NBC News held its very first Education Nation Summit in 2010, bringing together scores of parents, teachers, school officials, businesses, politicians, and others committed to addressing current issues in U.S. education and securing a bright future for American students. Since that first summit, Education Nation has gone on annual national tours throughout different cities, started
Teacher Suspended for Inappropriate Facebook Posts
In reference to an altercation between students, a teacher posted the following comments to her Facebook wall:
"How bout I blasted both of them. The girl in my class hair is nappy almost every day and the boy wears dirty clothes, face nasty and can't even read. They didn't bother nobody else when I got through with them."
The posting came from Memphis Kindergarten Teacher Tameka Gatewood, and according to the Huffington Post, she has been put on unpaid suspension until a…
The Benefits of Evidence-Based Observations
This blog was originally published on Finding Common Ground at Education Week by Peter DeWitt on October 21, 2012 6:27PM
Peter DeWitt (@PeterMDeWitt) is an elementary principal in upstate, New York. He blogs at Finding Common Ground for Education Week and is the author of
Understanding the Chicago Teacher’s Strike
The nearly two-week-long Chicago teachers’ strike has finally come to a close. The results: “a ‘half-loaf’ kind of day,” according to CNN, with educators and city officials not completely satisfied with the results of settled negotiations. What caused the teachers of the third-largest school district in the United States to strike? The main impetus behind it had to do with a newly proposed teacher evaluation system, job security and several other issues.
Sex Education Vs. Abstinence Education: Part 2
Sex education is an issue of much debate, as people on both sides struggle to decide how to address adolescent sexuality. To shed some light on the issue, Teach.com interviewed educators from either side of the debate. In this section, we spoke to Abby Rosenstein, program manager of School Health Equity at Advocates for Youth, an organization that promotes policies and programs that support young people’s sexual health and rights. Advocates for Youth was founded as the Center for Population Options in 1980 and works in partnership with youth at the local, state, national and inter…
Sex Education Vs. Abstinence Education: Part 1
In middle school and high school, students begin to face complex issues that go beyond the classroom but still impact their education. The way schools should handle topics regarding sexuality is one such issue at the center of ongoing debate. How do we teach students about sex? Do we teach students about sex? Where does the parents’ job end and the schools’ begin?
From this issue arise two oppositional viewpoints, both of which have students’ best intentions at heart: sex education, in which students are taught about safe sex practices, and abstinence education, in which students are encouraged to abstain until marriage. The effects, implications and success o…