Education

It's back-to-school time, which means some in the media have gone back to asking: "What's wrong with our schools? And how can we fix it?"

Alabama schools have been having a rough time of it, and it only looks like it's going to get rougher. The Cotton State recently came in last place in the federal Department of Education's Race to the Top grant competition. And a steadfast global recession combined with the Gulf Coast oil spill this summer have put a severe strain on the state's tax receipts, the primary source of revenue for Alabama's education system, forcing several school systems to take out private loans just to make it through the year.

What if students attended school all year? One Wisconsin teacher thinks that could be a way to improve student grades and fix the nation's public school system.

Palestinian children in East Jerusalem are being put at a disadvantage because of a dire shortage of classrooms in the east side of the city, according to a report published Tuesday by two Israeli human rights groups.

More children are crowding into classrooms in Modesto, Calif. Parents are paying extra to send their kids to full-day kindergarten in Queen Creek, Ariz. And the school buses stopped rolling in one St. Louis area school district.

Dear Annie: I hope you can settle an argument. My parents are saying that with my college major (English), it will probably be hard for me to find a job when I graduate next spring. They want me to go straight to grad school and get a master's degree, which they say will make me more "marketable." (They are willing to foot the bill, which I do appreciate.)

The District of Columbia public school system announced Friday that it is letting 226 employees go for poor performance under the education assessment system IMPACT.

The arrest of 19 protesters at a rancorous school board meeting Tuesday brings the issue of busing and diversity in education into the national spotlight.

More than 16,000 U.S. medical school graduates are awarded M.D. degrees each year, and many enter their residency programs at teaching hospitals in July. Now, a growing body of research suggests that month might be a more deadly time in U.S. hospitals.

We're getting to the point where even good news comes wrapped in bad news.

U.S. education issues in 2010 boil down to two questions: how to fund cash-strapped state universities and how to fix so-called high school "drop-out factories."

Some people view an MBA degree the same way that Charlie thought about his Golden Ticket in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory": They believe a piece of paper can magically transport you to a place you only imagined.

To help defray budget cuts, the Montgomery County Public School system in Maryland is selling some of its assets. Specifically, it has entered into a deal valued at at least $4.5 million with a company called Pearson to sell the county's elementary curriculum expertise.

Fifty-six years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed in Brown v. Board of Education what our founders declared self-evident -- that all men are created equal.

At least 28 children were injured when a man with a knife attacked a kindergarten in east China on Thursday morning, state media said.

The health care reform legislation that President Obama signed recently isn't only about insurance coverage -- there's also a renewal of $50 million per year for five years for abstinence-focused education.

Little Rhode Island made big news in the education arena last month. Superintendent Frances Gallo fired all the teachers at Central Falls High School after negotiations with the teachers' union failed.

I mentor a student who is a senior in a low-performing high school. About 50 percent of the students at his school drop out, while less than 25 percent go to college. His parents didn't graduate from high school, and his father earns about $14,000 a year. His grade point average is good enough to qualify him for admission at a few University of California schools.

Today, in California and other states across the nation, students, teachers, faculty and workers have been protesting, striking, walking out of classes and staging sit-ins and teach-ins. They are protesting budget cuts, tuition hikes, compensation reductions, layoffs and privatizations affecting public K-12 schools and universities.

Students and college professors in California and around the country protested Thursday over the drastic cuts imposed on cash-strapped state colleges and universities.

What does it mean when a white sorority wins a competition that African-American fraternities and sororities not only created but also consider an essential part of their cultural expression? It means an uncomfortable discussion about race, history, culture and inclusivity that is not black and white.

President Obama highlighted stronger federal efforts Monday to help lower a high school dropout rate that, according to the president, is undermining America's future economic potential.

Tuition at many public colleges and universities is skyrocketing, thanks to state budget deficits that have choked off funding for higher education.

Ohio State University is No. 1 again, but not in football or basketball. For the second year in a row, the school's president was the highest paid public university executive in the United States, according to a study published Monday.

America could be facing a nursing shortage that will worsen exponentially as the population grows older.

Her bedside manner is comforting, the questions to the point.

Community colleges have long held second-class-citizen status in the world of higher education. But they've suddenly become top tier when it comes to one important thing: training for new green-economy jobs.

President Obama deserves an A+ for his agenda for education reform. His decision to nominate Arne Duncan as U.S. education secretary was inspired, and his comments on holding the system accountable are honest, refreshing and insightful.

College costs are higher than ever, according to a new report, putting a degree even further out of reach for many Americans.

Joel Klein's title is New York City school chancellor, but he's really a CEO. He oversees America's largest public school system -- 1.1 million students -- with more authority than his counterparts in most other major cities, thanks to a landmark 2002 law that was just renewed for another five years.

