A science teacher’s experience in coal country is illuminating the problem science teachers are facing in 2017: many kids don’t want to learn science they don’t agree with. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Education
Meredith Erck, the Rapid City, S.D., senior who wanted to walk with her friends at what would have been her commencement had she not been battling cancer, will walk with her friends after all. Read more →
There are likely two schools of thought on a South Dakota school’s decision to deny a degree to a senior who is six credits short of graduation. There is the ‘rules are rules’ caucus, and there is the ‘have a heart’ party. Read more →
Thanks to the creeps among us, these are difficult times for adults who just want to do something for kids. Read more →
The Pipestone Area Schools class of 2017 visited the elementary students today before counting down the final seconds of high school. Read more →
Marty O’Connor’s story is a familiar one. He was left a quadriplegic when he fell down the stairs in 2012. Read more →
The school district says students can rip the page out or they’ll provide a sticker to go over the offensive quote.
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A teacher in Mount Horeb, Wis., near Madison, is back in the classroom today after being removed for showing her students a film that some people claim showed ‘nude and graphic images.’
All of the images in the film, ‘Miss Representation’, came from prime-time television shows and music videos. Read more →
Seven years ago next week, Garrett Bazany, then 15, performed a double front flip on his family’s trampoline. He landed on his head and woke up in the hospital, paralyzed from the chest down.
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Theresia Brandl, 105, doesn’t have many regrets. But she has one: She never finished high school. The local high school took care of that yesterday.
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There’s nothing about being a kid that an adult can’t ruin.
A high school graduation in Arlington, Tenn., is the latest proof. Read more →
Deanna and Mya Cook haven been accumulating detentions for violating the school’s dress code, which says hair extensions can be distracting for other students and affect learning.
The students say it singles out African Americans. Read more →
This, in particular, is the time of year when old-timers want to give advice and wisdom to the graduates. But here’s the reality for those of us of a certain age: We haven’t got a clue how to navigate this changed world as a graduating student. Read more →
Jonathan Abably, of Blaine, Minn., wrote his college entrance essay on work, money, and class. It was good enough to get printed in the New York Times. Read more →
The New London-Spicer School District provides an alternative lesson plan when parents object to a book being discussed in class. The objecting students leave the room and study somewhere else. This week, two opponents of a Sherman Alexie book say that’s not good enough.
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