takers met the college-readiness standard in the four core subjects of English, math, reading and science. That’s a slight increase over last year and the third straight year of such improvement. The average composite score of 21.1 on the test’s 1-to-36 scale is a one-tenth of a percent increase from the previous year and restores the national average to where it was in 2009.Read More
August 16, 2011 Boston Globe
PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Supporters of a proposed charter school district that would serve students in Cranston and Providence are preparing to rally support for the plan at the Statehouse.Cranston Mayor Allan Fung has proposed a district of charter schools in his city that would be run by the nonprofit group Achievement First. He and other local officials have scheduled a press conference at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Statehouse to make their case for the plan. Executives from Achievement First are also expected to attend.Read More
August 15, 2011 Boston Globe
PULLMAN, Wash.—Misha Manuchehri slowly picks her way through plots of barley, wheat and peas. Every so often, the graduate student in crop science at Washington State University stoops to pluck an errant weed at a farm just off campus.With a bachelor’s degree in organic agriculture already under her belt, Manuchehri plans to continue her studies and ultimately find work in sustainable agriculture.Read More
14 Agosto 2011 El Nuevo Dia
Con la sombra de una reforma universitaria que persigue “construir” la institución desde sus cimientos, mañana estrena el nuevo año académico en la Universidad de Puerto Rico (UPR).En las próximas semanas, el Comité Asesor sobre el Futuro de la Educación Superior en Puerto Rico rendirá su primer informe con propuestas para orientar la transformación de la educación superior y del primer centro docente del País.Read More
August 14, 2011 Boston Globe
A proposal to create a charter school in Somerville targeting students from the city’s immigrant community is starting to generate debate as the founding group works to finalize its plan.The proposal for the Somerville Progressive Charter School is among seven - two from this region - recently submitted to the state for new charter schools, which are independent public schools. There is also a proposal for the Collegiate Charter School of Lowell.The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education plans to decide by mid-September which of the groups it will invite to file full applications by Nov. 7. The agency will decide Feb. 28 which, if any, charters to grant.Read More
August 12, 2011 Boston Globe
PROVIDENCE, R.I.—A national guide to institutions of higher education has named Providence College one of its “best buys."Providence College was one of 49 institutions nationally to earn that designation in the 2012 edition of the Fiske Guide to Colleges. Officials said this is the first time Providence College has been named a “best buy” and that only one other New England was named as such in the most recent list. The other is the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Needham, Mass..Read More
08.12.11 The Miami Herald
Summer is winding down. But school doors are still closed.So, how can parents bridge the week-long gap between summer programs and the official start of school?The answer for Sherry Lu: Take care of her daughter Joyce, 5, at home after her gymnastics summer camp ends Friday at Coral Gables’ youth center.“I am not going to work next week,” said Lu, who teaches information systems at the University of Miami and works on academic papers from home.Read More
August 10, 2011 Boston Globe
Federal prosecutors have ordered a controversial agency for special needs children to turn over payroll records for longtime leader John B. Barranco, his former girlfriend, and more than two dozen others to a federal grand jury meeting today amid accusations of widespread corruption at the agency.Prosecutors ordered the Merrimack Special Education Collaborative of Billerica to produce virtually all its financial records for the last decade, according to a copy of a subpoena obtained by the Globe. It demands documentation of credit card use by agency officials, records of consulting contracts, and records covering all financial transactions between the collaborative and the Merrimack Education Center, a related nonprofit organization.Read More
August 9, 2011 Boston Globe
The Obama administration has unveiled plans to give school districts a break from the stringent testing mandates in the No Child Left Behind Law, as long as they pursue other reform efforts.Education Secretary Arne Duncan said on Monday that President Barack Obama is authorizing him to grant waivers because Congress has failed to act.Critics call the law’s benchmarks unrealistic and say they brand schools as failures even if they are making progress. Duncan told reporters said the law is filled with “perverse incentives” and schools are “begging” for relief.Read More
August 7, 2011 Boston Globe
ST. LOUIS—They gather in a generic suburban office park, working-class students chasing a fast track to success: a college degree.But the message at the University of Phoenix orientation is not quite what these secretaries, mental health aides, working moms and single dads expect."We want you to decide if this is right for you,” says Sam Fitzgerald, director of academic affairs at the school’s four St. Louis campuses. “We’re here to help you figure it out.”Read More