In 2007, a resident surgeon snapped a picture of a patient's tattoo -- the words Hot Rod on his penis -- and shared it with colleagues, making international news when the story was leaked to the press. At least the resident didn't post the picture on the Internet.

Teachers unions and politicians are constantly claiming that K-12 public schools need more money in order to produce good academic results. But does the data support the argument that our schools need more money to succeed?

President Obama has made it clear from the earliest days of his presidency that he intended to make education a high priority for his administration.

"Everybody was scared," a former student recalls, "and the parents were even more scared than the kids"

Our educational system is essentially a Soviet-style government-run monopoly that could only be loved by the likes of Lenin and Stalin.

MONTREAL (AP) -- Jacques Demers, the Stanley Cup-winning coach who has spoken frankly about his lifelong battle with illiteracy, was appointed Thursday to the Canadian Senate.

The incoming freshmen at one of the nation's newest medical schools will have more freedom to choose whether to become a specialist or help fill the shortage of primary care doctors.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Saturday called on the state bar to overlook a technical error and allow a paralyzed law school graduate to take the bar exam next week.

Seventh graders at Ron Clark Academy became an overnight sensation during the presidential election when their YouTube performance of "You Can Vote However You Like" catapulted them to online stardom.

Seventh graders at Ron Clark Academy became an overnight sensation during the presidential election when their YouTube performance of "You Can Vote However You Like" catapulted them to online stardom.

Community colleges are only two-year institutions, but the Obama administration says they could play a key role in helping boost the ailing economy for years to come.

All parents have hopes and dreams for their children. Parents of kids with serious disabilities are no different. But in their moments of wildest imagination, the parents of Vicki Martinez, Chase Ferguson and Travis Cardona could not have envisioned high school graduation -- certainly not in the dark days when they first learned their children had autism.

To be effective in Congress, you must focus. With so many issues and debates occurring at any given time, it is easy to spread yourself too thin and lose sight of your goal.

A Utah man with chronic health problems died Wednesday from complications associated with swine flu, a local health official said. If confirmed, it would be the ninth U.S. fatality associated with the flu outbreak.

Mohamed Desoky says his friends have mixed reactions when he tells them he's landed a seemingly stellar job on Wall Street.

Four more New York City public schools and one private school will close for a week after an increase of reports of students with flu-like symptoms, city officials announced Monday.

There was stone cold silence in the car, as the Kumars drove home.

Agatha Christie was a painfully shy girl, so her mom homeschooled her even though her two older siblings attended private school.

At Imperial College London, medical students navigate a full-service hospital where they see patients, order X-rays, consult with colleagues and make diagnoses.

Teachers in the United States are contracted to work more hours than their counterparts in other Group of Eight countries, according to a report released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Education.

When President Obama signs the $410 billion omnibus spending bill, there will be shouts of joy from both sides as Republicans and Democrats get their cherished earmarks.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, President Obama's stimulus package, could serve as a historic investment in our children's future, an initiative that could very well change the course of our nation.

Is your kindergartner easily distracted? Maybe a little hyper? This might seem like typical child behavior but a new study published in the March 2009 issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine suggests it could be a red flag for a potential gambling addiction as he or she ages.

Those lazy days of summer may become a thing of the past if the new secretary of education has his way.

Janice McFadden's story hardly stands out.

When Bill Gates gets worked up about something, his body language changes. He suspends his habit of rocking forward and back in his chair and sits a little straighter. His voice rises in pitch. Today the subject is America's schools.

The total cost of going to a private four-year college rose to $34,132 on average for the 2008-09 academic year, according to a report released Wednesday.

Business school graduates are heading out into a cold, cold climate as financial companies clam up or close down

A recent controversy at Baylor University has brought new attention to the widespread misuse of standardized college admission tests to rank the quality of America's colleges and universities.

Compared to pricey private colleges, state schools can be a bargain. But extra fees are adding to the financial burden

Only 2% of graduating medical students say they plan to work in primary care internal medicine, raising worries about a looming shortage of the first-stop doctors who used to be the backbone of the American medical system

Campuses may be getting greener, but college curriculums are falling behind in teaching students the basics of global warming and sustainability

In a stunning reversal of its own ruling, a California court says it's O.K. for uncredentialed parents to homeschool their kids. But regulatory questions remain

The Federal minimum wage is increasing to $6.55 an hour today. But for most folks facing higher prices on everything from a gallon of milk to a gallon of gas, it's still getting harder to make ends meet.

Edna sits on an examining table ready and alert -- she wants answers about the lump in her breast.

Jen Wang of Short Hills, New Jersey, took her first SAT when she was in sixth grade, long before she would start filling out college applications.

Where do MBA students most want to work when they get out of school? Investment banks and consulting firms are still popular choices, but for the second straight year, the most coveted employer is Google, a recent survey found.

