Ever wonder why school media specialists had to first be licensed to teach in an appropriate subject area? In Washington State, the matter is being put to the test. In the schools of Bellevue, secondary school librarians are being reassigned to classroom teaching and are being replaced with aides at the middle schools and high schools. (Source: LISNews.org)

Food for Thought: Building a High-Quality School Choice Market
Source: Education Sector

The neighborhoods of Southeast Washington, D.C., are among the poorest in the city. There, the grocery stores, banks, restaurants, and other institutions that suburbanites take for granted have long been in short supply. In recent years, however, government and nonprofit agencies have begun turning things for the better. A brand new, government-subsidized shopping center recently opened on Alabama Avenue, providing one of the few full-service grocery stores in the area, along with a new sit-down restaurant and mainstream bank branch.
But reformers are finding that such initiatives won’t fix decades of market dysfunction overnight. Not far from the new Super Giant grocery store and Wachovia Bank are older businesses that continue to draw a steady stream of customers—corner stores that sell little fresh food, fast-food outlets that serve meals low in nutritional value, and tax preparation firms and check-cashing outlets that charge high fees. Markets are complicated, and improving them requires more than just creating incentives for new providers to set up shop.

+ Full Report (PDF; 648 KB) (Source: Docuticker)

A civil servant admits urging Ken Boston, former head of the exams watchdog, to resign during England’s Sats marking fiasco.

A civil servant admits urging Ken Boston, former head of the exams watchdog, to resign during England’s Sats marking fiasco.

In cases of familial depression, changes in tissue thickness in key brain structures in the right half of the brain may increase a person’s risk for developing depression, according to NIMH-funded researchers. Similar changes in the left half of the brain were linked to the severity of a person’s existing depression or anxiety symptoms. Based on their findings, the researchers proposed a possible mechanism for how these brain changes affect depression risk in the April 14, 2009, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (Source: National Institute of Mental Health)

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Improving the health of developing nations requires increased commitment and collaboration by U.S. agencies, philanthropic groups, universities, and nongovernmental organizations, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. It details ways these groups can boost research and health care delivery in resource-limited countries and establish effective partnerships.

Secretary Arne Duncan testified on President Obama’s plan for education before the House Education and Labor Committee.