The Answer Sheet - School Survival Guide for parents (and everyone else).

Posted at 10:30 AM ET, 07/26/2012

U.S. Olympic Team’s surprising school sponsor

By Valerie Strauss

The United States Olympics Team has more than 30 official sponsors, but only one of them is a school. And the choice says a lot about where education is heading these days

By Valerie Strauss | 10:30 AM ET, 07/26/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 10:30 AM ET, 07/01/2012

A teacher’s perfect moment in the classroom (involving John Milton and John Mayer)

By Valerie Strauss

A teacher describes a perfect moment in her English Language Arts classroom when her students suddenly understood something they never had before. But it had nothing to do with test scores.

By Valerie Strauss | 10:30 AM ET, 07/01/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 12:58 AM ET, 06/29/2012

How GERM is infecting schools around the world

By Valerie Strauss

GERM is what renowned Finnish educator and author Pasi Sahlberg calls the Global Educational Reform Movement, which is like an epidemic that spreads and infects education systems through a virus. Here Sahlberg explains how to stop GERM in its tracks.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:58 AM ET, 06/29/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 06/28/2012

Keeping students safe: a bill even this Congress should be able to pass

By Valerie Strauss

Here’s a bill even this Congress should be able to pass:

By Valerie Strauss | 06:00 AM ET, 06/28/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 06/28/2012

Texas business leaders accuse educators of ‘scaring mom’ about standardized tests

By Valerie Strauss

The backlash in Texas against excessive high-stakes standardized testing seems to be rattling business leaders, who have now blamed teachers and administrators for panicking parents about the dangers of such testing.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:00 AM ET, 06/28/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 04:00 AM ET, 06/28/2012

The Spruce Goose of education reform

By Valerie Strauss

As educators throughout New York State scurry to finish completing the behemoth of grand plans to “reform” education for the children of this state, one is reminded of the debacle in design known as The Spruce Goose.

By Valerie Strauss | 04:00 AM ET, 06/28/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 04:55 PM ET, 06/26/2012

The real U-Va. story: The 99 percent win

By Valerie Strauss

OPINION | In the end, it wasn't really so much about the ousted and then reinstated president or the governing board leader.

By Valerie Strauss | 04:55 PM ET, 06/26/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 03:32 PM ET, 06/26/2012

Loch Ness Monster real in biology textbook

By Valerie Strauss

A biology textbook used by a Christian school in Louisiana that will be accepting students with publicly funded vouchers in the fall says that the Loch Ness Monster was real.

By Valerie Strauss | 03:32 PM ET, 06/26/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 09:59 AM ET, 06/26/2012

U-Va.: When the governing board got it right

By Valerie Strauss

Here’s a speech by University of Virginia Professor Peter Norton in support of ousted President Teresa Sullivan, whose reinstatement is being considered by the school’s governing board.

By Valerie Strauss | 09:59 AM ET, 06/26/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 06/26/2012

U-Va.: What the showdown will — and won’t — resolve

By Valerie Strauss

Even if Teresa Sullivan is reinstated as president of the University of Virginia on Tuesday, it won’t really end this painful, unnecessary episode over her ouster by the governing board.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:00 AM ET, 06/26/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 04:00 AM ET, 06/26/2012

A chocolate math problem (and solution)

By Valerie Strauss

Have you ever gotten an e-mail with a list of math instructions that amazingly winds up telling you your age or some other vital statistic? Ever wonder how they work? Here’s one of the puzzles — with the solution.

By Valerie Strauss | 04:00 AM ET, 06/26/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 06/25/2012

3 new guidelines for ‘healthy homework’

By Valerie Strauss

Here are new guidelines about homework that could end the controversy over the subject that has rattled schools and families for more than a century. These recommendations explain how homework can be given that can actually be healthy for kids.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:00 AM ET, 06/25/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 06/25/2012

Ravitch: Will school choice kill public education?

