for 10th graders.  The test which tests knowledge of math, science, reading and writing only saw a gain in the math portion.

A one percent gain in math, 5.2% drop in science, 6.7% drop in reading, and a massive 12% drop in writing from last year scores.

on college’s that are spending more on staff just to help get undecided kids to select a major.  Colleges are hoping that the students will spend less time and money at the college trying to graduate.

to end half-day regular school days for high school students.  Some of the students use the extra time to go to a job or in the case of one person in the article runs errands for her mom.

Related article: Arizona high school graduation requirements.

I would like to say that while I went to high school I did not have that option due to high school graduation rules in my state.

that Time Magazine named bloggers and other web-content generators like me person of the year.  I think that we deserved the honor and had one big gigantic impact on the 2006 year.

Do you agree with me??

has come out from the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce.  In the 28 page executive summary that you can read for free starts out with high level people praising this report and saying how great it is.

The report agrees with me that the current educational system is for another era.  Something like the 1940’s and 1950’s imo where most of the high school grads went straight to the workforce and not onto college.

The report says that other countries have students that are ready for college when you are 16 years old and that we have to meet or beat that standard.  Nice way to start off in the search for a new educational system.

They want most students starting in tenth grade to take a special exam which they think 95% of the students can easily pass.

If you score high enough on that exam you go straight onto the community college to earn a two year degree which could land you going on to a four year college.  Other students who score well can stay in high school for another two years and prepare for another exam which could land them in a select college if they get a high enough score on that exam.

They showcase this idea in a chart which did not help me much at all.
My idea on the other hand has you taking college classes along side of your regular high school work which I think is better and all classes you pass with a high enough of a grade level will be transferable.

The idea they say saves 60 billion bucks.  Some of the savings comes from fewer dropouts.

They also agree with me that teacher pay has to go up to be more like pay in the professional sector.  45 grand for new teachers and all the way up to 110 grand for the teachers who are willing to work the same hours as professional do. IMO higher salaries is never the 100% cure for getting better teachers.

They say the teachers need to be state employed and not school district employed. The state would also create a Teacher Development Agency which would be in charge of training and certifying the teachers.
A total transformation in exams for high school students is in order says the summary. Even I do not like exit examinations and should be scrapped.

School will be run by independent contractors under the model. A truly different idea which I am not sure is going to work.  The school district has complete disgression over their program under the model as well.  I love national set standards and we have move in that direction to fix the educational system.

The report goes over a few other ideas they want as well including a new type of GI Bill which looks interesting.

They want universial preschool education, I want it as well.

I applaud them for coming out with this report, but I still think my idea is better than this idea.

in the state of Utah with a license to teach is dropping says this Salt Lake Tribune article.  The article also says that starting salaries is around 27,000.