Yahoo! News: Education News

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• But Only White People Care About the Environment, Right?
• U.S. top court upholds Michigan ban on college affirmative action
• Atheists' new plan of attack against Pledge of Allegiance: state courts
• 'Main Line' drug ring in Pennsylvania nets two prep school grads
• Students Design Radiation Shield for NASA's Orion Spacecraft
• Volunteers find scenes of hope, despair at S. Korea ferry site
• Learn How High School Classes Can Offer College Benefits
• Ask 4 Questions to Choose Your Child's High School
• Liberal Arts Colleges With Low Student-Faculty Ratios
• Demographic Breakdown of the 2014 Best High Schools
• Frequently Asked Questions: 2014 Best High Schools Rankings
• 2014 Best High Schools Rankings: Information for High School Officials

But Only White People Care About the Environment, Right? Posted: 22 Apr 2014 03:56 PM PDT The narrator forecasts that climate change will significantly limit the choices they are presented with to create that life they might imagine. The colorful cast is computer animated and expressive—moving to the precisely timed narration of a live educator who might be white—not like the cartoony, absence of color type of white, but Caucasian, (or black, or Asian) and tasked with captivating the interest of thousands of students packed into an auditorium for a school assembly on the "environment." Over 1.7 million high students around the country have seen the Alliance for Climate Education's (ACE) award-winning climate science assembly. The ACE Assembly is a riveting recount of what science knows to be true about climate change, taken directly from reports by IPCC, NOAA, and NASA and refashioned to appeal to high school students.

U.S. top court upholds Michigan ban on college affirmative action Posted: 22 Apr 2014 03:15 PM PDT By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday further undermined the use of racial preferences in higher education by upholding a voter-approved Michigan law that banned the practice in decisions on which students to admit to state universities. The 6-2 vote and the four opinions issued by justices in the majority revealed divisions on the court as to the legal rationale in rejecting civil rights groups' challenge to the ban. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who wrote the sole dissenting opinion, read excerpts from the bench, calling the decision a blow to "historically marginalized groups, which rely on the federal courts to protect their constitutional rights." The court emphasized that it was not deciding the larger and divisive question of whether affirmative action admission policies can be lawful. But the decision made it clear that voter-approved affirmative action bans can withstand legal challenges.

Atheists' new plan of attack against Pledge of Allegiance: state courts Posted: 22 Apr 2014 03:02 PM PDT For the second time in a year, American atheists and humanists are asking a state court to remove the phrase "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance, saying daily requirements to recite the phrase in public schools discriminates against atheist children. Last month, a nonbelieving New Jersey family sued its local school district in state court, claiming the daily classroom exercise violates the equal protection guarantees of the New Jersey constitution, the American Humanist Association announced on Monday. Last fall, the Massachusetts Supreme Court heard similar arguments from the humanist association, which represents another nonbelieving family that claims laws requiring their children to recite "under God" discriminate against their beliefs. This new focus on state laws and state constitutions represents a change in tactics for American atheists, who have traditionally sued in federal courts, mostly arguing that the First Amendment of the US Constitution forbids religious expressions in civic spaces.

'Main Line' drug ring in Pennsylvania nets two prep school grads Posted: 22 Apr 2014 10:23 AM PDT (Reuters) - Two graduates of an exclusive Pennsylvania prep school were charged with operating an extensive drug ring that dealt cocaine and marijuana to students at high schools and colleges in an affluent part of Philadelphia, authorities said on Tuesday. Neil Scott, 25, and Timothy Brooks, 18, led the effort to create a "monopoly" on drug sales in the area and used high school students to deal drugs at their local schools, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said. "While parents sought to provide education to their kids, these defendants sought to use the schools to create drug addicts," Ferman said in a statement announcing their arrests. Scott and Brooks were former lacrosse players and graduates of The Haverford School, an all-boys prep school near Philadelphia that charges $35,000 per year in tuition, prosecutors said.

