Despite progress, 1 in 4 high schoolers drop out

Despite progress, 1 in 4 high schoolers drop out
msnbc.com
"Big gains are possible if you work hard at it, and if you don't focus on it, you're going to go backward," said Robert Balfanz, a report author and director of the Everyone Graduates Center at the School of Education at Johns Hopkins University.
 
msnbc.com 

Teacher Ratings Face New Union Obstructions
Wall Street Journal
In Buffalo and Rochester, teachers are insisting they shouldn't be held responsible for test scores of chronically absent students. The Rochester teachers union is also at odds with its district over how much power to give principals in judging ... 

Malloy touts education proposals amid new data
Boston.com
Dannel P. Malloy says his proposed education overhaul will address Connecticut's fluctuating four-year graduation rate by improving the state's low-performing schools. The Democratic governor's efforts come as a new study using 2009 data finds fewer ...

Report: Texas high school graduation rates rising
CBS News
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas' graduation rate for high school students increased 1.9 percent since 2002 to just below the national average, according to a new report by a coalition of educationgroups. The report found that high school graduation rates rose ...

School denies American teacher shot in Yemen proselytized
USA TODAY
SANAA, Yemen (AP) – The school employing an American teacher gunned down in Yemen has denied accusations that he was proselytizing Christianity. By Anees Mayhoub, AP A damaged vehicle said to belong to an American teacher shot by gunmen is towed away ...

USA TODAY

Gunman kills 3 children, teacher outside Jewish school in France
Los Angeles Times
REPORTING FROM PARIS -- Three schoolchildren and a teacher were reported killed Monday after a gunman opened fire outside a Jewish high school in the southern French city of Toulouse. The shooting took place outside the Ozar-Hatorah secondary school in ...

School in Yemen denies claim that slain US teacher was missionary
Washington Post
SANAA, Yemen — The school employing an American teacher gunned down in Yemen has denied accusations that he was proselytizing Christianity. A text message that circulated by mobile phone in Yemen said that “holy warriors” had killed “a senior ...

American teacher killed by gunmen in Yemen to protest Christian proselytizing ...
Washington Post
TAIZ, Yemen — Militants in Yemen have killed an American teacher to protest Christian proselytizing by Westerners. Provincial governor Hamoud al-Sufi says Joel Shrum, a teacher at a language institute, was shot to death Sunday by two gunmen dressed in ...

Report: U.S. makes modest gains in graduation rate
Chicago Sun-Times
By KIMBERLY HEFLING AP Education Writer March 19, 2012 8:44AM HOLD FOR RELEASE UNTIL 12:01 AM EDT MONDAY MARCH 19, 2012 - In this photo taken March 14, 2012 South Hagerstown High School senior Alton Burke, 17, talks with student intervention specialist ...

American Teacher Shot Dead In Yemen
RTT News
(RTTNews) - An American teacher has been shot dead allegedly by al-Qaeda-linked Islamist militants in Yemen's second largest city of Taiz, media reports citing officials said late on Sunday. The American was gunned down by two men on a motorcycle as he ...

Parents: Slain American loved teaching in Yemen
The Associated Press
(AP) — The parents of an American shot to death in Yemen say he went there in 2009 to learn Arabic, not to proselytize, and became passionate about teaching business skills to Yemenis. Jim and Lynda Shrum said Monday that their 29-year-old son, Joel, ...

Militants kill American teacher in Yemen
Reuters
A police source in the city of Taiz said a gunman riding on a motorcycle driven by an accomplice shot the US English language teacher, who was also deputy director of a language school, the Swedish Institute. Officials from the institute in Taiz, ...

Education by the Numbers
Huffington Post (blog)
Since some people think that everything in education can be reduced to a number, let's follow their lead. 76: The percentage of teachers who report that their school's budget decreased in the last year (after the recession officially ended).

Group pressing ballot question on teachers starts ad campaign
Boston Herald
“For almost a decade Stand for Children has brought together students, parents and teachers across Massachusetts to work together for change so every child has the best education with great teachers and great schools,” the participants say during the ...

Next step in 21st century education for students in Africa
Reuters
Eight secondary schools have now received the PC as a Service solution More than 500 multi-year scholarships are planned to be distributed in 2012 Some 5000 African students and theirteachers in four countries can benefit from connectivity to a 21 st ...

Gunmen kill American teacher in Yemen
USA TODAY
SANAA, Yemen (AP) – Two gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead early Sunday an American teacher working at a language institute in a central Yemeni city, the region's provincial governor said. By Anees Mayhoub, AP Yemenis gather around a damaged vehicle ...

USA TODAY

Archipelago Learning Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines
msnbc.com
Archipelago Learning reported earnings on Thursday. Here are the numbers you need to know. The 10-second takeaway For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Archipelago Learning beat expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

BC teachers debate Bill 22 response plan
CTV.ca
The union representing British Columbia's 41000 teachers is remaining mum on how it will react to a recently enacted law that has forced members back to work. The BC Teachers' Federation is currently holding its annual convention in Vancouver, ...

