Education

Americans Looking For Affordable Degrees Head To Germany

3:52pm August 27, 2015

by Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

More Americans are studying for graduate degrees in Germany, where many programs are taught in English and tuition is usually free. (This piece first aired on June 28, 2015 on Weekend Edition Sunday).

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Two polls suggest public opinion on opting out of testing isn't actually clear.

2 Polls Span 2 Poles On Testing In Schools

1:59pm August 27, 2015

by Anya Kamenetz

Does the public support or oppose federal standardized tests? It depends how you ask the question.

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Authors' Garden Clippings Grow Students' Love Of Literature

8:47am August 26, 2015

by Rebecca Kruth

High school English teacher Jennifer McQuillan spent the summer collecting clippings from the gardens of American authors. She's using them to plant a "literary garden" in her school's courtyard.

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Fewer college students are enrolling in teacher training programs, which is worsening a long-standing shortage of science and special education instructors.

Teacher Shortage? Or Teacher Pipeline Problem?

3:08pm August 25, 2015

by Eric Westervelt

As schools reopen across the U.S., some regions are having trouble finding enough teachers to fill vacancies. But others see a big disconnect between training and the needs of districts.

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Research suggests nearly two-thirds of young people are seriously sleep deprived.

High Schoolers And Snooze Buttons: A Public Health Crisis?

3:52pm August 24, 2015

by Claudio Sanchez

Pre-dawn school start times are unhealthy and must change, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Students protest the rising costs of college loans in Los Angeles in 2012. Citing bank bailouts, the protesters called for student debt cancellations.

Fact Check: Is Refinancing Student Debt Really Good Policy?

2:40pm August 24, 2015

by Tamara Keith

Student loan debt is turning into a major campaign issue, and one solution many candidates can agree on is allowing graduates to refinance their student loans. But it may not be the best way to help.

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Failing Our Brightest Kids: The Global Challenge of Educating High-Ability Students.

Education

How The U.S. Is Neglecting Its Smartest Kids

12:58pm August 24, 2015

by Anya Kamenetz

The authors of a new book argue that efforts to raise achievement for students at the bottom have come at the expense of the most gifted and talented.

Ball State Student Wins Tuition With Half-Court Shot

10:22am August 24, 2015

Lem Turner made the shot during a freshman pep rally at Ball State University in Indiana. With the half-court shot, he won free tuition for a semester.

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A mural dedicated to Freddie Gray remains in the Sandtown neighborhood of Baltimore where he was arrested in May of this year. Gray's later death in custody sparked days of unrest in the city — and, now, has inspired a course at the University of Maryla

Off The Streets And Onto The Syllabus: The Freddie Gray Course

7:03pm August 22, 2015

by NPR Staff

Gray, the black man who died in Baltimore police custody, is front and center in a new law class at the University of Maryland. The professor says the case lends a view on broad swaths of the law.

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For Summer Reading Lists, Some Schools Take A More Modern Approach

6:18pm August 21, 2015

NPR's Audie Cornish talks with Kathryn VanArendonk, who teaches developmental reading and writing at Union County College, about how some schools are including contemporary books on summer lists.

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