News on Education

MIT to offer labs, certificates to virtual students

2011-12-18T21:30:36Z

BOSTON (Reuters) - The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is developing technology that will allow students taking courses online to use simulated labs, interact with professors and other students, and earn certificates.

"The driver is to reach everyone out there who can'...

Elected regent has no business working on CSN theft case

2011-12-13T02:30:47Z

Let me paint a scenario: Let's say an employee of your company is accused of embezzling company money.

Would it be appropriate for a member of the board of directors to work on behalf of the employee's defense team?

Would that sound bizarre to you? It certainly does to me, but that's exactly what's happened with the Nevada System of Higher Education, which is governed by the elected Boa...

Rush Limbaugh Blames Gay Acceptance For Lawrence King's Murder

2011-11-23T12:00:49Z

Radio host Rush Limbaugh has blamed gay acceptance for 15-year-old gay teen Lawrence King's murder

Radio host Rush Limbaugh has blamed gay acceptance for 15-year-old gay teen Lawrence King's murder, Equality Matters reported.

17-year-old Reuters) - A small public school district in Missouri said on Wednesday it will stop offering voluntary single-gender classes after it came under pressure from a civil liberties group that opposes them.

The Adrian R-III District became the latest school system to bow to pressure from the Goal is to hold parents, students accountable

¶It didn't take much detective work for Metro Police to figure out who was behind an increase in daytime home burglaries in Enterprise.
¶
The prime suspects: kids — who should have been in school.
¶
"The property that was getting taken was a lot of small items, like laptops and cellphones — things that kids could probably put in their backpacks and conceal and walk down the s...

'Weightless' US teachers eye giant science leap

2011-11-17T07:30:38Z

"Excited," "nervous," "terrified" -- just three emotions described by a group of US teachers about to take a dizzying "weightless" flight all for the cause of science, naturally.

The 30 classroom professionals donned blue "astronaut" jumpsuits to defy gravity in the skies above California, in a project designed to help them capture the imagination of young scie...

Gay Teen Zach Asked To Tone It Down After Beating

2011-11-15T08:31:05Z

Zach Huston, the gay teen whose beating was caught on video, says school officials asked him to tone it down after the incident

Zach Huston, the 15-year-old Ohio gay teen whose beating was caught on video and posted on Facebook, says school officials asked him to tone it down after the incident.

The video, captured by another student with a cell phon...

China leads surge in foreign students: US report

2011-11-14T18:30:39Z

America's colleges and universities are seeing record numbers of foreign students, thanks to a surge from China and heavy enrollment from elsewhere in Asia, a report released Monday said.

The report by the Institute of International Education (IIE) and the Estee Lauder Companies into a global cosmetics giant, has died at the age of 75, the company announced.

The New York firm said Evelyn Lauder, who also helped created the "pink ribbon" symbolizing the battle against breast cancer, died Saturday at the age of 75 from co...

Pakistan schools cast minorities in bad light: study

2011-11-09T19:30:55Z

Public schools and madrassas in Pakistan fuel discrimination by casting Hindus and other minorities in a negative light, an American report into the Muslim nation's education system said Wednesday.

Produced by an independent US government commission, the report into Pakistani textbooks and teaching practices also found that 80 percent of public school teachers viewed non-Muslims as "enemies of Islam" in one way or another.

"This...

Mountain boarding school gives hope to Moroccan girls

2011-11-09T14:30:34Z

In the heart of the snowbound Atlas mountains in central Morocco, a boarding school takes in young girls from isolated villages in a bid to fight poverty and illiteracy.

There are more than 300 such schools in Morocco, with another 30 planned for construction next year. They are now both home and class to almost 16,700 girls, who are often living far from their families. More than 70 percent of them come from a rural background, accordi...

Idaho requires two online courses for high school graduation

2011-11-04T04:00:48Z

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Idaho became on Thursday the first U.S. state to require two online courses for high school graduation when state officials approved the requirement.

The requirement, which goes into effect next year, was part of an overhaul of public education pushed by Tom Luna, the state's schools chief, and approved this yea...

Higher education's weaknesses are UNLV's opportunities To read more columns by J. Patrick Coolican visit us online at lasvegassun.com/coolican.

2011-11-02T02:30:08Z

College isn't worth it. That was the message from a Pew Research Center study this year that reported 57 percent of Americans think the higher education system doesn't give students a good value for the thousands of dollars in tuition and expenses they spend. Seventy-five percent said college is too expensive, and two-thirds of respondents who didn't continue their education beyond high school cited financ...

