Education 2013 Archive | PBS NewsHour

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	2013 JUNE June 18, 2013 Are Teachers Being Adequately Trained for the Classroom? Study Says No A study of 600 American schools conducted by the National Council on Teacher Quality finds new teachers are being inadequately prepared to instruct students. But the report's findings and methodology have come under critique. Jeffrey Brown looks at the study with John Merrow, NewsHour's special correspondent for education.

	June 7, 2013 To Lower Dropout Rates, Finding Potential Where Support Systems Are Lacking Nonprofit educational organization OneGoal has partnered with Chicago public schools to push kids at risk of dropping out of high school to persist and attend college. Ash-har Quraishi of WTTW Chicago reports for our American Graduate project on a special curriculum that hones leadership skills these kids often already have.

	June 6, 2013 Obama Calls for High Speed Broadband at Schools Throughout U.S. President Obama called for expanding broadband access in schools nationwide Thursday, so that teachers can use technology to better educate their students. Revisit John Tulenko's 2011 report on how one North Carolina school district, ahead of the curve on using technology in the classroom at the time, is now a model school.

	June 5, 2013 Chemistry Teacher Mixes Science and Innovation and Sets it on Fire Jamie Munkatchy ignites a passion for science and innovation in her students at Validus Preparatory Academy. The Bronx chemistry teacher wants to connect their science education to real world problems. "I'm trying to develop a pipeline of kids from the Bronx to go into the STEM fields."

	June 4, 2013 How is Student Debt Affecting Your Post-Graduate Life? "How do we make sure that our workers earn the skills and education they need to do [their] jobs?" That's the question President Obama posed during a press conference last Friday, where he stressed the importance of keeping student loans from doubling in July.



	MAY May 31, 2013 Presidential Push to Stop Sky-High Student Loan Interest Rates President Obama is making a push to stop student loan interest rates from doubling July 1. To debate possible solutions, Jeffrey Brown talks with Matthew Segal, president of OurTime.org, and Evan Feinberg, president of Generation Opportunity, groups that advocate for millennials, and Anya Kamenetz, author of "Generation Debt."

	May 29, 2013 Country Music Legend Dolly Parton's New Role: 'Book Lady' Country music legend Dolly Parton has delivered nearly 50 million free books to children's homes. Called Imagination Library, the program started in 1996 in one one rural Tennessee county and has spread to 1,400 communities across the United States, England and Canada. Special correspondent for education John Merrow reports.

	May 20, 2013 Massive, Mile-Wide Tornado Leaves Wake of Destruction Outside Oklahoma City Two tornadoes struck the Oklahoma City area within 24 hours, leaving behind miles of devastation and leveling scores of homes. Kwame Holman reports on the extreme weather in Oklahoma. Jeffrey Brown talks to Gary Knight of the Oklahoma City Police Department and Bill Bunting of the National Severe Storm Prediction Center.

	May 15, 2013 Headed to Law School? Lower Your Expectations Recent law school grads face a tough job market, daunting student loans and -- if they land a job -- a demanding work environment. Steven Harper's "The Lawyer Bubble: A Profession in Crisis" serves as a wake up call and warning for students disillusioned by the prestigious lawyers they watch on T.V.

	May 14, 2013 In India, Organization of Learning Centers Seeks to Spark Enthusiasm for School In India, an educational group called Pratham aims to change the perception of school as a solemn enterprise and to offer instead a love of learning to the youngest -- and poorest -- students. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports on what is possibly the world's largest campaign to improve remedial education.

	May 7, 2013 Inspiring Science With Frozen Roadkill and Harvested Whale Bones When San Francisco's newly constructed Exploratorium opened this spring, it received plenty of plaudits from the press and others. But across town, the Exploratorium has a cousin. Dan Sudran from San Francisco's Mission Science Workshop uses unlikely objects in an unlikely place to inspire kids about science.

	May 6, 2013 Maine School Engages Kids With Relevant Problem-Solving Challenges Special correspondent John Tulenko of Learning Matters reports on a public middle school in Portland, Maine that is taking a different approach to teaching students. Teachers have swapped traditional curriculum for an unusually comprehensive science curriculum that emphasizes problem-solving, with a little help from some robots.



	APRIL April 26, 2013 Can Celebrities Influence a Student's Decision to Stay in School? The Journal of Pediatrics recently released results of a study conducted in the United Kingdom that indicated celebrity endorsement of a food product increased a child's consumption of it. In other words, celebrities seem to have an effect on the choices children make -- which may not come as any big surprise.

