Monthly Archives: February 2011

From Paul Ruscher’s op-ed in the Tallahassee Democrat this morning: The two sciences that are, arguably, needed most by (at least) graduates who are headed to college are physics and earth sciences. These subjects provide the basics and applications of … Continue reading →

The Times Education Supplement reports: Ambitious Government plans to almost double the number of graduates training to be physics teachers are “ill advised” and destined to fail, ministers have been warned. Targets to recruit almost 1,000 specialists in physics each … Continue reading →

The results of the Trial Urban District Assessment for the 2009 NAEP Science measurement were released today, and the results were predictable – most cities fall short of the national norms. Of the seventeen large urban districts assessed, Austin (Texas), … Continue reading →

For the two or three of you that have been wondering whether I won my election in the American Physical Society Forum on Education, the answer is “yes”.  I will be Vice Chair of the organization beginning in May, and … Continue reading →

Teacher quality legislation in the Florida House and Senate – now almost identical – roared toward final legislative passage yesterday with the final committee vote in the Senate and the first committee vote in the House. Coverage from the St. … Continue reading →

It’s not my intention here to argue that masters’ degrees are useless for student achievement.  But I will argue that a statement in the FEA report released Monday, “Effective Teachers and Performance Pay,” is far from being well established by … Continue reading →

The careful staff analysis of the proposed committee bill the PreK-20 Competitiveness Subcommittee of the Florida House will consider today includes some commentary on the language regarding differential pay and advanced degrees.  I’ll insert it here without comment, except to … Continue reading →

The release of the Florida Education Association’s report “Effective Teachers and Performance Pay” this morning highlights the conflict between Republican legislators and teachers over merit pay and value-added measurements.  But on two other topics – compensation for advanced degrees and … Continue reading →

In an interview with the British newspaper The Independent, Presidential Science Advisor John Holdren said, Everybody is looking at China and saying, if we don’t lift our game, China is going to eat our lunch economically because the amount they … Continue reading →

Continuing from a quote of AAAS President Alice Huang in Curriculum Matters: “…which is a surprise to me and to many people, because as we test people in the United States, we realize that there’s still a large proportion of … Continue reading →