http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-894860.mp3
Albany, NY – "A BLUEPRINT FOR REFORM: THE REAUTHORIZATION OF THE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT"
Part Two: Low Performing Schools, Standards, The Carrot and Stick Approach, Passage Outlook -
The Obama administration's blueprint to overhaul the existing No Child Left Behind law is published and collecting reaction.
U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, told us last week that he believes renewing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act will correct constant complaints about the current law that NCLB is inflexible and doesn't set a high enough bar for academic achievement.
Secretary Duncan also answered our questions about criticism his Blueprint for Reform is getting from national teachers' unions due to its heavy focus on teacher and principal effectiveness. If you missed that program, it's TBOOK Show # 1022, online here at this hyperlink: http://www.wamc.org/prog-tbook.html
This week, Secretary Duncan is joined on TBOOK by Carmel Martin, the Assistant Secretary for Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development.
We discuss: low performing schools; the carrot and stick approach to incentives for school systems; getting students ready for college and careers; and chances of getting the Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorized by Congress this year.
Glenn Busby reports. (9:54)
**(Attention Listeners. To read more about The Blueprint for Reform, go to the Dept. of Ed's website at: www.ed.gov.)**
ASTROBIOLOGY RESEARCH AND EDUCATION SERIES
"EARTH'S SUPER CYCLES VIEWED FROM OCEAN CHEMISTRY"
Part One: Climate Change, Smoking Gun -
NASA and NOAA - the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - just marked the 50th anniversary of the world's first weather satellite.
NASA administrator, Charles Bolden said, "It laid the foundation for our current global view of Earth that underlies climate research and the field of Earth system science."
The history of climate change is unfolding, in part, due to the research of Dr. Troy Rasbury. Her seminar topic on our show is: "Earth's Super Cycles Viewed From Ocean Chemistry."
Scientists are working to understand the relationships of seawater chemistry through time - to climate and tectonics. Dr. Rasbury is specifically questioning the paradigm that silicate weathering of the continents is the primary control on atmospheric CO2 concentrations.
TBOOK opens the conversation with Dr. Troy Rasbury, Associate Professor, Department of Geosciences, University of Stony Brook, State University of New York.
Glenn Busby reports. (9:12)
The preceding is made possible by the NASA Astrobiology Institute, through support of the New York Center for Astrobiology, located at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - in partnership with the University at Albany, the University of Arizona, and Syracuse University.
**(For additional information about this story, or any of the other more than 150 stories featured in this current exclusive Astrobiology series, and past Origins of Life radio series, or if you would like to hear them again via your computer, the website given at the conclusion of the above segment is: www.origins.rpi.edu )**