Education

Total U.S. student loan debt increase, in trillions of dollars, as of the end of the first quarter in 2015. (Data: Federal Reserve Bank of the United States.)

5 Ideas To Ease The Burden Of Student Loans

9:14am June 26, 2015

by Anya Kamenetz

Presidential candidates are writing their plans now. We talk with the experts about some of the policy options on the table.

Leukemia survivor Rhett Krawitt, 7, carries a box of petitions representing more than 30,000 people supporting a measure requiring nearly all California schoolchildren to be vaccinated. He took them to the governor's office at the Capitol in Sacramento, C

California Lawmakers Vote To Remove Vaccine Exemptions For Schoolchildren

5:37pm June 25, 2015

by Scott Neuman

A similar bill, which eliminates all but medical exemptions, has already passed the state Senate. Gov. Jerry Brown has not said whether he will sign it.

Screengrab from the film, Present Tense.

Teens Make Film In Broken English To Explain Why They'll Fail English

2:14pm June 25, 2015

by Gregory Warner

Three high schoolers in Zanzibar have won a prize for a film tackling a fierce debate in African classrooms: Should the teacher instruct in English or the mother tongue?

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Lannie Castagne teaches first grade at Brimley Elementary School. She does monthly reading assessments to make sure her students are on track.

A Recipe For Success With Two Student Groups That Often Struggle

8:56pm June 23, 2015

by Jennifer Guerra

When it comes to test scores, students at Michigan's Brimley Elementary School are well above the state average. About half its students are Native Americans, many are from low-income families.

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Zaid Yassin and his 5-year-old daughter, Fatima, came to Travis County Court in Austin, Texas, to defend Fatima's 23 missed days of school.

Texas Turns Away From Prosecuting Truants

12:52pm June 23, 2015

by Claudio Sanchez

Since the mid-1990s, Texas has treated truancy as a criminal offense. Now, state lawmakers say that was a mistake.

An untouched chalkboard from 1917 was found behind a classroom wall at Emerson High School in Oklahoma City.

School Scrambles To Preserve Newly Discovered Chalkboards From 1917

8:10am June 23, 2015

by Jacob McCleland

Behind the walls at Emerson High School in Oklahoma City, construction workers found old chalkboards with drawings and class lessons, written almost a century ago and in remarkable condition.

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Examining Race-Based Admissions Bans On Medical Schools

8:10am June 23, 2015

by Shankar Vedantam

Researchers explored the effects of black and Latino graduation rates from medical school, following a ban on race conscious admissions policies in several states.

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Why Some Teen Brains May Be Hardwired To Make Risky Choices

11:45am June 19, 2015

by Maanvi Singh

Individual differences in the brain's working memory could help explain why some teens are especially impulsive about sex. Having engaged parents helps reduce the risk.

"Bragging about yourself, and your best qualities, is very difficult for a child who came into the classroom not feeling any confidence whatsoever to read three or four words," says Whaley.

One Teacher's Quest To Build Language Skills ... And Self-Confidence

9:07am June 19, 2015

by Jasmine Garsd

For our 50 Great Teachers series, we profile Thomas Whaley. With his second-graders on Long Island, he's teaching English ... and a lot more.

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Who? by Sharon Yang, 10, a fifth-grader in Brooklyn. Of this work, she says: "I put a lot of effort in my artwork to make the texture on the tree and the feathers on the owl."

Kids' Art Show Takes Over 2 Billboards In Times Square

6:49am June 19, 2015

by Bill Chappell

Through the weekend, art by 23 public school students will be seen on two large billboards in the heart of New York City.