NSTA WebNews Digest

Top Stories

Nominate NSTA's Future Leaders, Award Winners

9/3/2010 - NSTA Reports—Lynn Petrinjak
The school year may have just started, but it is already nomination season.

U.S. Asks Educators to Reinvent Student Tests, and How They Are Given

9/3/2010 - New York Times
Over the next four years, 44 states will get $330 million to work with hundreds of university professors and testing experts to design a series of new assessments that will be computer-based and will measure higher-order skills ignored by the multiple-choice exams used in nearly every state, including students' ability to read complex texts, synthesize information, and do research projects.

First Steps Toward New Science Standards

9/2/2010 - NSTA Reports—Francis Eberle, NSTA Executive Director
In July, the National Research Council's Board on Science Education took the first step to develop the next generation of science standards by releasing a draft conceptual framework for public input.

Method to Grade Teachers Provokes Battles

9/1/2010 - New York Times
The use of "value-added" modeling is exploding nationwide, and though it is often used to help educators improve their classroom teaching, it has also been a factor in deciding who receives bonuses, how much they are, and even who gets fired.

Science of the Spill

9/1/2010 - NSTA Reports—Jean May-Brett
Louisiana Science Teachers Association State Coordinator for Louisiana's Science Matters Network discusses Gulf oil spill resources.

Fossil Hunters in Romania Find a 2-Clawed Relative of Velociraptor

8/30/2010 - New York Times
Romanian scientists and other experts said that Balaur ("stocky dragon") is the first reasonably complete skeleton of a predatory dinosaur from Europe at that time. The discovery may provide insights into the development of dinosaurs and other animals in a long-ago European ecosystem much different from that of today.

First Genetic Link to Common Migraine Exposed

8/29/2010 - ScienceDaily
A worldwide collaboration of researchers has identified the first-ever genetic risk factor associated with common types of migraine. The researchers, who looked at the genetic data of more than 50,000 people, have produced new insights into the triggers for migraines attacks and they hope their research will open the door for novel therapeutics to prevent migraine attacks.

Are Qualified Teachers Always Effective Teachers?

8/27/2010 - eSchool News
Amid a growing consensus that "highly qualified" doesn't necessarily mean "highly effective," a movement is under way to reshape how the nation views successful teaching.

Shrinking Atmospheric Layer Linked to Low Levels of Solar Radiation

8/27/2010 - National Science Foundation
Large changes in the Sun’s energy output may drive fluctuations in Earth’s outer atmosphere.

Senate Report Hints at a Definition for What Works

8/27/2010 - Education Week
Language buried in a report on a Senate appropriations bill may provide a glimpse of the bar Congress will set for judging the effectiveness of school improvement interventions in the next iteration of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Digital Services Expand Science, Current Event Content

8/27/2010 - THE Journal
Discovery Education has inked agreements to add a variety of new content to its Science for Elementary and Discovery Education streaming digital content services, including a popular animated science series for young children.

Scientists Crack Through Wheat’s Genetic Code

8/27/2010 - Reuters
Scientists have cracked and published almost all of the highly complex genetic code of wheat—a staple food for more than a third of the world’s people—and say breeders can now use their findings to improve yields.

STEM Education to Get Boost from Race to Top Winners

8/26/2010 - Education Week: Curriculum Matters
Most winning states in the federal Race to the Top competition place strong emphasis on STEM education. Virtually all included substantive plans to advance their work in improving education in the STEM fields—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Space-Based Detector Could Find Anti-Universe

8/26/2010 - Reuters
A huge particle detector to be mounted on the International Space Station next year could find evidence for the anti-universe often evoked in science fiction, physicists said on Wednesday.

ARRA Funds Bolster Broadband Access and Improve Connectivity among Institutions to Strengthen Scientific Collaborations

8/26/2010 - National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation has awarded $20 million to universities in 17 states to improve inter- and intra-campus cyber connectivity.

USDA Grants Help Plant Seeds of Good Nutrition with School Gardens

8/26/2010 - USA Today
After Michelle Obama planted one at the White House, more schools are adding gardens to teach kids about growing food and eating right.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan Wants Schools to Give Parents, Teachers More Data

8/26/2010 - The Washington Post (requires free registration)
Education Secretary Arne Duncan, stoking a national debate over a Los Angeles Times series that examines how much individual teachers have raised test scores, urged public schools Wednesday to give educators more data on student achievement and parents a full report on teacher effectiveness.

Free Science Library Goes Mobile

8/25/2010 - THE Journal
Nature Education—a unit of Nature Publishing Group, which puts out Scientific American and the journal Nature—has released a new mobile version of Scitable, a free learning tool for high school and post-secondary science.

How to Tailor Your School Site for Mobile Web Users

8/25/2010 - eSchool News
With smart-phone use exploding in the U.S., it’s only a matter of time before having a mobile web site becomes a necessary component of school communications.

Region’s Schools Turn Storm’s Havoc into Transformation

8/25/2010 - Education Week
The national economic crisis and the massive BP oil leak have stalled the recovery in some districts, but a steady pace of renewal continues in others

With Corporate Backing, Stem Cells Go From Irvine Campus to First Human Therapy Test

8/25/2010 - The Chronicle of Higher Education
In the kind of partnership that may become more common, the Geron Corporation financed the development of the cells in a lab at the University of California at Irvine.

Updated: Race to Top Round 2: Announcing the Winners

8/24/2010 - Education Week
UPDATE: New York is a winner. More announcements to come. The winners of the federal Race to the Top competition are trickling out, as members of Congress learn of the awards. The Obama administration is expected to release the full list later today.

Solar System Older than Estimated

8/24/2010 - ScienceNews
The solar system may be almost 2 million years older than previously thought, a new study shows.

STEM ‘Critically Important’ to Education

8/24/2010 - The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead
Providing students with quality science, technology, engineering, and math education is “critically important” to the long-term future of North Dakota, the president of Valley City State University said Monday.

Bug with Bifocals Baffles Biologists

8/24/2010 - ScienceDaily
University of Cincinnati researchers are reporting on the discovery of a bug with bifocals—such an amazing finding that it initially had the researchers questioning whether they could believe their own eyes.

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