How Many Graduates Does It Take to Be No. 1?

How Many Graduates Does It Take to Be No. 1? Winnie Hu, NYTimes

"Principals say that recognizing multiple valedictorians reduces pressure and competition among students, and is a more equitable way to honor achievement, particularly when No. 1 and No. 5 may be separated by only the smallest fraction of a grade from sophomore science. But some scholars and parents have criticized the swelling valedictorian ranks as yet another symptom of rampant grade inflation, with teachers reluctant to jeopardize the best and brightest’s chances of admission to top-tier colleges. "

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan honors community colleges and their graduates

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan honors community colleges and their graduates

Lisa Krieger, SJ Mercury

On commencement weekend, nation's top educational leader calls community colleges 'an unrecognized gem of education.'

Online Bullies Pull Schools Into the Fray

Online Bullies Pull Schools Into the Fray By JAN HOFFMAN, NYTimes

Affronted by cyberspace’s escalation of adolescent viciousness, many parents are looking to schools for justice, protection, even revenge.

The Idea Incubator Goes to Campus

The Idea Incubator Goes to Campus By BOB TEDESCHI

Proof-of-concept centers are giving universities the money and other support to take unproven ideas and make them appeal to venture capitalists.

More Federal Aid Needed for Low-Income College Students, Report Finds

More Federal Aid Needed for Low-Income College Students, Report Finds By RACHEL GROSS, NYTimes

The Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, an independent committee that advises Congress and the secretary of education on national policy, presented a report entitled “The Rising Price of Inequality,” sending a clear message to the federal government: without a broad increase in need-based state and federal aid, fewer low-income students will have the resources to remain enrolled in college and earn degrees over the next decade.

Vice President Honors High School Service Team

WH.gov: Vice President Honors High School Service Team

Vice President Biden speaks to the Parade All-America High School Service Team about the importance of community involvement and public service. The team is composed of high school students who are changing their communities through public service. June 23, 2010.

Community Colleges Cutting Back on Open Access

Community Colleges Cutting Back on Open Access By TAMAR LEWIN, NYTimes

With states slashing budgets, many two-year colleges have cut courses and faculty, leaving them unable to handle an influx of students.

Mountain View's global teacher of 1,516 lessons and counting

PBS NewsHour piece on the Khan Academy and Salman Khan

Mountain View's global teacher of 1,516 lessons and counting SJ Mercury

From a tiny closet in Mountain View, Sal Khan is educating the globe for free. His 1,516 videotaped mini-lectures '” on topics ranging from simple addition to vector calculus and Napoleonic campaigns '” are transforming the former hedge fund analyst into a YouTube sensation, reaping praise from even reluctant students across the world.

American Literature at Sharewold

This summer, I am teaching an American Literature class (along with SAT prep) at Shareworld.

GOAL: encourage life-long reading and critical thinking.

OBEJECTIVE: Introduce students to current American Literature via reading lists (CDE, MLA, etc), the Best American Series, and other important anthologies.

1. Students will select and present a 5-minute oral report on book from the appropriate grade list of the CA Dept of Education Recommended Literature or American Library Association YALSA)

2. Students will analyze stories and articles anthologized by the Best American series.

• No text required—copies of the selections for classroom analysis will be provided and the student can read the full story/article online.
• Students will select and present a 5-minute oral report on a Best American story/article.

Class Readings

• The Best American Short Stories 2009: The peripatetic coffin / Ethan Rutherford
• The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2009: Is Google making us stupid? / Nicholas Carr
• The Best American Mystery Stories, 2009: This or any desert / Vu Tran
• The Best American Science and Nature Writing, 2002: Examined life: What Stanley H. Kaplan taught us about the SAT / Malcolm Gladwell
• The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2009 (select one) The chameleon / David Grann, Everything I know about my family on my mother's side / Nathan Englander, Monster / Rebekah Frumkin
• Best American Science Writing 2008: The abyss / Oliver Sacks
• The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2008: The CSI effect / Jeffrey Toobin
• The Best American Travel Writing 2005: Welcome to nowhere / Simon Winchester
• The Best American Travel Writing 2009: Ecotouring in Honduras / Elisabeth Eaves: 1/5 Island Dreams, 2/5 Swimming with Sharks , 5/5 Mel Gibson & the Demise of Civilization
• Best New American Voices 2009: Love and Honor and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice / Nam Le

