SAT Scores Remain the Same After a Year

SAT scores for 2008 high school graduates remained the same as those who took the test last year, even though participation rose among minority students and first generation college goers, the College Board reported on Tuesday. The number of total students taking the SAT surpassed 1.5 million - an 8% increase from five years ago.

Check out the entire article at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/26/AR2008082601468.html

Harvard Regains Top Spot on List

The nation's oldest and wealthiest university is back atop the rankings again: U.S. News & World Report's college rankings list Harvard as number one, besting Princeton University which held the spot for 8 years. Harvard won the coveted #1 position by beating Princeton by one-tenth of a point.

Want to see the whole list? Check out this link:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-08-22-top-universities_N.htm

The Start of Freshman Year...in January

This past spring, many students opened up their college decision letters to find out they had been accepted to their school of choice...not for this fall, but for January. It is an increasingly common trend among college and universities as they deal with record number of qualified applicants. Rather than deny admission, schools still look to capture the tuition-paying students in a different manner, by offering slots that are abandoned by students taking a semester abroad, off-campus internships, or simply have dropped out.

Check out the entire article at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/education/la-me-midyear21-2008aug21,0,841695.story

Pass and Get Cash Plan Fails

The controversial plan to monetarily incent students from low-income New York City public schools came up short in making a difference in the exam's passing rate. Students were offered between $500 and $1000, dependent on their actual score on the AP exam. Despite this monetary reward, the exam's pass rate dipped--in 2007 35 percent of students passed compared to 2008's 32 percent.

Check out the entire article at:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/08202008/news/regionalnews/schools_cash_to_kids_plan_doesnt_pay_off_125250.htm

Economy Woes Trickle into Education

With the shaky economy increasing the costs of gas and food, schools face a challenge in filling up their buses and stocking the cafeteria. If it costs you close to $100 to fill up a tank of gas, imagine what schools have to pay to top off their buses. That's when school districts have to get imaginative...like 4-day school weeks or winnowing down the list of available electives.

Check out the entire article at:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-08-18-schools-statistics_N.htm

No Gap for Girls in Math

A study paid for by the National Science Foundation has found that girls perform as well as boys on standardized math tests. 20 years ago, however, boys in high school performed better than girls in math--that, too, has changed, the study found. Why? Simply put, girls used to take fewer advanced math classes than boys took. Now that that gap has narrowed, boys and girls are performing equally.

Check out the entire article at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/education/25math.html?ref=education

Appealing Schools' "Moment of Silence" Law"

The legal appeal to a 2003 Texas law mandating a moment of silence in school is going to the 5th US Circuit court of Appeals this fall. A North Texas couple are appealing the law upheld by a Federal district court, contending that the moment of silence is advancing religion, while the Texas attorney general will argue that the law is allowing students to, "reflect, pray, (or) mediate."

Check out the entire article at:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5924034.html

Congress Overhauls Higher Education Laws

Yesterday Congress voted in a huge majority to overhaul existing higher education laws to provide provisions and programs to help families with inflating college costs. Part of the bill calls for colleges and universities to be more transparent in their reporting of costs and prices and when a tuition increase becomes necessary, the reason for it.

Check out the entire article at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/01/education/01education.html?ref=education