When 11-year-old Jireh Eunice Flores was told she had beaten every other student in the Middle East in an English test this month, she couldn't believe it. The youngster made just two mistakes in the 50-question International Benchmark Test Award for Excellence in English this month, putting her on top of her regional peers. "I was shocked, I didn't expectRead more

The New York Legislature recently passed a law, pushed by Governor Cuomo, that required schools districts throughout the state to come up with new teacher evaluation systems by January or forfeit their state aid increases. Apparently unions were severely displeased by the recent court-ordered publication of teacher evaluations from 2007 and 2010, the United Federation of Teachers had filed suitRead more

Education Action Group reports that state teachers unions in Michigan, North Dakota and Idaho are lobbying to convince voters to overturn collective bargaining limits, spending reforms and accountability measures that EAG claims have been good for students but detrimental to unions. Tenure is currently being phased out in North Dakota and Idaho while Michigan granted financial managers the authority toRead more

The Ontario governments commitment to austerity in its budget promises balanced books by 2018, but no sector is going to escape the effect of $17 billion in spending cuts. Education is an area where the key policies of the Liberal government are being maintained. They have reiterated their commitment to caps on class sizes and Ontario is on track toRead more

Ramallah More than 20 Palestinian pupils have been hospitalised after they were injured in a stampede during a civil defence drill held in their school in Al Arroub in the West Bank town of Hebron. Speaking to Gulf News, a senior official from the Palestinian Civil Defence said that the pupils rushed out of the school thinking that Israeli forcesRead more

The National Union of Teachers could stage fresh walk-outs next term – including a series of focused regional protests – as part of a long-standing campaign against Government changes to public sector retirement funds. It came as up to 50,000 members of the NUT – along with lecturers from the University and College Union – staged a one-day strike inRead more

After being accused of making “sweetheart” deals with big companies and losing a tax evasion trial against Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp in February, HMRC is to link up with Manchester University to retrain its taxmen. The joint venture will create a degree in tax, which it is hoped will yield £2m to £3m in extra tax revenues per graduateRead more

A Vermont couple have been charged with killing a private school teacher whose car was found still running with her toddler son inside, police said Wednesday. Allen Prue, 30, and his wife, Patricia, 33, of Waterford were ordered held without bail after a brief court appearance, The (St. Johnsbury) Caldeonian-Record reported. They were arrested late Tuesday, a day after MelissaRead more

FairTest.org’s fact sheet on the impact widespread standardized tests has on students and their schools begins by quoting the Donald T. Campbell’s Law of undesirable consequences: “The more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processesRead more

The Maryland House of Delegates has given approval to Governor Martin O’Malley’s state budget for last year along with his decision to transfer responsibility for teacher pension costs partially to county governments. The budget passed by 95-43, with the vote split roughly along party lines. The Budget Reconciliation Act, which incorporated the transfer of pension costs, passed by 88-50 withRead more