The Local – Staff Writer

“Homeless students enrolled at Stockholm University are camping out in campus grounds after having exhausted all alternatives and to protest at the lack of accommodation offered them on arrival in Sweden.”(more)

Guardian – Richard Wachman

“Look no further than Britain’s universities for business success stories at a time when the wider commercial world is reeling from recession. Last week it was announced that Edinburgh University’s research and innovation unit had created 40 new firms over the last year, up 40% on the previous 12 months. In the past five years, it has formed 131 companies, employing 300 staff.”(more)

USA Today – Haya El Nasser and Paul Overberg

“The kindergarten class of 2010-11 is less white, less black, more Asian and much more Hispanic than in 2000, reflecting the nation’s rapid racial and ethnic transformation.”(more)

Education Next – Marty West and Paul Peterson

“The poll finds support among both Democrats and Republicans for test-based accountability for students and schools, merit pay, and charter schools. Americans are divided along party lines over the issues of school spending and teacher tenure, however.”(more)

2 Million Minute Blog – Bob Compton

“Americans are generally unaware of the vast economic reach of China. More than a million Chinese now live in east Africa – buying up mineral rights and establishing businesses there – from retail to mining to manufacturing.”(more)

Guardian – Rachel Williams

“Almost one in five A-levels taken by pupils at private schools were awarded the top A* grade, compared with a national average of fewer than one in 10, figures released today suggest. More than half of independent school entries for the exams got at least an A, and 6% of candidates gained three or more of the new A* grades, according to the Independent Schools Council (ISC). The proportion of state school pupils who got an A or above was 27%.”(more)

Outside the Box – Juliann Talkington

“Sounds like there is a performance problem at the public schools. When will the public system take corrective action?”

Outside the Box – Juliann Talkington and David Kozan

On Monday, Elena Rankin, founder and former principal of First Christian Gymnasium, a private school in Kaluga, Russia, and her family visited the Panama City Renaissance School. Kaluga is located about 120 miles southwest of Moscow. The school offers advanced academics and training in English and has fifty students.  When the school opened ten years ago, it was operated as a private school. To avoid the significant regulatory challenges associated with operating a private institution in Russia, the school is now operated as a home school. First Christian Gymnasium initially had a rocky relationship with the nearby public school. After the students from the First Christian offered to represent the public school in academic competitions, the relationship improved substantially. During their visit to the PCRS, Elena and her family observed in the Level 60 English/History class and taught the students a few words of Russian.

NPR – Sarah McBridge

“Sorry, champions of public education. The eight Ivies have a mean average repayment rate of 74.6%, according to new data from the Department of Education. That compares to 70.6% at the eight public Ivies— the publicly funded universities that are considered to provide an education on par with the Ivy League. Rate of repayment means the percentage of outstanding principal balance of the Federal loans that has been repaid or is being repaid.”(more)

China Daily – Staff Writer

“Some 87 percent of Chinese who studied abroad in 2009 received financial support from their parents, China.com.cn, a government-run website, reported Sunday quoting a survey by education research company MyCOS.”(more)

Economist – Staff Writer

“Sir Richard Sykes, a former rector of Imperial College London, recently headed a review of academic qualifications and assessment and is similarly critical. “Too much of the curriculum is about how things should be taught or learned, or what types of things to learn, rather than the end product; in other words, what pupils should know,” he reckons. Not only universities but also employers mistrust A-levels, he says”(more)