Probe finds test cheating at several D.C. schools

Teachers in three District classrooms cheated last year on high-stakes standardized tests, according to the results of an investigation released Friday morning by the Office of the State Superintendent, The Washington Post reports.

Superintendent Hosanna Mahaley said the probe’s findings show that the vast majority of the city’s school staff and students are “playing by the rules” on the D.C. Comprehensive Assessment System — the standardized test used to measure student achievement and teacher effectiveness.

“Widespread cheating was not found,” Mahaley added.…Read More

How LeBron James focused for games: Reading books. Tell the kids.

Miami Heat star LeBron James had a somewhat surprising practice that he used to focus before games, including during the final series in which he led his team to the National Basketball Association championship: He read books. Tell the kids, the Washington Post reports. James, who went from high school straight into the National Basketball Association, bypassing college, was seen before and even after games reading one book after another, one genre after another.  There was “The Hunger Games,” and the other books in the science fiction trilogy by Suzanne Collins. There were, according to ESPN, books on history, biographies, psychology and more. He read sitting in front of his locker “The Pact,” about three boys from tough backgrounds deciding to go to college and then medical school…

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Students too poor for graduation get help from community

Family financial struggles prevent many students from going to school dances and participating in other festivities that accompany the end of eighth grade — a trend that is illuminated in Laura Klein’s recent “Teacher’s Diary” for The New York Times. Proms, “senior” trips and graduation ceremonies are expensive occasions in themselves, not to mention the cost of accessories and primping that often go along with them.

“Who wants to go to graduation? It’s just eighth grade — why is it a big deal?” One of Klein’s strongest students answered when asked why she hadn’t paid senior dues. “When you graduate high school is when it matters,” she said. “I’ll go then instead.”

The knowledge that many of her students are unable to afford these events prompted Klein and her co-teacher to organize a collection for those students who have earned the right to attend, but are unable to due to financial limitations. Klein writes that her co-teacher’s brother’s barbershop sponsors a fundraiser, and neighbors and friends chip in to sponsor a senior. Following the event, the students write thank-you notes to the people who helped them attend, and teachers send pictures of the kids having fun at prom and graduation……Read More

College Board sets up 857 desks on National Mall

While schools across the country are letting out this week, class is in session on the National Mall. That is where the College Board set up 857 student desks in the blazing sun Tuesday, the Associated Press reports. The empty desks – one for each student who drops out each hour of every school day, according to the College Board – are part of its “Don’t Forget Ed!” campaign. For the launch Wednesday, College Board representatives including college-aged students will circle the seats on the Mall, asking passersby to sign petitions urging the presidential candidates to say more about education reform. One of those students is Merone Tesfaye, 18, who will attend the University of Wisconsin in the fall.

“This is supposed to be the land of opportunity, and most people don’t pursue a secondary education, because they can’t afford it,” said Tesfaye, who will take the train from New York City to Washington, D.C., to help kick off the campaign.

The number of desks is derived from a statistic reported by Education Week in 2007 saying that 1.2 million students drop out every year. The campaign is the College Board’s first venture into the world of politics, though its vice president of communications, Peter Kauffmann, assured that they are not endorsing any candidates……Read More

Amid massive budget cuts, teachers opt to work for free

A group of teachers at Benefield Elementary School in Lawrenceville, Ga. are offering free reading classes to students this summer, the Huffington Post reports. Led by teacher Karon Stocks, more than 40 teachers are volunteering three hours once a week during the summer months to keep kids’ minds sharp, helping them review what they learned during the academic year. Around 100 families have already shown up for the classes in the three weeks the teachers have been operating.

“I think it’s really important that the [kids] not just be on the computer or watching TV,” Stocks told WGCL-TV. The initiative by Stocks and her coworkers comes as Gwinnett County schools is facing an $89 million revenue shortfall. The drop in funding is attributable to environmental changes like declines in tax revenue, loss of federal stimulus funds, increase in health insurance premiums for employees and the need to hire more teachers due to enrollment growth…

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Commencement speaker blasts students

Here’s a new one in the annals of commencement speakers: A teacher at Wellesley High School in Massachusetts gave his address to the Class of 2012 and blasted the students, telling them over and over, “You’re not special,” the Washington Post reports. David McCullough Jr., an English teacher at the school, delivered his rather unusual speech (see full text below) Friday, telling graduating seniors that they had been “pampered, cosseted, doted upon, helmeted, bubble-wrapped.” It was all said in the context of telling students that there is a big wide world out there and that they should not succumb to a culture in which everyone gets a trophy. McCullough, son of the award-winning historian David McCullough Sr., advised the students to seize the future by doing what they love, rather than taking a job for money.

