PLUK News feed

washingtonpost.com: Internet lectures allow professors to reach broader audience

Link: washingtonpost.com
Free lectures on iTunes, YouTube and other sites are helping open up elite universities to a broader segment of the population, including those who may not have the grades or the dollars to formally enroll in these top institutions. "There are a lot of people who won't have a chance to go to Yale and won't have a chance to go to university," said Yale psychology professor Paul Bloom. But now "anyone with access to a computer can hear these brilliant lectures on physics or ethics or the Old Testament."

WSJ.com: How a School in Florida

Link: WSJ.com
Adam Nystrom, who has learning disorders, used to be taunted by classmates for taking special-education classes, but that changed when his high school began mainstreaming students with special needs by pairing special-education teachers and mainstream teachers in integrated classrooms. Students with disabilities at Florida's Choctawhatchee High School are urged to take Advanced Placement and honors courses.

washingtonpost.com: Response to Intervention sparks parent backlash

Link: washingtonpost.com
Response to Intervention is irritating some parents, who say it's taking too long for districts to test students for obvious learning disabilities. "We feel like we are chasing our tails here," said Jereme Goshorn, whose third-grade daughter Tylor has been assigned to specialists without any testing for what Goshorn believes is a learning disorder. "It's obvious there's something wrong."

Boston.com: Nature nurtures learning

Link: Boston.com
At most schools, a bug in the classroom is something a janitor or computer technician has to deal with. At the Dennis C. Haley Elementary School in Roslindale, bugs are part of the curriculum.
For that matter, so are ants, crayfish, crabs, plants, rocks, and even four turtles and a lizard that live in the school lobby.
The Haley school is in the vanguard of a national back-to-nature movement - often called "No Child Left Inside" - that within the last two years has seen the creation of dozens of regional programs to draw families and students outdoors.

washingtonpost.com: Bush Signs Child Health-Care Extension Into Law

Link: washingtonpost.com

CRAWFORD, Tex., Dec. 29 -- President Bush signed legislation on Saturday that extends a popular children's health insurance program after having twice beaten back attempts to expand it.

The extension of the State Children's Health Insurance Program is expected to provide states with enough money to cover those enrolled through March 2009. Bush and some Republican lawmakers say the program will serve those that it should: children from families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford private insurance.

pittsburghlive.com: Early education may pay lifelong dividends

Link: pittsburghlive.com
With a new emphasis on early childhood education, children are better prepared for kindergarten than ever before, education experts say. Said Don Owens, spokesman for the nonprofit National Association for the Education of Young Children: "If you build a love of learning at an early age, that love of learning will sustain them throughout school, even if later there are challenges or if they go to a lower-quality school. ...[I]t's a proven solution for any of the academic concerns that K through 12 is facing today."

nwaonline.net: Software Helps Students Move Forward Fast With Literacy Skills

Link: nwaonline.net
ROGERS -- The computer plays tones rapidly in succession.
Alvaro Murillo, 19, a student at Rogers High School's Extended Day School, must press the up arrow if the first pitch was higher than the second, then the down arrow if the second pitch was lower than the first.
"Ding!" the computer responds.
Murillo got the pitches right, and the "Ghost Rider"-type, purple-clad skeleton aboard the motorcycle scoots further down the road.

USAWeekend.com: Dads help ADHD kids

Link: USA Weekend

Traditional treatment programs teach parents how to cope with their kids' attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder — but, unfortunately, dads tend to drop out or not show up at all. Adding sports to the mix gets fathers involved and helps children and dads cope better, a study at the State University of New York at Buffalo found. Note from LD Online: Go to second story in series.

DOE Releases Annual Report to Congress on Implementation of the IDEA

Link: 27th Annual Report

The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) has released the 27th Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2005. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that the Department of Education report annually on the progress made toward the provision of a free appropriate public education to all children with disabilities and the provision of early intervention services to infants and toddlers with disabilities. The report consists of two volumes. Volume 1 focuses on the children and students being served under IDEA. Topics covered include trends in numbers and percentages of infants, toddlers, preschool, and school-age children served; educational environments of preschool-age children; declassification of elementary school-age students; and characteristics of secondary students served for emotional disturbance. Volume 2 contains state-level data profiles.

TCPalm.com: Letter: Septuagenarian triumphs over dyslexia thanks to tutor

Link: TCPalm

Recently, I read a book for the first time. This may not seem like much. However, for an individual in his 70s, this meant the world to me. I spent decades living in shame and fear of being "found out." I refused countless promotions just so my co-workers would not learn I could not read.