Yahoo! News: Education News

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• Former Panamanian economy minister arrested in corruption probe
• Moroccan king to replace four ministers: statement
• Albanian PM postpones visit to Macedonia over deadly shooting
• Arkansas couple died trying to shield daughter from twister
• Threat prompts lockdown of Bridgeton public schools
• How Not to Be a High School Helicopter Parent
• AP, IB Diploma Programs Offer High Schoolers a Challenge
• Why Schools Moved Higher or Lower in the Best High Schools Rankings
• Washington state schools seek waiver from U.S. test-result penalties

Former Panamanian economy minister arrested in corruption probe Posted: 12 May 2015 03:45 PM PDT A former Panamanian finance minister has been placed under arrest as part of a probe into alleged corruption under former president Ricardo Martinelli, his lawyers said Tuesday. Panamanian prosecutors are investigating allegations that as much as $1.7 million were skimmed from grain purchases made by a government food assistance program, known as PAN by its Spanish acronym. Martinelli, who was president from 2009 to 2014, also is under investigation by Panama's Supreme Court in connection with alleged overbilling in a separate $45 million PAN contract for dehydrated foods distributed to public schools. As economy and finance minister, De Lima made budget allocations that funded the program, but Rey said his client was not responsible for awarding PAN contracts.

Moroccan king to replace four ministers: statement Posted: 12 May 2015 01:36 PM PDT Morocco's king will replace four government ministers and has asked the country's prime minister for candidates for the posts, the royal cabinet said in statement carried by the state news agency MAP on Tuesday. In 2013, King Mohammed named 19 new ministers after Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane reached a deal to form a new coalition. Three of the ministers to be replaced - those in charge of parliament relations, higher education and for vocational training - had resigned, the statement said. The sports minister Mohamed Ouzzine was sacked last January after heavy rain flooded a soccer stadium and disrupted a Club World Cup quarter final.

Albanian PM postpones visit to Macedonia over deadly shooting Posted: 12 May 2015 11:20 AM PDT Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama postponed a visit to Macedonia due this week after deadly violence pitted ethnic Albanian rebels against Macedonian police, a ministry spokesman said Tuesday. Rama was supposed to travel to Macedonia on Thursday to receive an honorary degree from the University of Tetovo, a western town mainly populated by ethnic Albanians. "The prime minister's visit has been postponed indefinitely," Glevi Dervishi, a spokesman of the Albanian foreign ministry, told AFP Tuesday. Albania condemned the weekend clash between Macedonian troops and the ethnic Albanian rebels in the northern town of Kumanovo.

Arkansas couple died trying to shield daughter from twister Posted: 12 May 2015 09:31 AM PDT LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Melissa and Michael Mooneyhan met as high school students and quickly fell in love. The two were married in 2004, even before they graduated.

Threat prompts lockdown of Bridgeton public schools Posted: 12 May 2015 09:11 AM PDT A lockdown is in effect for all Bridgeton, New Jersey public schools right now because of a threat made earlier this morning.

How Not to Be a High School Helicopter Parent Posted: 12 May 2015 06:00 AM PDT The change from middle school to high school, while daunting to students, can be equally anxiety-inducing for parents. Helicopter parents have become "a colossal issue in the United States today," says Mark Reford, vice chair of BASIS Independent Schools, which runs private schools in California and New York. Adults who prefer to keep a little more distance than helicopter parents -- to act more like airplane or satellite parents, to extend the metaphor -- can easily help their children without going too far.

AP, IB Diploma Programs Offer High Schoolers a Challenge Posted: 12 May 2015 05:30 AM PDT Some may want to try to complete a comprehensive diploma program, such as the International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement diploma programs. The IB program has been around for decades, but its AP Capstone counterpart launched just last fall. "They are both rigorous academic programs that offer a very strong curriculum and foster independent thinking and research," says Montserrat Paradelo, instructional supervisor for advanced academic programs for Miami-Dade County Public Schools in Florida, which has schools that offer each program. Additionally, students complete a philosophical course on knowledge, a required, independently created research paper and an extracurricular component.

Why Schools Moved Higher or Lower in the Best High Schools Rankings Posted: 12 May 2015 05:00 AM PDT There are several possible reasons public schools' ranks changed in the 2015 edition. 1. Changes in relative performance on state tests: Some schools that were ranked in the 2014 Best High Schools rankings fell out of the 2015 rankings completely because they were no longer among the best-performing schools on their statewide tests -- meaning that their overall student performance on state tests during the 2012-2013 academic year did not exceed statistical expectations (Step 1 of the rankings methodology) or the performance of their least advantaged students was not as good as the state average (Step 2 of the methodology). If they did not pass both of these steps of the methodology, schools were not eligible for the national competition for a gold, silver or bronze medal and don't appear at all in the rankings. In total, 3,375, or 72 percent, of the high schools that were awarded a gold, silver or bronze medal in the 2014 Best High Schools rankings returned to the 2015 rankings as gold, silver or bronze medal winners.

Washington state schools seek waiver from U.S. test-result penalties Posted: 11 May 2015 05:17 PM PDT Washington state, which already lost an exemption from some requirements of U.S. education law, is asking not to be penalized for lower test scores this year as districts switch to a standardized exam tethered to tougher standards, an official said on Monday. "The test is more rigorous than previous tests we've had," said Nathan Olson, a spokesman for state Superintendent Randy Dorn. "We shouldn't have to continue with penalties during this transition period." Washington state public schools are required to give the tests to meet federal education requirements under No Child Left Behind, a law signed in 2002 requiring annual standardized tests in American schools. If Dorn's March 31 accountability waiver request is granted, the state would still report its test results from the 2014-2015 school year but be free from the federal law's increasingly punitive sanction scheme if students fail to meet yearly performance targets, Olson said.

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