Charter schools aspire to be ‘diverse by design’
When a group of Mid-City residents proposed opening a school four years ago that would be racially and economically diverse, they were greeted with doubt, according to the…
hechinger report
Study: New teachers more educated, of higher caliber
Teaching may be attracting a more academically successful group of people compared to previous years, according to a new study released Wednesday.
The inside story on LA schools’ iPad rollout: “a colossal disaster”
Scarcely a month ago, on August 27, the Los Angeles County Unified School District placed the first iPads in students’ hands at the outset of a $1 billion…
Why states are backing out on common standards and tests
The bloom is surely off the rose of Common Core, the new English and math standards pushed by Washington, D.C. education trade organizations and the Obama administration, according…
Left behind in science: Why Mississippi’s children lose out on STEM jobs
At the end of his sophomore year, Damonta Morgan left Clarksdale High School as one of its top students, according to The Hechinger Report.
New York City schools hoping to use social media in the classroom
Digital learning is one of those trendy education buzz phrases that means a lot of different things to different people, says the Hechinger Report.
Mississippi debate over school reform evokes broader racial divide
Mississippi lawmaker Kenneth Wayne Jones, a Democrat, briefly became a political pariah last winter when he voted in favor of a proposal to expand charter schools in his…
Economic reality marries age-old idea of apprenticeship with college
Five-foot-two Jesica Bush exudes confidence, whether she's scribbling notes in a 6:30 a.m. class at Bates Technical College here or wrestling 900-pound girders atop a mock two-story building,…
Student advising plays key role in college success, as it’s being cut
Devon Mills pulls out his smartphone at a Starbucks on the Arizona State University campus, and maps out how long it will take him to finish his undergraduate…
Ballot initiatives could transform state education policies
As millions of Americans head to the polls Tuesday, most of the attention will be on the tight presidential race, says the Hechinger Report.
Survey: Today’s teaching force less experienced, more open to change
More inexperienced teachers are in today's classrooms than ever before and they are more open than their veteran colleagues to performance-driven options for how they're evaluated and paid,…
First ‘parent trigger’ moves to a crucial vote after court ruling
About nine months ago, at a small park playground a few hundred feet from their children's struggling school, a group of parents chanted, cheered and delivered passionate speeches…
No Hollywood ending for real-life ‘Won’t Back Down’ school
Doreen Diaz left the red carpet movie premiere of “Won’t Back Down” in New York City last week feeling encouraged, says the Hechinger Report.
Not all private schools parallel Romney education plan
Expanding school choice is a central piece of Mitt Romney's education platform. But allowing more public dollars to follow low-income and special-needs children to private schools -- one…
Rhee at GOP convention: Reform will require ‘getting ready for a fight’
Former D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee called for classroom teachers unhappy with the system to brace themselves for battle, says the Hechinger Report.
‘Flipped classroom’ model’s promise eludes poorer school districts
When Portland, Ore., elementary school teacher Sacha Luria decided last fall to try out a new education strategy called "flipping the classroom," she faced a big obstacle, says…
Improving teachers: Millions spent, but little done to make sure it’s working
Helping struggling teachers improve has become a big concern–and a big business–across the country, especially as more states, including New York, introduce more rigorous teacher evaluations, says the…
Social media and video games in classrooms can yield valuable data for teachers
Social media, video games, blogs and wikis are playing increasingly important roles in classrooms across the country, according to the Hechinger Report.
U.S. to fall short of 2025 college grads goal–by 24 million degrees
Despite persistent appeals from policymakers and politicians to increase the number of college graduates in the United States, a new report projects a shortfall of nearly 24 million…
Teaching software flooding into New Jersey classrooms
A computer voice guides 12-year-old Amir Accoo to spell the words he hears through his headphones: emergency, bulldozer, minutes. Accoo spells "minutes" wrong and is asked to try…
Merit pay for teachers in Indiana school districts raise questions
f your child's teacher seems a little bit on edge this year, it might not be your imagination. Education reforms now going into effect in Indiana, and similar…
Indiana school principals’ certification exam to be overhauled
Indiana is poised to dramatically overhaul the way it determines whether educators are qualified to become principals, according to the Hechinger Report.
Many students could skip remedial classes, studies find
Even as policymakers struggle to reform remedial-education requirements blamed for derailing the aspirations of countless community-college students, two new studies suggest that many of those students would do…
Tennessee teacher evaluation systems have rough road ahead
Rebecca Sellers, an eighth-grade English teacher at the Lester Pre-K-8 school in Memphis, looked wary as she walked into the teachers' lounge on a Monday afternoon last fall,…
Japanese strategy for improving teachers catches on in U.S.
In the sunlit library at Jorge Prieto Elementary on Chicago's northwest side, an experiment is under way, writes the Hechinger Report.
Complex new Florida teacher evaluations tied to student test scores
At Coral Reef Senior High, calculus teacher Orlando Sarduy understands complicated formulas, and knows he will be graded on how his students perform on tests. But despite his…
English learners far behind under English-only methods
The end of the school day in Patty Sanchez’s kindergarten class at Geddes Elementary School is not so different from other kindergarten classes around the state. Children gather…