http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-626607.mp3
Albany, NY – SMALL SCHOOLS, Pt. 2 of 2 -
Just last month, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation invested
7.4 million dollars to strengthen the work of the Ohio High School
Transformation Initiative. The initiative is a statewide effort focused
on providing a high-quality high school education for students in some
of Ohio's most underserved communities. This new three year funding
builds on earlier grants which helped transform large urban high schools
into academically rigorous small schools.
Last week, we reported on three Cleveland high schools that are
abandoning their three-year experiment with small schools. This fall,
those schools will return to being large, comprehensive high schools.
Teachers complained that dividing up into small schools in the same
building was more trouble than it was worth.
But this week, we hear about another school that is having better luck
with its conversion to small schools.
Dan Bobkoff reports from Ohio. (3:17)
SCHOOL CHOICE COMPLICATES LAND USE CHOICE -
Parents everywhere of course want to send their children to the best
schools possible. But those schools are not always conveniently
located close to home. Lawmakers in a majority of U.S. states believe
school choice is one answer. But as we hear in this report from
Michigan, an unintended consequence of school choice can be
poor choices for land use.
GLRC's Corbin Sullivan reports from Michigan. (4:06)
VIRGINIA TECH UPDATE AND FRESHMEN DEPRESSION -
It's difficult to believe, but it's already been nearly six months since
a lone gunman killed 32 students and faculty on the Virginia Tech
campus. That massacre last April serves as a grim reminder to
parents, students and those in higher education of what could
happen on almost any college campus.
Just as the new fall term began, a Virginia Tech review committee
presented its report. Findings focused on three critical areas: how
the university's students counseling system can better track troubled
students; how officials can better alert and secure students; and how
to improve emergency communications during incidents.
A week later, a Virginia state panel convened by Governor, Tim Kaine,
issued its own report. The report criticizes the university's slow response
in notifying students of the earlier two killings. Governor Kaine says the
report gives higher education a blueprint for changes that need to be
made on college campuses everywhere.
Right now, hundreds of thousands of new college freshmen are beginning
their first semester of studies away from home. And one in seven will face depression.
Rebekah Thompson reports from the University of Michigan. (2:47)
CUSTOMIZED COLLEGE TEXTBOOKS RUNNING UP COSTS -
As college students start this new term, not only do they have tuition
and room and board costs to consider, it's also time to buy new
textbooks. Like many other areas of higher education, the cost of
college textbooks continues to increase. They average student in the
United States pays around 850-dollars each year for books. And a
new trend in textbooks is generating even more concern. Customized
texts are making it tougher for students to buy and sell used ones.
Charles Compton reports from Kentucky. (6:10)