State lawmakers take step toward replacing MEAP with online testing
A computer-adaptive test would allow schools to test students online at the beginning and end of the school year, giving schools data to show how much growth the students have made. It also would provide instantaneous results. Detroit Free Press  March 29, 2012

Turkey adopts Islamic education bill
Istanbul - Turkish lawmakers on Friday overwhelmingly adopted an education bill which extends access to religious schools and has infuriated the country's secularists. The reform extends compulsory education from eight years to 12 but also scraps a ban on so-called Imam Hatip religious schools signing up pupils under the age of 15. International Online News  March 30, 2012

Alberta Election 2012: NDP unveils wide-ranging education and child-care plan
EDMONTON - NDP Leader Brian Mason laid out his party’s education plan Thursday, one he says will help students from “their first day in public education to their first day on the job.” The Edmonton Journal March 30, 2012

Education Minister defends move to close under-utilized schools
The McGuinty government wants to close under-utilized schools but cannot say how many are on the chopping block or where the schools are located.  Education Minister Laurel Broten is defending the move to end $70-million in annual subsidies for those schools.  Broten says enrolment is down and it does not make financial sense to keep the buildings open.  "We cannot subsidized schools that are at less than optimal capacity - some of them are at half capacity or less - and heat those buildings and turn the lights on every single day," explained Broten.  680 News All News Radio  March 30, 2012

New report: 7th graders experiencing dating violence and abuse
A new study conducted with more than 1,400 7th-graders revealed that an alarmingly high number are not only dating, but are involved in abusive relationships. More than 75% of the 7th-graders reported they had been in dating relationships.  More than one in three (37%) reported being a victim of psychological dating violence; and nearly one in six (15%) reported being a victim of physical dating violence from a partner. And, more than half had experienced sexual harassment.  Examiner.com  March 29, 2012

Two hours' homework a night linked to better school results
Spending more than two hours a night doing homework is linked to achieving better results in English, maths and science, according to a major study which has tracked the progress of 3,000 children over the past 15 years.  The Guardian March 29, 2012

Plan to improve math just doesn’t add up Watching the Grammy Music Awards the other night, I saw a commercial showing a Nova Scotia brimming with young productive workers thriving in a high-tech, innovative economy of knowledge and resources. Set to a rousing music score, a confident voice narrates our story: Yes, times have been tough but we have the strength to build a better Nova Scotia. We have the skills to compete globally. The Chronicle Herald February 19, 2012

Jury is still out, but iPads may put the pen to the sword PEN and paper are not yet in the dustbin of history but the radical transformation being wrought in the learning experiences of year 6 students at Neutral Bay Public School in Sydney's lower north shore suggests time may be running out for traditional methods. The school has just issued all 145 year 6 students with an iPad as part of a $100,000 year-long trial. Almost all classroom work will now be done on the hand-held device. The Sydney Morning Herald February 29, 2012

Finnish school of thought on reform The latest infection sweeping Australian schools, according to Finnish education reformer Pasi Sahlberg, is the GERM virus, the Global Education Reform Movement. The symptoms -- universal testing, like the national literacy and numeracy tests; increasing school choice; and competition -- are affecting schools throughout much of the English-speaking world, from England and the US to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. In Melbourne to address the Australian Education Union national conference today, Dr Sahlberg said the reforms in Finland in the 1990s offered an alternative path for nations such as Australia. The Australian February 24, 2012

Why post-secondary education pays When Charlotte Burke graduated from Hamilton’s Ancaster High School in June 2011, she wasn’t satisfied with her marks. So instead of jumping straight into the next stage of her life, she took a victory lap, boosting her average to a respectable 85 per cent by taking extra classes. Did she consider trying her luck in the job market? No. “Not going to university was not an option for me,” says Burke, her voice self-assured for her 18 years. “I know that 30 or 40 years ago you could get a good job straight out of high school, but times have changed.” The Star February 28, 2012

Unicef says urban children in developing world need urgent attention On another beach in a different world, Chinasa Paul would be sipping a soft drink bought by his parents. But if the 15-year-old eats today in Lagos, it will be thanks to tips he receives for lugging crates of drinks up and down Kuramo Beach. Unicef will today call for an urgent shift in focus by policy makers neglectful of the needs of millions of children like Chinasa whose number is set to increase as the growth of cities in the developing world becomes one of the pressing issues of our time. In its latest State of the World's Children report - the most comprehensive annual analysis of world development data - Unicef says urban children living precariously are being ignored in benchmark indicies like the Millennium Development Goals because they do not attend school or live in households that are surveyed. The Independent February 28, 2012

B.C. teachers could walk out of classrooms Friday Teachers took to the street Monday as Education Minister George Abbott took to the airwaves with an education showdown looming. Parents began scouting out alternative arrangements as the B.C. Teachers Federation applied with the Labour Relations Board to hold a limited walkout — which could happen as early as this Friday. Abbott and BCTF president Susan Lambert ramped up the rhetoric and traded volleys on radio stations Monday as the public-relations war went into overdrive. The Gazette February 28, 2012

