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Archive for March, 2015

There is value in standardized testing

There is value in standardized testing

March 13, 2015 | Posted in: Early Learners, Elementary, High School, Middle Years

A growing number of parents and caregivers – including some teachers, school administrators and state legislators – will instruct their children to refuse to participate in the battery of standardized tests administered in schools across the country this spring. Depending who you talk to, standardized testing is either a useful measure of student growth or […]

Five things to read about in March

March 13, 2015 | Posted in: Early Learners, Elementary, High School, Middle Years

It only happens once every 100 years, and it’s over in the briefest of seconds. On the morning of March 14 at 9:26 and 53 seconds, the first 10 digits of the mathematical constant pi will be in perfect alignment with a moment in time: 3.141592653. (Pi is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to […]

School budgets, politics and you

March 13, 2015 | Posted in: Early Learners, Elementary, High School, Middle Years

In January, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his executive budget proposal for 2015, including more than $1 billion in additional state aid for schools. A billion dollars could really help schools and students around the state. But wait. That promised pile of money comes with serious strings attached. The governor also requested more control over failing […]

Common sayings make learning easy as pie

March 13, 2015 | Posted in: Early Learners, Elementary, High School, Middle Years

“Let them eat cake!” my 10-year-old son proclaimed recently at dinner. “Marie Antoinette never said that,” his sister, 16, replied. The boy, who had heard the quote in the movie “Mr. Peabody and Sherman,” asked her to explain. “It’s a myth,” she said. “Everyone attributes the quote to Marie Antoinette, but she never said it.” […]