Proposed tax hikes headed for defeat in Colorado

2011-11-01T21:00:19Z

DENVER (Reuters) - A Colorado ballot proposal to raise state income and sales taxes for the sake of public schools was headed for defeat on Tuesday, according to early election returns from the state's most populous counties.

The outcome of Proposition 103, aimed at generating $2.9 billion over the next five years, was being watched closely as ...

Search for man in shootout with South Carolina police

2011-10-28T17:30:05Z

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - Police were still looking late on Friday for a man who fled after a shootout with police, prompting a six-hour manhunt and the lockdown of seven schools in Greenville, South Carolina.

Children held in fou...

Tens of thousands protest Spain education cuts: organisers

2011-10-22T17:30:14Z

Tens of thousands of people rallied in Madrid on Saturday to protest cuts in education spending imposed by the Socialist government to stabilise the debt-burdened nation's finances.

"For sale -- Public education" read banners hoisted by demonstrators who flocked to Madrid from across Spain following a rally call from a top education union, which said between 70,000 to 100,000 people turned up.

...

Randy Thomasson Insists Gay History Law Will Turn Kids Gay

2011-10-21T10:00:13Z

Randy Thomasson is urging parents to opt out of California's public schools now that an effort to repeal a gay history law has failed

Social conservative Randy Thomasson is urging parents to opt out of California's public schools now that an effort to repeal a gay history law has failed.

Foes of Senate Bill 48 (SB 48) or the FAIR Education...

In Yemen, schools become hostages of rising crisis

2011-10-19T09:32:33Z

ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) - The playground of Aden's al-Haqqani school should be filled with squealing children at this time of year -- instead, goats pick through the brittle grass as young men doze atop crumbling school desks strewn across the yard.
The two-storey, faded white concrete building is one of some 76 ...

Private schools win legal fight over charity status

2011-10-14T10:30:45Z

Private schools on Friday won a long-running legal battle with the Charity Commission over what schools must do to justify their charitable status.
The Independent Schools Council (ISC), an umbrella body representing more than 1,000 schools, had challenged tighter rules affecting how private schools qualify for the status, which comes with tax breaks.
The changes, ...

Lebanon's public school students face uphill battle

2011-10-09T08:30:13Z

Sitting in a small barren classroom in the village of Fnaydiq, in northern Lebanon's remote Akkar region, 11-year-old Zeynab is eager to tackle the new school year.
But the odds are heavily stacked against her even making it to high school.
Zeynab's is a story by no means unique in Lebanon, where public schooling is largely synonymous with poor quality education and where the state for decades has all but turned its back on the se...

Probe finds fraud in U.S. distance education

2011-09-29T14:00:08Z

(Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Inspector General (OIG) identified a "serious vulnerability" in distance education programs due to frauds committed by students and recommended a stricter enrollment process for colleges.
Stocks of for-profit colleges, which mostly offer online ...

Amid controversy, some Chicago schools choose a longer day

2011-09-28T14:30:14Z

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Starting this week at Nash Elementary on Chicago's west side, students are getting up to 23 minutes more of math and 27 minutes more of language arts.
At Disney II Elementary on the north side, children have more time for special classes, so the musi...

S. Korea 'paparazzi' housewives hound law-breakers

2011-09-27T20:30:25Z

At first glance, middle-aged Seoul housewife Jennifer Chung hardly looks like a bounty hunter tracking down lawbreakers.
But every morning, after sending her two sons and husband off to school and work, she sets out in search of local scofflaws -- such as cram school teachers, restaurateurs or beauty salon owners.
"Some of them charge parents more than state-set tuition limit...

Egypt teachers protest, vow to continue strike

2011-09-24T12:30:20Z

Around 5,000 teachers gathered outside the cabinet headquarters in Cairo on Saturday to demand better pay, vowing to pursue a strike that has crippled several schools around the country.
"We want social justice!" the teachers chanted, as they blocked a main thoroughfare in central Cairo and creating grid lock in the centre of the capital, an AFP photographer said.
Teachers from several governorates converged to demand...

Student wants apology for suspension over anti-gay remark

2011-09-23T14:00:13Z

FORT WORTH, Texas (Reuters) - A Fort Worth high school freshman who was reprimanded for saying in class that he believes homosexuality is wrong will not have a mark on his permanent record, officials said on Friday.
But his attorney and his mother are not done with their fight yet, aski...

