"Click and Jane" (NYTimes, 1/30/09)

Reading books is an operation with paper. Playing games on the Web is something else entirely. I need to admit this to myself, too. I try to believe that reading online is reading-plus, with the text searchable, hyperlinked and accompanied by video, audio, photography and graphics. But maybe it’s just not reading at all. Just as screens aren’t books.

"Well-Connected Parents Take On School Boards" (Wash Post, 01/30/09)

For a new generation of well-wired activists in the Washington region, it's not enough to speak at Parent-Teacher Association or late-night school board meetings. They are going head-to-head with superintendents through e-mail blitzes, social networking Web sites, online petitions, partnerships with business and student groups, and research that mines a mountain of electronic data on school performance.

"Coaches help lift up literacy in schools" (IndyStar, 01/29/09)

Coaches -- also called literacy teachers and literacy coordinators -- train teachers about reading strategies so students better understand what they're reading, retain the information and achieve a higher level of thinking.

"Early phonics success 'may wane' " (BBC, 01/26/09)

Initial success in improving the way young children are taught to read may peter out if teachers' commitment wanes, a government adviser has warned.

"Is Technology Producing A Decline In Critical Thinking And Analysis?" (Science Daily, 01/29/09)

As technology has played a bigger role in our lives, our skills in critical thinking and analysis have declined, while our visual skills have improved, according to research by Patricia Greenfield, UCLA distinguished professor of psychology and director of the Children's Digital Media Center, Los Angeles.

"Getting kids to choose reading over video games" (MSNBC, 01/28/09)

Getting kids to put down video games and pick up a book is especially challenging in the months following Christmas. Brand new video games and electronic toys, it seems, have much more allure to kids than than any literary classic or even popular title.

But the group Reading Is Fundamental urges parents to keep at it.

"It's Not the Books That Are Dog-Eared" (Wash Post, 01/29/09)

The children are enrolled in a program called Paws to Read gain self-confidence as readers by practicing the skill in front of a friendly, nonjudgmental dog.

"The Twitter Experiment" (NYTimes, 01/29/09)

In this follow-up, David Pogue shares the sweet, funny, interesting results of a Twitter experiment.

"Teaching Teenagers About Harassment" (NYTimes, 01/26/09)

A new campaign from the Advertising Council highlights social issues such as digital dating violence, sending nonstop text messages or posting cruel comments on a boyfriend’s or girlfriend’s Facebook or MySpace page.

"Friends, Until I Delete You" (NYTimes, 01/29/09)

Disussion of the policy and netiquette of defriending people on Facebook. Great opener for a discussion of online ethics, identity, and manners.

"Bush Calls for Resolve on NCLB Renewal" (EdWeek, 01/08/09)

In a speech aimed at bolstering his legacy on education as he prepares to leave office, President George W. Bush today touted the success of the No Child Left Behind Act in raising student achievement and called on Congress to renew the law, without weakening its core principles of accountability and testing.

"Young 'resent negative images'" (BBC, 01/09/09)

Young people are complaining about a diet of negative news media stories about them in a research project from the National Children's Bureau. The survey of young people's attitudes claimed that the media had a highly skewed view of their experiences. They felt they were usually depicted in terms of crime, sex and drugs - with the only positive images coming from exceptional cases such as sports stars.

"Girls suspended for teacher jibes" (BBC, 01/09/09)

Dozens of girls were suspended from a British school for setting up a defamatory Facebook site about a teacher. The page, which they called The Hate Society, has been removed from the site.

"Pep rally rewards achievers, encourages at-risk kids to succeed in school" (Dallas Morning News, 01/09/09)

Energetic kids file into the Dade Middle Learning Center auditorium. An artist paints kids' faces. A cheerleader-turned-emcee gets the crowd fired up. Students dance in their seats. It's a scene common in many middle and high schools, normally leading up to the big event: the football game.But this pep rally is about the school's stars in language arts, math and science.

"Hapless Boy Wins Eager Friends" (NYTimes, 01/09/09)

Profile of the author of the “Wimpy Kid” series, which chronicles the rude, crude and hapless travails of Greg Heffley, its middle-school narrator, echo around the country and across the Internet. Also explores the book's influence on reluctant readers.

"Schools tap '21st-century skills'" (Christian Science Monitor, 01/08/09)

For decades, the emphasis in public education has been on making sure that students can read, write, and do math. But can they apply those skills in a real-world scenario, such as designing a bridge? Can they identify what information they need and use digital tools to find it? Those are some of the capabilities known as "21st-century skills" – what everyone from CEOs to President-elect Obama says that today's students need for their fast-changing future.

"Mobile Devices Seen as Key to 21st-Century Learning" (EdWeek's Digital Directions, 01/09/09)

Children’s lives have been caught up in a tide of mobile digital technologies—games, cellphones, and smartphones—that if carefully managed could significantly boost their learning, concludes a report released today by a research center based at the Sesame Workshop.

