The Answer Sheet: back-to-school


Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 09/14/2010

Obama picked wrong school to give speech
By Valerie Strauss
The Philadelphia school chosen for President Obama’s second annual “back to school” speech to students around the country is consistently ranked as a great public college-preparatory institution. That’s why he should have picked a different school to visit.

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:00 AM ET, 09/14/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  School turnarounds/reform | Tags:  central falls high school, elliott school, obama and back to school, obama and back to school speech, obama and masterman school, obama and school reform, obama and speech, obama and speech and students, obama speech, president obama and back to school, president obama and school reform, restructured schools, t.c. williams, t.c. williams high school, urgent need of reform list

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 08/31/2010

Surviving back-to-school night
By Valerie Strauss
Two problems that can mar back to school night -- the annual event when parents and teachers get together at the start of the new year -- are the parents and the teachers

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 08/31/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  back to school night

Posted at 12:00 PM ET, 10/20/2009

Going back to college at 59: You can't do it "on a shoestring"
By Valerie Strauss
By Kay Dawson. I went back to school at the age of 59--and I’ve learned a lot more than Spanish. Books are heavier. Combining a caffeinated soft drink and a two-hour class with a 59-year-old bladder is not a great idea. Professors are so young. But what seems to have changed the most from when I was last in school is that it is no longer possible to go to college on a shoestring.

By Valerie Strauss  |  12:00 PM ET, 10/20/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  Going back to school at 59, Higher Education

Posted at 11:55 AM ET, 09/11/2009

P.S.: Who Watched Obama's Back-to-School Speech
By Valerie Strauss
My colleague Nick Anderson on the national schools beat offers a postscript to the flap over President Obama's back-to-school speech: There was much buzz beforehand about whether it was appropriate to show students the speech that Obama gave Tuesday at...

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:55 AM ET, 09/11/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Civics Education, Civics Education, Civics Education | Tags:  Arlington Public Schools, Calvert County Schools, D.C. schools, Fairfax County Public Schools, Howard County schools, Montgomery County Schools, P.G. Schools, President Obama, back-to-school, education speech

Posted at 09:13 AM ET, 09/09/2009

School Fashion Issues Start Early--And Don't Go Away
By Valerie Strauss
When I was in junior high school it seemed that everybody but me had cool Villager skirts and designer shirts. My family went to Sears to buy back-to-school clothes, and I tried to replicate “the look” but it looked like...

By Valerie Strauss  |  09:13 AM ET, 09/09/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Parents | Tags:  Back-to-school clothes, Parentings

Posted at 12:00 PM ET, 08/31/2009

New Rules for Back- to-School Night
By Valerie Strauss
This really happened: An administrator at a school in Montgomery County welcomed several hundred parents at back-to-school night by relating his extensive experience as an educator and as a soldier. Then he said, “So you can see I am...

By Valerie Strauss  |  12:00 PM ET, 08/31/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Parents, Parents | Tags:  back to school night, parent, teachers