Students now required to take standardized sex ed, health test

D.C. is treading on shaky ground, considering the polarizing issues of sex education in public schools and standardized testing.

According to the District of Columbia’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), D.C. public schools are planning to test students on their knowledge of human sexuality, contraception, and drug use this spring.

The D.C. OSSE, which developed the 50-question exam for grades 5, 8 and 10, said it will be the first standardized test on health and sex education in the country.

The city’s rates of childhood obesity, sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy are among the highest in the country. School officials say the test will help determine what students know about risky behavior.…Read More

Watch: Years later, ex-students publicly tell former teachers, ‘You made a difference’

In recognition of Labor Day, we’d like to draw your attention to a new campaign that focuses on the work that teachers do, and the ubiquity of their influence, the Huffington Post reports. The “You Made A Difference” campaign is an effort to let teachers know how they have made a difference in former students’ lives by allowing those former students to thank their teachers by writing a note or uploading a public video to Facebook or YouTube…

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