Education | featured news

Harvard University's website was hacked this morning in what appeared to be a Syrian-related attack.

The Obama administration is offering states a way around provisions of the once-heralded No Child Left Behind law, contending many elements of the Bush-era education initiative have become barriers to learning and that too many schools, even those showing modest progress, risk being labeled as failing....

Last week, the College Board dealt parents, teachers and the education world a serious blow. According to its latest test results, "SAT reading scores for the high school class of 2011 were the lowest on record, and combined reading and math scores fell to their lowest point since 1995."

Education writers rarely examine high school sports, but something is happening there that might help pull our schools out of the doldrums.
In the last school year, a new national survey found that 7.7 million boys and girls took part in high school sports. This is 55.5 percent of all students, according to the report from the National Federation of State High School Associations, and the 22nd straight year that participation had increased.

An 18-year-old Bowie State University student was fatally stabbed Thursday night by her roommate during a fight in a campus dormitory, Maryland State Police said early Friday.

Scores on the critical reading portion of the SAT college entrance exam fell three points to their lowest level on record last year, and combined reading and math scores reached their lowest point since 1995. The College Board, which released the scores Wednesday, said the results reflect the record number of students from the high school class of 2011 who took the exam and the growing diversity of the test-taking pool -- particularly Hispanics. As more students aim for college and take the exam, it tends to drag down average scores.

Many California teachers say the focus on state testing gives them little time to really explore the topic. Some say educators are hesitant because of sensitivities over religion, war and politics.

The principal of a small private school in the suburbs of the state capital was arrested Wednesday on charges that he fondled at least seven girls over the past 15 years, months after he was accused of touching female students under their clothes....

Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Saturday touted his administration's success in getting three Chicago elementary schools to agree to extend their day by 90 minutes and urged other schools to follow suit.

Many public secondary schools this fall will move away from textbooks in favor of the lightweight tablet computers.