	April 24, 2013 Creating a Whole New Planet for Math and Science Jerriel Hall has taken his third grade class to another planet for a day. Their mission: review their math and physics skills before their high-stakes standardized tests. The result is an out-of-this-world experience for the students.

	April 3, 2013 To Bully or Not to Bully: Using Shakespeare in Schools to Address Violence In Colorado, some schools are tapping an unlikely bullying prevention tool: the plays of William Shakespeare. The Colorado Shakespeare Festival adapts the bard's works as a way to start discussions on bullying, violence and the moment of choosing between right and wrong. Jeffrey Brown reports.

	April 3, 2013 Kentucky School District Wants Project Based Learning to Outshine Testing A public school district in Danville, Ky., has turned its emphasis away from traditional testing in order to encourage creativity and let students learn by doing. NewsHour special correspondent for education John Merrow reports on "deep learning," and how it requires commitment from educators, students and parents.

	April 2, 2013 Anti-Bullying Lessons With the Bard Some 400 years after the first recorded performance of William Shakespeare's "The Tempest," thousands of Colorado students are seeing an adaptation of the famous play created especially for them. Their version is relatively short, and has a very specific goal: reducing violence among teens and pre-teens.

	April 1, 2013 Should Public Money Be Used for Private Schools? The Indiana Supreme Court upheld a law allowing taxpayer money to be used for private schools through vouchers. Hari Sreenivasan examines the implications with Kevin Chavous, executive counsel for American Federation for Children, which promotes vouchers, and Dennis van Roekel, president of the National Education Association.



	MARCH March 29, 2013 News Wrap: Dozens of Atlanta Educators, Former Chief Indicted for Cheating In other news Friday, a grand jury in Atlanta indicted former school superintendent Beverly Hall and 34 others in a cheating scandal. Also, Christians around the world observed Good Friday.

	March 28, 2013 Create a Science Rhyme to Win a Shout-Out From Wu-Tang Clan's GZA Calling all science MCs: perform a science rap for a chance to win a call-out from Wu-Tang Clan's GZA. In his upcoming solo album, "Dark Matter," science geek GZA raps about the Big Bang. The legendary rapper hopes to pique students' interest in science by introducing hip-hop to the lesson plan.

	March 28, 2013 A Man and a Baby Walk Into a Classroom ... Once a month, Andy Haner and his wife Layla bring eight-month-old Emory to see Autumn Doss's third graders at Olympic Hills Elementary School outside of Seattle, Wash. They are participating in Roots of Empathy, a program designed to foster empathy in children and decrease aggressive behavior.

	March 28, 2013 Bringing Babies to the Classroom to Teach Empathy, Prevent Bullying Incidents of bullying in schools across the U.S. not only have an effect on students' emotional state, they can also have school wide ramifications. PBS NewsHour's American Graduate team recently traveled to Seattle to profile one program that works on curbing aggressive behavior early on by bringing babies into the classroom.

	March 27, 2013 Top-Achieving Poor Students Go Unnoticed by Some Elite Universities Why are some of America's top academic achievers are missing out on a shot to attend the best universities? As part of the PBS NewsHour's continuing coverage on inequality in U.S., Jeffrey Brown talks with Caroline Hoxby of Stanford University, an author of a new study on the issue, and Michele Minter of Princeton University.

	March 27, 2013 School House Rapping With Wu-Tang Clan’s GZA In his upcoming solo album, "Dark Matter," Wu-Tang Clan's GZA rhymes about the Big Bang. The legendary rapper performed his new material at Bronx Compass High School, where he hopes to pique students' interest in science by introducing hip-hop to the lesson plan.

	March 25, 2013 Live Chat with Dr. Sampson Davis Sampson Davis grew up in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Newark, N.J., robbing drug dealers and dodging juvenile delinquency. Today, Davis is an emergency medicine physician at St. Michael's Medical Center, just blocks away from the streets of his rough past. He will join PBS NewsHour for a live chat 1 p.m. ET Tuesday.

	March 22, 2013 Chicago Board of Education Plans to Shut Down 54 Schools, Move 30,000 Students The Chicago Board of Education plans to close 54 schools, citing a $1 billion deficit and under-enrollment. Critics say this move will disrupt communities and put kids in danger. For both sides of the debate, Jeffrey Brown talks with Board vice president Jesse Ruiz and Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union.

