New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in a recent speech to students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said that in his ideal world, he’d get rid of half of his city’s teachers and double the salaries of those remaining. This statement, together with a weak economy and teacher layoffs, has led to renewed interest in [...]

TOKYO—While on assignment in Japan recently, Blaine Harden sat down with Yujiro Hayashi, president of the Institute of National Colleges of Technology (Kosen), to talk about what the United States can learn from the Kosen system, why technical education is essential, what the future holds—and more. Q: What are Kosen Colleges of Technology doing right, [...]

In September, Hechinger Report writer Jon Marcus reported for The Washington Post that universities were heavily recruiting veterans to get a piece of the $11 billion made available through the new post-9/11 G.I. Bill, but providing little of the additional support that many veterans say they need. Marcus was a guest on the public-radio program Here & Now, [...]

In July, reporter Jon Marcus wrote a piece for The Hechinger Report looking at Obama’s college graduation goal and how much progress has been made. The news wasn’t so good. Now he’s been interviewed by Boston NPR’s Here and Now program about the fact that this generation could be the first to be less educated [...]

A new public opinion poll on the nation’s public schools reveals a number of interesting findings. The poll, conducted every year since 1969 by Phi Delta Kappa and Gallup, asked 1,000 people about a variety of education topics—from trust in teachers to the use of technology in classrooms. You can find all of the poll’s [...]

Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced Monday that President Obama would sign an executive order to allow schools who are falling short of No Child Left Behind to circumvent the law. PBS NewsHour’s Gwen Ifill discusses the policy shift with Justin Snider of The Hechinger Report. Visit HechingerEd for the full video and transcript.

It turns out that video games aren’t only for children—or adults who refuse to grow up—after all. Recognizing the educational potential of video games, teachers across the country are increasingly incorporating them into lesson plans. Lee Sheldon, a video game writer and designer-turned-college-professor, is one of them. In September 2009, Sheldon decided to model one [...]

The controversy over tying teacher pay to performance, rather than seniority and credentials, has escalated in the past year. Teachers unions, which have mostly come out against such “performance” or “merit” pay, have been bolstering their arguments with research suggesting that it isn’t linked to increased student achievement. But education reformers have, for the most [...]