August 4, 2011 Boston Globe
SOUTH HADLEY, Mass.—The superintendent of South Hadley schools, who came under harsh criticism from some people for the way he handled the suicide of a student who was bullied by her classmates, is stepping down.The retirement of Gus Sayer effective Oct. 1 was announced at Tuesday night’s school committee meeting.He did not attend but told The Boston Globe ( http://bo.st/olRpDm) via phone that he feels he has accomplished a lot in his eight years at the helm but felt it was “time to move on.”Read More
August 2, 2011 Boston Globe
The persecution and humiliation of Deb Caldieri, the teacher who responded to the suicide of Phoebe Prince with a compassion so utterly lacking elsewhere in South Hadley High School, is complete. She was fired last week.Gus Sayer, the school district’s superintendent, sent a letter to Caldieri - who went on unpaid medical leave in December because of her multiple sclerosis - saying he couldn’t wait around any longer to see whether the symptoms would subside enough for her to return to work. Those symptoms got worse after Caldieri was punished for speaking out about Phoebe Prince’s treatment at the high school.Read More
August 1, 2011 Boston Globe
BOSTON—The state’s Education Department is considering applications for seven new charter schools across Massachusetts.The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education says it is considering proposal for five fully independent charter schools and two charter schools that would work cooperatively with the local school district.The five fully independent schools are proposed for Somerville, Lowell, the Holyoke area, and two in Springfield. The other proposed schools would be in Boston and would need approval from the local school committee.Read More
August 1, 2011 Boston Globe
What’s a professor to do when he writes a book so provocative that even his coauthor seems to disagree with some of its points?Here’s Clayton Christensen, Harvard Business School professor and author of “The Innovative University,’’ on the future and finances of higher education in an era of destabilizing Web technologies: “I think it’s going to get really bad for traditional universities a lot sooner than most people think.’’Read More
July 31, 2011 Boston Globe
It used to be, the only math that students did during the summer involved counting snow cones, sandcastles, or surfboards.The situation is changing, but more slowly than many educators would like.There are a wide variety of math programs available during the summer for a price. And demand, at least anecdotally, appears to be on the rise.But studies show that students still lose somewhere between one and three months of math skills over the summer, a problem that applies across the socioeconomic spectrum, suggesting that parents haven’t gotten the message, educators say.Read More
28 Julio 2011 El Nuevo Dia
Para lograr que las escuelas logren sus metas académicas, el Departamento de Educación (DE) debería tener maestros especializados por materias desde cuarto grado, supervisarlos efectivamente, proveerles materiales adecuados y llenar las necesidades del salón con premura, opinaron varios expertos.Read More
July 28, 2011 Boston Globe
NORWOOD - The clocks are gone from the stately tower that graces the top of old Norwood High, an imposing school on a gentle hill built long ago in 1926. Gaping holes have been punched through its red brick. And massive piles of dark loam rise from the construction-cluttered grounds.Read More
July 27, 2011 Boston Globe
More than 2,500 12th-graders who did not pass the MCAS science section were denied diplomas last month at high schools across Massachusetts, raising fresh questions about the fairness of the graduation requirement and the quality of science instruction.Read More
July 26, 2011 Boston Globe
Legislative leaders said yesterday that they are preparing to conduct an inquiry into the governance of local education collaboratives following accusations by the state inspector general that educator John B. Barranco siphoned more than $10 million in taxpayer money from the Merrimack Special Education Collaborative and paid himself, a former girlfriend, and a handful of top aides lavish salaries and excessive benefits.Read More
July 24, 2011 Boston Globe
WINDHAM, Conn.—While many of their friends are hanging out at the mall or beach, about 20 Connecticut high school students have spent much of their summer vacation back in the classroom.They’re part of a program to introduce teenagers to the teaching profession, one of a growing number of such programs nationwide to help address shortages in special education, bilingual education, science and math.The programs are growing as the nation’s 3.8 million teachers age.Read More
July 23, 2011 Boston Globe
MILWAUKEE—Wisconsin’s teachers union will not join Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s effort to create a new state accountability system to replace the federal No Child Left Behind after lingering mistrust following his cuts to their collective bargaining rights.Read More
July 23, 2011 Boston Globe
When Michel DeGraff was a young boy in Haiti, his older brother brought home a notice from school reminding students and parents of certain classroom rules. At the top of the list was “no weapons.” And right below it, DeGraff still remembers: “No Creole.” Students were supposed to use French, and French only.Read More
