Alec Baldwin

Before he was the star of 30 Rock and an Academy Award nominee, Alec Baldwin's fourth grade teacher Bernice Bard Hoffman recognized his confidence and ability to lead. She encouraged him to fulfill his potential when she wrote in his yearbook, "I don't think I will be wrong: Please save a seat for me at your inauguration!"

Behind Every Famous Person is a Fabulous Teacher.

Education News

Throughout the month we scour the headlines from around the nation and prepare brief executive summaries of the top education stories.

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This Week in Education: May 7th - May 11th


Education Students Protest New Licensure Procedure
(New York Times, May 6, 2012) 67 of the 68 students in the school of education at the University of Massachusetts are protesting a new national licensure procedure being developed by Stanford University and the education company, Pearson. The students believe their professors and the classroom teachers who observe them in real school settings are a better judge of their teaching skills than an outside corporation. They have refused to send Pearson two 10-minute videos of themselves teaching, as well as a 40-page take-home test, both of which are required for the Teacher Performance Assessment.

Bridge Programs Offered to Incoming Freshman
(Education Weekly, May 8, 2012) Summer “bridge” programs are being offered to at-risk high school students who are transitioning into their freshman year of college. Rubin Ortiz agreed to participate in a five-week summer program at El Paso Community College after receiving unsatisfactory scores on a placement test during his senior year of high school. The program helped Ortiz move up a level in math, avoid a remedial course in the fall and also helped with the transition from high school to college.

Eighth-Graders Show Low Proficiency on National Science Exam
(The Huffington Post, May 10, 2012) Only a third of eighth-graders who took the National Assessment of Educational Progress science test in 2011 were proficient. Although the average scores increased two points between 2009 and 2011, Gary Wheeler, interim director of the National Science Teachers Association, calls the scores “simply unacceptable”. 122,000 students took the exam with all 50 states and Washington, D.C. participating, which provided a nationally representative sample, according to The National Center for Education Statistics.

Students Speak Out Against Potential Rise in Student Loans
(NPR, May 8, 2012) On Tuesday, the Democratic proposal which would have frozen student interest rates at 3.4% was blocked by a 52-45 vote. Howard University students Clarise McCants and Patrick Johnson spoke out against the potential rise in interest rates on federal Stafford loans. If the interest rate doubles on July 1, $1,000 would be added on average to every new Stafford loan for every year a student is in college. Clarise McCants stated, "$1,000 means a lot to me." She also added, "These additional costs may seem minimal compared to the fiscal budget or, frankly, the salary of a congressman, but they're a big burden to people like me who are economically disadvantaged."