Monthly Archives: July 2013

The public schools should be helping each student achieve to the best of her or his ability. That doesn’t just apply to the students in the lower half of the achievement spectrum.  That means our best and brightest – the … Continue reading →

It’s not done in Kentucky yet. Evolution and climate change education opponents clashed with Next Generation Science Standards advocates on Tuesday at a hearing on the standards held by the Kentucky Department of Education.  (Coverage from the Louisville Courier-Journal here)  … Continue reading →

From a column by Bloomberg writer Cass Sunstein: If the conclusions generalize, the lessons are clear. College teachers aren’t to blame. American students aren’t uninterested in science, nor are they ignorant of the professional opportunities that a degree in this … Continue reading →

As Erik Robelen reports at Curriculum Matters, the Washington State Board of Education voted last week to recommend to the state’s superintendent of schools that the Next Generation Science Standards be adopted there. Washington State is among the NGSS 26 lead state … Continue reading →

The National Science Foundation has cited PhysTEC as an outstanding program in its budget request to Congress: School districts report a greater shortage of teachers in physics than in any other academic discipline. Only 35 percent of high-school physics teachers … Continue reading →

From Eli’s July 3 op-ed in the Los Angeles Times: Rather than relying on schools of education to deliver on this promise, I would advocate a different approach: Help aspiring teachers develop content expertise by requiring them to study math, … Continue reading →

From the Los Angeles Times: State Board of Education officials delayed a decision Wednesday on adopting new science standards that would tackle fewer subjects more deeply and favor hands-on experiments over rote memorization of facts.  The board decided to take … Continue reading →

From a tweet by LA Times education reporter Teresa Watanabe: State board of ed delays decision on #NGSS new science standards to give educators on summer break time for input. But no opposition voiced.

Dear President [fill in the name of your Florida university president here]: Our state has adopted a new high school graduation scheme, and there are now three “tracks” to graduation – a standard diploma, a track that requires that a … Continue reading →

And I focus my tweets on science education issues, like the progress of the Next Generation Science Standards and college readiness.  If you want to know what I’m having for dinner or how my son is swimming at his latest … Continue reading →