Uneven opportunity. A new College Board report shows that while thousands more students are taking (and passing) Advanced Placement exams, those opportunities vary depending on location and race. (USA Today)

“College is an inside game.” A San Jose charter school seeks to teach “college as a second language,” helping first generation students navigate the logistics—as well as the academicContinue Reading »

Dear Finland-lovers: The country’s academic achievement is not all it’s cracked up to be, writes Tom Loveless. (The Brown Center Chalkboard)

Oops. Economist Arnold Kling finds a “rather shocking mathematical error” in the AP Microeconomics Exam, thanks to the help of a student. (AskBlog)

Your good news story of the day. A Penn State senior basketball star creates a middle-school pContinue Reading »

At capacity. Many students at California’s community colleges are stuck enrolling in just one course because the other courses are at full. (Los Angeles Times)

Practice makes perfect. A new book outlines why professional development is often lost on teachers: They never get the opportunity to practice what they’ve learned. (Class Struggle/Washington post)

If you go to school any dContinue Reading »

Accountability in teacher prep. Michigan education officials have ordered two colleges to shut down parts of their teacher preparation programs because fewer than 80 percent of graduates pass the state licensure exam. Education Sector analysts have argued for more accountability in teacher preparation programs, including outcomes-based measures like linking student performance to the graduates Continue Reading »

We’re getting close to a million students—903,000—that now take at least one AP exam while in high school. That’s double the number in less than a decade. And the number scoring a 3 or higher has also almost doubled, from 278,000 to 541,000. That’s good news for AP, and the College Board, which just released its 8th Report to the Nation.

It’s also good news for Maryland (again), Continue Reading »

Is a college diploma the certification that a student has spent enough time at the college, or is it a certification that the student meets the institution’s academic standards? That question is central to a debate at Tufts over whether the school should limit the number of Advanced Placement credits a student can earn. To Tufts faculty at least, the answer is the former:

James G. Continue Reading »