Analysis: Shaming Teachers Is Not Good Educational Policy Unreliable teacher performance data should not be used to shame educators The floodgates have been opened. The city's education department has released the test scores for thousands of teachers. The scores, to no one’s surprise, have turned out to be good, bad and indifferent. And the teachers union -- and many of its members -- are in an uproar. It’s no wonder. Newspapers have published the names of the bad teachers as well as those rated good or average. And, significantly, the margin of error on these tests is extremely high. So, if the margin of error is so high, how trustworthy are the scores? That consideration does not matter for some of the city's newspapers. NBC New York February 17, 2012

Proposed New Education Act for Alberta: Alberta Education - Education Act 2012

Act 2: Revised education bill aims to improve high school graduation rates: Alberta’s new Education Act aims in part to improve low high school graduation rates and give school boards the power to better deal with bullies. “The world has changed dramatically since 1988,” said Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk, who tabled the legislation Tuesday. “We want students to be successful and we know that the Education Act we introduced today in the house sets the foundation for exactly that.” The Edmonton Journal February 14, 2012

Education minister says parents being overcharged for school fees. Lukaszuk says most fees ‘already paid for by my department’: Alberta parents are paying an average of $140 per child in fees for instructional supplies and busing each year for public education, according to government figures. But Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk says that the $78.3 million in charges levied by school boards in 2010 weren’t necessary because the province already provides adequate funding to cover the cost of essential course materials and transportation. The Edmonton Journal February 15, 2012

French has rivals as second language. Many students learning Asian languages for career reasons:Fourteen-year-old Ivy Friesen often surprises people with her fluent Mandarin - especially since her parents are white, English-speaking Edmontonians with no connection to China. Ivy is one of a growing number of Edmonton public school students who are bypassing the popular French immersion program in favour of more exotic language training. The Rosslyn School junior high student hopes knowing Mandarin will make her more attractive to employers when she enters the workforce. It is estimated more than one billion people speak the language worldwide. The Edmonton Journal February 13, 2012

Spare the tests, spoil the school system, former deputy minister says: What education consultant and former government insider Jim Dueck says about the education of Alberta’s schoolchildren might shock you. It might even enrage you. But make no mistake, Dueck’s perspective is crucial, especially as the Redford government considers a direction in education policy that could make things much worse for our students, not better. The Edmonton Journal February 14, 2012

Two-month summer breaks giving way to year round learning: Vancouver students may soon have to say goodbye to their two-month summer vacation. Over the next five years, the Vancouver School Board’s superintendent of schools, Steve Cardwell, plans to move the district to a year-round calendar. The Globe and Mail February 14, 2012

Using technology in the classroom requires experience and guidance, report finds: It’s older, more experienced teachers – not younger, so-called digital natives – who are experimenting more with new technology in the classroom, a new report suggests. And although Twitter, YouTube and mobile devices have infiltrated Canadian classrooms, the study finds that educators have serious concerns that students are “not-so-savvy surfers” – too prone to accept information published online as fact and be led astray. The Globe and Mail February 15, 2012

Survey: In Canada, girls face more emotional problems than boys: A Canadian survey of more than 26,000 youths from 436 schools revealed that girls were more prone to emotional problems and to lower levels of well-being compared with boys. The researchers found that by grade 10, 38% of girls reported feeling depressed on a weekly basis, compared with 24% of boys. The Star February 15, 2012

Accountability is lacking in education: seminar: The "Revamping Thai Education System: Quality for All" seminar was held at Centara Grand Hotel in Bangkok's CentralWorld. Ammar Siamwalla, a distinguished scholar at TDRI, said Thailand certainly did not have a shortage of funds or time for students to study. He said Thai children did badly in school even though they work harder and spend longer hours studying compared to students in other countries. The Nation February 16, 2012

Help autistic to stay afloat Without specialist school staff, these children will go under, writes one Sydney mother: OPINION: My family's autism journey began nine years ago, when Luke was a blond, blue-eyed toddler. He seemed a bit too quiet and he fussed if people went near him at playgroup. Crowds and supermarkets were way too noisy. The words seemed slow in coming. National Times February 13, 2012

Agatha Christie cut down for language students. New versions of 20 detective novels produced for 'upper intermediate' English language learners: From Queen of Crime to Queen of the Classroom: a new series of simplified, abridged Agatha Christie novels are set to introduce non-native English speakers to the glory of the British murder mystery. Publisher Collins has cut down 20 of Christie's detective novels – including Poirot's first case, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, and Miss Marple's debut outing The Murder at the Vicarage – by 60%, simplifying the language and adding character notes and glossaries. The books are aimed at "upper intermediate" English language learners, and are intended to ensure that "studying English is as captivating as it is educational". The Guardian February 15, 2012

iPads make learning a delight for pupils: Aurora College's (New Zealand) youngest pupils received a classroom tool more exciting than an exercise book this week when iPads were given to each of the school's year 7 pupils. Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt presented each pupil with the tablet after he told them how important technology and computers were – though he did admit his personal assistant did a lot of his internet research for him. This was the second year iPads had been given to each of the year 7 pupils, with last year's group now using their tablets in year 8. Deputy principal Graeme Hood said that when laptops, netbooks and iPads were trialled at the end of 2010, teachers decided the iPad best met the pupils' needs. The Southland Times February 15, 2012

