Education We've been to school. We know how education works. Right? In fact, many aspects of learning — in homes, at schools, at work and elsewhere — are evolving rapidly, along with our understanding of learning. Join us as we explore how learning happens.

Education

Tuesday January 29, 2013

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, says a bar exam for K-12 teachers would test a person's knowledge based on the subject he or she was hired to teach. Rebecca Cook/Reuters/Landov hide caption

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Rebecca Cook/Reuters/Landov

Union Backs 'Bar Exam' For Teachers

January 29, 2013 • The American Federation of Teachers proposes a single, standard test to determine who's fit to teach. The exam would replace a patchwork of different certification requirements that vary by state. But it has raised more questions than answers, especially about how teachers are prepared in school.

Union Backs 'Bar Exam' For Teachers

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Monday January 28, 2013

Finding Learning Tools In Digital Footprints

Nkomo Morris, a teacher at Brooklyn's Art and Media High School, works on her classroom computer in New York. Bebeto Matthews/AP hide caption

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Bebeto Matthews/AP

Technology

Finding Learning Tools In Digital Footprints

January 28, 2013 • The hours children spend on the internet could have a valuable use — helping educators tailor lesson plans in school? Social media expert Rey Junco tells host Michel Martin about its potential as an education tool in Tell Me More's new series "Social Me."

Finding Learning Tools In Digital Footprints

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Sunday January 27, 2013

The GOP And Taxes: In The States, It Can Get Complicated

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature in Indianapolis on Tuesday. Darron Cummings/AP hide caption

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Darron Cummings/AP

It's All Politics

The GOP And Taxes: In The States, It Can Get Complicated

January 27, 2013 • Republican Mike Pence just began his term as Indiana governor with a plan to cut the state income tax rate, joining Louisiana's Bobby Jindal, Wisconsin's Scott Walker, Nebraska's Dave Heineman and other GOP governors in pushing for similar plans. But some Republican state legislators aren't convinced.

Saturday January 19, 2013

New Reading Standards Aim To Prep Kids For College — But At What Cost?

New education standards place more emphasis on nonfiction reading and writing over fiction works. Some say this could lead students away from a passionate engagement with literature. Chris Sadowski/iStockphoto hide caption

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Chris Sadowski/iStockphoto

New Reading Standards Aim To Prep Kids For College — But At What Cost?

January 19, 2013 • Almost the entire country has signed onto the Common Core Standards Initiative. The standards incorporate more nonfiction texts across all subjects to improve reading scores. But some fear the push for nonfiction reading could lead students away from passionate engagement with literature.

New Reading Standards Aim To Prep Kids For College — But At What Cost?

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Friday January 18, 2013

The Two-Way

Teacher Evaluation Impasse Costs New York City Hundreds Of Millions

January 18, 2013 • In New York City, the failure to agree on a plan for evaluating its teachers is being widely criticized, especially because the city will now miss out on hundreds of millions of dollars in state financing. At stake was $250 million in aid, and another $200 million in grants, according to WNYC's Schoolbook education blog.

Thursday January 17, 2013

The Two-Way

AP Credit Will No Longer Be Accepted At Dartmouth

January 17, 2013 • Advanced Placement exams, which many high school students use to gain course credits when they attend college, will no longer be accepted for credit at Dartmouth College, the AP reports.

Seattle High School's Teachers Toss District's Test

Garfield High School's academic dean and testing coordinator, Kris McBride, at a news conference announcing the teachers' boycott of the MAP test in Seattle on Jan. 10. Ann Dornfeld for NPR hide caption

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Ann Dornfeld for NPR

Seattle High School's Teachers Toss District's Test

KUOW

January 17, 2013 • The teachers say the test, which evaluates their performance as well as the students', is a waste of time. The district is planning review of the test's effectiveness but still expects that it will be administered. As protests against standardized tests percolate nationwide, Seattle may cause a greater ripple effect.

Seattle High School's Teachers Toss District's Test

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Thursday January 10, 2013

Opinion

The Opinion Page

Op-Ed: To Close The Achievement Gap, Don't Lower The Bar

January 10, 2013 • Florida and Virginia have adopted new academic standards setting different performance goals for subgroups of students in low-performing schools. In a Miami Herald piece, syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts argues that lowering the bar is not the way to fix the education system.