Learning Research, Inc. Entering Strong Market According to Asia's Richest Man ...
MarketWatch (press release)
AUSTIN, Texas, Mar 19, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- eDoorways International Corporation (OTN:EDWY) announced today that the Company's subsidiary, Learning Research, Inc. is poised to enter a prominently growing industry according to Li-Ka Shing, ...

Report: US makes modest gains in graduation rate
Boston.com
By Kimberly Hefling AP Education Writer / March 19, 2012 HAGERSTOWN, Md.—The last straw for 17-year-old Alton Burke was a note left on his door. The high school dropout picked up the phone and re-enrolled at South Hagerstown High.

American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Honors Contributions to Dental ...
MarketWatch (press release)
ORLANDO, Fla., Mar 19, 2012 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- The American Dental EducationAssociation (ADEA) will recognize the contributions of many dental educators, researchers, and students at the 2012 ADEA Annual Session & Exhibition in Orlando, ...

Investcorp acquires UK education group
Reuters
DUBAI, March 19 (Reuters) - Investcorp Corp, a Bahraini alternative investment manager, on Monday said it acquired UK-based education firm GL Education Group for an undisclosed amount. Investcorp, which once floated luxury brands Gucci and Tiffany & Co ...

Are Some Brains Better at Learning Languages?
Discovery News
Neuroscientists are still trying to understand all the various brain regions involved in learning language. In his spare time, an otherwise ordinary 16-year old boy from New York taught himself Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, Swahili, and a dozen other ...

Gunman kills teacher, 3 kids at French Jewish school
KXLY Spokane
The victims included a teacher at the school and his two children. A 3-year-old child was also among the dead, and a 17-year-old was wounded, local prosecutor Michael Valet said. The gunman got close enough to his victims to shoot them in the head, ...

American Teacher Shot Dead by Jihadists in Yemen - Atlas Shrugs
By Pamela Geller
The English language teacher, who was deputy director of the Swedish Institute school, was shot dead in his car in the city of Taez by a passenger on a motorcycle, security officials said In a statement, the Fighters of Ansar al-Sharia, ...
Atlas Shrugs

Should K-12 Teachers Have Tenure? Becker - The Becker-Posner ...
By Gary Becker
Whether that conclusion is correct or not, neither of these arguments made for having tenure in higher education has close applicability to teachers at the K-12 level. They publish very little, and mainly teach materials that are ... I do not believe this argument is correct since whereas it is hard to judge when hiring a new teacher how good she will be, it is not difficult to know teachingquality after someone has been teaching for a few years. The principal gets feedback from parents and ...
The Becker-Posner Blog

Please Touch Museum Starts New Education Programs « CBS Philly
By TimothyJMcL
The Please Touch Museum has created a number of programs to help fill the gaps in earlyeducation left due to recent budget cuts. ... There's also learning programs for parents such as the Passport to Kindergarten program on March 24th. “ They can learn more about the kindergarten registration process, they take a tour of a real ... They'll be kindergarten teachersavailable to talk to parents and show the kids around the class room.” For more info on the Passport to Kindergarten ...
CBS Philly

Less Sympathy, More Empathy - Rick Hess Straight Up - Education ...
By Rick Hess
Education policy maven Rick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute think tank offers straight talk on matters of policy, politics, research, and reform. Follow Rick and AEI's Education Program on Twitter http://twitter.com/AEIeducation.
Rick Hess Straight Up

MIT to develop new Open Learning Enterprise unit for online learning
By Tony Bates
MIT will make the open-learning software available free of cost, so that others… can leverage the same software for their online education offerings. MITx will be coupled with an Institute-wide research initiative into online ... Most people won't care, as long as it works, but in general, I am against the principles of both reinventing the wheel, or making big mistakes in teaching which result in learners suffering. My suggestion: get MIT to appoint some professionals with experience in ...
Tony Bates

Should public school teachers have tenure? Posner - The Becker ...
By Richard Posner
The narrow question whether public school teachers should continue to have tenure, as they mostly still do, opens into the broad question of the extent to which education should be provided by a free market or by the government. It is rare for private ... Teacher tenure is now under fire in many states as are teachers' unions. There is general ... Perhaps more important—and perhaps tipping the balance in favor of tenure—effective teaching is difficult to evaluate. The movement against ...
The Becker-Posner Blog

Thinkfinity: Economics & Personal Finance: Should K-12 Teachers ...
By noreplies@thinkfinity.org
"K-12 tenure is justified with the argument that the quality of teachers is not known or objectively measured...it is hard to judge when hiring a new teacher how good she will be, it is not difficult to know teaching quality after someone has been teaching for a few years." "Having the power to get rid of the bad ... Posner: "There is general recognition that education provides significant external benefits—significant enough to warrant public subsidy. But public subsidy needn't imply public ...
Economics & Personal Finance

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