"Programs for limited-English kids get mixed grades" (Houston Chronicle, 01/07/09)

About three in 10 Texas students whose native tongue isn't English are failing to make significant progress in mastering the language, according to a national report released Wednesday.

"The State of the Humanities" (Inside Higher Ed, 01/07/09)

Statistics released today in the Humanities Indicators Prototype, a project of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences provide details on faculty satisfaction, salary ranges, and student majors. The data come from a wide range of sources and cover graduate and undergraduate education, as well as elementary and secondary education, and indicators that relate broadly to American life.

"Writing Lags in Law Schools" (Inside Higher Ed, 01/07/09)

The 2008 annual results of the Law School Survey of Student Engagement, released today, show nearly half of all law school students reporting that their education does not “contribute substantially” to their ability to “apply legal writing skills” in the real world

"Giving Choice and Taking It Away" (Inside Higher Ed, 01/07/09)

The controversial Score Choice program announced in June is purported to help relieve student stress, but colleges are being explicitly offered options by the College Board that would limit student choice over scores or result in admissions offices having score information that students might not want reviewed.

"States Team for High School Makeover With Eye Toward '21st-Century Skills'" (EdWeek, 01/06/09)

The New England Secondary School Consortium aims to create high schools that are "flexible, borderless, multidimensional community learning centers" in which students would have the chance to study at the secondary and postsecondary levels, do research in their communities, build real-world skills through internships, and immerse themselves in technology.

"Ed. Dept. Releases New Rules on Privacy" (EdWeek, 01/06/09)

The U.S. Department of Education has released regulations for the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act that are set to take effect Jan. 8. The new rules seek to reassure school officials who wish to share private student information because they believe it is necessary to prevent a health or safety emergency.

"Students Turn Their Cellphones On for Classroom Lessons" (EdWeek, 01/06/09)

A growing number of teachers, carefully navigating district policies and addressing their own concerns, are having students use their personal cellphones to make podcasts, take field notes, and organize their schedules and homework.

"Computer-esque books to lure boys" (BBC, 01/07/09)

Books illustrated with computer- generated images are the latest attempt to get boys to enjoy reading.

"Google Hopes to Open a Trove of Little-Seen Books" (NYTimes, 01/04/09)

Ever since Google began scanning printed books four years ago, scholars and others with specialized interests have been able to tap a trove of information that had been locked away on the dusty shelves of libraries and in antiquarian bookstores.

"Starting early with bilingual education" (Suburban Journals, 01/03/09)

Families in the St. Louis region can now enroll preschoolers in a bilingual school that teaches English and Spanish language skills.

"Prep journalism teachers get shield against retaliation for student work" (Sacramento Bee, 01/01/09)

Teachers throughout California who advise student journalists have been reassigned – or dismissed – for what has appeared in their newspapers. Effective today, however, Senate Bill 1370 prohibits a school employee from being dismissed, suspended, disciplined, reassigned, transferred or otherwise retaliated against for acting to protect a student's speech.

"Rewarding a job well done" (Boston Globe, 01/04/09)

Motivational rewards are key to success at one Boston middle school. Concrete rewards (like concert tickets) combine with less tangible motivators (like positive feedback to families) to help improve student grades and performance.

"Waivers free high school students to study online, off-campus" (Detroit Free Press, 01/0

Eleven Michigan school districts and one charter school can now allow students to take more courses -- and in some cases all of their classes -- online and off-campus, moves that could further cement the state's reputation as a leader in online education.

"Can't read cursive? You are not alone" (Idaho Statesman, 01/06/09)

Over the past decade, teachers and secondary students across the country have reported a trend that their parents and grandparents could scarcely imagine: The millennial generation is increasingly cursive illiterate.

"The Big Cram for Hunter High School" (NYTimes, 01/02/09)

Six graders study word roots as they prep frantically for the entrance exam that will determine whether they are eligible to attend Hunter College High School.

"Teachers' lessons go viral on education video Web site" (Dallas Morning News, 01/05/09)

Just as YouTube gave regular people a stage to become famous, teachers such as Valentine are now sharing videos and gaining attention beyond the confines of their classrooms.

"The Latest Doomed Pedagogical Fad: 21st-Century Skills" (Washington Post, 01/05/09)

In this opinion column, Jay Mathews argues that educators pushing for 21st Century literacy skills have not honestly discussed the skills or the reasons for teaching them.

"More and More, Schools Got Game" (Washington Post, 01/04/2009)

As Net-generation teachers reach out to gamers, classrooms across the country are becoming portals to elaborate virtual worlds.

Advocates argue that games teach vital skills overlooked in the age of high-stakes tests, such as teamwork, decision-making and digital literacy. And they admire the way good games challenge players just enough to keep them engaged and pushing to reach the next level.