-
Could Texting Be Good for Students?
Tweet Share on Facebook October 29, 2009 Comment (47)Let's face it: Texting is here to stay. The average 13- to 17-year-old sends 2,900 texts a month, according to the market research firm Nielsen. And while it might be a punishable offense in most schools, some teachers say that texting has educational tie-ins and that it can teach positive language skills, the Charlotte Observer in North Carolina reports.
The general thinking is that the more teenagers text, the more likely it is that abbreviations such as OMG (for "Oh my God") or mangled or simplistic syntax will seep into their schoolwork. But educators say those concerns are without merit and are not based on research.
Forward-thinking teachers say the informal writing style that defines text messages can be incorporated into class lessons. And a new study from California State University researchers has found that texting can improve teens' writing in informal essays and many other writing assignments.
-
Survey: Parents Would Rather Talk Drugs than Science
Tweet Share on Facebook October 23, 2009 Comment (5)Parents might not know how to broach the topic of, say, cell mitosis, but they feel more at ease when talking to their kids about . . . drugs. A new survey from the Intel Corp. has found that parents feel more equipped to talk with their children about drug abuse than about math and science.
According to the nationwide online survey, which polled 561 adults with children ages 5 to 18, 75 percent of parents of teenagers felt comfortable discussing drugs, versus only 52 percent of parents of teenagers who felt comfortable discussing science.
-
How Much Is the Stimulus Helping States? That Depends
Tweet Share on Facebook October 21, 2009 Comment (2)New data in a report by the federal government assert that the approximately $100 billion in funds doled out to education under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 have filled budget gaps and saved 250,000 education jobs, but the nation's governors and school leaders contend that some states are still in dismal fiscal straits.
According to a report recently published by Education Week, states such as Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Michigan, and Florida have been forced to make often painful adjustments to cope with declining revenues, in spite of the nearly $40 billion in stimulus funds appropriated specifically for stabilizing state education budgets.
-
The Saga of the Suspended 6-Year-Old
Tweet Share on Facebook October 14, 2009 Comment (33)Last week, 6-year-old Zachary Christie, a student at Downes Elementary School in Newark, Del., decided to bring a camping utensil that can serve as a fork, spoon, bottle opener, and folding knife to school to use at lunch. He had recently joined the Cub Scouts and was excited to use the tool, but when it was handed over to the principal, he received a 45-day suspension in the district's reform school. The school board has since overturned the decision, the Associated Press reports, but the episode could lead the district—and other schools across the country with zero-tolerance policies—to re-evaluate such procedures.
The decision by school officials to suspend Zachary was based on the district's zero-tolerance policy on weapons. Despite protests from Zachary and his family, administrators at the Christina School District initially defended the punishment, saying they had no choice. Last night's unanimous school board vote let Zachary return to school today and reduced the punishment for kindergartners or first graders who take potential weapons to school or commit violent offenses to a suspension ranging from three to five days.
-
Report Shows Narrowing Achievement Gap Between Different Student Groups
Tweet Share on Facebook October 8, 2009 Comment (7)Finally, some good news when it comes to the educational prowess of America's public school students: The results of a recently released national study assert that the achievement gap—or the difference in achievement levels between various subgroups of students—is narrowing between advantaged and disadvantaged students on state reading and math tests.
The findings published in the study, which was conducted by the Washington-based Center on Education Policy, show that achievement gaps for minority and low-income students have narrowed across all grade levels and subjects in 74 percent of cases between 2002 and 2008.
advertisement