July 22, 2011 Boston Globe
In Washington yesterday, rumors of a budget deal were swirling, but in Boston, Troy Hurt was too busy to pay much attention. He was on his way to the financial aid office at the University of Massachusetts Boston, trying to find out if he would have a federally funded work-study job for his upcoming junior year. He needed one as part of the $7,000 he was expecting in aid, which was supposed to include a grant from the Pell program.Read More
July 21, 2011 Boston Globe
The Boston School Committee gave preliminary approval last night to opening two new in-district charter schools for fall 2012, although two members raised questions about an organization that would run one of the schools.The Boston Teacher Residency program, which recruits and trains new teaching candidates for the city, would start a charter elementary school from scratch, and Unlocking Potential, an upstart nonprofit school-turnaround organization, would convert an academically struggling elementary school into a charter school.Read More
July 20, 2011 Boston Globe
NEW YORK - Even as schools aim to better prepare students for a global workforce, fewer than one in three US students are proficient in geography, with most eighth-graders unable to explain what causes earthquakes or accurately describe the American Southwest, according to a report released yesterday morning.Read More
July 19, 2011 Boston Globe
Less than a month after Boston closed the former Hyde Park High School, the city is seeking to reopen the building in fall 2012 as the new home of Boston Latin Academy, under an ambitious proposal being announced today to increase capacity at several popular schools. Less than a month after Boston closed the former Hyde Park High School, the city is seeking to reopen the building in fall 2012 as the new home of Boston Latin Academy, under an ambitious proposal being announced today to increase capacity at several popular schools.Read More
July 19, 2011 Boston Globe
In Springfield, school officials tallied 256 reports of bullying during the recently completed school year. In Lawrence, administrators addressed 240 complaints and alerted police to more than 60, including numerous threats of violence.Yet in Brockton, administrators recorded just three incidents all year, the first under the state’s new antibullying law that requires schools to document and investigate every complaint and forward potential criminal cases to law enforcement.Read More
July 11, 2011 Boston Globe
A growing number of school districts from Boston to Western Massachusetts are embracing a new kind of school to pursue educational innovations and compete more aggressively with charter schools.About a dozen “innovation schools’’ are expected to open this fall, while another dozen should arrive a year later. The movement follows the launch of the state’s first three innovation schools this past school year.Read More
July 10, 2011 Boston Globe
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—The first national Spanish spelling bee has been won by a seventh-grade girl from Santa Cruz, N.M.Evelyn Juarez, of Carlos F. Vigil Middle School, won by correctly spelling the Spanish word “bizantinismo,” which means excess luxury.The runner-up German Rojero, of Los Lunas Middle School, misspelled “kanindeyuense,” someone from a Paraguayan territory.Read More
July 08, 2011 Boston Globe
Instead of enjoying the summer sun yesterday, a group of soon-to-be fifth-graders crowded into Suffolk University lecture halls and built houses out of straws.After lunch, they tested the structural integrity of their designs with marshmallows and hoped the weight would not make their houses collapse. But these kids do not mind spending the time practicing their geometry skills.“I want to prove that I can do much more than I can already,’’ said 10-year-old Kasey Castillo, a student at Edison K-8 School in Brighton and a member of the inaugural class of the College Success Academy.Read More
July 08, 2011 Boston Globe
HARTFORD, Conn.—This will be the first year that illegal immigrant Maria Praeli can consider going to college fulltime.he and her family had feared that the cost would be more than they could afford. But the 18-year-old high school student can now qualify for in-state tuition at Connecticut’s public universities under a law that took effect last week.The law can reduce tuition costs by as much as $17,000 annually for undocumented students such as Praeli, a rising senior at New Milford High School who is plans to apply to state schools.Read More
07/07/11 El Comercio
El anuncio oficial de una inyección de 4 000 millones de dólares a la educación en Chile, que eleva en 40% el actual presupuesto, no acalló el reclamo de estudiantes.Ayer convocaron a una nueva movilización la próxima semana para exigir que escuelas y universidades sean sin ánimo de lucro.Los estudiantes y docentes rechazaron ayer el plan de financiamiento educacional del presidente Sebastián Piñera y tomaron la sede de su partido, el conservador Renovación Nacional. “El discurso de Piñera fue una gran decepción”, reclamó la líder universitaria Camila Vallejos, quien encabezó una marcha de 100 000 alumnos frente al palacio presidencial de La Moneda días atrás.Read More
July 6, 2011 Boston Globe
