Education | Higher Learning

Twiggs County Board of Education hold meetings on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m

The Band Booster Club of Crawford County High School needs a small chest freezer or an upright freezer for its concession stand. Potential donors should contact Terry Spillers at (478) 836-3407. All proceeds from the concession stand help support the band programs at Crawford Middle and High Schools.

Until 10/18/2007  Houston County CASA (Court Appoint Special Advocates for Children) Volunteer Advocate Training is providing a training for individual interested in becoming a volunteer advocate with the organization. Applications are being accept now. For more information please contact Terry Di Diego at 478-396-2185 to email at hccasa@alltel.net

Ga. students improve reading, math scores; still lag nationally

By DORIE TURNER - Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA --Georgia's fourth and eighth graders have nearly caught up with the nation in reading but still lag in mathematics.

Georgia students performed better than they ever have on the National Assessment of Educational Progress - a federal test considered the best state-to-state measure of classroom progress.

State education officials heralded the NAEP scores as proof that Georgia's new curriculum is working. The students who took the NAEP test last year had been using new reading curriculum for two years, but the state did not implement its new mathematics curriculum for grades 4 and 8 until this school year. More...

School board approves more math, science in new HS requirements

ATLANTA --Students will take more math and science and no longer choose between an emphasis on college-prep or job skills under new graduation requirements approved by the state Board of Education on Thursday.

Education officials say the new guidelines, which will go into effect for freshmen starting next year, are geared toward giving all students a strong grounding in core areas like reading and math while offering them flexibility in choosing elective classes.

"We are no longer setting high expectations for just some students," state school Superintendent Kathy Cox said. "As a state, we are saying that all students can learn at a high level." More...

SAT scores drop for Georgia students and nationwide
Georgia's 2007 high school graduating class performed worse on the SAT college-entrance exam than the class before them, even as the state's rank remained the same compared to other states.

The report on the slip in scores comes a year after Gov. Sonny Perdue and state schools Superintendent Kathy Cox - both of whom were running for re-election at the time - touted Georgia's improvement on the test.

Overall, the nearly 60,000 students who took the standardized test in Georgia scored an average of 1,472 out of a possible 2,400, a five-point drop from last year. The nation's average score fell seven points to 1,511. More...

Six high school student athletes got some help with college expenses. After Elaine and David Lucas' son, Al, died on the football field, they created the Al Lucas Memorial Scholarship for kids who are exceptional on and off the field.

During a ceremony at the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, six students from across Bibb County received a $1,000 scholarships.

The 2007 recipients of the award are:

Rachel K. Adams, Westside High School
Kyerra C. Jelks, Northeast High School
Brandon Thomas, Northeast High School
Jessica L. McLaughlin, Central High School
Takisha Williams, Southwest High School
Lauren A. Windham, Rutland High School

If you'd like to make a donation to the Al Lucas Memorial Fund, contributions can be mailed to:

Community Foundation of Central Georgia
227 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
Suite 303
Macon, Georgia 31201

New Orleans Writer Spoke at Macon State College..
Nationally known author Tom Piazza, whose latest book, Why New Orleans Matters, is an intriguing look at his experiences as a New Orleans resident in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, spoke  at Macon State College  on Thursday, September 6, in the theater on the Macon campus. His appearance was  sponsored by the Macon State College Honors Program. Honors Program students will use Piazza’s appearance to kick off a yearlong project to provide books to various organizations in New Orleans, especially elementary schools. 

Macon State College Announces Major Reorganization

In the first major reorganization in its history, Macon State College has announced the creation of a new academic structure that sheds one of the last remaining vestiges of the junior college chartered in 1967.

Macon State has eliminated the organizational structure that called for divisions headed by chairs and has implemented one that creates schools headed by deans. The changes are effective immediately. More...

Georgia Tech : Top Producer of African-American Engineers

ATLANTA — The Georgia Institute of Technology is the top overall producer of African-American engineers in the United States, according to Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine’s annual college rankings report.

For the 2005-2006 academic year, Georgia Tech was ranked No. 1 in undergraduate degrees in engineering awarded to African-American students with 120 degrees, up from 117 during the 2004-2005 academic year. ting undergraduate and graduate statistics. Graduate and professional degree statistics appear in the July 12 edition of Diverse. Undergraduate statistics were released in the magazine’s June 1 edition. More...

 Dr. Randy Braswell Named Associate VP for Institutional Research at Macon State College
Dr. Randy Braswell has joined Macon State College as associate vice president for institutional research and planning. Previously vice president for academic affairs at South Georgia College in Douglas, Braswell brings an impressive record in research, analysis and assessment to the position, as well as extensive experience in higher education administration. His other previous positions include director of admissions at South Georgia College and director of institutional research at Gordon College in Barnesville. Braswell holds a doctorate in higher education from Georgia State University, a master's degree from the University of Georgia and a bachelor's degree from Georgia Southwestern State University.

Segregation in schools is increasing: report

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Public schools in the United States are becoming more racially segregated and the trend is likely to accelerate because of a Supreme Court decision in June, according to report published on Wednesday.

The rise in segregation threatens the quality of education received by non-white students, who now make up 43 percent of the total U.S. student body, said the report by the Civil Rights Project of the University of California in Los Angeles.

Many segregated schools struggle to attract highly qualified teachers and administrators, do not prepare students well for college and fail to graduate more than half their students. More...

Clark Atlanta president plans to stay where he is..

ATLANTA --Even though dozens of faculty members and hundreds of students at Clark Atlanta University want him gone, school president Walter Broadnax expects to lead the historically black college for years to come.

Speaking in his office, Broadnax spoke candidly to The Associated Press in an exclusive interview about the tough decisions his administration has made since he took over the school in 2002, and optimistically about his hopes for the future of Clark Atlanta despite the demands for him to step aside. More...

FAMU leads nation in number of African-American grads

Savannah State University's Brown to join Clark Atlanta ....

ATLANTA --Carlton Brown, who served as president of Savannah State University for nine years, will join Clark Atlanta University as an executive vice president, Clark Atlanta President Walter Broadnax said .

Brown will start his newly created position on July 15. The senior staff member will oversee day-to-day operations on campus, allowing the president to focus on the $104 million fundraising campaign expected to launch this fall.

Brown stepped down at Savannah State last year and has served as special assistant to the chancellor of the Board of Regents for system-wide projects.

More Georgia students pass state-mandated tests

ATLANTA --Two years after Georgia toughened state-mandated tests based on beefed up reading and math curricula, thousands more students are passing the exams, according to data released by the state Department of Education .

That means fewer students will head to summer school this year in hopes of retaking the Criterion Referenced Competency Tests and advancing a grade.

"These are real gains," state schools Superintendent Kathy Cox said in a telephone interview. "The work we've done with our curriculum directors and teachers really shows." More...

Model inner-city school to open in Atlanta

ATLANTA --A teacher whose work with inner-city children inspired a movie is opening a private school for low-income students this fall.

Ron Clark, who was portrayed last year by Matthew Perry in TNT's "The Ron Clark Story," has worked for two and a half years to build the Ron Clark Academy near Turner Field in southeast Atlanta. The school will weave art, dance, music and business leadership classes into its curriculum, as well as international trips for students.

"It's all about empowering these kids," Clark said during a tour of the school on Thursday. "Whatever they want to do, whatever they want to become, they can do it and we want to give them the skills to do so."

Students attending the school will pay heavily discounted tuition - an average of $30 per month - on a sliding scale based on their parents' income, and parents must volunteer 40 hours a year at the school. Donations will pay the rest of the $14,000 annual tuition. More...

The Central Georgian, 2007,  Disclaimer..