April 2006

I. Teachers and Teaching

1. Teaching the art of math and science
Monday, April 17, 2006 , Los Angeles Daily News
An Antelope Valley program funded by a nearly $900,000 federal grant will be holding a training workshop for fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade teachers in June. This program is aimed at increasing math and science achievement among students.

2. Teachers pressed to measure up
Sunday, April 2, 2006 , Boston Globe
Federal law has set the bar for skill in subject area. It's not only students who are working for good grades in June. By the end of the school year, teachers across Boston's western suburbs will be expected to meet federal standards demonstrating that they know the subjects they teach.

3. Assigning more teachers to the rural areas
Tuesday, April 11, 2006 , The Education Newspaper
Starting in 2006, Heilongjiang Province will assign two thousand teachers per year to assist schools in rural areas. These teachers are from big cities and well trained and will work in the rural areas for a whole year.

II. Learners and Learning

1. Students Learning on Their Own Terms
Monday, April. 24, 2006, Washington Post
Middle schools with no curriculum challenge the assumptions of every public or private school that measures success with test scores and prizes academic rigor.

2 ． New move will ensure longer sleep
Tuesday, April 25, 2006 , Chinaview
Students in China spend long hours in school. Some surveys have shown that many students sleep less than seven hours a day. Pupils in Xi'an , capital of Northwest China 's Shan’xi Province, will enjoy longer sleep after the week-long international Labor Day vacation. Xi'an Education Bureau requires schools postpone the morning schooling time from 7:00-7:20 am to 8:00 am for primary pupils and from 6:50 - 7:10 am to 7:40 - 8:00 am for middle school students.

3. A passing love project for helping children in poor areas in China
This is a website for a non-governmental educational organization aiming at involving more people to help children in rural areas in China .

III. Leaders and Leadership

1. School grading plan gets an A
Monday, April 17, 2006 , New York Daily News
Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein are moving toward bringing a truly revolutionary concept to the public schools: accountability for improving student performance.

2. University supporting middle school improvement
Thursday, April 20, 2006 , Renmin Net
About fifty professors and Ph.D. students from Beijing Normal University and Capital Normal University have been appointed as assistant principle or vice principles in thirty-two middle schools in Beijing. They will work with the middle schools to develop plans for teacher training and school improvement. It is part of the "Consortium of University and Middle Schools" Project, which will last till 2008.

3. Beijing's largest international school to open this fall
Wednesday, April 12, 2006 , Xinhua News
According to the Service Bureau for Foreign Officials under the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the construction work has been completed on Beijing 's largest international school that will be catering to children of foreigners working in China 's capital. Sponsors of the international school, named Sino-Canadian International School , include the Canadian government, the education authority of New Brunswick of Canada, and an education company from the nation,.

IV. Curriculum

1. MSU, China partnership will teach Chinese online
Tuesday, April. 25, 2006, The Detroit News
Michigan State University announced on Monday a partnership with the Chinese government to teach the language online to school children and adults.

2. Parents and students have a say in choosing a textbook
Friday, April 14, 2006 , The Education Newspaper
Since the curriculum reform in 1990's, local schooling administration has had the authority to choose textbooks within the national curriculum frame. The textbook reform in Weifang, Shandong Province claims a more dramatic initiative that establishes a textbook committee consisting of education administrator, educational researchers, principles, teacher, students and parents.

V. Family and Community

1. Group to help the parents of students with special-needs
Wednesday, April. 26, 2006, The Arizona Republic
A Peoria parent group begins a support group for parents of children with special needs.

2. Nurturing the children with analogy
Tuesday, April 11, 2006 , The Education Newspaper
A mother is telling a story, illustrating how she’s using analogy of running to encourage her son to set up a higher goal for studying.