More than half of the teachers pushed out of seven underperforming schools in Boston last year now work at other low-achieving schools across the city that are also under pressure to improve, according to a Globe analysis.The 96 teachers are among 186 who departed from the schools last summer after Superintendent Carol R. Johnson asked them to reapply for their jobs, a move that angered many of those instructors and led to a dizzying movement of teachers through the city.Read More
July 5, 2011 Boston Globe
One day last month, Acton third graders ate Salvadoran pupusas (stuffed tortillas), while more than 2,000 miles away, their buddies from Ilobasco, El Salvador, had US-style hamburgers to celebrate the end of a school year of cultural and scientific exchange aided by digital cameras, computers, and old-fashioned letters.Read More
July 2, 2011 Boston Globe
To measure the scope of bullying in Massachusetts schools, a commission, led by Attorney General Martha Coakley, recommended yesterday that all public and charter schools be required to send state educators an annual count of bullying incidents, whether they are believed to be crimes or not.Read More
June 30, 2011 Boston Globe
Looking for a college bargain? Try any of nine University of Puerto Rico campuses, where annual tuition hovers at or below $2,000.Counting pennies? Avoid Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, a private school where tuition, fees and room and board exceeds $50,000, making it one of the five most expensive schools on a new U.S. Department of Education guide to college costs.Read More
June 28, 2011 Boston Globe
Student leaders at the University of Massachusetts’ Amherst campus say changes in the students’ health insurance plan will unfairly hit hardest on women, low-income students, and those with mental illnesses.The changes, set to take effect in August, will require students to pay 15 percent of the total bill for care not received at the campus health center.Read More
June 27, 2011 Boston Globe
DETROIT—After only about a month as top boss of Detroit Public Schools, Roy Roberts, a 72-year-old former General Motors executive and private equity firm founder, is well aware that some people already want him gone. The district’s new financial manager said he’s OK with that reality, adding that differing opinions have value. His only request: Stay out of the way as he tries to turn around one of the nation’s worst public school systems.Read More
June 26, 2011 Boston Globe
Average number of students assigned to each guidance counselor in 2008-2009, by state:
Alabama, 398
Alaska, 467
Arizona, 743
Arkansas, 333
California, 814
Read MoreColorado, 387
June 24, 2011 Boston Globe
ATLANTA—Eighteen-year-old Dulce Guerrero kept quiet about being an illegal immigrant until earlier this year, when she became upset after a traffic stop that landed her mother in jail for two nights. The arrest came as Georgia lawmakers were crafting what would become one of the nation’s toughest immigration crackdowns, and Guerrero feared her mother would be deported.Read More
June 23, 2011 Boston Globe
HARTFORD, Conn.—University of Connecticut leaders are delaying a decision on setting the next academic year’s budget, hoping for a better sense over the next few months of how much to expect from the cash-strapped state government.The delay does not change plans for an already approved 2.5 percent increase in UConn students’ tuition, fees and lodging to start this fall. However, it gives the Board of Trustees and administrators more time to determine how to absorb an anticipated $45 million budget gap, which includes a 10 percent cut in state funding.Read More
June 21, 2011 Boston Globe
The College Board unveiled an initiative at a forum at Harvard University yesterday to improve the academic achievement of young men of color, saying that bolstering their educational success should be a national priority.In making the announcement at the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, the board urged more mentoring of young men of color, better training of teachers on cultural sensitivity, and greater academic support and other services for them in college.Read More
June 22, 2011 Boston Globe
Meet Boston’s 2011 valedictorians. Many were born in other countries, and others have overcome myriad challenges. Through hard work and perseverance, they made it to the top of their class.Read More
June 21, 2011 Boston Globe
PAWTUCKET, R.I.—U.S. Rep. David Cicilline is set to visit Pawtucket to discuss the city’s graduation rate and other issues facing children.The city had the second lowest high school graduation rate in Rhode Island last year.Researchers at Rhode Island KIDS COUNT say 58 percent of students graduated on time in 2010. The district with the lowest graduation rate was Central Falls, where 51 percent of students got their diplomas.Read More
June 20, 2011 Boston Globe
STURBRIDGE, Mass.—Labor, education and business leaders are planning a summit to discuss job-creation strategies and skills development for workers and industries in Massachusetts.The second annual Massachusetts Jobs and Workforce Summit is scheduled to take place from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday at the Publick House in Sturbridge.Participants will include U.S. Rep. John F. Tierney, Higher Education Commissioner Richard Freeland, Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Joanne Goldstein and National Workforce Association CEO David Bradley.Read More
