Articles by kristenblair_259

Here and across the nation, the homeschooling movement has grown in stature and popularity – defying stereotypes and occasionally, disarming critics.

Should parents be key players in year-round school assignment decisions? An ill-conceived appellate court decision this week says they shouldn’t.

If recent test scores are any indication, though, instruction in the writing basics is in short supply in North Carolina.

Reams of data have failed to establish a convincing and consistent relationship between smaller classes and high achievement.

How many students start dropping out in middle school?

Unfortunately, our collective history is unfamiliar to many American high schoolers. Responses to Common Core’s questionnaire, put to 1,200 17-year-olds, paint a startling portrait of teenage historical and literary ignorance.

News stories this week show cheating on tests reaching epidemic proportions.

Traditional compensation systems, long advocated by teachers’ unions, emphasize degrees earned and time on the job but a budding merit-pay movement is attempting to change that, interjecting marketplace sensibilities into a profession that has historically provided few monetary incentives or rewards for high-fliers.

Two years ago, the national report, The Silent Epidemic (pdf), heralded America’s growing – but largely unrecognized – high school dropout crisis.

For loyal supporters of the federal education law, No Child Left Behind (NCLB), 2007 has been a lonely year indeed.

This economic storm is still gathering. If we fail to act, it will soon be upon us. But we can rise above it – if we work diligently to train and nurture the scientific and mathematical talents of the next generation.

There’s a growing consensus that the North Carolina testing program is due for a major overhaul. But ideas on how to fix it vary widely.