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Maybe I'm just a little too sensitive these days. After all, women at the end of their third trimester can be like that. But when I read about a new campaign, one to prevent unplanned pregnancies among community college students, I was a bit taken aback. According to the nonpartisan group in charge, 48% of community college students "have ever been pregnant or gotten someone pregnant." And this is a problem, the group contends, because dropout rates are higher among students who get pregnant while in college. So, presumably in order to increase degree attainment in the public two-year sector, we need to slow this trend and prevent unplanned pregnancies. Ok, on the face of it, this seems like a plausible argument and approach. After all, it's hard enough to get a degree while working full-time, let alone while parenting too. And sure, there's plenty of research suggesting that the children of planned pregnancies are more likely to be raised in stable, intac...

ARKANSAS: Listening tour a state RttT strategy DELAWARE: RttT fuels changes to teacher evaluation and school turnarounds IOWA: More questions than answers? MICHIGAN: Governor Granholm touts RttT OHIO: State is in the running RHODE ISLAND: Ed commish unveils sweeping reform plan WASHINGTON: State won't apply until round two

On this Thanksgiving week, it is appropriate that we acknowledge the large numbers of America’s children who are too hungry to learn as indicated in a new public opinion survey commissioned by Share Our Strength. Teachers – as first responders – witness the toll hunger takes on students in their classrooms every day. Hunger in America’s Classrooms: Share Our Strength’s Teacher Report shares teachers’ firsthand accounts of hunger as well as a formal national survey of teachers. Share Our Strength commissioned Lake Research Partners to poll 747 elementary and middle school teachers from urban, suburban and rural communities across America, for the study, funded by C&S Wholesale Grocers. The most recent figures released by the USDA paint a dramatic picture of hunger in America: nearly 17 million U.S. children – nearly one in four kids – face hunger today. In a webinar, experts on childhood hunger and health( Billy Shore , founder and executive director, Share Our Stre...

As I read the story in Friday's New York Times, my belly twisted with the sharp movements of the nearly 9-month-old fetus inside. My daughter's little hand punched forward when I came to this line: "Children often have to be trained to listen to questions from strangers and to sit still for about an hour, the time it takes to complete the two tests." It's ok, I found myself whispering to her (out loud): I won't let this happen to you. But can I really protect Annie from the world outside, a world in which New York City toddlers are being raised by parents willing to spend $90 a session to prep their children for tests used to determine admission to KINDERGARTEN? When my highly-educated counterparts are willing to go this far to secure early education that's a 'step up in caliber,' what kind of mama am I if I resist? Am I giving up the ability to have educational choices which could improve the lives of my little boy and my girl-to-be? Thankfully...

CALIFORNIA: December vote on Race to the Top bills FLORIDA: State may ask for a quarter of $4 billion RttT pot of funds IDAHO: Governor Otter praises RttT plans MASSACHUSETTS: Lawmakers stiff Governor on RttT bills MISSOURI: State may focus on RttT, Round 2

ALABAMA: Gov. Riley to push for charter schools MARYLAND: Gov. O'Malley says state is working on RttT MASSACHUSETTS: State senate passes 'sweeping' ed changes , Gov. Patrick challenges House to do its part NEVADA: Gov. Gibbons wants law change to compete for RttT

As I survey the many pressing issues facing US education in general and mathematics education in particular, one that never goes away is tracking (or "streaming" or whatever euphemism is being served up by its advocates these days). To me, it is anathema. Not that I see no reasons to mix things up within classrooms frequently so that there are occasionally homogeneous as well as heterogeneous groupings along various constructs, including ability, gender, ethnicity, and others). But I will never tolerate or support segregating kids all or most of the time along such lines. And therein lies an endless debate. What is disturbing is how easily people lose sight of the deeper implications of tracking, in no small part because they have long ago lost sight of the role public education plays in forming a healthy democratic society. Without wanting to go off-track into the many social and political forces that keep that notion of school far from public consciousness and conversation,...