RETHINKING COLLEGE - Why Need for Remedial Math

In high school I 'majored' in math (including college prep classes), the problem is a failure of today's high school education programs.

"Many college students struggle to pass remedial math.  Do they need to?" PBS NewsHour 5/14/2019

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SUMMARY:  Colleges created remedial education classes to ensure students were sufficiently prepared for more advanced material.  But increasingly, there’s a sense that remedial courses are hurting the prospects of the students they are intended to help.  As a result, some California colleges and high schools are rethinking their approach to teaching math -- with encouraging results.  Hari Sreenivasan reports.

SCHOOL SAFETY - Commission Recommendations

"Do the recommendations from the school safety commission go far enough?" PBS NewsHour 12/18/2018

aka "Turning Our Schools into Fortresses" but no gun control.  #NeverAgain  #StandAgainstNRA

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SUMMARY:  Citing a "holistic" approach to school safety, a federal commission led by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has released proposals on student mental health, cyber bullying, and discipline.  For different perspectives on the report, Amna Nawaz talks to Catherine Lhamon, former Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the Department of Education, and Jeanne Allen, CEO of Center for Education Reform.

Judy Woodruff (NewsHour):  There have been 24 school shootings where someone was injured or killed this year at American public elementary, middle and high schools; 35 people have been killed, 28 of them students.  Another 79 people have been injured.

Those are the latest stats that our colleagues at Education Week have been tracking.  It's one of the worst years on modern record.

And yet there are still enormous differences of opinion about what should be done for school safety.

RURAL EDUCATION - Dwindling Populations

"How schools are forced to close as rural populations dwindle" PBS NewsHour 11/27/2018

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SUMMARY:  Across the country, rural schools are being forced to shut down as more families move to urban areas and funding sources dry up.  In Arena, Wisconsin, six-year-old Brady Schlamp must now travel 10 miles to school.  His former school, right around the corner, was shuttered.  As Jeffrey Brown reports, the closures can cause logistical challenges, emotional fallout and community divisions.

KINDERTARDEN - Sneak Preview

"This kindergarten sneak preview helps families hit the ground running" PBS NewsHour 8/14/2018

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SUMMARY:  For three weeks in the summer, children who are entering kindergarten in Portland, Oregon, get ready and get excited to start school.  While it’s no substitute for pre-K, getting a preview helps ease the transition for kids, and offers parents a sense of connection.  Special correspondent Lisa Stark of Education Week reports.

SCHOOLS - Rethinking Sex Ed

"Some schools are rethinking sex ed with lessons on consent" PBS NewsHour 7/10/2018

IMHO:  What is needed is teaching boys that girls are NOT for putting 'notches on their gun,' and teaching girls that popularity should NOT being a 'notch on a boy's gun.'

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SUMMARY:  The changing culture around sexual harassment and the #MeToo movement has some states and school districts rethinking their sex ed curriculum to include healthy relationships, preventing violence and ensuring consent.  Special correspondent Lisa Stark of Education Week visits a Washington, D.C., school that is committed to comprehensive sexuality education.

BRIEF BUT SPECTACULAR - Dana Mortenson

"Why the future demands that kids learn to think globally" PBS NewsHour 5/3/2018

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SUMMARY:  Young Americans don’t know a lot about the rest of the world, says Dana Mortenson, CEO of World Savvy, and the byproduct is fear of what we don’t understand.  Her company reimagines K-12 education to leverage diversity as an asset.  Mortenson gives her Brief but Spectacular take on being a savvy global citizen.