Recently in Around the Nation Category

This interesting Associated Press "Fact Check" article looks at some of the claims that people make frequently about international comparisons, saying that U.S. kids test worse than other countries, spend less time in school and have a lower graduation rate. According to the AP, statistics tell a more complicated story, with U.S. performance - although not absolutely stellar - comparing more favorably than some education critics assume. An excerpt:

"The U.S. does trail the most high-achieving countries, mostly developed nations in Asia such as Singapore, Taiwan and Japan. But the U.S. holds its own in the group that comes next, a group of developed countries that, depending on the test, includes England, Germany and Russia. In fact, the U.S. has gained on some of its toughest competitors since 1995, making bigger strides in math than Singapore and Japan, and in science than Japan."

According to this study by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, education is liked to good health. When looking at California:

Compared with college graduates, adults who have not graduated from high school are nearly three times as likely--and those who have graduated from high school are twice as likely--to be in less than very good health.

I'm a little uncertain as to how directly the two can be connected, as education is linked to income, which is linked to socioeconomic status, which has been clearly linked with health indicators. The study does acknowledge income effects. The variables seem rather linked and hard to separate.

According to this Wall Street Journal story, the waiting lists for charter schools are growing even as more of the schools close and there is intense political debates about expanding the schools, which are publicly funded schools that are exempt from many state education regulations. An excerpt:

But obstacles loom to accommodating more charter-school students. The recession has intensified school districts' concerns about competing for public funds with charter schools. Some charter-school supporters say such schools need more oversight. But unions are using any missteps at charter schools, which typically aren't unionized, to oppose their expansion.

The Ohio Education Association, a teachers union that has been among the most outspoken critics of charter schools, has testified against them in the state legislature and supported litigation aimed at toughening oversight. In New York, Boston and other cities, unions have ramped up their efforts to organize charter school teachers.

This Wall Street Journal story reports that $2.3 trillion could be added to the U.S. gross domestic product if the achievement gap can be closed between U.S. and higher-performing nations like Finland and South Korea. An excerpt:

The report, which used a formula McKinsey - (the consultant who produced the figure ) --helped develop to link educational achievement to economic output, also estimated closing the gap in the U.S. between white students and their black and Latino peers could increase annual GDP by as much as an additional $525 billion, or about 4%.

In its report, McKinsey said existing achievement gaps have "created the equivalent of a permanent, deep recession in terms of the gap between actual and potential output in the economy."

Corporal punishment in school is illegal in California, but a spanking controversy has hit a publicly funded charter middle school in Memphis, prompting opposition from the California-based activist group "Hitting Stops Here!", according to this story from the Commercial Appeal newspaper.  Males get a wooden paddle, while girls are given "lashes to the fingers with a leather strap," according to the article. In an unusual twist, much of the discipline is meted out at student assemblies. An excerpt:

Spanking has been part of MAHS's strategy since the school opened in 2003, said principal Curtis Weathers. Parents must sign a contract before their children are admitted."This is nothing that we are ashamed of," Weathers said. "It's very effective for us as a strategy for avoiding certain conducts."

[The director of  "Hitting Stops Here!" said that she] wants parents to know "there are other ways to treat children without beating the tar out of them."

Possibly, one study says, although researchers note that correlation is not the same thing as causation. The study found that Facebook users had lower GPAs and reported less time studying. From a LiveScience article about the study:

However, Karpinski emphasized that correlation does not equal causation, meaning Facebook use might not be the culprit behind lower GPAs or less study time. For instance, students who spend more time enjoying themselves rather than studying might tend to latch onto the nearest distraction, such as Facebook. Or students who use the social networking site might also spend more time on other non-studying activities such as sports or music. The study did show that students who work more hours at jobs spend less time on Facebook, while students involved in more extracurricular activities were also more likely to use Facebook.

No word if researchers will study the effects on office productivity when working adults use the social networking site.

According to a study by Sallie Mae, students are increasing their use of credit cards to pay for books and tuition. An excerpt from a summary:

Nearly one-third (30 percent) put tuition on their credit card, an increase from 24 percent in 2004, when the study was last conducted. In total, 92 percent of undergraduate credit cardholders charged textbooks, school supplies, or other direct education expenses, up from 85 percent in the previous study. Students who used credit cards to pay for direct education expenses estimated charging $2,200, more than double 2004's average of $942.

An interesting Associated Press article about how rising joblessness and a sour economy are affecting job opportunities for special education students during high school to gain skills and training. Students in occupational diploma programs typically have a cognitive or physical impairment. An excerpt:

The occupational diploma programs emerged in recent years across some Southern states -- Alabama and Mississippi included -- to help young people with disabilities enter the work force through paid jobs while they complete high school. Hundreds have used the programs to acquire the skills employers demand, often landing permanent jobs after graduating. Yet this isn't a normal economy, and the work force is shrinking daily.

Tommy McWhorter, who owns a Piggly Wiggly supermarket in east Alabama's Chambers County, has employed three occupational diploma candidates on average each of the past eight years. He didn't take any students this year as his staff shriveled from 22 to 15 workers. When minimum wage went up, and gas went up, and plastic went up ... everything hit us at one time," he said. "We had to take cuts, and in retail the first cut is naturally payroll."

This one is at the University of Maryland, where some students screened a portion of a pornographic film in the student union, despite threats from a state legislator that he would seek to withhold construction funds until the school develops an "acceptable" policy on pornography on campus, according to this Washington Post story. The university says that it could not block the screening but insisted on an academic component. Professors discussed the issue of pornography and free-speech at the screening. Here's an excerpt from the Post article: (I'd be curious to hear your opinion on the incident.)

About half an hour of the 2 1/2 -hour film was shown. The point was the principle, not the porn, several student leaders said. Besides, the NCAA championship game was starting about 9. "That was crazy. I don't know what they were thinking, to put that in a public viewing, especially on a college campus," said Idara Inokon, 19. "It's just not appropriate." But Dmytro Berkout, a 19-year-old student from Ukraine, said the controversy was a lot of fuss -- by both sides -- over nothing. State Sen. Andrew P. Harris (R-Baltimore County) last week threatened to block the university's $424 million share of state operating funds over plans to show the film at a theater in the student union.

Colleges and universities are increasingly posting on YouTube footage of tours, lectures and classes, available for viewing by anyone with a computer. The videos are hosted on YouTube's web site here. An excerpt from an Associated Press report

There are promotional videos like campus tours, but the more interesting content is straight from the classroom or lecture hall. Many schools have posted videos of guest lecturers, introductory classes and even a full semester's course. At a time when many are finding college unaffordable and the ranks of the unemployed are swelling, free higher learning can sound like a good way to spend some free time. "There's a huge appetite around the world for people to better themselves, to study subjects that they either never got a chance to or haven't studied in a while," said Obadiah Greenberg, the strategic partnership manager for YouTube.