“Climb the mountain not to plant your flag, but to embrace the challenge, enjoy the air and behold the view. Climb it so you can see the world, not so the world can see you,” he said near the end of the speech. But he wasn’t exactly kind in getting to his message…

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High school salutatorian was banned from returning to U.S. over visa technicality

Elizabeth Olivas, 18, was all set to graduate as salutatorian of her Frankfort, Ind., high school class when she was forced to return to her native Mexico due to a technicality with her visa: She missed the application date by one day because of the leap year, the Indianapolis Star reports. Although Olivas has lived in Indiana since she was 4 years old, U.S. immigration law required her to fly to Mexico within six months of turning 18 in order to get a visa or green card — a trip she made one day late. The consequence? A three-year ban on returning to the United States…

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Son of mogul receives full ride to UCLA despite dad’s fortune

The debate over America’s love-hate relationship with higher education has increased a notch with news that an expensive full-ride scholarship to UCLA has been awarded to a teenager who hardly needs the cash: Justin Combs, Calvin Wolf for Yahoo! News reports. Combs is the son of hip-hop mogul Sean Combs (Diddy, P. Diddy, Puff Daddy, etc.), and received a $54,000 per annum football scholarship, reported the day after his high school graduation on May 24 by Britain’s Daily Mail. The editorial staff of The Week are all over the debate, with proponents and critics of wealthy kids receiving merit scholarships arguing over various issues, including whether or not the funds come from taxpayer sources or private donors.  While Justin Combs certainly put in lots of hard work to land his scholarship and may well be deserving of it, his lack of financial need does highlight an important issue that has been gnawing at the financial efficiency of higher education: Should rich kids get scholarships at all and instead follow the mantra success is its own reward? Basically, is it right to reward poor, working-class and lower-middle-class teens for their efforts while expecting their wealthier peers to labor simply on the merits?

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Is college still worth it? Teachers react to unemployment statistics

For Ohio high school teacher S. Alexander Cooke, the end result of college shouldn’t be about the employment waiting after graduation, Yahoo! News reports.

“The most successful college graduates use college to better themselves. Life is about more than a job, and education is too,” he wrote Thursday in a commentary about the state of American education and employment.

It might not surprise you to hear a teacher extol on the virtues of college education. However, it might come as a shock to hear this: The Bureau of Labor Statistics says, for the first time ever, there are more jobless Americans who attended or graduated college than unemployed who never enrolled. According to BLS stats cited by Investors.com, of the 9 million unemployed in April, 4.7 million went to college or graduated and 4.3 million did not. We asked high school teachers: Would you recommend college for your students when confronted with numbers like this? The overwhelming response was yes……Read More

Detroit fights summer slump

Bored Detroit youth should have an easier time finding something to do this summer thanks to a new initiative launched Thursday morning, the Huffington Post reports. The Detroit Summer Learning Connection is an effort to promote summertime educational activities by teaching parents about the advantages of these experiences, assisting program providers and acting as a central clearinghouse for summer youth programming. The effort is being sponsored by The Youth Connection, a local nonprofit, and the National Summer Learning Association, which is helping to fund the project. The Youth Connection expects between 150 and 200 summer programs — everything from 3D Architectural Design With Legos to the Summer Dreams Music Camp to chess at the DIA to the Detroit Lions Youth Football Camp — to join the initiative by the time the school year ends in June. Programming is divided on the project’s website into “low cost” and “no cost.”

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Watch: 10 year-old, is Mexico’s youngest college student

10 year-old Dafne Almazán Anaya is Mexico’s youngest college student. She is currently enrolled at the Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey (“Technology Institute of Monterrey”) where she’s studying to earn a degree in Psychology, the Huffington Post reports. Dafne started primary school when she was 6 yrs old. In less than four years she graduated from primary, middle school and high school and is now on her to getting her college degree. Despite her younger age, Dafne followed the same curriculum as the rest of her older classmates in high school.

“I used to imitate my sister when she was doing her homework, I started copying her and I started trying to the homework,” said Dafne in this reported piece by FOROtv, a broadcast television network owned by Televisa. At the time she was three years old. The smart genes run in the family. Dafne’s older siblings are also gifted kids. Her brother, Andrew, graduated from college when he was 16 years old with a degree in psychology. At 18, he is currently studying to become a doctor…

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Watch: Radio host blames public schools for rise of same-sex marriage support

On the heels of President Obama’s public endorsement of gay marriage, Todd Starnes, host of the daily radio show “Fox News & Commentary,” has said he blames public schools for the increased support for same-sex marriage in the country, the Huffington Post reports.

“… The reason why is because of the public school system,” Starnes said on “FoxNews.com Live” on May 10. “Look at what’s happening in public schools, they’re indoctrination centers. Boys and girls are having their views formulated on gay marriage through the public school system and that’s why it’s becoming generational.”  The LGBT blog “Equality Matters” noted that Starnes took to Twitter after making the comments, posting a series of tweets carrying the same message…

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