Defiant teachers in Tacoma, Washington, strike for sixth day

2011-09-20T19:00:09Z

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Striking teachers in Tacoma, Washington, walked picket lines for a sixth day on Tuesday, defying a judge's back-to-work order and facing possible court sanctions as school officials canceled classes again for 28,700 students.
Contempt-of-court notices were m...

Nashville schools to teach students to rap, spin

2011-09-16T10:30:13Z

NASHVILLE, Tenn (Reuters) - "Music City" school children will soon learn how to rap, rock and spin.
Nashville Mayor Karl Dean used the city's famed Ryman auditorium on Friday to announce new offerings next year in songwriting, rock band and hip-hop performance, and recording and disc jockey remixing.

Tacoma, Washington teachers defy no-strike order

2011-09-15T14:30:51Z

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Striking teachers in Tacoma, Washington, returned to picket lines on Thursday in defiance of a back-to-work order, forcing school officials to cancel classes for 28,000 students for a third straight day.
Western to work on basics: from improving students' self-esteem to hiring staff
Principal Neddy Alvarez made her way through the thick crowd of students and parents gathered in the quad, all curious to see what changes are being implemented at Western High School. The start of school was approaching, and Alvarez was hosting an open house to unveil the "new Western" to hundreds of freshmen and t...

DWIGHT JONES, SUPERINTENDENTCAROLYN EDWARDS, SCHOOL BOARD PRESIDENTPEDRO MARTINEZ, DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT OF INSTRUCTIONFLORENCE BARKER, TURNAROUND LEADER

2011-09-07T02:30:47Z

Superintendent Dwight Jones, School Board President Carolyn Edwards, Deputy Superintendent of Instruction Pedro Martinez and Turnaround Leader Florence Barker recently sat down with reporters Dave Berns and Paul Takahashi to discuss the turnaround schools, the challenges of the upcoming school year and the Sun's ongoing project, "The T...

Joint effort to make our schools more transparent, accountable aims to lift community

2011-09-07T02:30:45Z

It's all about the public interest.Barbara and Hank Greenspun, my parents, started the Las Vegas Sun just over 61 years ago because my father believed that Las Vegas was a community worth fighting for, and the best way he could do that was to publish a newspaper.
For nearly 40 years Hank battled every bad guy, every bad decision and every example of ...

Education trap threatens Panama's economic boom

2011-09-06T16:30:13Z

CUCUNATI, Panama (Reuters) - Carlos Bacorizo begins a half-hour jungle trek to school every day not knowing if he'll make it to class. An oft-swollen river blocks his path.
Even if he crosses the 165-foot-wide (50-meter-wide) river -- sometimes with books, shoes and uniform balanced on his head -- all he gets is one of the worst educations in the w...

HK's schooling woes dim city's role as financial hub

2011-09-04T23:30:15Z

HONG KONG (Reuters) - As global companies expand in Asia, financial hubs such as Hong Kong are suffering a shortage of international school places that may blunt the city's competitive edge against regional rivals including Singapore....

Harvard is most discussed university on Web: survey

2011-08-30T18:30:13Z

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Harvard regained its top spot on a list of most talked-about U.S. universities on the Internet, beating its rivals just in time for a return to fall studies, according to a survey released on Tuesday.
Harvard conquered stiff competition from runners-up SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Start-up companies using "freemium" business models, including Dropbox, SurveyMonkey, Animoto and Eventbrite, are thriving as the cost of computing power and storage falls....

Atlanta public school officials give documents to grand jury

2011-08-26T16:00:06Z

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Atlanta public school officials appeared on Friday before a county grand jury investigating alleged cheating by teachers and principals on standardized tests and turned over 95 volumes of subpoenaed documents, officials said.
The documents were on DVDs, CDs and cassettes,
2011-08-20T16:30:12Z

The Internet is letting a school sprout in the Amazon where teachers tend not to linger due to harsh living conditions and a scarcity of students.
Teachers in Manaus, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas, conduct lessons streamed to students in the village of Tumbira using an Internet connection made possible with a generator-powered radio sign...

Newark, New Jersey gets first female police chief

2011-08-19T12:00:44Z

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Newark, New Jersey has sworn in its top-ranking police officials, including the first woman to serve as police chief in the state's largest force.
Taking the top post of Police Director is Samuel DeMaio, succeeding Garry McCarth...