Selections from other anthologies under consideration:

• Best American Fantasy 2009
• Best European Fiction 2010
• Nebula Awards Showcase 2009
• The Best American Crime Reporting 2009
• The Best American Essays 2009
• The Best American Magazine Writing, 20079
• The Best of Technology Writing 2008

Prep Classes for College Are Latest in Perks

Prep Classes for College Are Latest in Perks By JACQUES STEINBERG, NYTimes

Discounted or even free advice on applying to college was dangled by a cable company in a bid to attract subscribers and offered by the AFL-CIO to union members.

Cablevision Is Offering Free SAT Prep

Forget the Tote Bag; Cablevision Is Offering Free SAT Prep By JACQUES STEINBERG, NYTimes The Choice Blog

In the latest sign of the premium that society places on an elite education, and the lengths some will go to get a leg up in securing it, Cablevision announced today that it was offering a free SAT preparation course as an incentive for people to subscribe to its Optimum service. (more)

Go to College? Pro/Con

Plan B: Skip College By JACQUES STEINBERG, NYTimes

WHAT’S the key to success in the United States? Short of becoming a reality TV star, the answer is rote and, some would argue, rather knee-jerk: Earn a college degree...But there’s an underside to that conventional wisdom.

More Employers to Require Some College, Report Says By JACQUES STEINBERG, NYTimes

Jobs requiring at least a two-year associate’s degree will outpace the number of qualified applicants by at least three million in 2018, according to a report set to be released on Tuesday.

Summer Reading: The Best Technology Writing

So many great articles--here are two from each year.

The Best of Technology Writing 2006 Table of contents

• China's Next Cultural Revolution Lisa Margonelli [Wired]
  The People’s Republic is on the fast track to become the car capital of the world. And the first alt-fuel superpower.
• The Book Stops Here Daniel H. Pink [Wired]
  Jimmy Wales wanted to build a free encyclopedia on the Internet. So he raised an army of amateurs and created the self-organizing, self-repairing, hyperaddictive library of the future called Wikipedia.

The Best of Technology Writing 2007 Table of contents

• The Ultimate Crossword Smackdown / Matt Gaffney [Slate]
  Who writes better puzzles, humans or computers?
• It Should Happen to You / Ben McGrath[New Yorker]
  The anxieties of YouTube fame

The Best of Technology Writing 2008 Table of contents

• The polarization of extremes / Cass R. Sunstein [Chronicle of Higher Education]
  There are six sides to every issue available at the click of a mouse. So how is it that the internet can actually limit diversity?
• The life of the Chinese gold farmer / Julian Dibbell [New York Times Magazine]
  One of China’s newest industries—making real money hunting virtual gold
  

Summer Reading: Best American Science Writing 2009

...hmmm, what should I read during Summer vacation?

Best American Science Writing 2009 is the ninth edition of the popular annual series dedicated to collecting the most crucial, thought-provoking and engaging science writing of the year. Provocative and engaging, the Best American Science Writing 2009 as edited by Angier covers the full spectrum of scientific inquiry—from biochemistry, physics, and astronomy to genetics, evolutionary theory, and cognition.

