Providence is top city in contest of ideas
When Angel Taveras, the mayor of Providence, R.I., got wind of a lucrative contest among mayors over ideas for improving their cities, his mind turned immediately to children,…
Month: March 2013
Apple’s iPad to fall behind Android as tablet war grows
Shipments of tablets running Google Inc's Android will overtake the iPad this year for the first time, research house IDC predicted on Tuesday, as Apple Inc cedes more…
Seven facts about K-12 ed-tech leaders
School district technology leaders aren't too optimistic that their ed-tech budgets will increase over the next year, and funding remains among the top challenges that face ed-tech leaders,…
Ed-tech leaders brace for online testing
What keeps ed-tech leaders up at night? Making sure their schools are prepared to roll out high-stakes testing to students online by the 2014-15 school year is a…
More teens use smart phones to get online
Keep computers in a common area so you can monitor what your kids are doing: It's a long-standing directive for online safety—but one that's quickly becoming moot as…
Discovery Ed expands Techbooks to include math
Discovery Education has announced that it will expand its digital textbook series to include mathematics. The Math Techbook is the latest addition to the company’s Techbook line, which…
Student class project leads to minimum wage jump
If anyone deserves an A+ this week it's Marisela Castro, a daughter of farmworkers who turned her Social Action class project at San Jose State University into a…
Tableau Software: Analytics for everyone, now free for students and teachers
Tableau Software recently announced that it would begin giving away its Tableau Desktop analytics software, says Christopher Dawson for ZDNet Education.
Texas district creates school SWAT team
A Texas school district has assembled a SWAT team to bolster school safety, local NBC affiliate KVEO reports. The decision comes after the Dec. 14 shooting at Sandy…
Watch: School goes makeup-free for one day
How long does it take you to get ready in the morning? According to a student-made video by the teens at Plano Senior High School in Texas, girls…
Report: Half trillion needed to update schools
America's schools are in such disrepair that it would cost more than $270 billion just to get elementary and secondary buildings back to their original conditions and twice…
How I turned my classroom into a ‘living video game’—and saw achievement soar
The notion that struggling and failing is important to learning runs counter to traditional approaches to U.S. education. In the world of gaming, however, the very elements of…
Philly coming to grips with mass school closings
When ninth-grader Zach Kaufmann found out his school was one of 27 targeted for closure in Philadelphia, he fought back, the Associated Press reports.
SD gov signs into law that teachers can be armed
South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard signed into law Friday a measure allowing the state's school districts to arm teachers and other personnel with guns, the first of its…
Opinion: Arguing about school reforms that go nowhere
In the 1990s, Las Montanas High School (a fictional name for a real place) throbbed with excitement over technological advances in California’s Silicon Valley where it was located,…
Arizona House passes anti-federal education bill
Dozens of public schools would be able to throw out federal education policy regulating academic standards, teacher evaluation requirements and student tracking systems under a measure approved by…
Seven steps to success with mobile learning
Implementing a mobile learning initiative is a complicated undertaking, no matter how much funding or stakeholder support you have. But a new resource from the Consortium for School…
U.S. public favors more spending on education
As President Barack Obama and lawmakers spar over huge federal deficits, they're confronted by a classic contradiction: Most Americans want government austerity, a new survey shows—but they also…
App of the week: Drawp
A free app for child creativity developed by an MIT physicist.
Randi Weingarten, AFT leader, arrested
The Philadelphia School Reform Commission voted tonight to close 23 public schools at a meeting where American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten was arrested along with 18…
Advocacy group to monitor reform efforts in public schools
Diane Ravitch, the historian and former assistant education secretary who has become an outspoken critic of those who favor high-stakes testing, tenure reforms and other controversial measures aimed…
U.S. probes racial disparities in Seattle school discipline
The Education Department is investigating whether Seattle's public school district discriminates against black students by subjecting them to tougher and more frequent discipline than white students, agency and…
Report: CPS has capacity to close, consolidate 80 schools
Chicago Public Schools' Commission on School Utilization late Wednesday released its final report on the district's plan to shutter dozens of its schools, the Huffington Post reports.
What makes a good broadband network for schools?
A panel of broadband experts recently agreed that high-quality access for schools and districts means more than providing a connection to the internet—good broadband provides a foundation for…
The best tweets of the week for education
Here are the education-related tweets that we found most enlightening, helpful, or interesting this week.
Could this school’s police program be a model for the country?
Every school day, Simpsonville, S.C., police officer Justin Chandler patrols the halls of Plain Elementary School, the Huffington Post reports.
Opinion: How social networking rules for teachers go too far
Teachers are expected to do a lot of things in the classroom — but what about outside? Asks the Washington Post.
Teacher-turned-lawmaker wants two diplomas to graduate high school
Missouri state Rep. Bryan Spencer, R-Wentzville, is a teacher by trade and a freshman lawmaker in the General Assembly. Spencer introduced House Bill 294 in mid-February which requires…
Can a school project make a difference in a community?
The Industrial Revolution isn’t exactly the sexiest of topics for high school students, TakePart.com reports.
Four keys to success with digital textbooks
Moving to digital textbooks is easier said than done—it takes months of planning, stakeholder buy-in, and perseverance. A new infographic from OnlineCollege.org pulls data from the Federal Communications…
Top ed-tech news: March 2013
Schools confront digital textbook challenges … Nanotechnology comes to an Illinois high school … Ed-tech consultant Alan November calls for a new approach to one-to-one computing: These are…
Launching a district data warehousing project
A redesign of a school district’s information systems is always a challenge, but Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools (WSFCS) was further complicated by rapid growth, changing demographics and school choice.…
Using Data to Boost Student Engagement and Retention
Student attrition is a costly problem for many colleges and universities. According to a recent survey, only two-thirds of enrolled students are retained from their freshman to sophomore…
Lawmakers mull changing school bargaining law
The largest teachers union in Kansas is warning of a "war" on educators as the Republican-dominated Legislature considers a proposal that would narrow contract negotiations between teachers and…
Opinion: Why the ‘learning pyramid’ is wrong
A lot of people believe that the “learning pyramid” that lists learning scenarios and average student retention rates is reliable, says the Washington Post.
Apple will reportedly launch new iPad next month, iPad mini sequel possible as well
April may not be the cruelest month for iPad fans this year, BGR News reports.
12 year-old has higher IQ than Einstein, Hawking
Move over Albert Einstein, Neha Ramu has you beat, the Huffington Post reports.
Schools shift from textbooks to tablets
Well before the cleanup from Superstorm Sandy was in full swing, students could read about the weather system that slammed the East Coast in their textbooks.
Climate change science poised to enter nation’s classrooms
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GOP budget plan includes no additional money for education
Republicans controlling the U.S. House of Representatives have introduced a budget plan that restores funding for defense and border security but adds no new funding for education, reports…