By Valerie Strauss

Diane Ravitch writes: The more that people begin to see education as a consumer choice, the more they will be unwilling to pay for other people’s children.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:00 AM ET, 06/25/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 01:49 PM ET, 06/24/2012

What U-Va needs after the Sullivan mess

By Valerie Strauss

The governing board that ousted the U-Va president did so based on reasons that are based un a serious misconception, derived from faulty economic theory, an almost complete ignorance or misreading of economic history, and a shallow appraisal of the “virtues” allegedly carried by the “new model

By Valerie Strauss | 01:49 PM ET, 06/24/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 11:30 AM ET, 06/24/2012

Has Title IX, now 40 years old, harmed male athletics?

By Valerie Strauss

Title IX, the landmark civil rights law that barred sex discrimination in education, is turning 40. Has it worked?

By Valerie Strauss | 11:30 AM ET, 06/24/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 11:24 AM ET, 06/24/2012

In election year, how to teach democracy

By Valerie Strauss

School’s out. Politics is in. Five months of presidential political combat lie ahead. It’s time to consider the challenge of effectively educating kids to be active participants in our democratic process.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:24 AM ET, 06/24/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 02:18 PM ET, 06/23/2012

U-Va: Should the governing board be fired?

By Valerie Strauss

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s warning may sound like a good idea, but it is problematic.

By Valerie Strauss | 02:18 PM ET, 06/23/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 12:46 PM ET, 06/23/2012

Peripateticamp: A summer program from ancient Greece

By Valerie Strauss

A frustrated teacher creates an unusual summer program for kids too often bored in school that is based on an ancient Greek school.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:46 PM ET, 06/23/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 01:36 PM ET, 06/22/2012

U-Va: The irony in the ‘evidence’ against Sullivan

By Valerie Strauss

The debacle over the ousting of the U-Va. president has moved from shocking to ridiculous with the release of a statement by Helen Dragas.

By Valerie Strauss | 01:36 PM ET, 06/22/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 02:11 AM ET, 06/22/2012

How LeBron James focused for games: Reading books. Tell the kids.

By Valerie Strauss

Miami Heat star LeBron James had a somewhat surprising practice that he used to focus before games, including during the final series in which he led his team to the NBA championship. He read books.

By Valerie Strauss | 02:11 AM ET, 06/22/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 10:17 AM ET, 06/21/2012

U-Va prof: Why governing board gets an ‘F’ for Sullivan ‘project’

By Valerie Strauss

University of Virginia cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham analyzes the work that the school’s governing board did in its project to oust the university president, Teresa Sullivan, and gives its members a solid ‘F’ for “immature analysis” and “terribly shallow research.”

By Valerie Strauss | 10:17 AM ET, 06/21/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 06/21/2012

One district’s tough road toward equity for all kids

By Valerie Strauss

A former superintendent explains the hard work her school district undertook over a period of years to try to achieve educational equality for all kids.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:00 AM ET, 06/21/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 04:00 AM ET, 06/21/2012

The real meaning of ‘accountability’ and ‘trust’ in education

By Valerie Strauss

What does accountability and trust really mean today in education? The dean of George Washington University’s graduate school of education explains.

By Valerie Strauss | 04:00 AM ET, 06/21/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 02:23 PM ET, 06/19/2012

The U-Va. mess: Sign of the (bad) times

By Valerie Strauss

Debacle over the secretive ousting of school’s first female president is a sign of these unfortunate times in public education at all levels.

By Valerie Strauss | 02:23 PM ET, 06/19/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 12:07 PM ET, 06/19/2012

School funding disparities persist, analysis shows

By Valerie Strauss

A new analysis raises the uncomfortable question of just how effective any reforms can really be when issues of equity are ignored.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:07 PM ET, 06/19/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 06/19/2012

Untapped strategy for ed reform: summer learning

By Valerie Strauss

An important strategy that would help us make the most of our investments in education remains largely untapped — summer learning. And the absence of summer learning from the reform conversation ignores a significant body of research that documents the critical losses students face when the school year ends.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:00 AM ET, 06/19/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 04:00 AM ET, 06/18/2012

The technology mistake: Confusing access to information with becoming educated

By Valerie Strauss

What technology enthusiasts forget, neglect, stumble over — pick a verb – are the multiple purposes of tax-supported schools in a democracy. They and many others futurists err in equating access to information with becoming educated.

