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Education

The 'Great American School System' Flunks Out

By Glenn C. Altschuler

Diane Ravitch's Death and Life of the Great American School System is a scathing report card of U.S. education. The former assistant secretary of education hands down a withering critique of the nation's schooling efforts — from charter schools, to No Child Left Behind, to Teach for America.

Morning Edition

Parents Fight For The Right To Sell Treats At School

By Robert Smith

New York City schools are enforcing a once-a-month limit on PTA bake sales during the school day.

Talk of the Nation

Professor Calls For Balance In Textbooks

Jonathan Zimmerman says conservatives are correct, many history books lean left.

Morning Edition

Deaths Revive Cornell's Reputation As 'Suicide School'

By Tovia Smith

Efforts to address mental health issues had reduced the university's suicide rate substantially.

A Mural Of Many Colors Is One High School’s Lingua Franca

March 19, 2010, 2:34 AM

By DAVID BOERI

Heidi Schork's colorful mural hugs the walls of Boston's English High School cafeteria. (Andrew Phelps/WBUR)

BOSTON — The new headmaster of Boston’s English High School had big plans for an academic turnaround. He also wanted to brighten the place up. So he invited the public muralist for the city of Boston — and got more than he or any of the students expected.

Mass. Senate Passes School Nutrition Bill

March 11, 2010, 1:16 PM

By WBUR NEWS & WIRE SERVICES

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Senate unanimously passed a bill Thursday that bans the sale of salty and sugary snacks and high-calorie sodas in public schools as the state looks to battle a rising tide of childhood obesity.

Mass. Senate Passes Anti-Bullying Legislation

March 11, 2010, 9:34 AM

By STEVE BROWN

THE STATE HOUSE — Prompted anew by the suicide of a 15-year-old South Hadley girl, the Massachusetts Senate unanimously approved a bill Thursday designed to clamp down on school bullying across the state.

Listen: ‘Different Kind Of Work’ Needed In Boston Schools, Superintendent Says

March 05, 2010, 2:06 PM

By BOB OAKES

BOSTON — A day after the city of Boston took substantial measures in an attempt to transform a number of its “underperforming” schools, Superintendent Carol Johnson told WBUR she is looking for “transformational” leaders.

List: Massachusetts’ 35 ‘Level 4,’ Or Underperforming, Schools

March 05, 2010, 10:44 AM

BOSTON — The following schools have been deemed “underperforming,” according to a release from the Massachusetts Department of Education.

Hyde Park’s Greenwood School Takes Steps To ‘Perform’

March 05, 2010, 8:18 AM

By MONICA BRADY-MYEROV

BOSTON — Thirty-five “underperforming” public schools in Massachusetts are facing an ultimatum under the state’s recently approved education reform effort. WBUR stopped by Hyde Park’s Elihu Greenwood, where progress has begun, to understand the challenges and possibilities the “underperforming” label presents.

Teachers Are Asked To Reapply At 6 Boston Schools

March 04, 2010, 5:16 PM

By ANDREW PHELPS

BOSTON — Teachers and staff members at six Boston schools will have to reapply for their jobs, and the principals of five schools have been fired, after the state identified 12 city schools as “underperforming” on Thursday.

Mass. Identifies 35 Underperforming Schools

March 04, 2010, 2:53 PM

By MONICA BRADY-MYEROV

BOSTON — Thirty-five Massachusetts schools — including 12 in Boston — have been tapped to undergo major restructuring because they are deemed underperforming, in accordance with the state’s recently-passed education reform package.

Mass. Among ‘Race To The Top’ Finalists

March 04, 2010, 11:49 AM

MIAMI — The U.S. Department of Education has named 16 finalists in the first round of its “Race to the Top” competition, which will deliver $4.35 billion in school reform grants. Massachusetts is among the finalists for the funding.

UMass President Jack Wilson: Time For ‘Something Fresh’

March 01, 2010, 5:18 PM

By DELORES HANDY

BOSTON — Jack Wilson, president of the University of Massachusetts, says he has accomplished the work he set out to do when he took the job in 2003. Wilson announced Monday he is stepping down in June 2011. “It’s time to move on, do something else, do something fresh,” Wilson told WBUR.

UMass President Announces June 2011 Resignation

March 01, 2010, 11:02 AM

By GABRIELLE LEVY

BOSTON — In the eight years of Wilson’s leadership, UMass has increased research funding, financial aid spending and enrollment, reported higher average grades and test scores for its incoming students, and completed sizable facility upgrades to its five campuses.

Listen: Quake Alters Viewpoint For Boston’s Haitian Students

March 01, 2010, 8:13 AM

BOSTON — As a Haitian student, the January earthquake has changed the way Hyde Park’s Sabrina Isaac sees her life. She shares an essay on the subject.

Strained Themselves, Incoming Haitian Students Strain Local Schools

March 01, 2010, 7:54 AM

By MONICA BRADY-MYEROV

BROCKTON, Mass. — Many Haitian communities in the Greater Boston area have been welcoming new arrivals since Haiti’s devastating earthquake in January. And while that transition has been difficult for many students, that influx of new immigrants has also created a challenge in the schools.

Brandeis Weighs Lowering Curtain On Graduate Theater, Among Cuts

February 24, 2010, 9:03 AM

By ANDREA SHEA

This "Save Theater" poster was designed by Lisa Polito, a second-year Brandeis MFA in Costume Design. (Courtesy Lisa Polito)

WALTHAM, Mass. — Though the school took criticism last year for announcing its intention to close the Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, facing further financial woes, is considering more cuts to the arts, among items on the chopping block.

Somerville Students Tap Into Sweet Education

February 15, 2010, 10:58 AM

By ARI DANIEL SHAPIRO

A group of students from John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Somerville works to retrieve sap from a maple tree. (Ari Daniel Shapiro/WBUR)

SOMERVILLE, Mass. — If you grew up in New England, you may know how the sap from maple trees gets turned into sticky, sweet maple syrup early in the spring. A local non-profit, Groundwork Somerville, has been teaching that lesson to a new generation of local students.

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