How is it that online conversations so often lose any semblance of civility? As we’ve noted previously on this blog, some school representatives are declining to participate in online forums and blogs because of the hate-filled speech that often dominates.

Daniel Goleman explores the neuroscience behind the phenomenon in today’s New York Times. The lack of [...]

For some global perspective on children’s well being, you might want to look at UNICEF’s new report card. The United States and Britain rank last among 21 wealthy nations.

Among the bad news for Americans is “relative poverty” — the percentage of children whose families earn less than half the median income. Americans were dead [...]

The state committee that looks into the moral character of teachers has seen a rapid rise in sex offense cases since 2000.

A 2005 report posted on the state Education Department web site shows that the number of cases before its Professional Practices committee doubled over five years, and that 71 percent were sex-related incidents. Another [...]

As Scarsdale debates the pros and cons of Advanced Placement courses, I can’t help but think back to my uninspiring experience in AP English. My class was depressing for two reasons: (1) The teacher spent much of the class reading aloud from the Monarch Notes, and (2) She had us reading an awful lot about [...]

Today we bring you an exclusive play-by-play of last weekend’s Westchester Academic Challenge of Knowledge Organization tournament. This is a quiz-show-style competition for local students, better known by the acronym WACKO.

The tournaments are organized by White Plains High School math teacher Les Roby, who also coaches the home team. I sat in on a practice [...]

I wonder what life is like for a substitute teacher. Are they inspired by the novelty that each day brings? Or do they spend each day fending off flying objects and counting down the minutes?

If you’re a parent looking to learn more about the standardized tests your child is taking, one place to start is the new Grow Parent Website, which covers basic information about the English and math exams given to grades 3-8.

It’s a lot simpler to navigate than the jam-packed New York State Education Department site, [...]

I just stumbled upon the latest multimedia project from the Tarrytowns school district, and this one’s a doozy. It’s called Sleepy Hollow Hits, and if there’s any other school out there producing its very own newscasts for the Web, we’d sure like to know.

Go to www.sleepyhollowhits.com and click on News. You’ll see an update [...]

More girls than boys feel pressure to succeed in school, says the annual Teen Ethics Poll from the Junior Achievement and & Touche USA.

Half the girls in the survey said they felt either a lot of pressure or overwhelming pressure to succeed in school “at any cost.” About 38 percent of the boys felt [...]

Check out what Mrs. Conjura’s social studies class did for a class on early human civilization. Sixth graders at Washington Irving School in Tarrytown drew their own cave art, then interviewed each other for a series of “Vodcasts” – also known as video Podcasts. The Stone Age meets the Information Age.

Here’s a sample that can [...]

Superintendents from the New York ‘burbs are meeting over breakfast tomorrow to talk about the testing change that affects immigrant students in grades 3-8. We’ve written about the opposition to this change, which stems from a federal policy: Instead of having three years to develop their English proficiency first, immigrant students will have just one [...]

Principal Carmen Macchia and four teachers from Port Chester Middle School are heading to Washington this weekend to accept an honor from the nonprofit Education Trust. The school is one of only five across the country being singled out for “Dispelling the Myth” – the myth being that low academic achievement is inevitable for minority [...]

Sleepy Hollow High School began an online version of its student newspaper, Hoofprints, this month.

This should be no surprise. Tech-savvy students in the Tarrytowns district have already published five years’ worth of digital yearbooks, numerous podcasts of stories written by elementary school students, and an online art gallery.

The eight-page October issue of Hoofprints includes [...]

A school construction bond tends not to capture the same public attention as Pirro vs. Cuomo or those other elections on our political blog.

When it came time to vote Tuesday on a $66.5 million bond proposal in White Plains, less than 7 percent of registered voters showed up. The bond passed by a narrow margin. [...]

It takes a brave parent to dress up as a Founding Father for his son’s fifth-grade class. But Alan Toporovsky, a White Plains dentist, did just that this morning at the Westchester Day School in Mamaroneck. He emerged in a Benjamin Franklin costume complete with knickers, spectacles and a hideous gray wig.

“The things we do [...]