Severe weather leaves thousands without power in Kentucky

2011-08-14T13:30:07Z

LOUISVILLE (Reuters) - Severe thunderstorms across southwest Indiana and into Kentucky left about 74,000 Louisville customers without power on Sunday, officials said.
The windy rains rolled through late on Saturday, and nearly 130,000 customers were in the dark at the peak of the ...

Setting the right standard

2011-08-13T02:31:29Z

Federal law sets an unrealistic measure of success for the nation's schools
Since its passage more than a decade ago, the federal No Child Left Behind Act has frustrated educators across the nation. In its attempt to raise educational achievement, it made success virtually impossible.High standards are good, but the law takes a one-size-fit...

Detroit school teachers to take 10 percent wage cut

2011-07-29T10:00:12Z

DETROIT (Reuters) - Detroit public school teachers will take a 10 percent wage cut and pay more for health care in what the school system's manager on Friday said were "extreme measures" needed to address a financial emergency.
The measures are designed to save nearly $82 million as part of the PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A school district in the town named for chocolate king Milton Hershey went to court on Thursday to argue that his sweet dream of funding education was ignored by a foundation that has instead spent millions on entertainment.
The

Microsoft's Gates says high school degree no longer enough

2011-07-28T09:30:24Z

BOSTON (Reuters) - A high school degree is no longer enough to secure the highest paying and most interesting jobs, said Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, who himself dropped out of Harvard Univ...

Only seven Atlanta educators quit amid cheating scandal

2011-07-20T18:00:06Z

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Just seven of 178 Atlanta educators implicated in a standardized test cheating scandal resigned or retired on Wednesday to avoid being fired, a school spokesman said.
The remaining teachers and principals will now face termination proceedings, Atlanta Public Scho...

Memphis school start delayed over funding issue

2011-07-20T17:00:10Z

MEMPHIS, Tenn (Reuters) - Memphis could see a late start to its school year after the school board, in a move that sent officials scrambling for a solution on Wednesday, voted to delay classes until it gets $55 million in city funds.
The 103,000 students in the public school system are scheduled to begin classes on August 8th. The board voted for the delay on...

Berkley talks economy, education, election

2011-07-19T02:30:24Z

After 13 years representing Nevada's 1st Congressional District, Shelley Berkley wants a promotion — to the U.S. Senate. She announced her candidacy in April. And if she wins the Democratic nomination, she'll likely face newly appointed ATLANTA (Reuters) - Dozens of Atlanta public school educators accused of cheating on standardized testing have until Wednesday to resign or be fired, local school officials said on Monday.
The city's interim school superintendent has given educators a three-day window starting on Monday to resign and avoid termination proceedings that will begin Thursday,

Six percent of D.C. public school employees get separation notes

2011-07-15T15:30:48Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The District of Columbia Public Schools has notified 413 employees of their separation as the result of IMPACT evaluations, the DCPS said on Friday.
IMPACT evaluates teacher performance based on student achievement, instructional expertise, collaboration, and professionalism. Other employees are assessed bas...

California orders gay history in school textbooks

2011-07-15T09:01:06Z

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California became the first state on Thursday to require that public school textbooks include the accomplishments of gay, lesbian and transgender Americans as Governor Jerry Brown signed the mandat...

No point in telling parents about kids' weight?

2011-07-08T10:00:18Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - School policies that let parents know when their children are overweight or obese appear to have little impact on the problem, a new study finds.
In the last decade, almost all public schools in California collected information about height and weight on kids in the fifth, seventh, and ninth grades, ...

Atlanta educators may face charges in cheating scandal

2011-07-06T16:30:38Z

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Prosecutors are weighing whether to file criminal charges against 178 Atlanta teachers and principals who state investigators said cheated on standardized tests to inflate student scores.
The cheating in 2009, found in 44 of the 56 Atlanta public schools examined, was prompted primarily by pressure to meet test score targets, a statement r...

National teachers' group recommends Obama for second term

2011-07-04T15:00:14Z

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The nation's largest teachers union voted on Monday to recommend that President Barack Obama be elected for another term.
The vote from National Education Associatio...

Indiana teachers sue to halt school voucher program

2011-07-01T11:00:14Z

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Indiana State Teachers Association on Friday filed suit against the state, asking a court to block implementation of the country's largest private school voucher program.
"There is no question that this law viol...

