Curriculum Matters

July 17, 2008 1:15 PM

What would happen if instead of silencing or confiscating cell phones in the classroom, teachers encouraged students to use them? Hall Davidson, the director of the Discovery Educator Network, wants teachers to realize the potential power cell phones hold for enlivening lessons and engaging students in the content they are learning. Most cell phones, Davidson points out, now have a number of technological features that schools used to pay thousands of dollars for as separate devices—camera, video recorder, GPS, text messaging, music player—and many students, even in low-income areas, own one. At a weeklong workshop for a corps of...

By July 15, 2008 at 5:10 PM

A couple years ago, a bunch of leading business organizations set an ambitious goal: "Double the number of U.S. science, technology, engineering, and mathematics graduates with bachelor's degrees by 2015." But as those leaders frankly acknowledged this week, the nation has barely moved toward hitting that mark so far. The United States produced 223,255 such grads in 2005, and that number had only risen to 225,660 by 2007, reported the members of Tapping America's Potential, the business coalition. That's light years removed from their goal of reaching 400,000 by 2015. Several members of TAP, as they ...
STEM, Science, Technology, Engineering, Math

By July 15, 2008 at 11:39 AM

Anyone interested in how schools, particularly those in rural communities, are recruiting and retaining math and science teachers and attempting to improve instruction in those subjects, might sit in on a forum taking place on Capitol Hill tomorrow (Wednesday, July 16.) Edvantia, an organization that researches rural school issues, is hosting an event that will highlight the work of the National Science Foundation in promoting math and science education in rural areas. Those communities often struggle to lure and keep capable math and science teachers, already in short supply in schools nationwide. The forum, which begins at 9 a.m. ...

July 14, 2008 4:19 PM

Quote of the day from Nicholas Krisof's opinion piece in yesterday's New York Times, which touts the efforts of Greg Mortenson and his book, "Three Cups of Tea," about building schools in Pakistan: “I am convinced that the long-term solution to terrorism in general, and Afghanistan specifically, is education,” Lt. Col. Christopher Kolenda, who works on the Afghan front lines, said in an e-mail in which he raved about Mr. Mortenson’s work. “The conflict here will not be won with bombs but with books. ... The thirst for education here is palpable.”...

July 14, 2008 4:13 PM

The debate rages on over Reading First, with supporters trying to make their case for preserving the federal program, which they say is proving itself in higher test results, improved teacher knowledge, and support among educators. The critics are picking through the data and arguing that, at best, there is little evidence that it is effective, and, at worst, is promoting a low-level form of literacy in its skills-based approach. Over at USAToday.com there are about 60 comments! to this story by Greg Toppo, arguing for and against and otherwise. And the debate continues among researchers like Reid Lyon ...

By July 14, 2008 at 3:21 PM

On occasion, you hear about systematic cheating, academic fraud, or gamesmanship in U.S. classrooms. Sometimes it gets blamed on the pressure school administrators face to boost students' test scores, or simply on an educator's or coach's desire to single out a student for special treatment. But if you want a look at educational impropriety on an entirely different scale, check out this story in today's Washington Post, which touches on the apparently endemic corruption in Russia's schools. The article focuses on the scope and impact of bribery in Russia today—and on President Dmitri Medvedev's vow to stamp it out....

By July 10, 2008 at 2:17 PM

Any way you slice it, California's decision to require that students take Algebra 1, and be tested in it, in 8th grade is a major undertaking for the state. Supporters of the action, including the state's board of education and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, believe the state needs to be setting more demanding standards in math. They've also argued that without the requirement, the state is essentially promoting a two-tier system, in which some students are challenged with algebra in 8th grade and others take more generic math courses. Opposing the requirement was California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell, who ...

By July 9, 2008 at 11:46 AM

Yesterday, I wrote about a new study that purports to show a link between high-stakes tests in reading and math and gains in student achievement in science. The study examines test results in Florida, and it gets at a crucial question in education these days: Is science being pushed out of the curriculum to make way for reading and math? The authors suggest the answer is no. In the spirit of bringing some outside scrutiny to that work, I called David N. Figlio, a professor of economics at the University of Florida who has studied the effects of testing and ...

July 8, 2008 2:35 PM

I missed this entry at Edbizbuzz while I was on vacation, but it's worth backtracking for a good discussion on plagiarism by guest blogger Dorothy Mikuska. Mikuska, a veteran English teacher who developed a software program for helping students organize and manage their work for school research papers, describes four reasons students plagiarize: "disengaged learning; poor reading skills; lack of organizational and metacognitive skills; and careless documentation." In the computer age, she adds, students "no longer take notes, but merely copy/paste from online sources without reflecting, analyzing, synthesizing, or evaluating their information. Research has become as mechanical as the ...

By July 8, 2008 at 9:57 AM

Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, science education advocates have worried that the law's emphasis on reading and math has resulted in their favorite subject getting pushed out of the curriculum—presumably, with students learning less about it. A study released today, however, argues that is not necessarily happening. At least not in Florida. The research, published by the Manhattan Institute, examines the impact of high-stakes testing in reading and math in Florida on students' performance in science. At the time of the study, science was a "low stakes" subject there, meaning poor test scores did ...
STEM, Science, Technology, Engineering, Math

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