	March 11, 2013 School Reform Program Targets Students at Risk of Falling Behind, Dropping Out Currently implemented in 44 U.S. schools, a data-driven dropout prevention program called Diplomas Now targets students who start to fall behind in middle school, and offers them nurturing, mentoring relationships. Ray Suarez reports on how a Baton Rouge middle school was able to turn itself around by adopting this approach.



	FEBRUARY Feb. 26, 2013 My Friend Who Made History Charlayne Hunter-Gault broke barriers when she arrived to the University of Georgia in 1961. Her strength and fortitude allowed her to thrive on a racially hostile campus would serve her in her future career as an award-winning journalist.

	Feb. 25, 2013 Prospects for Deal to Avert Sequester Appear Grim A central question hangs in the air as the week begins. (And, no, it doesn't involve the First Lady's appearance at Sunday's Oscars.) Can President Obama and Congress defy the odds and come to a deal before Friday, when $85 billion in automatic cuts to defense and domestic spending are scheduled to begin taking effect?

	Feb. 25, 2013 New Report Highlights U.S. Graduation Gains, Decline in 'Dropout Factories' High schools have made significant improvements in graduation rates in the last decade -- 78.2 percent of U.S. students graduated from high school in 2010, a 6.5 percent increase from 2001.

	Feb. 22, 2013 Schools Add Anger Management to the Lesson Plan As the nation struggles to pinpoint what might help prevent violence in the wake of the mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary, a program being piloted at a school in Ohio may have a solution. The theory: short bursts of therapeutic exercise, even in a health class, can boost a teen's chances of dealing with stress and adversity.

	Feb. 21, 2013 Student Voices Chime in on Preventing School Shootings In the wake of the Newtown shootings, high school students who participate in NewsHour's Student Reporting Labs from all across the country shared their views on the gun debate in a Google Hangout moderated by Hari Sreenivasan.

	Feb. 13, 2013 Chicago Program Aims to Close Achievement Gap for Youngest Students Education correspondent John Merrow reports on a Chicago program that targets high-risk, low-income young children before they begin falling behind in school.

	Feb. 7, 2013 To Lower Dropout Rates, Finding Potential Where Support Systems Are Lacking Nonprofit educational organization OneGoal has partnered with Chicago public schools to push kids at risk of dropping out of high school to persist and attend college. Ash-har Quraishi of WTTW Chicago reports for our American Graduate project on a special curriculum that hones leadership skills these kids often already have.

	Feb. 7, 2013 Enrichment Programs Fill Opportunity Gap for Students While the gap in graduation rates between low and high income students has only increased over the years, enrichment programs such as OneGoal in Chicago, Ill., and Rainier Scholars in Seattle try to bridge that gap by providing an intricate support system throughout high school -- and into college.

	Feb. 4, 2013 A Checklist to Keep Good Teachers in the Classroom Good teachers can help students stay in school and keep them from dropping out. But what must schools do to keep top teachers from burning out and leaving the field? Hari Sreenivasan has the story of a Connecticut school that uses a checklist to evaluate and keep the best teachers in the classroom.

	Feb. 4, 2013 Improving Achievement with Focus on Scholarly Expectations Strict rules, uniforms and college expectations are transforming Achievement First Bridgeport Academy Middle School students into scholars.

	Feb. 4, 2013 Federal Grants, Rise of Charter Schools Expand Teacher Evaluations Determining exactly how and how often teachers should be evaluated on their job performance is a long-standing and contentious issue. At the Achievement First Bridgeport Academy Middle School teachers expect regular classroom observations, coaching sessions and constant feedback on the quality of their instruction.

	Feb. 4, 2013 A Brief Overview of Teacher Evaluation Controversies In recent education reform history, judging teacher evaluations has become as much an issue as how to evaluate student achievement. The NewsHour outlines several key controversies over teacher evaluations in recent history.



	JANUARY Jan. 30, 2013 Teachers Embrace 'Deep Learning,' Translating Lessons Into Practical Skills Special correspondent John Tulenko looks at some schools that institute real world applications into lesson plans and emphasize the importance of improvement over intelligence. The schools are less interested in testing but rather making sure students have the life skills they need once they leave the classroom.

	Jan. 23, 2013 Education Is Top Priority for Inauguration-Goers For Debbie Suer, making the decision to go back to college at 58 was a no-brainer. Her academic achievements even earned her a trip to Washington, D.C. to attend the 57th inauguration.

