Monthly Archives: April 2007

Public Policy Research about Education

Nancy Flanagan raises an interesting point yesterday about schooling and public policies in an article titled “Say What?”. She questions the relevance of quantitative education policy research. I responded with the following. Many of us have shared your observation that … Continue reading

Posted in Competition, Learning Efficiency, Research, Teacher Training | Leave a comment

WANTED: TEACHERS

Darran Simon reports that the New Orleans public school system wants teachers, over 600 of them to start work by Fall, 2007. “If you are looking for a job . . . where you can truly make a difference, and … Continue reading

Posted in Mobile PC Educator, Teaching | 2 Comments

Factoid: Increased "Minorities" in Public Schools

The percentage of racial/ethnic minority students enrolled in the nation’s public schools increased from 22 percent in 1972 to 43 percent in 2004, primarily due to growth in Hispanic enrollments. Given fluctuations in what constitutes minority status, I wonder if … Continue reading

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Factoid: Teachers Continue Teaching

The National Center for Education Statistics reports in Teacher Attrition and Mobility: results from the 2004-05 Teacher Follow-up Survey that the During the 2003–04 school year, 3,214,900 public school teachers who were teaching. During the following year: – 84 percent … Continue reading

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Factoid: Expenditures for U.S. K12 Schools

Currently available expenditures for public elementary and secondary education totaled $424.6 billion in the Federal fiscal year (FY) 05 (October 1, 2004 through September, 2005, mostly for the 2004-5 academic year), with $280.0 billion (65.9%) spent on instruction and related … Continue reading

Posted in Accountability, Factoid, Reports, Teaching Learning Costs | Leave a comment

Strong American Schools Initiative

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation announced the launch of Strong American Schools, a nonpartisan public awareness and action campaign. “The American dream is slipping away, and unless our leaders dramatically improve our … Continue reading

Posted in Competition, Visions of Education | 2 Comments

Enabling the Next Five Billion People

Microsoft offers downloads of its seven page white paper Microsoft Unlimited Potential: Enabling Sustained Social and Economic Opportunity for the Next Five Billion People. Through a combination of advanced technologies and strong partnerships with governments, partners, NGOs, educators and academics, … Continue reading

Posted in Mobile PC Context, Visions of Education | Leave a comment

Microsoft’s Action Plan to Help Transform Educational Opportunity

BEIJING, April 19, 2007 – Microsoft made it clear today where the company is headed with regard to education: full speed ahead, and in all parts of the world. Bill Gates concluded Microsoft’s Government Leaders Forum (GLF) Asia conference by … Continue reading

Posted in Information Supply Chain, Tablet PC Schools, Teacher Training, Teaching, Visions of Education | Leave a comment

Gates Syllabus for Education

Sylvia Carr reported that Bill Gates described his syllabus for education at the Microsoft Government Leaders Forum in Scotland. Lectures will be distributed for free over the Internet, students will hold discussions at a distance in chat rooms, and testing … Continue reading

Posted in Choosing Schools, Curricula, Teacher Training, Teaching, Visions of Education | 1 Comment

White Noise or Intentional Distractions

Sarah of Neek Talk posts about Apple selling 100 million iPods. It’s a good post. She concisely describes why these sales make sense to her. I have an old guy’s question. Why does anyone want to have earplugs with sound? … Continue reading

Posted in Elderly, Learning Content, Optoids | Leave a comment