"10 City Schools to Focus Reading Skills on Content" (NYTimes)

A recently announced pilot program is expected to overhaul the way children in 10 city schools are taught to read. The pilot program, which will involve about 1,000 children, represents a shift from the Bloomberg administration’s longstanding approach to teaching children to read, known as “balanced literacy.” Under that approach, children are encouraged to select books that interest them, at their own reading levels, from classroom libraries. The theory behind the approach is that it is more important to ensure that young children are truly engaged by books than to dictate that everyone read the same thing.

"A Plan to Test the City’s Youngest Pupils" (NYTimes)

The Bloomberg administration, which has made accountability the watchword of its overhaul of public education, is asking elementary school principals across the city to give standardized tests in English and math to children as young as kindergartners. The New York Times, August 26, 2008

SAT Scores Flat as Test-Taking Edges Upward

Flat SAT scores may be good news when the increased numbers of students taking the test are figured in. Education Week, August 26, 2008

Schools' Cash-to-Kids Plan Doesn't Pay Off

A controversial initiative that pays high-school students for passing Advanced Placement tests has failed to spur more kids to make the grade. The New York Post, August 20, 2008

Value-Added Evaluation Being Tried in Ohio Schools

The new "value-added" designation on Ohio schools' report cards indicates whether or not students are getting a year's worth of learning in the school, measured by much more than test results. The Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 24, 2008

Bush Education Law: Shift Ahead?

This could be the last time students go back to school under the current No Child Left Behind law. While opinions on the law are split (see the 40th Annual PDK/Gallup Poll), it's sure that the new president and Congress will be dealing with the law next year. The Christian Science Monitor, August 21, 2008

Starting Kindergarten Later Gives Students Only a Fleeting Edge, Study Finds

By the eighth grade, kindergarten's younger students catch up academically with older students. The study, "Kindergarten Entrance Age and Children's Achievement: Impacts of State Policies, Family Background, and Peers" will appear in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Human Resources.  ScienceDaily, August 18, 2008