Students Design Radiation Shield for NASA's Orion Spacecraft Posted: 22 Apr 2014 08:23 AM PDT NASA is developing a new spacecraft to take mankind to deep space, and high-school students will have an important role in designing it.

Volunteers find scenes of hope, despair at S. Korea ferry site Posted: 22 Apr 2014 07:44 AM PDT Hundreds of bereaved parents, relatives, and friends mingle with volunteers here in a display of agony and heartbreak, shame and disbelief, over the sinking of a ferry on a holiday cruise packed with high school students on a school excursion.  An atmosphere of stoicism and quiet calm pervades the floor of the spacious gymnasium in this pleasant seaside community as fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, talk in low strained murmurs, lying on mats, wrapped in blankets, a week after the ferry, the Sewol, sank 12 miles south amid rocky islets visible to the horizon.  As investigators look for why and how the ship went down, volunteers have come from across Korea to hand out food and drink, fresh clothing, and toiletries. "When this happened, I realized I was neglecting my country," says Youn Ji-na, a young woman who came from Seoul, 200 miles to the north. "This tragedy is the result of people not thinking about the country, about other people."

Learn How High School Classes Can Offer College Benefits Posted: 22 Apr 2014 06:30 AM PDT High school and college are undoubtedly different worlds academically. However, high school students shouldn't totally rule out the relevance their current course work could have in college. Upon reflection, some college students found that some of their toughest high school classes and assignments were exactly what shaped them to be the hardworking university students they are today. Rather than simply viewing high school classes and projects as something to get through until graduation arrives, students should instead recognize the benefits to be gained from these opportunities.

Ask 4 Questions to Choose Your Child's High School Posted: 22 Apr 2014 06:00 AM PDT The number of Advanced Placement or dual-credit courses offered speaks to how much is expected of students and whether the school will challenge their teen. Graduation rates and college placement statistics reveal how successful a school is at seeing students through to the next level. The right culture was top of mind when Jacquie Whitt and her husband selected a school for their two children. Gauging the culture of a school is as important as assessing its academic quality, says Mark Reford, CEO of BASIS Independent Schools, private schools managed by BASIS.ed, which also runs top-rated charter high schools in several states, including BASIS Tucson North and BASIS Scottsdale in Arizona.

Liberal Arts Colleges With Low Student-Faculty Ratios Posted: 22 Apr 2014 05:45 AM PDT The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College and The Short List: Grad School to find data that matters to you in your college or grad school search.

Demographic Breakdown of the 2014 Best High Schools Posted: 21 Apr 2014 06:45 PM PDT U.S. News evaluated 31,242 public schools in 50 states and the District of Columbia for the 2014 Best High Schools rankings, with 19,411 schools eligible to be ranked. Below, we have also conducted a detailed demographic breakdown of the 4,707 medal winners.

Frequently Asked Questions: 2014 Best High Schools Rankings Posted: 21 Apr 2014 06:44 PM PDT The Best High Schools project identifies the country's top-performing public high schools. The goal is to provide a clear, unbiased picture of how well public schools serve all of their students -- from the highest achieving to the lowest achieving -- in preparing them to demonstrate proficiency in basic skills as well as readiness for college-level work. The first list of the U.S. News Best High Schools was posted online on Nov. 30, 2007. The current 2014 edition of Best High Schools was published online on April 22, 2014.

2014 Best High Schools Rankings: Information for High School Officials Posted: 21 Apr 2014 06:42 PM PDT The basic 2011-2012 academic year data on high school and school district names, enrollment, ethnicity, magnet or charter school status and other profile information came directly from the Common Core of Data on the U.S. Department of Education's website. College Board was the source of the Advanced Placement test data for each public high school, when applicable, which were used to create calculated values used in the rankings. International Baccalaureate was the source of the International Baccalaureate test data for each public high school, when applicable, which were used to create calculated values used in the rankings. Each high school's statewide accountability test results were collected directly from official sources in that state.

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