Growing Number of Students Cutting Class
WSJ | By Tawnell D. Hobbs – August 30, 2018: The article highlights that new approaches aim to reverse rise in chronic absenteeism, from prizes for good attendance to laundry rooms for students who lack clean clothes.
The growing problem of children skipping school has districts across the country experimenting with solutions, from punishments to rewards.
Educators are divided about what approach works. Students who miss school are more likely to fall behind and are at greater risk of dropping out. Paterson Public Schools in New Jersey and other districts are sending specialists into homes to determine if hardships—such as not having clean clothes—are keeping students from showing up.
Districts in Washington state and Arkansas have set up truancy boards with students, parents, community members and mental-health professionals who interview students to find out why they are no-shows. Dothan City Schools in Alabama is withdrawing habitually truant students and charging their parents a re-enrollment fee.
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Cheating scandal rocks Basic School for Marine Officers
MARINE CORP TIMES | By Shawn Snow – August 30, 2018: The article highlights that the Basic School for Marine Officers is reeling from a cheating scandal that involved six second lieutenants accused of wrongfully obtaining and sharing key grid points for the night land navigation course.
The officers were accused of sharing the grid points via text messages before the test and later relying on them to find hidden boxes stashed across the wooded night land navigation course in Quantico, Virginia, according to interviews with Marine Corps officials and a copy of the command investigation obtained by Marine Corps Times.
The Marine Corps considers that cheating because the students were able to complete the course without demonstrating the key skills the course aims to evaluate: conducting proper land navigation.
To make matters worse, the investigation of the six second lieutenants was mishandled and resulted in an investigation of the investigators. The episode was further complicated by the alleged illegal confinement of female officers and allegations of sexual harassment. In the end, numerous Marines faced discipline and one Marine’s claims of innocence led to a private polygraph test.
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District Distributing Condoms To High Schoolers As STD Rates Soar
CBS BALTIMORE – August 31, 2018: The article highlights that when students in Montgomery County walk into class for the first time Tuesday (September 4), they will have their notepads, pens and condoms.
The public school system has decided, after debating, to provide condoms at four high schools, Gaithersburg, Northwood, Watkins Mills and Wheaton.
Some council members want to make them available at all 25 of the county’s high schools and even want it considered for 40 middle schools.
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UK Teacher Shortage Driven by Far More Than Payments – Specialist
SPUTNIK NEWS – August 31, 2018: The article highlights that England’s schools are facing a severe shortage of teachers, with bigger class sizes and more subjects taught by staff without a relevant degree. The independent think tank the Education Policy Institute says that as schools in England prepare to return after the summer break, the problems of teacher recruitment remain unresolved.
The think tank says targeted pay increases could reduce shortages. Education Secretary Damian Hinds has made staff recruitment a top priority. Former education minister, David Laws, now chairman of the Education Policy Institute, says the government faces a significant challenge to recruit enough teachers particularly in subjects like maths and sciences.
There are particular problems for getting specialist teachers for maths and science, which the study says reflects the difficulty in recruiting graduates who could get better paid jobs in other careers. Sputnik spoke to Nansi Ellis, assistant general secretary for education policy at National Education Union about the latest report in to shortages.
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