The Week: Most Recent education

How much America spends on graduation gifts: By the numbers

The Week — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:43:00 -0400

The class of 2012 might be heading into an unwelcoming job market, burdened by heavy student loans, but, for many, there's a thin silver lining. Parents, grandparents, other relatives, and family friends will be showering them with graduation gifts. Here, a look at the financial ups and downs of graduation:

$4.7 billion
Amount Americans are expected to spend on gifts for college and high school graduates this year, according to a National Retail Federation survey

30.7
Percentage of Americans who bought gifts in 2011. That percentage is expected to rise by a few points this year.

58
Percentage of gift...

The 7 dumbest reasons schoolkids get suspended

The Week — Tue, 22 May 2012 07:59:00 -0400

Lately schools seem to be "giving out suspensions like they're pencils," says Jacqueline Burt at The Stir, with arguably well-meaning students being punished for a smorgasbord of what critics are calling trite and ridiculous reasons, ranging from giving hugs to Tebowing. Late last week, a Texas middle schooler joined the ranks of students suspended for silly reasons after he shaved the image of his favorite basketball player into his hair. Here, seven strange reasons students have been suspended:

1. A creative haircut
Patrick Gonzalez, a 12-year-old student at Woodlake Hills Middle School...

Should kindergarteners be allowed to evaluate teachers?

The Week — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:33:00 -0400

A the tender age of 5 some kids are just learning how to spell "cat." In Georgia, though, 5-year-olds will soon be tasked with filling out surveys that could help determine which teachers get raises — or get fired. Under a pilot program, students from kindergarten and up will be asked whether their instructors know a lot about what they teach, and if they provide help when their pupils need it. The littlest ones will be guided through the process, circling smiley faces — or neutral or frowning ones — to indicate their opinions. Georgia is at the forefront of a movement to make...

New Jersey's 'reveal a secret' third-grade test question: The fallout

The Week — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:15:00 -0400

State education officials in New Jersey got an earful from parents recently after third graders were given a standardized test question asking them to reveal a secret and explain why it was hard to keep. Several parents complained that the question was inappropriate for 8-year-olds. The state Department of Education reviewed the test, and agreed, promising that the question wouldn't be used in the future. How did such a controversial question wind up on a standardized test in the first place? Here's what you should know:

How many kids answered this question?
The question appeared on the tests...

Should a teacher be fired for making students wear a doggie 'cone of shame'?

The Week — Fri, 11 May 2012 16:58:00 -0400

A teacher in Pasco County, Florida, is in hot water for punishing her students... by making them wear a cone-shaped dog collar. Parents saw pictures on Facebook showing 9th graders at Zephyrhills High wearing the collar, and complained. Now schools superintendent Heather Fiorentino has recommended that the physical science teacher, Laurie Bailey-Cutkomp, be fired. Is that a fitting end to this strange story of discipline gone wrong? Here's what you need to know:

What was this teacher thinking?
Bailey-Cutkomp worked in the veterinary field before starting her teaching job, so she had one of the collars...

Who's to blame for the rising cost of student loans?

The Week — Wed, 09 May 2012 13:49:00 -0400

This week, Senate Republicans blocked a measure that would prevent interest rates on government-subsidized student loans from doubling in two months — a move that comes at a time of already-intense anxiety over soaring college costs, which show no signs of stabilizing. Outstanding student debt in America recently reached the $1 trillion mark, surpassing the county's credit card and auto loan debt, and economists say it's becoming a burden on the broader economy. Who's to blame for this mess?

1. Republicans
The GOP says it has no desire to see interest rates on subsidized loans go up, but...

Princeton's crackdown on frats: Too harsh?

The Week — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:30:00 -0400

Hide those kegs. Princeton University officials announced Wednesday that any freshman caught joining, rushing, or pledging a Greek organization — either fraternity or sorority — could face immediate suspension. The policy will be implemented this fall. What does the Ivy League school have against frat life? Here, a brief guide:

Why is Princeton cracking down?
About 15 percent of the Princeton student body — or about 800 students — belong to one of the 12 fraternities and four sororities loosely connected to the school. But Princeton has never officially recognized...

A student debt crisis that cannot be ignored

The Week — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 08:00:00 -0400

Last week, in an appearance with smooth and snazzy Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Mitt Romney, awkward as usual, did something that made him seem even more robotic. He was about to walk off the stage after a run-of-the-mill speech when an invisible switch was flipped, and Romney, like a wound-up toy soldier, returned to the microphone and added, "I forgot to mention at the very beginning... I fully support the effort to extend the low interest rate on student loans."

