Are School Librarians Expendable?

Are School Librarians Expendable? NYTimes Room for Debate

With states and cities under severe budget constraints, they are looking for savings in the library.

• Assessing the Unassessable Jessamyn West, librarian


• Teachers, Not Librarians Ze'ev Wurman, former adviser, U.S. Department of Education


• Don't Blame the Principal Carol Simpson, former school librarian


• Libraries and Literacy C. Kent McGuire, Temple University


• Lady Gaga Librarians Gwyneth A. Jones, "The Daring Librarian"


• Thank You, Mrs. Morgan Francine Prose, author, "Anne Frank: The Book, the Life, the Afterlife"

Putting the Library on Your Smartphone

Putting the Library on Your Smartphone By JOSHUA BRUSTEIN, NYTimes

The New York Public Library system has released three mobile applications that make interactions with the system easier than ever.

At Unique High School, New York Harbor Is the Subject

VOAVideo: At Unique High School, New York Harbor Is the Subject

It's the sole New York school reachable only by ferry, a short ride from the lower tip of Manhattan to Governors Island, a 70-hectare former military base where birds and trees greatly outnumber human visitors. The Urban Assembly Harbor School is located in a renovated Coast Guard building. A basketball court and a garden tended by students flank the entrance; inside, the rooms include a greenhouse, an aquaponics lab where tilapia and oysters are raised, and a boat-building workshop, where a sloop patterned on one that sailed the harbor in 1849 is under construction.

Students Stumble Again on Basics of History

Students Stumble Again on Basics of History By STEPHANIE BANCHERO, wsj.org

History-test scores show that only 20% of U.S. fourth-graders and 17% of eighth-graders who took the 2010 exam were "proficient" or "advanced," unchanged since 2006.

• News Hub: Students Stumped Over History
  
• Graphic: Try Some History Questions

College Board Finds Minority Men Continue to Lag Academically

College Board Finds Minority Men Continue to Lag AcademicallyBy LILY ALTAVENA, NYTimes The Choice Blog

The College Board is releasing two reports today on the crisis facing young black and Latino men, who, the reports find, continue to be measurably less educated than minority women and white men.

Computer Science's 'Sputnik Moment'?

Room For Debate: Computer Science's 'Sputnik Moment'? NYTimes.com

Interest in the field is rising again. Should college students think twice before majoring in computer science?

• Remember the Tech Bust? Norman Matloff


• Software as Self-Expression Jeannette M. Wing


• Thinking Beyond the Bubble Vivek Wadhwa


• Change the Cowboy Culture Zeynep Tufekci


• Encourage More Hackathons Jonathan Zittrain


• Grass Roots, Not Government Chris Wiggins


• A Key to Critical Thinking Ed Lazowska


• It Starts in High School John Staudenmaier

U.S. Students Remain Poor at History, Tests Show

U.S. Students Remain Poor at History, Tests Show By SAM DILLON, NYTimes

American students are less proficient in their nation’s history than in any other subject, according to results of a nationwide test released on Tuesday.

Debating the Value of College in America

Debating the Value of College in America by Louis Menand, The New Yorker

Someone raised his hand and asked, about a text I had assigned, “Why did we have to buy this book?”

I got the question in that form only once, but I heard it a number of times in the unmonetized form of “Why did we have to read this book?” I could see that this was not only a perfectly legitimate question; it was a very interesting question. The students were asking me to justify the return on investment in a college education. I just had never been called upon to think about this before. It wasn’t part of my training. We took the value of the business we were in for granted. Read more

Push for A’s at Private Schools Is Keeping Costly Tutors Busy

Push for A’s at Private Schools Is Keeping Costly Tutors Busy By JENNY ANDERSON, NYTimes

Private SAT tutors have been de rigueur at New York private schools for years, but the proliferation of subject-matter tutors is a newer phenomenon that is inciting a backlash.

Juniors: In the Quiet of Summer, Start Your Essays

Juniors: In the Quiet of Summer, Start Your Essays By ALAN GELB, NYTimes The Choice

"In preparation for the senior year, most students try to plan their summers around some kind of résumé-building job, internship, coursework or community service. Summer is also an ideal time to get the jump on your college admissions essay."

• Clear your head.


• Ask yourself exploratory questions.


• Familiarize yourself with the narrative form.


• Enjoy yourself.


• Own your essay.

Mr. Gelb is the author of “Conquering the College Admissions Essay in 10 Steps.”

Coaching and Much More for Chinese Students Looking to U.S.

Coaching and Much More for Chinese Students Looking to U.S. By DAN LEVIN, NYTimes

Companies are seeking to profit as a record number of students from outside the U.S. compete for spots at selective American colleges.

Instead of Student Loans, Investing in Futures

Instead of Student Loans, Investing in Futures By DAVID BORNSTEIN, NYTimes--Opinionator: Fixes

Is it possible to finance higher education the way we finance start-up companies?