Education

This post has been updated to reflect new developments: 

Tuesday, 2:07 p.m.

According to Michigan Public Radio Network's Rick Pluta, the state may in fact be willing to work with the district to put kids back in school soon. The Buena Vista School Board will meet tonight. If the board can approve a "deficit reduction plan" that is then approved by the state, school aid payments would begin to flow again and the school could re-open. If that doesn't work, plan B is the federally-funded skills camp model.

Infographics are the "Public Service Announcement" of our digital era: informative, easily digested, and memorable. Proponents of early childhood education haven't been left behind in using infographics to visualize stats that affirm the benefit of preschool to kids and society as a whole. But there are also some provocative scare tactics out there.

So, which is more effective? Helpful, contextualizing data or eye-catching, mildly disturbing imagery showing our future without preschool education?

So, is it Teacher Appreciation Day or Teacher Appreciation Week? And is it a national "holiday" or not?

I can't say definitively, but it looks like both of these are just traditions kept alive by teachers unions and parent groups. 

What are you doing Tuesday night?

If you're like me, you'll be checking out the new, one-hour TED Talk special on education, featuring Harlem Children's Zone founder Geoffrey Canada, Bill Gates and some of the country's leading education experts and thinkers. The promo video says students will also get up on stage and share their thoughts.