March 19, 1997 - State education officials say the state's eighth-grade students did slightly better in the second year of the basic skills reading test...but test scores stayed the same in math. Nearly a third of the students who took the tests for the first time last year failed. The Department of Children Families and Learning released the latest test scores today, and like last year they show nearly a third of the students are not meeting the minimum standards. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports... The basic skills tests are the first phase of the state's new minimum high school graduation standards. The tests help determine if students are on track for graduation. This is the second year students have taken th
March 19, 1997 - State education officials say the state's eighth-grade students did slightly better in the second year of the basic skills reading test...but test scores stayed the same in math. Nearly a third of the students who took the tests for the first time last year failed. The Department of Children Families and Learning released the latest test scores this morning. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports... The basic skills tests represent part of the state's first effort to impose minimum high school graduation standards. The tests help determine if students are on track for graduation. This is the second year students h
March 19, 1997 - Mainstreet Radio’s Catherine Winter looks at Challenge Incarceration Program, a Minnesota juvenile boot camp in Willow River. Supporters say strict discipline and hard work will knock some sense into criminals. But research seems to indicate that boot camps don’t work, don’t save money, and they don’t rehabilitate criminals.
March 20, 1997 - Minnesota eighth graders' mediocre performance on the state-wide math and reading tests caught people's attention at the state capitol yesterday (Wed). Lawmakers expressed disappointment in the scores, but they're already hard at work writing laws to require MORE state-wide standardized tests. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports: --------------------------------------------------------- | D-CART ITEM: 2594 | TIME: 2:41 | OUTCUE: "...soc --------------------------------------------------------- The news media's side-by-side comparisons of school districts based on their performance on the grad rule tests is making some people at the state capitol squirm. It was the Legislature that originally mandated the state-wide tests... but now some DFLers wonder whether they've delivered ammunition to Governor Carlson for his attacks on teachers unions and the job they've don
March 21, 1997 - Midday discusses the results of the basic skills tests given to Minnesota eighth-graders. Guests Mike Tillmann, who coordinates graduation standards for the Minnesota Department of Children, Families and Learning; and State Representative Becky Kelso, chair of the K-12 Education Finance Division, give their perspectives on the test numbers and answer listener call-in questions.
March 21, 1997 - School district officials from throughout the nation will be in Minneapolis next week to recruit Minnesota college students for teaching jobs. Students attending the Minnesota Education Career Fair will find they are much in demand. U-S Secretary of Education Richard Riley recently warned of a nationwide shortage of teachers. Minnesota has traditionally had a surplus of teachers, but some teaching skills are in especially high demand. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports... Saint Paul needs teachers...a lot of them. The district, which has a record number of vacancies this spring, has hired about 300 teachers each of the past four years to keep pace with rising enrollment and normal teacher
March 21, 1997 - The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board this week authorized the state's technical colleges to cut nearly 200 programs and lay off about 90 faculty members this fall. But, MnSCU officials say it's not as bleak as it seems. The board was required to approve tentative layoffs and potential cuts that may not happen. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports.
March 24, 1997 - Several recent racially-motivated attacks against Somali immigrants in Rochester have shaken the city's image as one of the best places to live in America. Citizens have responded by signing pledges of non-violence and businesses have donated thousands of dollars to a fund to help police catch the attackers. Much of the racial tension in Rochester shows up in the community's young people. Minnesota Public Radio's Brent Wolfe prepared this report on why racism is surfacing among teenagers and what the schools are doing about it.
March 24, 1997 - **SCHOEDULED WEEKEND 3/15-16 and ATC 3/17-18** School reform continues to receive a lot of attention... and CHARTER schools have become part of the school reform equation. These unique public schools are free of many of the state regulations and mandates allowing teachers and students to experiment. Commentator Ann Daly Goodwin says charter schools are one of the better routes to school reform. Commentator Ann Daly Goodwin taught in the public schools for 16 years. She now lives, and writes in northern Wisconsin. Sun 28-MAY 20:27:35 MPR NewsPro Archive - Wed 04/11/2001
March 24, 1997 - DFL-ers in the Minnesota legislature have released their spending priorities for the biennium. It's the blueprint members of the DFL caucus will work from as they try to move ahead this session with decisions on how to fund legislation. But As Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe reports...the difference between THEIR plan and what the GOVERNOR wants to spend is about 350-million dollars...and it sets the scene for what could be a showdown in the remaining weeks of the session: The DEMOCRATS want to spend MORE. More on just about everything than what the Governor outlined in HIS 20-point-three billion dollar budget for the biennium. Two MAJOR differences are, the Democrats want to