You forgot to mention? With a July 1 deadline looming for Congress to act to prevent interest rates on millions of federal student loans...

Should high schools stop seniors from bragging about college admissions?

The Week — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:57:00 -0400

New York City prep schools are trying to take some of the sting out of college admissions season. To soften the blow for students who've received rejection letters, the super-competitive Horace Mann School forbids all pupils from wearing college apparel — including the ultimate "I got in" status symbol, the Ivy League sweatshirt — until after May 1, when most college-bound seniors will know where they're going. Other schools are telling students not to boast about their acceptance letters until the school year ends. Will banning bragging really do any good?

This is pointless coddling...

Does school bullying cause young victims to age prematurely?

The Week — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:11:00 -0400

Bullying might make school kids old before their time... literally. In a new study published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, scientists say that exposure to violence actually causes cells in the bodies of young victims to age at a faster rate than those of their peers, which could have a profound effect on their health years down the road. Here, a brief guide to the findings:

How can being bullied age you?
Exposure to violence is, among other things, a form of stress. Like other stresses, it can elevate oxidation and inflammation in the body, says the study's lead author, Idan Shalev of Duke...

The hopelessness of college waitlists: A guide

The Week — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 10:19:00 -0400

Most college-bound high school seniors will know by May 1 if they got accepted to the school of their choice, or at least made the waitlist. But here's a hard reality check: For most students, being waitlisted is "not much better than a rejection," admissions consultant Elizabeth Heaton tells The Wall Street Journal. Other experts call the waitlist just plain "mean." Here's a look at the pitiful odds game, and what to do if you're placed in admissions limbo.

Just how bad are your chances of advancing past the waitlist?
The numbers at elite universities are pretty grim: Yale took in 103 (out of...

How the U.S. can find and train more great teachers

The Week — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 09:25:00 -0400

Consider Laura. When she entered the third grade, she couldn't understand the stories all her friends enjoyed. She was even too embarrassed to read aloud. Why? She could only read at a first grade level.

Laura's hardly alone — but that's small comfort. A recent study from the Annie E. Casey Foundation found that one in six children who are not reading proficiently by the third grade does not graduate from high school on time. In other words, Laura's abilities in third grade may very well determine her future.

By the time Laura finished third grade, however, she loved to read and was prepared...

Should colleges charge more for popular classes?

The Week — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 10:26:00 -0400

The Great Recession hit California community colleges particularly hard, with spending cuts forcing administrators to cancel hundreds of classes, and the remaining classes growing overcrowded. One school, Santa Monica College, has concocted an innovative way to ease the jam in lecture halls without going deeper in the red: A two-tiered fee system, to be introduced this summer, that will charge the school's 34,000 students extra to enroll in the most popular courses. If the gambit works, other colleges might follow suit. But is this fair? Here, a brief guide to this controversial new policy:

Are...

Bully's planned PG-13 re-cut: So much for principles?

The Week — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:07:00 -0400

Though the anti-bullying documentary Bully has dominated entertainment news headlines, it opened this weekend in just five theaters. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) originally gave the film, which chronicles five bullied children and their families over the course of a school year, an R rating because of six instances of the word "fuck." The movie's distributors, the Weinstein Company, argued that the rating would bar the target demographic of adolescents from seeing it, and refused to cut the offending footage, maintaining that doing so would blunt the film's impact. Harvey Weinstein...

Bully: Oscar-worthy documentary or 'extended PSA'?

The Week — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 14:28:00 -0400

For months leading up to its Friday release, the anti-bullying documentary Bully has dominated entertainment headlines due to the rating war between its distributors and the Motion Pictures Association of America (MPAA). The MPAA originally saddled the film (watch the trailer below) with an R rating because of a handful of f-words, barring adolescents — "the very demographic that can best be served, educated, informed and ameliorated by the civic values it teaches," says The New York Observer — from seeing the movie. Now Bully is being released without a rating...

Bully's unrated release: A big mistake?

The Week — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 13:49:00 -0400

The buzzy new documentary Bully will hit theaters this Friday — but only five theaters will screen it, thanks to a standoff between producers and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). After the MPAA gave the anti-school-bullying documentary a restrictive R rating that would have prevented kids from seeing the film without a parent, its producers made the rare decision to ignore the MPAA and release the film with no rating at all. (The MPAA slapped an R on Bully because of six instances of the word "fuck.") Now, Bully's very limited release might have the same effect...