| Migrant kids get head start in selective tests
CHILDREN with a non-English speaking background continue to enjoy special exemptions in the selective schools test, despite a report finding, buried for more than 15 years, that this gives them an unnecessary advantage. Each position in a selective high school is highly sought after, with about 13,000 year 6 students competing for 3700 places each year. A confidential report produced for the NSW Department of Education and Training in 1991 identified an inconsistency in the way different components of the entry test are measured. Students with a non-English speaking background are treated equally to those with an English-speaking background in maths and English tests. However, children who have been studying English for less than four years are given exemptions from a third component of the test, which measures general ability, similar to an IQ test.
Obama, Clintons assemble at historic crossing
Presidential candidate Barack Obama staked his claim Sunday to the African-American experience in this Deep South city, despite a personal background that kept him far from the bloodshed that was spilled in the struggle for civil rights. Yes, the senator said, his grandfather was a Kenyan, but a racist system similar to America's there limited him to work as a cook for whites. Yes, Obama said, his mother was a white woman from Kansas. But she learned color-blindness from the likes of Selma's 1965 freedom marchers, marrying the son of that cook in Hawaii. All of that, Obama said, made him "the offspring of the movement" -- and it made his first visit to Selma a sort of homecoming. "Don't tell me I'm not coming home when I come to Selma, Alabama," the Illinois Democrat said.
NIE helps build a lifetime reading habit
MOUNT VERNON — Newspaper In Education programs were first introduced in the 1930s as an educational partnership between newspapers and participating school systems, with the early programs aimed at secondary schools to teach current events. Today, NIE is an international program for students in preschool through college and beyond. More than 900 newspapers in the United States alone support NIE’s goal to build a lifetime reading habit among children and adults. Those publishers provide classrooms with newspapers, current, up-to-date resources for local, state and world news and issues. Many newspapers charge teachers for participating in the program and also charge for the costs of the papers, but the Mount Vernon News NIE program provides those resources at no cost to the teachers because it believes that an early habit of reading the newspaper helps individuals become informed, responsible citizens.
No relaxation for shortage in attendance: Minister
HYDERABAD: The State Government has rejected the demand of the Opposition for issue of hall-tickets to Intermediate students who could not take their ongoing examinations for want of attendance. The entire Opposition was up in arms against the Government after Higher Education Minister P. Venkateswara Rao made a statement in the Assembly on Monday, refusing to allow candidates to take the exams if they had attendance below 60 per cent. The Minister said 4,270 students of Inter first year and 4,115 students of the second year were denied hall-tickets for shortage of attendance. After reviewing the situation last week, the Board of Intermediate Education decided that the students could take the advance supplementary exams after attending summer coaching classes. The other option before them was to pay Rs.
$200000 Grant to Provide Computer Skills for Juneau's Public ...
ANCHORAGE, AK -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 03/05/07 -- A $199,905 grant from the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development will serve economically and educationally disadvantaged adults who lack the technology skills needed to be successful in the workplace. The grant to Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) under HUD's Public Housing Neighborhood Networks program will target tenants in Juneau's Cedar Park and Geneva Woods public housing developments, along with those in the Mountain View elderly/disabled complex. Under a three-year contract with AHFC, Southeast Regional Resource Center will provide services for adult basic education and computer skills instruction, and after-school homework and literacy support for children, including literacy skill development, academic enrichment, and supervised computer labs using educational software and activities.
Special Education course for families, attorneys set
A Special Education Advocacy Course for families, attorneys and other professionals will be presented by Rene Folse and PAUSE4kids on three Saturdays April 21, May 5 and May 19. There are more than 650,000 special education students in California and only a handful of professionals trained to serve the population, course organizers said. .
Two schools cleared of TAKS cheating
The Texas Education Agency has cleared two Harlandale Independent School District schools of cheating on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. Leal and Harlandale middle schools were among a list of about 700 schools the agency investigated after they were flagged by an outside company as having questionable test scores. The state cleared most of the schools in December but put Harlandale's campuses in pending status. .
Texas Launches Education Program to Combat Steroid Use and Improve ...
AUSTIN -- The University Interscholastic League (UIL) and the Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA) today announced a pilot program to provide students with the tools to make better decisions impacting their safety and sportsmanship. The program, STAR Sportsmanship, capitalizes on student interest in video games and role-play simulations to practice better decision-making in steroid avoidance and good sportsmanship. Thirty-one Texas school districts represented on the UILs Legislative Council are participating in the pilot program. More than 6,000 students and 350 coaches have already accessed the program in Texas as of February 26. District and campus administrators and athletic coaches from the pilot schools will participate in the first Sportsmanship and Steroid Education Summit, to be held in Austin on March 27.
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