By Valerie Strauss | 04:00 AM ET, 06/18/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 03:30 AM ET, 06/18/2012

Pop quiz on standardized testing

By Valerie Straussh

Why should our kids be the only ones to suffer the acute anxiety that comes from opening the test booklet to Page 1? Let’s share their pain and take a test to see how well we’ve been paying attention and learning from our obsession with tests.

By Valerie Straussh | 03:30 AM ET, 06/18/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 01:56 PM ET, 06/17/2012

Is University of Virginia’s ‘reputation gap’ growing?

By Valerie Strauss

If the school had a reputation gap before, the drama over the fate of President Theresa Sullivan is only serving to widen it.

By Valerie Strauss | 01:56 PM ET, 06/17/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 11:00 AM ET, 06/16/2012

The wrong and right way to learn a foreign language

By Valerie Strauss

Linguist Stephen Krashen takes issue with the notion that people who want to learn a foreign language need to go through a grammar and vocabulary boot camp.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:00 AM ET, 06/16/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 05:02 AM ET, 06/15/2012

To Morning Joe: About that charter school segment

By Valerie Strauss

Here's a quick note to Morning Joe and his crew to tell them something they may not have realized when talking on Thursday to Deborah Kenny, the founder of the charter schools called the Harlem Village Academies.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:02 AM ET, 06/15/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 04:00 AM ET, 06/15/2012

How to improve college student aid disclosure

By Valerie Strauss

More needs to be done to provide students with transparent and accurate information about how much they will have to pay — now, and in the future — for their college education.

By Valerie Strauss | 04:00 AM ET, 06/15/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 05:51 PM ET, 06/14/2012

10 ways to oppose high-stakes standardized tests

By Valerie Strauss

Here’s a list of 10 things that people can do to counter the damaging effects of high-stakes standardized testing

By Valerie Strauss | 05:51 PM ET, 06/14/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 04:00 AM ET, 06/14/2012

How to integrate literacy with STEM

By Valerie Strauss

Should we invest our limited education resources in teaching critical reading skills or in what’s known as STEM — science, technology, engineering and math? Here’s how to do both.

By Valerie Strauss | 04:00 AM ET, 06/14/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 09:35 PM ET, 06/13/2012

Text of letter protesting UVA president ouster

By Valerie Strauss

Here is the full text of the open letter that 33 department chairs and program directors at the University of Virginia signed and released to protest the forced resignation of the popular President Teresa Sullivan.

By Valerie Strauss | 09:35 PM ET, 06/13/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 06/13/2012

Fairfax asleep on high school start time

By Valerie Strauss

This just can’t be so hard. Eight times in the last 24 years, the Fairfax County School Board has studied whether to let teenagers start school later than 8 a.m. because they are biologically programmed for a late-to-bed and late-to-rise schedule.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:00 AM ET, 06/13/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 06/13/2012

The biggest problem with traditional schooling

By Valerie Strauss

What’s the the single biggest problem kids face with traditional schooling? Veteran education Marion Brady says it is information overload, and here’s what he says we should do about it.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:00 AM ET, 06/13/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 04:37 PM ET, 06/12/2012

Gates changes Galvanic bracelet grant description

By Valerie Strauss

Yesterday I wrote about $1.1 million in grants that Bill Gates’s foundation made to develop bracelets that could measure how engaged students were in class. Today, the foundation said that one of the descriptions of the grants was wrong on its Web site.

By Valerie Strauss | 04:37 PM ET, 06/12/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 07:00 AM ET, 06/12/2012

U-Va. board: Tell us why you pushed out president

By Valerie Strauss

The governing board of the University of Virginia has refused to say directly why it pushed out popular school president Teresa Sullivan after only two years. It’s time the panel members tell the public what happened.

By Valerie Strauss | 07:00 AM ET, 06/12/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 06/12/2012

Is the power of intuition overrated? — Willingham

By

Cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham takes a look at the research about the power of intuition, which was made popular by author Malcolm Gladwell in his best-selling “Blink.” His conclusion is that intuition may not be all its cracked up to be.

By | 06:00 AM ET, 06/12/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 06/12/2012

Will Congress compound its error on ‘highly qualified’ teachers?

