NPR Education
Students Quiz Education Sec. Arne Duncan
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has spent much of the back-to-school season talking with teachers and parents. His department recently oversaw the awarding of more than $4 billion to public schools in select states. While he's addressed countless teachers in recent weeks, now, he tackles students' questions.
Women's Salaries Back On Top For Younger Set
Unmarried women between the ages of 22 and 30 are making 8 percent more than men in the same demographic, according to a new analysis of government data by a private research firm. It's partly because more women are college educated. But overall, women still make less than men.
BYU Going Independent In Football
BYU says it is leaving the Mountain West Conference and will go independent in football while joining the West Coast Conference in all other sports in the 2011-2012 school year.
'L.A. Times' Database Angers Teachers, Union
The Los Angeles Times has published a controversial database giving ratings for individual teachers in the huge L.A. Unified School District. Teachers and their union are outraged, and claim the ratings are a false measure of classroom performance.
Parents Push For Diversity In New Orleans' Schools
In the city's public schools, test scores are climbing, charter schools are opening all the time, and facilities are being upgraded. But the population of the schools is overwhelmingly African-American. The head of one charter school network says it takes a long time to break old patterns.
One School District's Use Of Value-Added Analysis
NPR's Robert Siegel talks to Donald Martin, superintendent of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School District in North Carolina, which has been using value-added analysis in evaluating its teachers for the past three years. Martin says the method is only one part of teacher evaluations, and that data collected is for internal use only.
Teacher Performance Data Stirs Evaluation Debate
Everyone agrees teacher performance is crucial to student achievement, but there is no consensus on how best to evaluate educators. The Los Angeles Times has fanned the heated debate by publishing the names of 6,000 L.A. teachers, along with data showing their students' test performance.
University Attendance Scanners Make Some Uneasy
Northern Arizona University has installed electronic devices that record student attendance in an effort to boost freshmen grades and lift lagging graduation rates. But some students say the monitoring makes them feel less independent.
'L.A. Times' Teacher Ratings Database Stirs Debate
The Los Angeles Times has promised to release the names of elementary teachers in Los Angeles, along with data showing how much their students improved on standardized tests. Reporters say the intent is to help parents measure teacher effectiveness, but the database has sparked a national debate on how to evaluate teachers.
How To Make College-Bound Students Financial Pros
New college students will have to master tough personal finance lessons early. Fahiya Rashid, a student at the University of California, Irvine, says her dad warned her of the problems he had. Rashid says her dad had more than a dozen credit cards and took out students loans. She says he's still paying the money back.
Saving For College: How Much Is Enough?
Parents should save between 3 and 9 percent of their income, starting the day the child is born.
Colo. Among States That Fell Short In Race To The Top
Nine states and Washington, D.C., were awarded $3.4 billion in education grant money on Tuesday. The federal education grant competition called Race to the Top asked states to come up with the most compelling plans for education reform. But what about the losing states -- especially the ones that made big changes? NPR's Robert Siegel talks to Barbara O'Brien, lieutenant governor of Colorado.
New Website Lets Students Bet On Grades
Many parents pay their kids for bringing home 'A's. The web startup Ultrinsic.com will let college students wager cash on their ability to meet -- or exceed -- a certain grade. Ultrinsic's co-founder, Jeremy Gelbart, says the venture will motivate students, while critics fear it could encourage online gambling.
Poll: Obama's Education Approval Ratings Drop
A new Gallup Poll has found fewer Americans approve of the job President Obama is doing in support of public education, but they continue to have a highly favorable opinion of their local schools.
Typical College Student No Longer So Typical
College classrooms were once filled primarily by eager students straight out of high school. But the vast majority of today's college students work, have a family, are enrolled only part time, or a combination of all three. This new breed of college student is reshaping the face of higher education in America.