Pupils banned from using slang in school. Pupils at Sheffield's Springs Academy have been ordered to stop using slang while at school to improve their job prospects: Teachers introduced the policy to encourage their pupils, aged from 11 to 18, to use only standard English inside the school gates. The trust that runs the academy said it wanted children to cut out slang words and phrases such as "hiya" and "cheers" in favour of the more correct "good morning", "goodbye" or "thank you". Abbreviated forms of words have become popular with the rise of text messages and the social networking website Twitter in which the length of a message is restricted. The Telegraph February 14, 2012

A Last-Minute Deal on Teacher Evaluations: New York State education officials and the state teachers’ union reached an agreement on a new teacher evaluation system on Thursday, just hours before a deadline imposed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who had threatened to break the impasse by imposing his own way to judge the quality of a teacher’s work. The deal, announced at a news conference in Albany, also resolved the impasse over the process by which New York City teachers could appeal their poor ratings, which had been a major sticking point between City Hall and its teachers’ union, the United Federation of Teachers, for months. SchoolBook February 16, 2012

Lessons from Asia show way forward for schools: Australia is focusing on education reforms that have limited value, such as school funding, teacher pay and principal autonomy, while successful Asian countries are forging further ahead with their singular focus on improving how students learn. A report to be released today by independent think tank the Grattan Institute examines four of the five top-performing school systems in the world - Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea - and notes the absence of Australian preoccupations such as public versus private schools, smaller class sizes and computers in classrooms. Grattan program director of school education Ben Jensen said the Asian systems placed student learning at the centre of education policy and discarded programs or policies that failed to lead to an improvement. The Australian February 17, 2012

Punjab education challenge: 50K kids out of school: It’s a tough challenge for Punjab on the education front. Even in this progressive state, close to 50,000 children are out of school and more than one lakh disabled in need of inclusive education. In all, there are 122 habitations with no primary or upper primary school in the neighbourhood to enable children to access free and compulsory education mandated by the Right to Education (RTE) Act. The Tribune, Chandigarh, India February 16, 2012

Teacher budget won't cut class time Minister says reduced year off the table: Alberta students would spend two weeks less in the classroom each year according to leaked documents detailing a tentative deal with the province's teacher's union that was negotiated behind closed doors last March but never approved. Calgary Herald January 30 2012

B.C. has over-abundance of teachers, education minister warns: Young people interested in a teaching career need to know there are three applicants in British Columbia for every one position that becomes available in the K-12 school system, says Education Minister George Abbott. The Vancouver Sun Jan 30 2012

Summit to Make a Case for Teaching Handwriting: Handwriting still has a place in the digital age, its proponents say, and they hoped that what they billed as a "summit" on the subject this week would spotlight their case for the enduring value of handwriting in the learning process. Education Week Feb 1, 2012

Host of issues facing new leader of Calgary Catholic School District: Exploding population growth in southeast Calgary, school closures, and the long wait for an agreement between the province and the Alberta Teachers' Association top the list of challenges facing Calgary Catholic School District's new chief superintendent and CEO. The Calgary Herald February 1, 2012

Online learning carries a stigma in China: While China is experimenting with online learning, its growth has been limited because of the reputation and quality of e-learning programmes -- which enrol about 26% of students. A recent report found that online learning has been slow to take off in China because the country has no standards for content and courses, a lack of professional development for teachers, and insufficient access to the Internet and technology for students. Education Week Feb 1 2012

Britain seeks to improve maths, science teaching: In Britain, a panel is tasked with a three-year study aimed at improving maths and science teaching, following concerns from employers that students are leaving school unprepared for the workplace. Members of the panel say they expect to propose "radical" changes to the current practice. Their work is expected to focus on school leaders, teachers, accountability, education infrastructure, and curriculum and exams. The Telegraph (London) Feb 01

Cultural activities improve academics among Irish students: Nine-year-olds who participated more in cultural activities during their free time had better reading and maths skills than those who watched more TV, an Irish study found. Researchers noted that about a third of middle-class children were engaged in cultural activities, compared with fewer than 10% of those who lived in disadvantaged areas Irish Examiner February 1 , 2012

How mobile devices are changing education in Africa: In Africa, mobile technology is affecting the quality of education, including in South Africa, where students use cellphones to chat via text message with maths tutors. Experts say the growth of mobile technology in the continent is helping schools overcome challenges, such as limited access to resources and electricity. Mobile technology also provides greater access to books and other educational resources for students and more opportunities for professional development for teachers. Education Week February 1, 2012

S. Korean school creates positive school environment: A middle-school teacher in Seoul, South Korea, is seeking to curb bullying and school violence by creating a culture of trust. Among the programmes implemented at the school are victim-bully apology sessions, in which bullies give their victims apples as symbols of their remorse. "A few changes in the school environment can bring positive developments in the way students behave," said teacher Lee Ik-soo. The Korea Herald January 20, 2012