Schools teach disabled life skills

2011-06-28T10:00:15Z

MAPLEWOOD, New Jersey (Reuters Life!) - Calculating the best-priced cookie dough may be a small challenge for the executives of Diamond Enterprises, but making eye contact while paying the cashier is an enormous one.
Diamond Enterprises is a sandwich, salad and snack business run by students with autism and severe learning disa...

Business 101 for special ed students: eye contact, social skills

2011-06-28T07:00:16Z

MAPLEWOOD, New Jersey (Reuters) - Calculating the best-priced cookie dough may be a small challenge for the executives of Diamond Enterprises, but making eye contact while paying the cashier is an enormous one.
Diamond Enterprises is a sandwich, salad and snack business run by students with autism and severe learning disabiliti...

Michigan to take over Detroit's worst schools

2011-06-20T16:30:15Z

DETROIT (Reuters) - Detroit's poorest-performing schools will be placed in the hands of a new statewide authority next year, the latest attempt to turn around one of the worst education systems in the nation.
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder announced on Monday that a new authority, dubbed the Education Achievement System, will operate the lowest 5 ...

Michigan to take over 45 of Detroit's failing schools

2011-06-20T12:00:37Z

DETROIT (Reuters) - Nearly four dozen of Detroit's poorest-performing schools will be placed in the hands of a new statewide authority next year, the latest attempt to turn around Michigan's struggling education system.
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder announced on Monday that a new authority, the Educ...

Court rules for students in Pennsylvania speech cases

2011-06-14T18:30:42Z

PHILADELPHIA - A federal appeals court here has ruled in favor of two school students who were disciplined in different districts for creating what lawyers called parodies of their principals on the MySpace social network site.
"The U.S. Court of Appeals for th...

Cutting education

2011-06-14T02:30:46Z

Nevada's priorities show through with the budget and battle over taxes
Educators throughout the state are breathing something of a sigh of relief since the Legislature ended: The budget is nowhere near as bad as expected.When the session started, Gov. Brian Sandoval called for massive cuts, notably to education, because he refused any attempt to rai...

School District confronts reality of poor high school graduation rates

2011-06-14T02:30:34Z

Report shows numbers much lower than claimed
When Dwight Jones was hired in November to be superintendent of the Clark County School District, he promised honesty and transparency to win over a distrustful and suspicious community.
Now, School District officials are acknowledging what critics have long suspected - that high school graduation figures have for years been inflated...

After tornado, high school will be at the shopping mall

2011-06-12T08:31:43Z

KANSAS CITY, Mo (Reuters) - If high school students in Joplin, Missouri, actually get tired of hanging out at the mall later this year, nobody could blame them.
Classes for juniors and seniors will be held in a shopping mall in 2011-12 because a May 22 tornado ...

Popular Liberty coach, bracing for a layoff, gets last-minute promotion

2011-06-10T02:30:13Z

Lou Markouzis looked around the room during a meeting of physical education personnel at Liberty High School, did some quick math and realized his job was in jeopardy.
The seven-person department - which includes boys and girls physical education, dance and health - had to be trimmed to six as part of Clark County School District budget cuts, meaning the 36-year-old Markouzis could be tra...

Religion, and controversy, always part of U.S. education

2011-06-09T04:30:24Z

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Religious freedom has always been a given in American life, but religious education has had a different road -- a path rarely without controversy as it tries to find a place in a secular and worldly democracy.
While a rise in the number of Islamic schools in the Unite...

Study finds Nevada lagging in K-12 spending

2011-06-09T02:31:31Z

Nevada ranks 45th in the nation in K-12 education spending per pupil, according to an analysis released last month by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Nevada school districts spent an average of $8,422 per student during the 2008-09 school year, according to the 2009 Annual Survey of Local Government Finances — School Systems. The U.S. average was $...

Book dragons: Inside Taiwan's cram schools

2011-06-04T04:30:11Z

Huang Hsing-yao knows exactly how to spend every hour of the day, every day of the week: bent over the books, preparing for the most important test of his life.
With little time left before the university entrance exam that will decide his future, the 18-year-old high school student's life is marked by relentless study, most of it in a cram school in downtown Taipei.
"At the moment, I hardly have any free time. It's all...