By Valerie Strauss

In 2010 Congress approved legislation that defined “highly qualified teachers” as including students in teacher training programs. Now instead of admitting the definition doesn‘t make sense, Congress is on the road to passing new legislation that keeps that definition intact.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:00 AM ET, 06/12/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 07:00 AM ET, 06/11/2012

$1.1 million-plus Gates grants: ‘Galvanic’ bracelets that measure student engagement

By Valerie Strauss

The Gates Foundation is spending more than $1.1 million to try to develop “galvanic skin response” bracelets that kids would wear so their physiological response to a lesson could be measured. Really.

By Valerie Strauss | 07:00 AM ET, 06/11/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 06/11/2012

Challenging Eli Broad’s school memories

By Valerie Strauss

Billionaire Eli Broad wrote a piece in Education week writing about the great public school he attended decades ago and how unfortunate schools today aren’t like they used to be. Broad’s memory is faulty. Here’s why.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:00 AM ET, 06/11/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 04:00 AM ET, 06/11/2012

Michael Lewis tells Princeton grads: You are the ‘lucky few’ — and don’t let it go to your heads

By Valerie Strauss

Best-selling author Michael Lewis gave the commencement address at Princeton recently and told students that they were the lucky few but shouldn’t let it go to their heads.

By Valerie Strauss | 04:00 AM ET, 06/11/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 07:00 AM ET, 06/10/2012

Amid a flurry of misspellings, test yourself

By Valerie Strauss

Misspellings pop up everywhere, even on Mitt Romney’s iPhone app. Here are some common ones.

By Valerie Strauss | 07:00 AM ET, 06/10/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 06/09/2012

The trouble with ‘Groupthink’ in school reform

By Valerie Strauss

For the past decade, educators have been under intense pressure to join the “Groupthink” ideas of No Child Left Behind and the whole standards/accountability movement, veteran educator Anthony Cody writes. And the consequences have been damaging.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:00 AM ET, 06/09/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 06/08/2012

Commencement speaker blasts students

By Valerie Strauss

Graduating students at Wellesley High School heard a rather unusual commencement speech. The speaker, teacher David McCullough Jr., blasted the kids, telling them, “You’re not special.”

By Valerie Strauss | 06:00 AM ET, 06/08/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 04:00 AM ET, 06/08/2012

‘Turning and turning in the widening gyre’

By Valerie Strauss

A veteran educator looks at the landscape of education reform and changing values in American society and asks, “Will the center hold?”

By Valerie Strauss | 04:00 AM ET, 06/08/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 11:45 PM ET, 06/07/2012

The most useless standardized tests

By Valerie Strauss

Talk about a testing obsession: New York students are now taking ‘field tests’ so that Pearson can evaluate questions for use on next year’s high-stakes exams.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:45 PM ET, 06/07/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 07:00 AM ET, 06/07/2012

Charter renewed for controversial school but questions remain

By Valerie Strauss

A controversial charter school in Maryland gets its charter extended for four more years but it is asked to make major changes.

By Valerie Strauss | 07:00 AM ET, 06/07/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 06:06 AM ET, 06/07/2012

‘Flipping’ classrooms: Does it make sense?

By Valerie Strauss

Flipping classrooms — meaning that kids learn lessons at home and do their homework in school — is gaining in popularity in schools around the country. Does it really make sense?

By Valerie Strauss | 06:06 AM ET, 06/07/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 04:00 AM ET, 06/07/2012

The ‘Wild Wild West’ of D.C. schools: A charter school parent’s view

By Valerie Strauss

A D.C. charter school parents describes the real world of D.C. charter schools, which is something other than the panacea that school reformers say they are.

By Valerie Strauss | 04:00 AM ET, 06/07/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 12:15 PM ET, 06/06/2012

How College Board can move past SAT blunder

By Valerie Strauss

The College Board has backed off a plan to allow students who pay for a $4,500 summer program take the SAT in a special Aug. 3 administration.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:15 PM ET, 06/06/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 06/06/2012

Should Chesapeake Science Point have its charter extended?