	Jan. 22, 2013 Covering History: College Journalists Take on the Inauguration To cover the 57th presidential inauguration, NewsHour hosted 15 student journalists from college and graduate journalism programs across the country. They spent three days interviewing everyone and anyone, attending the Inaugural Ball and a Yoga Ball and trying not to drool over half-smokes at Ben's Chili Bowl.

	Jan. 17, 2013 Students Speak Out on Gun Violence Prevention, Find No 'Easy Answer' In the wake of the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., the NewsHour asked students from 45 schools around the country to provide advice on how to prevent future shootings at schools. Ray Suarez presents some of these high schoolers' takes on the gun debate, which were collected through NewsHour's Student Reporting Labs.

	Jan. 17, 2013 In Preventing Violence, 'Very Hard to Identify' Individuals Who Need Help Most Ray Suarez looks at responses by lawmakers and the NRA to President Obama's gun violence proposals. Jeffrey Brown hones in on the topic of mental health with Barry Rosenfeld, a clinical forensic psychologist at Fordham University, and Dr. Paramjit Joshi of the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

	Jan. 16, 2013 How Math Got Its Groove Back Carrie Lewis and Kelly Steele's fifth grade students slide and spin across the classroom floor. They do the hustle, the robot and the running man. While it may look at first glance like goofing off, these students are actually dancing for a higher cause -- math.

	Jan. 15, 2013 Metal Detectors to Bear Spray, Students Search For Gun Violence Solutions Universal background checks, armed officers and changes to the country's mental health system are ideas being floated as the nation searches for solutions to gun-related violence. In the wake of the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., the NewsHour asked students from its Student Reporting Labs to imagine solutions to gun violence.

	Jan. 15, 2013 Former Incarcerated Staff Serves Up Lunch, With a Story on the Side Haley House is full of staff members who have been incarcerated. Their offenses include weapons violations, drug trafficking, even murder. Nearly two-thirds dropped out of school. But all are now working diligently to trying to re-define their lives not on what they did, but rather, about what they're doing.

	Jan. 8, 2013 Live Chat: Can STEM Education Close the Achievement Gap? On Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET, NewsHour is hosting a live chat on how STEM education can close the achievement gap.We'll be examining the unmet demand for more STEM-skilled workers in the U.S. economy, and how that disconnect breaks down for minority and low-income students.

	Jan. 8, 2013 How Free Online Courses Are Changing the Traditional Liberal Arts Education As tuition costs continue to rise, it seems counterintuitive that professors at top universities would give away their courses for free. But that's exactly what they're doing, on web-based platforms known as "Massive Open Online Courses." Spencer Michels reports on how a boom in online learning could change higher education.

	Jan. 8, 2013 Open Online Courses and Making Sure Students Don't Cheat Several hundred college level courses taught by top professors are now available online for free, and several million students around the globe are signing up to take advantage of the new phenomenon. But how do educators ensure participants aren't cheating?

	Jan. 8, 2013 Examining Michelle Rhee's Legacy in Education Reform Tuesday's Frontline examines one of the most controversial figures in education reform in recent memory: Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of the Washington, D.C., school system.

	Jan. 8, 2013 One Professor's Approach to Online Learning: He's Learning Too Online learning at the university level comes in a variety of flavors. The hottest one right now is the MOOC, or massive open online courses, that are primarily given for free and do not, for the most part, carry transferrable college credit. But online classes have been around for a long time.

	Jan. 8, 2013 How One STEM School Aims to Lower the Achievement Gap The achievement gap between low-income and high-income students has been a persistent problem in the U.S. A public school in Washington, D.C., is trying to change all that. McKinley Technology High School offers a science and technology curriculum that hopes to inspire students to achieve in the classroom and in the workforce.

	Jan. 4, 2013 Ohio Third Graders Face Retention Ultimatum: Learn to Read or Repeat the Year Ohio is one of 14 states to put in place a retention rule that holds back students who are not reading at grade level. Special correspondent John Tulenko reports on the "reading guarantee," which educators say puts enormous pressure on them, and may not actually ensure educational success or lower dropout rates in the future.

	Jan. 1, 2013 School of Wine: Training Students for Jobs in Washington State's Wine Industry With more than 700 vineyards, Washington state has become a premier location for viticulture. One community college has created a winemaking degree that fosters economic, environmental and cultural sustainability in and around the city of Walla Walla where vineyards continue to sprout. Special correspondent John Tulenko reports.