New York public schools may bar after hours religion

2011-06-02T11:30:37Z

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An appeals court on Thursday ruled that New York public schools could legally bar religious groups from using its facilities after hours for worship services.
The split ruling by a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in New York vacated a lower court's injunction which had prevented Asia. From watches to cars, clothes to fine artwork, food to handbags -- even education.
The offspring of the booming region's wealthy elite are enrolling in some of the world's most famous schools and universities. But they don't have to get on a long-haul flight to do so.
Many of the world's most prestigious institutions have built, or are building, new campuses in some of Asia's thriving citie...

Unique classrooms support Chinese migrant children

2011-05-30T23:30:10Z

BEIJING (Reuters Life!) - The school day has ended but class is not yet over for students heading for their local community center and a very different sort of classroom -- one built from shipping containers.
The children, who are from China's "floating population" of migrant workers, don't h...

Money games make trust hard to muster

2011-05-26T02:30:41Z

The stone of government is squeezed dry. No gimmick will yield a drop more. No budget sleight of hand can save the day. This time, lawmakers and the public are told, the cuts will hurt — students will be turned away from school, teachers laid off, seniors left to die in the streets.That, the argument goes, is why the state must raise taxes.
Then on Wednesday, Senate Democrats said they wanted to spare college and university students a double hit on tuition. The higher educati...

Potential leaders waiting on their chance

2011-05-26T02:30:33Z

Young lawyers show they're committed to helping Nevada thrive
Where are tomorrow's leaders?
We constantly ask ourselves that question as more and more of today's leadership either retires from the scene or fades away in a more dramatic fashion. And as each generation makes way for the following one, it is appropriate and necessary to ask in the hope that the answer will be self-evident. When it is not apparent, onl...

Amid crowds, students are left behind

2011-05-18T02:30:28Z

Teachers say increasingly crammed classrooms make it hard to reach segment of pupils
The former Catholic priest moves among his flock of high school seniors, questioning, listening, seeking eye contact with his students as they read aloud from Isaac Asimov's series "Foundation." The work, which is set so far in the future that people have forgotten about Earth, isn't easy to absorb. Arthur ...

Actress Marlee Matlin hit with tax bill, sells home

2011-05-12T19:30:21Z

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress Marlee Matlin says she is selling her Los Angeles-area house and taking her four children out of private school to ease a cash crunch that has left her owing $50,000 in back taxes.
Matlin, 45, told Include educators in policy talks, she urges
WASHINGTON - Since being named Nevada's Teacher of the Year in December, Cheryl Macy has been thrust into the spotlight on education policy.
But never so much as this week, joining her counterparts from every U.S. state and territory in being honored for their exceptional work. But because a trip to the nation's capital...

Dark times for schools, future of our community

2011-05-04T02:30:49Z

The state of emergency that exists in classroom is real, and budget woes are aggravating it
There's an intersection just west of Summerlin Hospital, where Hualapai Way crosses Crestdale Lane. On one corner sits a park where children play soccer and lacrosse. Several hundred yards away is Bonner Elementary School, one of the better performing elementary schools in the Las Vegas Valley. The ...

Apple co-founder Wozniak: computers can teach kids

2011-05-03T14:31:06Z

SAN JOSE, California (Reuters) - Apple Inc co-founder Steve Wozniak has an idea that could help fix the U.S. public education system: comp...

Apple co-founder Wozniak says computers can teach kids

2011-05-03T14:00:24Z

SAN JOSE, California (Reuters) - Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has an idea that could help fix the U.S. public education system: computers, of course.
Technology is getting to the point where devi...

Free pre-school for Philippine children

2011-04-29T13:30:29Z

Millions of Philippine children are being offered crash kindergarten lessons for free to help them prepare for school, the education ministry said Friday.
The government crafted the seven-week programme after observing that many students went through the first three years of primary grade school without learning to read, ministry spokesman Kenneth Tirado told AFP.
Another problem is high drop-out rates, with six percent of Filipino children failing to finish prim...

Why do companies relocate?

2011-04-29T02:30:49Z

The answers on KSNV Channel 3 at 5 p.m.
You've heard it before — businesses won't come to Las Vegas because of our low-ranked public education system. But is it really true? Nevada leaders focus their efforts on attracting businesses from California, so News 3's Jim Snyder put the ...