Introduction / by Natalie Angier

1. The itch / Atul Gawande
2. Twitchy / Sallie Tisdale
3. The first ache / Annie Murphy Paul
4. A journey inside the brain / Oliver Sacks
5. The truth about autism / David Wolman
6. Blocking the transmission of violence / Alex Kotlowitz
7. Reading the wounds / Jina Moore
8. A cloud of smoke / Jennifer Kahn
9. War! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing / John Horgan
10. Face-offs of the female kind / Marina Cords
11. Tough lessons from golden rice / Martin Enserink
12. Back to the future / J. Madeleine Nash
13. A tall, cool drink of... sewage? / Elizabeth Royte
14. Contagious cancer / David Quammen
15. Looking up / Jennifer Margulis
16. Birdbrain / Margaret Talbot
17. Want to remember everything you'll ever learn? Surrender to this algorithm / Gary Wolf
18. Hello, HAL / John Seabrook
19. The anonymity experiment / Catherine Price
20. The sky is falling / Gregg Easterbrook
21. Big brain theory: have cosmologists lost theirs? / Dennis Overbye
22. The final frontier / Karen Olsson
23. Perhaps death is proud; more reason to savor life / Theresa Brown
24. Evolutionists flock to Darwin-shaped wall stain / The Onion

The Best American Science Writing 2010 will be on sale Sept. 2010

Summer Reading: the Best American Series

...hmmm, what should I read during Summer vacation?

Best selling authors handpick the year's finest writing in short stories, comics, mysteries, essays, travel, science and nature, sports, and nonrequired reading.

• The Best American Comics 2009
• The Best American Essays 2009
• The Best American Mystery Stories 2009
• The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2009: (selected by high school students).
• The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2009
• The Best American Short Stories 2009
• The Best American Sports Writing 2009
• The Best American Travel Writing 2009

Studying Engineering Before They Can Spell It

Studying Engineering Before They Can Spell It By WINNIE HU, NYTimes

To compete in a global economy, some school districts are offering engineering lessons to students in kindergarten.

Daring to Discuss Women in Science

Daring to Discuss Women in Science By JOHN TIERNEY, NYTimes

A bill passed by the House recalls a hypothesis about differences in the sexes’ aptitude for math and science.

President Obama Gives Commencement Address at Kalamazoo Central High School

In addition to the commencement address at Kalamazoo Central, the President, Vice President, First Lady, Second Lady and other senior administration officials delivered dozens of commencement addresses at universities and high schools across the country this spring. Check out a really cool interactive map of all of the commencement addresses.

whitehouse — June 08, 2010 — The President speaks about the importance of personal responsibility and giving back to the community as he delivers the commencement address at Kalamazoo Central High School in Kalamazoo, MI. The school was the winner of the 2010 Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge. June 7, 2010.

Vote Yes For Measure B (Milpitas, CA)

Milpitas Adult Ed ESL/Citizenship proudly waving Measure B signs.

Vote Yes For Measure B! This is a group to encourage Milpitas residents to Vote Yes for a parcel tax on June 8, 2010. Schools will face more budget cuts again. If the ballot initiative is defeated, Milpitas schools could lose music, art, and sports programs.

A victory will require a two thirds majority. Meaning, for every No vote, the kids of Milpitas will need 2 Yes votes. The parcel tax is to save programs, not for salary.

The tax is $84 for 5 years for property owners. If you break it down, that equals $0.23 per day for 5 years. $7 a month for 5 years. Seniors are exempt.

States Receive a Reading List: New Standards for Education

States Receive a Reading List: New Standards for Education By SAM DILLON, NYTimes

The nation’s governors and state school chiefs released final recommendations for what students should master in English and math.

With Diplomas in Hand, but Without Legal Status

With Diplomas in Hand, but Without Legal Status By FERNANDA SANTOS, NYTimes

The many members of the Queensborough Community College Class of 2010 who are living in the United States illegally have concerns over their prospects.

Facing Cuts in Federal Aid, For-Profit Colleges Are in a Fight

Facing Cuts in Federal Aid, For-Profit Colleges Are in a Fight By TAMAR LEWIN, NYTimes

The U.S. will soon propose regulations that would cut off federal aid to for-profit colleges whose graduates cannot earn enough to repay their student loans.

Placing the Blame as Students Are Buried in Debt

Placing the Blame as Students Are Buried in Debt By RON LIEBER , NYTimes

Is it really worth $100,000 in debt to graduate from a top school? And is it responsible?

• Who's responsible for assigning high student loan debt?
• 'Eerie Echo' of Mortgage Crisis in Student Loan Debt