When schools start before 9 am, “owls” get lower grades than “larks,” concludes a new paper in Scientific Reports, writes Helge Hasselmann for Research Digests. Researchers, led by Giulia Zerbini at University of Groningen, assessed the sleep habits of students at Dutch secondary schools to determine their “chronotypes.” Those with late chronotypes — owls — earned significantly lower grades in science (except for physics) and… Read more →
The much-admired German apprenticeship system “relies on a very stratified education system along with regulated and heavily unionized labor markets,” writes Eric Hanushek in Education Next. Furthermore, it produces narrowly trained workers who aren’t prepared for changing work demands. Half of all German youth participate in their vocational and apprenticeship system, which itself builds upon school tracking that occurs in the 4th grade. The… Read more →
Is this the end of the valedictorian? asks AP’s Carolyn Thompson. Fewer high schools are naming a valedictorian: Some have dozens of honorees on graduation day, while others have stopped using grades to rank students. Reporting class rankings is going out of fashion too. About half of schools no longer report class rank, according to the National Association of Secondary… Read more →
Schools are cheating their students by offering “dual-credit lite,” charges Kevin Teasley, founder of the Greater Educational Opportunities Foundation in Indianapolis, on Flypaper. Offering dual-credit (aka dual-enrollment) classes on the high school campus gives students no experience of learning on a college campus with college-age students, he writes. Often, “dual” instructors are high school teachers, not college instructors. Students who take… Read more →