Oklahoma passes tax credit for private school scholarships

2011-04-26T18:00:11Z

OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) -- The Oklahoma House passed a bill on Tuesday supporters said was designed to increase the number of low-income students who can attend private schools by creating a state tax credit for gifts made to scholarship groups.
The lawmakers passed the bill, which already cleared the state Senate, by a vote of 64-33.
Because the Hous...

US risks creating uneducated 'underclass': study

2011-04-20T19:30:43Z

The United States will create a new Hispanic underclass unless it improves immigrant children's access to education, a report released Wednesday warned.
The Future of Children report, a collaborative effort between Princeton University and the Brookings Insti...

Fifty Indians apply for every top university place

2011-04-11T09:30:37Z

Nearly 500,000 Indian students battled for just 10,000 places at the country's elite universities over the weekend, data showed Monday, underlining the ferocious competition in further education.
The figures amounted to almost 50 students completing entrance exams for every place offered at the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) and their partner institutes.
Exam orga...

Panel's resolve inspires new hope

2011-04-07T02:30:09Z

There's plenty to be pessimistic about when it comes to the Clark County School District. It is beset with high dropout rates, high turnover among teachers who are paid less than the national average, and a student population challenged by language barriers, familial instability and economic collapse.
Last week, I led a discussion among teachers, students and an administrator after we watched the education reform ...

Looking to the future

2011-04-06T02:30:56Z

State needs a long-range plan to diversify the economy, spur development
In an effort to kick-start Nevada's economy, Gov. Brian Sandoval and other leaders have talked about diversifying the economy by bringing new businesses here.The state has been trying to lure businesses here for years in an effort to broaden the economy, which woul...

Can't we reform and invest in education? For stubborn Sandoval, ideology trumps long-term solution to our economic woes

2011-04-06T02:30:13Z

For stubborn Sandoval, ideology trumps long-term solution to our economic woes
It is a tale of two pities.
There are no best of times in 2011. These are the worst of times for Nevadans: thousands of homes in foreclosure, tens of thousands of Nevadans out of work, millions of dollars in bank debts unable to be paid, and billions of dollars in debt that hamper needed investment in Nevada's future.
...

From mines to palaces: the upwardly mobile Middletons

2011-04-05T20:30:49Z

Descended from coal miners, the family of royal bride-to-be Kate Middleton is held up in class-obsessed Britain as a shining example of social mobility.
Kate may have attended one of the most elite schools in England before going on to Scotland's...

Massachusetts finds expired food in school cafeterias

2011-04-01T14:30:12Z

BOSTON (Reuters) - Out-of-date food has been found lingering in public school cafeterias across Massachusetts, sent from warehouses up to six weeks past "use by" dates, the state department of education said on Friday.
Roughly a dozen schools reported expired food shipments or sought guidance on an inconsistent system for dating food,...

THE RUNDOWN

2011-03-29T04:02:13Z

UNLV's social work
program could be savedCARSON CITY — The social work program at UNLV, due for elimination because of proposed budget cuts, might be saved, university President Neal Smatresk told a legislative subcommittee Tuesday.
Smatresk said discussions are under way to combine the programs at UNR and UNLV.
Smatresk and other university and co...

Young protesters, worried about future, hardly Ôspoiled brats'

2011-03-29T04:01:57Z

Carson City
Traveling overnight Sunday with hundreds of students on their way to the state capital to protest budget cuts, I would occasionally awaken and see, through the rain, the lights of the caravan of buses.
It was hard not to feel a bit inspired by the students' passion for their education - a passion that is so lacking in other quarters of the state, where casual contempt for teachers and college profe...

MONSTER LOSES SOME OF ITS BITE University system switches from tales of budget woes to honesty

2011-03-29T04:00:35Z

University system switches from tales of budget woes to honesty
CARSON CITY
Higher education is trying a new approach to proposed budget cuts: honesty.
After three years of reacting to proposed budget cuts with vague prophecies of doom - thousands of layoffs, eliminating athletic teams and the closure of popular schools - the higher education system is trying to provide detailed and mor...

Who takes the hit when education funding is cut?

2011-03-29T03:31:52Z

Nevada's higher education system has thousands of nontraditional students balancing school, work and family responsibilities
There seems to be a misconception out there that when we talk about supporting higher education we're talking about fraternity boys playing beer pong or guys in tweed coats smoking pipes and ruminating about Dostoevsky.<...

