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Jeremy Piven

Jeremy Piven has known his favorite teacher since the day he was born. His mother, Joyce, a talented drama teacher, gave Jeremy a head start on his acting career. While other kids were playing games, Joyce had Jeremy playing roles.

Behind Every Famous Person is a Fabulous Teacher.

Education News: August 15, 2010

Every week we scour the headlines from around the nation and prepare brief executive summaries of the top education stories.

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This Week in Education

 

With Shrinking Budgets, Schools Ask Parents for Supplies
(New York Times, August 15) Due to a lack of funds, many schools throughout the country have a limited supply of classroom essentials. As a result, schools are asking parents to send, along with their children, items ranging from Clorox wipes to crayons and scissors. As a result, school supplies stores are lining their back-to-school shelves with a broad array of janitorial items along with the usual academic ones. Although the added expense may appear cumbersome, most parents would rather foot the bill than leave it to their child’s educators.

Kids Stay Up Later, Fall Asleep in Class
(USA Today, August 15) Sleep scientists predict that technology plays a large part in children losing sleep. From texting to Facebook, distractions are abound in the late-evening hours, re-directing a child’s attention from the undeniable fact that they must wake up early the following morning. 25% of children complain of sleep related issues; such lack of sleep results in diminished performance in the classroom. Some say removing technology from the bedroom in addition to a subtle transition to a bedtime routine is the best method for solving the issue.

Kindergarten Determines Future Wealth
(NPR, August 14) A Harvard study determined that adults who attended elite kindergarten classes make, on average, $1000 more than those who did not. In opposition to previous theories, the study finds that the long-term effect of a constructive learning environment early on in childhood education is quite profound. The level of learning in a higher level kindergarten class predicates not only wealth but relationships, college attendance and fiscal responsibility. Though kindergarten is an important factor, the study hoped to make a statement about childhood education overall.

Teachers Concerned About Lack of Jobs
(AP, August 16) Along with an uncertain economic outlook, the financial security of the teaching profession has reached a new low. However, education is still a very popular career choice, with universities across the nation still running highly successful education degree programs. Still, the outlook is bleak as older teachers are losing their jobs everyday. Determined individuals maintain their desire to become educators and hope to persevere through the downturn.

Web Generation Unaware of Plagiarism
(Education Week, August 16) Due to the wealth of information available on the internet, many students are finding accusations of plagiarism confounding. Students who were raised on the internet believe that certain information garnered from the web, via Google or Wikipedia, for example, does not require citation. Educators worry about the blurring of lines between proper attribution and the concept of common knowledge. Because it’s easier than ever to attain information, copying it is, perhaps, even easier. Some teachers hope to counteract the trend by helping to distinguish proper sources of information and bolstering the ability to discern when a citation is needed.

District Acquitted in Laptop Spying Case
(Education Week, August 18) Criminal charges against the suburban Philadelphia district, Lower Merion, which took thousands of pictures of unknowing students using school laptops at home, have been dropped. The district claims that the pictures were mistakenly taken while spy-software was activated to track down lost and stolen laptops. But because the software was left activated for weeks at a time, nearly 56,000 photos were taken during laptop use. A few students still have pending lawsuits against the district, seeking compensation for breach of privacy.

 

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