Education - NewBostonPost (Page 91)

Yale

Union push gains steam among Yale, Harvard grad students

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Efforts to unionize graduate students at private universities are gaining momentum as the National Labor Relations Board shows new openness to arguments that they are not just students, but also school employees. A union for teaching assistants is in place at only one private U.S.

Massachusetts

Teachers’ unions ask lawmakers to leave charter caps to voters

BOSTON – Some of the state's largest teachers' unions, allied with community groups that back their opposition to increasing the number of charter schools in Massachusetts, have asked lawmakers to set aside pending compromise measures and let the fight be decided at the ballot box next year. Should

MCAS

Reform based on pre-2011 MCAS draws support from Pioneer Institute

BOSTON – As Massachusetts education officials gear up to decide next month whether to adopt the national PARCC exam to assess academic achievement, the Boston-based Pioneer Institute on Tuesday released a study critical of PARCC that suggests creating a new set of state examinations based on the original MCAS exam. The

Massachusetts

Bay State reformers backed MCAS over PARCC, think tank says

BOSTON – Debate over standardized testing in Massachusetts schools heated up Wednesday as the Pioneer Institute, an independent policy research organization, rebutted an argument backing adoption of a multi-state assessment system by pointing to the positions taken by two education reformers who helped to create the MCAS exam. Former Massachusetts Republican

Massachusetts

Mass. K-12 budgets squeezed by insurance, SPED costs

STATE HOUSE — High costs for employee health insurance and special education have reduced the resources school districts can invest in other areas, including extended learning time, books, technology, arts, and counseling, according to a report released Monday by a commission charged with evaluating the state's school finance law.

Massachusetts

Bay State lawmakers call for dropping federal PARCC test

BOSTON – A quarter of state legislators urged Education Secretary Jim Peyser and other policymakers to reject federal PARCC academic assessment testing, raising concerns about cost and the readiness of schools to administer the computer-based exam. Rep. Keiko Orrall, a Lakeville Republican, and Rep. Marjorie Decker, a Cambridge Democrat, spearheaded the

Faith

Student: Teacher graded on belief in God

KATY, Texas — A seventh-grade assignment in a Texas school district asked students to deny the existence of God, a student said. The Katy Independent School District has since apologized and the principal of West Memorial Junior High School determined the assignment wasn't necessary for students.

Massachusetts

Charter school legislative course may circle until January

BOSTON – A decision from the state Senate on whether to pursue charter school expansion or leave the issue for Massachusetts voters to settle next year may not come until early January, Senate President Stanley Rosenberg (D-Amherst) said Wednesday after a private bipartisan meeting to weigh the pros and cons. The