Op-Ed: To Close The Achievement Gap, Don't Lower The Bar

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Wednesday January 9, 2013

Elite Colleges Struggle To Recruit Smart, Low-Income Kids

Top schools like Harvard, seen here in 2000, often offer scholarships and other financial incentives, but they are finding it hard to increase the socioeconomic diversity on campus. Darren McCollester/Getty Images hide caption

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Darren McCollester/Getty Images

Hidden Brain

Elite Colleges Struggle To Recruit Smart, Low-Income Kids

January 9, 2013 • Top schools often offer scholarships that not only include free tuition, but also free room and board for top students from poor families. Each year, however, colleges are confronted with a paradox: No matter how many incentives they provide, enrollment of highly talented, low-income student barely seems to budge.

Elite Colleges Struggle To Recruit Smart, Low-Income Kids

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Promoting Hinduism? Parents Demand Removal Of School Yoga Class

KPBS

January 9, 2013 • Encinitas, Calif., is celebrated by many as the yoga mecca of America. But when the spiritual discipline was recently incorporated in a local school, a group of parents quickly likened it to religious indoctrination. They worry the new model will be exported to schools across the country.

Promoting Hinduism? Parents Demand Removal Of School Yoga Class

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Tuesday January 8, 2013

Jake Scott (a.k.a. 2 Pi), with student. Courtesy of Jake Scott hide caption

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Courtesy of Jake Scott

Music News

2 Pi: Rhymes And Radii

January 8, 2013 • High school math teacher Jake Scott teaches his students with the help of his hip-hop alias, 2 Pi. By rapping about equations and formulas, Scott helps students remember his lessons and forges a deeper connection with them.

2 Pi: Rhymes And Radii

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Monday January 7, 2013

Districts Train Teachers For School Shootings

Firearm instructor Clark Aposhian conducts a concealed-weapons class for teachers, sponsored by the Utah Shooting Sports Council, in West Valley City, Utah. Across the country, school districts and other entities are hoping to better prepare staff to respond in a shooting situation. George Frey/Getty Images hide caption

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George Frey/Getty Images

National

Districts Train Teachers For School Shootings

January 7, 2013 • Since the December school shooting in Newtown, Conn., some teachers have been giving more thought to personal safety in the classroom. Over the holiday break, school staff in several cities attended training sessions designed to better prepare them to respond during a school shooting.

Districts Train Teachers For School Shootings

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Thursday January 3, 2013

For Many Kids, Winter Break Means Hungry Holidays

Tamara Burney's kindergartners eat lunch in the Hillview Elementary cafeteria in Jefferson County, Ala. Dan Carsen/WBHM hide caption

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Dan Carsen/WBHM

National

For Many Kids, Winter Break Means Hungry Holidays

WBHM

January 3, 2013 • Most kids look forward to their school's winter break. But millions of students in the U.S. get free or reduced-price meals at school, and when school is closed, many of those children eat less until classes are back in session.

For Many Kids, Winter Break Means Hungry Holidays

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Sunday December 23, 2012

With Growth Of 'Hacker Scouting,' More Kids Learn To Tinker

Kids build robots with Popsicle sticks at an Oakland meeting of Hacker Scouts, a group that encourages young people to create do-it-yourself crafts and electronics. Jon Kalish for NPR hide caption

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Jon Kalish for NPR

National

With Growth Of 'Hacker Scouting,' More Kids Learn To Tinker

December 23, 2012 • With the rise of the do-it-yourself movement, more groups are springing up to encourage kids to link crafts and science. Modeled on more traditional Scouting groups, kids and their parents meet up in tool-filled "hacker spaces" to build electronics and get creative.

With Growth Of 'Hacker Scouting,' More Kids Learn To Tinker

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Wednesday December 19, 2012

The Two-Way

News Of Sandy Hook's New Principal Brightens Parents' Day

December 19, 2012 • When the students of Sandy Hook Elementary return to class after the holiday break, they'll be attending a different school. They'll also have a principal who will be a familiar face to some: Donna Page, who retired from Sandy Hook two years ago.