Despite its impact on various aspects of society, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education have seen an overall decline in the United States during the last two decades. STEM is a pivotal part of the American economy, but student interest and performance in these key subjects is falling. In an effort to ensure that today’s children become tomorrow’s STEM leaders, each state has devised its own initiatives to promote STEM education. To this end, the state of Georgia has enacted several programs that aim to improve STEM instruction…

Between 26 states applying for waivers of federal regulations imposed by the No Child Left Behind Act and the wide release of controversial teacher data reports in New York City, this has been a very busy week in the world of education. Here are a few of the top stories:

NYC Teacher Ratings Incite Controversy

On February 24, the New York City Department of Education released the ratings of approximately 18,000 teachers. These “teacher data reports” attempt to measure the efficacy of educators over three school years ending in 2010. They rate teachers based on the scores of their students on standardized tests and are part of an initiative to improve the quality of education at 140 New York City public schools. The results we…

American STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education has seen an overall decline in student interest during the last two decades. STEM is a pivotal sector of our economy, and it is important that today’s students become tomorrow’s STEM leaders.

Each state has responded to the growing disinterest in STEM education in their own way. The state of Florid…

Advances in web-based technology allow teachers to enrich their lesson with dynamic content that wasn’t as readily available before. Social media has also emerged as an important educational resource. Twitter is one way teachers are able to not only engage with their students, but also to communicate with one another. The following Twitter accounts belong to outstanding educators who are making enormous strides in the advancement of educational technology and social media. Jerry Blumengarten J…

STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, and encompasses all of the subjects that fall beneath those umbrella categories. Although STEM education affects all aspects of society, the last two decades have seen an overall decline of student interest in STEM subjects in the United States. STEM is a pivotal part of our economy, and it is important that today’s students become tomorrow’s STEM leaders. Each state has responded to the growing disintere…

From President Obama's new attempt at education reform to the release of a 14-year-old college graduate's new book, there has been a lot going on in the world of education this month. Here are a few of the top stories: Obama Proposes New Efforts in Education Reform The Obama Administration is implementing a new proposal for education reform, the RESPECT (Recognizing Educational Success, Professional Excellence and Collaborative Teaching) Project. The program is an effort to help schools “keep good teachers and reward the best ones,” which President Obama spoke about in his State of the Union Address. It proposes a $5 billion competitive grant to encourage states to revitalize their regulations in hiring and rewarding teachers. Much like the Race to the Top program, states will draft their own pl…