Education News

At MIT’s Media Lab, where singing Crickets elicit chuckles from otherwise focused graduate students, Resnick shows off photos of memorable Cricket projects and their creators. In one shot, a girl shows how a light beam, when broken, sets off an alarm. In another one, a boy shows how he makes a toilet paper roll spin just by raising his voice.

In a report released Thursday, the National Institute for Early Education Research said it conservatively estimates the state would get back $2.78 for every $1 it invests in the Proposition 82 preschool program. That estimate is similar to a finding in a study done by the RAND Corp.

We commend Gov. Brian Schweitzer, Superintendent Linda McCulloch, and all other political and education community leaders who have announced their support for state-funded full-day kindergarten.

The project, centered on the solar system, will compare Earth with its neighbors. Third- through sixth-grade classes will be integrated into the program. Kryzsko said the project will run for a year with the help of a mentor from HP who will train participants to use the technology being provided.

“And in Montana, education will continue the rest of your life.” For Montanans, he said, education is something “that goes from before they enter the first grade until they breathe their last breaths. Education is something that touches every family and ought to touch adults consistently.”

In Idaho, a private foundation spent $21 million on a data system for the public schools but pulled out when estimated completion costs hit $180 million.

In an hour-long session that cost just $18, the Indian tutor, who said his name was Mike, spent an hour walking Del Monte through such esoteric concepts as confidence intervals and alpha divisions, Del Monte recalled. He got an A on the final exam. "Mike helped me unscramble everything in my mind," the 20-year-old said.

How investing in early childhood development can yield public and private returns.

Supporters envision an Internet-based school used by a variety of students — the sick, disabled and home-schooled, those failing in a traditional classroom or those needing a more challenging curriculum. Students could enroll full time in the virtual school or take just a course or two.

MAPS: Media Arts in the Public Schools is a filmmaking curriculum
for Montana high school students that is funded by the Florence Prever
Rosten Foundation.