The Heartland Institute

The Arizona legislature is considering bills to facilitate student access to online learning and to help virtual schools hold students to higher standards. SB 1259 and SB 1255 both address important areas of need, says Jonathan Butcher, education director at the Arizona-based Goldwater Institute. Senate Bill 1259 would have the ...

Missouri’s Parkway School District recently purchased 400 electronic devices to track 2,500 elementary students’ physical activity, first during gym classes this spring and possibly 24/7 after that. The Polar Active monitors track a person’s heart rate, calories burned, steps taken, and even sleep patterns on a watch-like display ...

Missouri’s Parkway School District recently purchased 400 electronic devices to track 2,500 elementary students’ physical activity, first during gym classes this spring and possibly 24/7 after that. The Polar Active monitors track a person’s heart rate, calories burned, steps taken, and even sleep patterns with a watch-like display ...

Teachers in nearly half of Illinois’ public school districts contribute nothing from their weekly paychecks to their pensions, according to a new study by the Illinois Policy Institute (IPI). Illinois law requires teachers to contribute 9.4 percent to their pensions and employers to contribute 9 percent. Currently, though, half ...

Pervasive grade inflation in U.S. university education departments contributes to low standards for educators and the nation’s K-12 education decline, says a new study. University education departments consistently award higher grades than all other academic departments, and K-12 teachers receive overwhelmingly positive evaluations despite ...

Oregon students did better than expected in their first go at new, tougher math tests, but the lack of an exact comparison to previous tests prompted questions about whether the state’s evaluation of overall progress is accurate. On the state’s 2010-2011 assessments, the average elementary student’s passing math score increased ...

While some education reformers are focusing on performance-based incentives and curriculum changes, others are trying to shift the very structure of schooling. Students traditionally attend school from September to June, five days a week, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., with occasional holidays and shortened days. New “time-oriented” education ...

A trio of private, religious schools in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has been closing the academic achievement gap for inner-city kids who attend the school largely using vouchers. HOPE Christian Schools operates three private schools—the Prima and Fortis K-8 schools, and a high school. The schools hold tight to their Christian identity ...

The Foundation for Teaching Economics enlivens high-school classrooms by educating teachers and demonstrating economic principles through real-life examples. FTE estimates its programs have reached as many as 43 million students in its 20 years. FTE hosts summer programs for rising high school seniors, but most of their programs ...

Oregon is in the process of almost completely revamping the state’s public-school sector from kindergarten through graduate school, after passage of new legislation this summer. The 14-bill package included laws centralizing public education—most notably in SB 552, which names Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) superintendent of public education ...