By Valerie Strauss

A Maryland superintendent has recommended that a charter school be granted five more years to operate. But look at this report on the school’s shortcomings.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:00 AM ET, 06/06/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 04:00 AM ET, 06/06/2012

Vouchers and the future of public education

By Valerie Strauss

Education historian Diane Ravitch writes about the dangers that voucher programs present to the future of American public education

By Valerie Strauss | 04:00 AM ET, 06/06/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 02:57 PM ET, 06/05/2012

Why teachers shouldn’t learn neuroscience

By Valerie Strauss

Cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham writes that it would be a colossal waste of teachers' time to learn neuroscience to protect themselves from charlatans selling “brain-based” education.

By Valerie Strauss | 02:57 PM ET, 06/05/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 12:21 PM ET, 06/05/2012

Is teacher tenure a myth?

By Valerie Strauss

A case in Fairfax County, Va., in which a veteran teacher — whose students had good test scores — challenged efforts to fire her reveals how difficult evaluating teachers can be.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:21 PM ET, 06/05/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 04:00 AM ET, 06/05/2012

Why we need vocational education

By Valerie Strauss

It’s long past time that Americans revive vocational education and stop pretending that everybody is going to go to college.

By Valerie Strauss | 04:00 AM ET, 06/05/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 01:08 PM ET, 06/04/2012

College Board urged to cancel special August SAT

By Valerie Strauss

The special August administration of the SAT is planned only for kids who pay $4,500 to attend a special college prep course at a small college.

By Valerie Strauss | 01:08 PM ET, 06/04/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 06/04/2012

The case against single-sex schooling

By Valerie Strauss

Here is the case for why single-sex schooling is not the magic bullet some educators think it is but is, rather, ineffective and even detrimental to chlidren’s development

By Valerie Strauss | 06:00 AM ET, 06/04/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 04:30 AM ET, 06/04/2012

20 things kids should learn about money

By Valerie Strauss

By Valerie Strauss | 04:30 AM ET, 06/04/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 04:00 AM ET, 06/04/2012

The dangers of not teaching personal finance to kids

By Valerie Strauss

Cnly four states require a stand-alone semester long course in personal finance to graduate. Does this make any sense? An award-winning teacher writes about the dangerous consequences of our failure to teach financial literacy to young people.

By Valerie Strauss | 04:00 AM ET, 06/04/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 10:30 AM ET, 06/03/2012

Why some kids can’t do homework (and what teachers should do about it)

By Valerie Strauss

There is a lesson in the story about a teacher who gave the “Catastrophe Award” to an 8-year-old girl for giving the most excuses for not doing her homework. Here’s what it is.

By Valerie Strauss | 10:30 AM ET, 06/03/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 10:47 AM ET, 06/02/2012

The SAT: The College Board blunders

By Valerie Strauss

A special summer test date for a group of “gifted and talented” kids has sparked protests.

By Valerie Strauss | 10:47 AM ET, 06/02/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 06/02/2012

15 critical questions about school reform

By Valerie Strauss

Educator Anthony Cody poses 18 critical questions about the Common Core States Standards and other elements of modern school reform.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:00 AM ET, 06/02/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 06/01/2012

The best thing to do before a big test

By Valerie Strauss

A test prep expert reveals what may be the most important thing students can do before they take a big test, like the SAT being administered on Saturday.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:00 AM ET, 06/01/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 04:00 AM ET, 06/01/2012

Why student aid is NOT driving up college costs

By Valerie Strauss

Student financial aid is NOT a cause for driving up college costs — despite the re-emergencce of the Bennett hypothesis in policy discussions

By Valerie Strauss | 04:00 AM ET, 06/01/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 01:56 AM ET, 06/01/2012

Winning words since 1925 at National Spelling Bee

By Valerie Strauss

Here’s a selected list of words that have won the National Spelling Bee ever since the contest began back in 1925. Don’t be surprised if you haven’t heard of most of them.

By Valerie Strauss | 01:56 AM ET, 06/01/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 10:08 AM ET, 05/31/2012

A scary (and telling) school voucher story

By Valerie Strauss

If you are wondering where the new rush to implement school voucher programs may be taking us, consider these developments from Louisiana.

By Valerie Strauss | 10:08 AM ET, 05/31/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

The Answer Sheet: July, 2012