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by Josh ZumbrunMuch has been written about millennials–the nickname for the generation of young people born in the 1980s and 1990s–and the rough time they’ve had in the economy. But now that the generation is getting older, and  the oldest millennials are in their mid-30s by some definitions, an increasing number are parents themselves.A new report from Konrad Mugglestone, a policy analyst at Young Invincibles, a Washington-based group that represents the interests of young Americans, has dived into the data on millennial parents (defined in this report as those ages 18 to 34).Read the rest of the story on the Wall Street Journal site.

by Rebecca WinthropBrookings InstitutionWhen it comes to education the differences between the developed and developing worlds remain stark.There has been a convergence in the number of pupils enrolling in primary school, with many more young children in developing countries now having access to school.But when it comes to average levels of attainment – how much children have learnt and how long they have spent in school – there remains a massive gap.Read the rest of the story at BBC News.

A ll schools in and around Niger’s capital, Niamey, have been shut until Monday because of a meningitis outbreak that has killed 85 people this year.

When I was growing up in Minnesota in the 1960s, “after school activities” for me meant walking out my family’s back door to play with the other kids who lived on my street. In the summer, we played kickball or we explored the nearby woods; in the winter, we built snowmen or stayed inside to play board games. My mom and the other neighborhood moms never had to worry about organizing activities for us; they just had to call us for dinner in a couple hours.

by Kate Taylor and Motoko Rich

by David Cyranoski, Natasha Gilbert, Heidi Ledford, Anjali Nayar & Mohammed YahiaThe world is producing more PhDs than ever before. Is it time to stop?Scientists who attain a PhD are rightly proud — they have gained entry to an academic elite. But it is not as elite as it once was. The number of science doctorates earned each year grew by nearly 40% between 1998 and 2008, to some 34,000, in countries that are members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The growth shows no sign of slowing: most countries are building up their higher-education systems because they see educated workers as a key to economic growth (see ‘The rise of doctorates’). But in much of the world, science PhD graduates may never get a chance to take full advantage of their qualifications.In some countries, including the United States and Japan, people who have trained at great length and expense to be researchers confront a dwindling number of academic jobs, and an industrial sector unable to take up the slack. Supply has outstripped demand and, although few PhD holders end up unemployed, it is not clear that spending years securing this high-level qualification is worth it for a job as, for example, a high-school teacher. In other countries, such as China and India, the economies are developing fast enough to use all the PhDs they can crank out, and more — but the quality of the graduates is not consistent. Only a few nations, including Germany, are successfully tackling the problem by redefining the PhD as training for high-level positions in careers outside academia. Here, Nature examines graduate-education systems in various states of health.Read the rest of the story on Nature.

by Jillian GordonAs the flowers start to bloom and it begins to look a little greener outside, many teachers are feeling the weight of winter stress lifting off of them. But the opposite is happening to high school seniors across the country who are in the midst of making a tough decision: where, and if, they should go to college.I teach agricultural science, an elective course at my school. I am lucky that the students in my room walk in each day because they made the choice to be there, and for the most part, this allows me to connect with these students in a way that is more difficult in the core class environment. I get to know them, their families and their siblings. Because of this connection, it is really important for me to talk to my students about their plans for after graduation.Read the rest of the story at PBS Newshour.

Mahopac is leading the pack, with a 50% opt-out rate

by Catherine LuceyDES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Eight years after Mike Huckabee tapped the support of evangelical homeschooling families as part of his winning coalition in the 2008 Iowa Republican caucuses, a lineup of GOP hopefuls is seeking to duplicate that effort.Five Republican 2016 prospects courted homeschool families in Des Moines on Thursday at an annual gathering sponsored by a statewide group called the Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators. While the number of homeschoolers in the state may be relatively small, they are viewed as a well-organized subset of the evangelical population that participates in the political process.”Some of the most coveted activists in the Iowa caucuses are homeschool parents,” said conservative radio show host Steve Deace, himself a homeschool parent who appeared at Thursday’s event. Read the rest of the story in The Huffington Post.