Dan Berger, a 26-year-old aide to New York Congressman Charles Rangel, knew he wanted to get an MBA but, he says now, he was overwhelmed by the number and variety of programs available: "I knew I needed to gather a lot of information before choosing a school, but I really didn't know where to start."

Wake Forest University will no longer require applicants to take the SAT and ACT exams, boosting a movement to lessen the importance of standardized tests in college admissions

There is an industry in this country that is making billions in profit while average Americans are struggling to fill up their gas tanks.

Last fall, as bad news about the credit crisis began to pile up, MBA student Brendan McHugh started to wonder about his chances of securing a coveted internship at a top securities firm.

Secretly, I'm congratulating myself.

In the wake of a surprise court decision, the state says that its home schoolers are "legal" pending appeal

A child-abuse lawsuit ruling may have created a horde of truants in California, affecting as many as 200,000 children

What's it really take to parent a preschooler? It's pretty simple, once you realize what kids this age can and can't do (and what sets them off and what keeps them happy!). Here are seven qualities that make it much easier to manage all that, and why they're so crucial when you've got an independent-minded, boundary-testing picky eater on your hands.

Video courtesy Buena Vista EntertainmentHaving immersed himself in educational theories while home-schooling his kids, Will Smith says he and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, plan to put that knowledge to greater use by teaming with like-minded parents and creating a full school.

Getting accepted into a top MBA program is an arduous, time-consuming process, with plenty of potential pitfalls along the way. Witness that the most prestigious and selective schools - Harvard, Wharton, Stanford, and their ilk - say they accept only 10% of all those who apply.

It's Wednesday evening and Megan Reis can't remember when she last saw her husband Chris. Small wonder. Since Sunday morning, Meg has worked more than 60 hours at Advocate Hope Children's Hospital, the Chicago-area facility where she is training in pediatrics.

After nearly 20 years in the energy industry, Jay Mulki was earning a handsome six-figure salary and managing a department of 50 employees. But Mulki longed to work fewer hours and pursue another dream: to teach marketing at a university.

In a recent column, Emily Breidbart, a second-year medical student at New York University School of Medicine, expressed concerns about her medical education and the frustrating health-care system she will soon enter.

A female schoolteacher and the 13-year-old boy she allegedly ran away with have been arrested in Mexico, a prosecutor said Saturday

The big question right now in Russian politics is who will succeed Vladimir Putin as President in the 2008 election. As it turns out, the two front-runners -- first deputy prime ministers Sergei Ivanov and Dmitry Medvedev -- are also squaring off in a contest for business-school supremacy in Russia.

The average total cost of a private four-year college rose to $32,307 for the current school year, but the rate of increase has slowed compared to public school prices, according to a report released Monday.

Fourth-grade teacher Elisabeth Beckwith wants her students at Fernbank Elementary School in Decatur, Georgia, to pay attention to a lesson on Greek mythology.

To improve her chances of getting into a good college, Caitlin Pickavance, a 17-year-old high school senior from Danville, Calif., has been working with a private college coach since her freshman year (cost: $800).

A trailblazing Chicago school starts economic education early to give inner-city black kids a leg up

A new study shows that a standardized test of doctor communication skills can help create a nicer, better doctor of the future

Omar Yaqub didn't want a conventional 9-to-5 job after business school. He wanted to help save the world. So the 28-year-old MBA went to Nigeria to tackle an impossible task: creating demand for a product no one wanted.

"Two minutes!" yells our course coordinator.

Laurel Herter wishes she'd canceled the college tour trip as soon as she heard the dismal forecast.

If presidents of some of the nation's top liberal arts colleges get their way, they will no longer be included in the U.S. News and World Report's influential collegiate ranking system.

One maverick state devised its own education strategy that bucks the trend toward high-stakes tests and federal control

Think of it as a popularity contest for companies. Each year, research firm Universum surveys MBA candidates on where they'd most like to work for an exclusive Fortune.com list.

The lure for private-equity firm J.C. Flowers' $25 billion buyout of student-loan giant Sallie Mae may be its fast-growing and lucrative business providing private education loans -- loans that exi...

When Jack Welch gave a guest lecture at MIT's Sloan School of Management in 2005, someone in the crowd asked, "What should we be learning in business school?" Welch's reply: "Just concentrate on ne...

A college education may be getting less expensive at some of the most prestigious schools.

There's a hole in higher education that you probably haven't heard about.

Running a university or college can make for 20-hour days and intense pressure to please a long list of factions from donors, board members and alumni to faculty, students and parents.

The average cost of a four-year private college jumped to $30,367 this school year, the first time the average has broken the $30,000 mark.

Students at the West Atlanta Young Scholars Academy in Atlanta, Georgia, are expected to go to college.