achievement gap

As the state prepares to move to computer-based standardized testing by 2015, the Lakota Local School District, Ohio’s seventh largest public school district, is about eight years behind when it comes to technology infrastructure, according to an independent consultant who recently evaluated the district’s technology.

Advancing school technology is causing a large divide, between those kids with a computer at home and those without.

Decades ago, a kid growing up in the metropolitan Detroit area could aspire to the kind of job his dad held working in an auto plant for pretty good money. It’s a lot more complicated nowadays. There aren’t as many manufacturing jobs, the money isn’t as good and what kind of job can women aspire to? A new report sponsored by Automation Alley holds out hope for all of our young people.

Expanding early education programs and redesigning high schools to prepare students for a high-tech economy were among the educational goals proposed by President Barack Obama in his State of the Union speech Tuesday night. The following are initial reactions from education associations to his address.

At Mooresville (N.C.) Graded School District, graduation rates and test scores are rising. Graduation rates are up 10 percent over four years ago, to 90 percent, and more graduates are attending college, the rate rising 8 percent to 88 percent in 2012. Digital programs are the reason.

The World Economic Forum’s latest Global Competitiveness Report, which assesses the economies of 144 countries and ranks them based on more than 100 indicators, had something to say about education. This is hardly surprising. The question, though, is whether the index – which relies heavily on business executive assessments for the ranking – really gets education right.

Four former Indianapolis Public Schools taken over by the state will now be under the control of Mayor Greg Ballard. During a Wednesday morning meeting, the State Board of Education unanimously approved Ballard’s request to give him authority over the four turnaround schools. The state took control of Arlington, Howe and Manual high schools and Donnan Middle School last summer after the schools consistently scored “F” grades on state report cards.

If you follow me on Forbes, you already know that I’m an advocate of gaming, pushing developers to harness interactive multimedia’s ability to positively impact children and adolescents in terms of intellectual and emotional development. Video games, I’ve argued, are the interactive mythology of a digital future.

The new formula results in $5,000 per pupil as the “core opportunity aid.”

Elaine Hall, founder of the Miracle Project, will speak about her unconventional approach to helping children with autism in a free lecture Wednesday at 4:15 p.m. at the League School of Greater Boston, 300 Boston Providence Turnpike.