Four Indiana teens die in crash after spring break

2011-03-27T19:30:10Z

INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - Five people were killed, including four Indiana high school seniors returning from spring break, when a minivan plowed head on into the students' car on a rain-soaked highway in Alabama, authorities said on Sunday.
Stunned residents of Angol...

Florida law backs merit pay, ends tenure for new teachers

2011-03-24T14:30:34Z

TALLAHASSEE, Fla (Reuters) - Following weeks of debate and national attention, Florida Governor Rick Scott on Thursday signed into law a measure that will end tenure for new public school teachers and base pay more directly on student ...

Hispanic students now majority in Texas public schools

2011-03-23T14:30:15Z

AUSTIN, Tex (Reuters) - Hispanic students are now the majority in Texas public schools, according to the state education agency.
"This has definitely been a trend that has been in the making for a number of years," said Debbie Ratcliffe, a spokeswoman for the
2011-03-22T11:00:20Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden called on Tuesday for a nation-wide effort to make the United States the world leader in college completion by 2020, offering a "College Completion Tool Kit" to help.
The kit features seven of what

Idaho high school students protest teacher layoffs plan

2011-02-28T17:00:14Z

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Hundreds of Idaho high school students walked out of classes on Monday to protest a plan to lay off public school teachers and curtail their rights to collective bargaining.
About 250 students were asked to leave the Capitol in Boise and take their protest signs and chanting outside ...

Urban students lag in science learning: study

2011-02-24T13:00:20Z

BOSTON (Reuters) - Students in schools in the largest U.S. cities, many from low-income households, trail their peers elsewhere in the country in a test of science proficiency, according to a report released on Thursday.
Fourth- and eighth-graders in most of the 17 participating urban districts typically scored lower than the national average, the 2009 National Assessment of Edu...

Urban schools' science scores lower than national average

2011-02-24T07:30:15Z

BOSTON (Reuters) - Public school students in the nation's largest cities trail their peers elsewhere in the United States in a test of science proficiency, said a new report released on Thursday.
Fourth- and eighth-graders in most of the 17 participating urban districts typically scored lower than the national average, ac...

Education chief urges teachers, administrators to cooperate

2011-02-15T17:00:10Z

DENVER (Reuters) - U.S. Education Secretary Arnie Duncan opened a national summit of public school teachers and administrators on Tuesday by urging them to keep student success "at the heart" of often-testy labor relations.
"Other labor and management goals are important, too, but they are all secondary to the goal of improving education and student learning," Duncan told a two-...

Former governor touts Haiti education 'overhaul'

2011-02-14T15:30:40Z

UNESCO special envoy for Haiti and former governor general Michaelle Jean on Monday called for an "overhaul" of Haiti's education system.
Jean is to appear before the Interim Commission for the Reconstruction of Haiti on Tuesday to present an education strategy for the Carib...

Special Report: In Saudi Arabia, a clamor for education

2011-02-10T00:30:11Z

JEDDAH (Reuters) - Saudi teenager Abdulrahman Saeed lives in one of the richest countries in the world, but his prospects are poor, he blames his education, and it's not a situation that looks like changing soon.
"There is not enough in our curriculum," says Saeed, 16, who goes to an all-male state school in the Clay Duke before hitting him with her purse, while he holds Bay City school board members hostage in Panama City, Fla. The purse that Littleton

Parenting Santa Terror

2010-12-15T13:02:02Z
This Dec. 14, 2006 photo courtesy of Tony Harrison shows Harrison's daughter Halle Harrison, 2, sitting for a photograph with a man portraying Santa Claus at a preschool Christmas function in Nampa,

Netherlands Pedophile

2010-12-13T02:00:27Z
Exterior view of daycare center het Hofnarretje in Amsterdam, Sunday Dec. 12, 2010, where a man suspected of abusing preschool children was employed. Parents of dozens of preschool children in Amsterdam have been warned their children may have been abused by a baby sitter in one of the worst sexual abuse cases to come to light in the Netherlands. Authorities say a 27-year-old suspect was arres...

Three Strikes Crusaders

2010-12-11T11:31:33Z
In this photo taken Dec. 3, 2010, Stanford law student Susannah Karlsson, left, poses in the office of Mike Romano, right, a lecturer at the law school on the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto, Calif. S...

Purdue Valparaiso Basketball

2010-12-07T20:32:06Z
Purdue forward Robbie Hummel watches his team prior to first half action in an NCAA men's college basketball game Tuesday Dec. 7, 2010 in Valparaiso,