Rise & Shine: Thursday, 7/31

  • The DOE plans to invest more in vocational schools. (Sun, Post)
  • More on Double Dutch, the schools’ newest competitive sport. (Times)
  • A popular Brooklyn Heights elementary school is set to expand in 2011. (Brooklyn Paper)
  • Parents criticize the DOE’s reliance on test scores to determine eligibility for gifted and talented programs. (Village Voice)
  • A judge in Texas ruled that the state shortchanges its students who are learning English, particularly in high school. (Houston Chronicle)
  • Despite statewide gains, one Maryland county, used to being the best, isn’t happy with its test scores. (Washington Post)
  • Focus on high school dropouts: Students drop out of school for a variety of reasons, such as needing to work, pregnancy, and feeling unsafe in school. (San Jose Mercury News) Jefferson County, K.Y., convened a summit to discuss strategies for cutting the dropout rate in half in the next ten years. (Louisville Courier-Journal) Meanwhile, a Haverhill, Mass., school district has created a task force to look at reducing dropouts there. (Boston Globe)
  • Environmental education is on the rise in schools across the country. Watch one teacher work on building solar cars with students in this video. (USA Today)
  • At the Scarsdale Teachers Institute, teachers offer classes for each other on a wide range of topics. (NY Times)