Mind Rocket Media Group 
01/23/2017| Palo Alto., CA | The Virgin Islands Daily News
Math education needs to start early
John Green | The Virgin Islands Daily News | Twitter
Educators and parents alike are alarmed over the persistent gaps between 15-year-olds in the United States and their international peers on science and math outcomes.
According to the latest results of the Programme for International Student Assessment, or PISA, released on Dec. 6, American adolescents rank a paltry 31st out of the 35 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries in math, and math scores have significantly declined since the last PISA in 2012.
To combat this trend, forces have mobilized around STEM education — stressing the experiences needed to build a foundation for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Fostering strong STEM education will safeguard our place in the world and ensure our children a place in tomorrow’s workforce.
To read more visit The Virgin Islands Daily News
Preschool Linked to Success on Global Math Test
Sarah D. Sparks | Education Week | Twitter
The latest results of the Program for International Student Assessment give tantalizing hints of the connections between students’ early-childhood education and their later math scores.
A new international test may provide more insights into what those connections mean for policy, but experts warn that it remains hard to tell what the United States can learn from other countries’ approaches to preschool.
To read more visit Education Week
01/23/2017 | New York, NY | EdTech Magazine
Utilizing Learning Analytics Can Help Inform K-12 Decisions
Elizabeth Combs | EdTech Magazine | Twitter
No one appreciates the value of research more than educators. Learning analytics offers a powerful tool to point teachers and district leaders on the front lines of education to new areas of opportunity. Yet, too little of the massive amounts of education data and research conducted over the years informs practical changes and actions within school districts.
Educators simply lack the time to use research and data to the full advantage of administrators, teachers and students. Whether it’s locating appropriate research; extricating valuable data points specific to an educator’s needs; determining what the research means to a given district; or putting an action plan in place, education professionals shouldn’t be expected to do it all alone.
To read more visit EdTech Magazine
01/23/2017 | Nigeria | The Huffington Post
Billionaire To Sponsor Education of 21 Girls Freed From Boko Haram
Taryn Finley | The Huffington Post | Twitter
Nearly two dozen Chibok, Nigeria schoolgirls who were released from Boko Haram’s captivity will have the opportunity to get an education courtesy of black American billionaire Robert Smith.
Smith, who founded a private equity firm, is offering scholarships to 24 Nigerian girls, 21 of which were abducted by the terrorist group two years ago.
According to Nigerian publication Leadership, senior assistant to the president on media and publicity Mallam Garba Shehu said that the girls, who are being treated as adopted children of the federal government, will be admitted through negotiation at the American University of Nigeria, Yola, a top school in the country. Shehu added that Smith “is offering to take responsibility for all the others who will hopefully be eventually set free.”
To read more visit The Huffington Post
- Futurity – High school isn’t too late to get teens into STEM
- Tech Times – Educational Psychology: Math Can Be Fun, Too!
- The Wall Street Journal – U.S. Teenagers Lose Ground in International Math Exam, Raising Competitiveness Concerns
EdCircuit Staff