Education | featured news

Admissions testing for gifted and talented programs has become a fraught process, where administrators seeking authentic measures of intelligence are barely able to keep ahead of test-prep companies.

If you are, have been or might soon be the parent of a school-age child in Washington,you have an opinion about Michelle Rhee, who ran the city’s public schools from 2007 to 2010. In a town full of divisive personalities, Rhee polarized opinion more than any other public figure I can remember, with the exception of a handful of officials.

Goodbye candy bars and sports drinks. Hello baked chips and diet sodas....

Tennessee state senator Stacey Campfield has reintroduced his infamous “Don’t Say Gay” bill, with enhancements, including the tattletale clause requiring school teachers and counselors to tell parents if their kids are gay, under various scenarios. Campfield recently introduced a bill that would cut welfare to families if their children don’t perform well in school, calling it a step toward “breaking the cycle of poverty.”

A kid raised in a middle-class Boston suburb, Michael Bloomberg took out loans to pay for his tuition at Johns Hopkins University and worked as a parking lot attendant.

A new salary survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) shows that engineering majors dominate the list of college degrees that pay the highest salaries to new college graduates. Of the ten majors with the highest starting salaries, six are in some branch of engineering, including computer engineering, in the no. 1 slot at $70,400, chemical engineering, no. 2 at $66,400 and aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical engineering, no. 4 at $64,000.  The no. 3 highest-paying major is computer science, at $64,400.

The world has come to this. An armor manufacturer in Maryland has created a bulletproof whiteboard designed to protect teachers and students in the event of an emergency. Hardwire specializes in military and law enforcement armor ranging from ballistic armor panels to bulletproof shields. It's now turning its expertise in military armor towards creating armor for the classroom.

The percentage of students at public high schools who graduate on time has reached its highest level in nearly 40 years, according to the most recent federal government estimates released Tuesday. Based on data collected from the states for the Class of 2010, the National Center for Education Statistics estimated that 78 percent of students across the country earned a diploma within four years of starting high school. The graduation rate was last at that level in 1974, officials said.

iPad apps that college students have developed soon could help high school and middle school students crack the code of algebra, often a gatekeeper to college entry.

Efforts to disclose college degrees' earnings potential are picking up steam, holding higher education directly accountable for return on investments by families and taxpayers.