Education Report

A Military Education at West Point
We answer a question about the college that prepares men and women to be army officers, and not just for the U.S. Army. Transcript of radio broadcast: 13 January 2010

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Today we answer a question from Brazil. Claudio Messias Gentil wants to know about the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point celebrate graduation

West Point is a college for future Army officers. It has more than four thousand students, called cadets. The school is located about eighty kilometers north of New York City.

West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. General George Washington built a fort there during the Revolutionary War to protect the Hudson River from the British. He moved his headquarters to West Point in seventeen seventy-nine in the middle of the war.

In eighteen hundred and two, President Thomas Jefferson signed legislation to establish the military academy. The education centered on civil engineering. West Point graduates designed many roads, bridges, harbors and railways for the young nation.

Today, math and science are still a large part of the education. But cadets can choose from almost fifty areas of study. If cadets major in the humanities, they must have an engineering minor.

Not all the young men and women at West Point are American. This year, fifty-eight are from other countries. Up to sixty cadets can be international students.

International students are nominated by their governments. They must satisfy physical and educational requirements and do well on the Test of English as a Foreign Language. After graduation, they return home to serve in their nation's armed forces. Other services besides the Army also accept foreign students at their academies.

Major Joe Sowers, a West Point public affairs officer, says information is available through American embassies. He says the presence of international students at West Point serves a purpose for the Army.

JOE SOWERS: "Cultural understanding, cultural awareness is essential for a modern-day officer. Now because we have cadets from Panama and cadets from African countries, that doesn't necessarily increase your knowledge on how to interact in Iraq or Afghanistan. At least not specifics, anyway. But you've begun the process of understanding that the world is bigger than your hometown and West Point and the United States of America. But I think the big payoff is at the individual cadet level, establishing relationships with those who come from much, much different backgrounds."

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. You can learn more about higher education in the United States from our Foreign Student Series at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

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John Dewey, 1859-1952: Educator and 'America's Philosopher'
His ideas are still taught, and scholars in several countries held events last year to celebrate his 150th birthday. Transcript of radio broadcast: 06 January 2010

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

We have a question from China. Feng Tianqiang says "I want to know something about John Dewey."

John Dewey

John Dewey was an influential thinker and educator. The New York Times once called him "America's philosopher."

Larry Hickman is director of the Center for Dewey Studies at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. He was not surprised that the question came from China.

LARRY HICKMAN: "I just returned from two weeks of meetings in Beijing in December. And among the conversations I had with my Chinese colleagues was the very close relationship between Dewey's ideas and those of Confucius. I also worked with a group of lay Buddhists who like Dewey's work very much because it is very comfortable with some of the ideas of Mahayana Buddhism."

Dewey described his ideas in books including "Democracy and Education," "The School and Society" and "How We Think."

Larry Hickman

LARRY HICKMAN: "Dewey was perhaps the best known philosopher, educator and public intellectual of the twentieth century. He was active in many fields, including education, philosophy, psychology and also humanistic and humanitarian affairs. He was an important influence in the founding of the American Association of University Professors and the American Civil Liberties Union."

He was also influential in the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, though he himself was white.

John Dewey was born in Burlington, Vermont, in eighteen fifty-nine. He was influenced by the scientific work of Charles Darwin. He was also influenced by the work done with immigrant English learners in Chicago by Jane Addams. She was a social worker and the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. And Dewey was influenced by observing his own children.

At the University of Chicago, he founded the Laboratory School. Chemistry courses have labs. Why not a place to experiment with education? But Dewey would likely have disagreed with many current practices in American education, like the wide use of standardized testing.

LARRY HICKMAN: "He thought that testing had its place, but that testing should be more like medical tests. That is, they should be testing for individual needs, interests, abilities, and not to compare one student to another. As Dewey put it, the relation of the abilities of one student to another is none of the teacher's business."

John Dewey died in nineteen fifty-two. But Dewey scholar Larry Hickman says his ideas are still being taught in education schools.

In fact, last year was his one hundred fiftieth birthday, so it was a busy year for Dewey studies. Celebrations took place not only in the United States, but also at two universities in Beijing and in Croatia, Italy and Poland.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. For a link to more on John Dewey, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

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A Review of Education Reports This Past Year
What Do You Want To Know About Education in the United States? Transcript of radio broadcast: 30 December 2009

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Early this year, Special English began receiving comments about all the stories on our Web site. The Education Reports have received many comments.

We began the year in the middle of our Foreign Student Series. These were reports about how foreign students could attend a college or university in the United States.

Students gathered at the International Students Assembly at the University of Southern California

The report that received the most comments--seventy-three--told how to qualify for free training at an American community college. The next highest number of comments was forty-nine. They were about a report on services at American colleges that help foreign students adjust to studying in the United States. Close behind with forty-eight comments was a report about financial aid. Forty-seven comments followed a story about college student grade expectations. And forty-six people wrote in reaction to our guide to writing college papers.

Other education stories this past year included the deaths of college test preparation pioneer Stanley Kaplan and music educator Bess Lomax Hawes. We explained the work of school nurses. We presented comments about American high schools from foreign exchange students. We discussed the California digital textbook program as well as the use of digital textbooks in general. We talked to education experts about teaching handwriting, choosing a college, and publishing research in medical journals. And we looked at the job market for American college graduates as well as for foreign students who finish their educations at American colleges.

In the coming year, we would also like your help. Please write with suggestions or questions you would like us to answer about American education. Earlier this month, for example, we answered a question about educational technology.

And we are preparing to answer a few other questions. One is about educator John Dewey. Another is about the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Post your comments and questions at our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. You can also find transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our programs, including our Foreign Student Series. We wish you all the best in the New Year, and look forward to hearing from you.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. I'm Shirley Griffith.

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Letting Religion Into the Classroom, but Setting Limits
U.S. public schools must be neutral about religion. But the Constitution protects the rights of students who wish to express their faith. A first-grade teacher explains how she handles the subject at Christmastime. Transcript of radio broadcast: 24 December 2009

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Public schools in the United States have to be neutral about religion, even though they close for holidays like Christmas. The Constitution separates religion from government. Researcher Charles Haynes explains what it says.

A high school band marches past the West Virginia State Capitol during the Joyful Night celebration December 3. The event includes the lighting of the state Christmas tree.

CHARLES HAYNES: "'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ... ' Those sixteen words provide the framework for how we deal with religion in our public schools."

Those words are part of the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of expression and other rights. Charles Haynes is a senior scholar at the First Amendment Center, a group that studies free expression issues.

In the last generation or so, different groups have encouraged public schools to celebrate diversity and cultural differences. At the same time, courts have ruled against any publicly supported celebrations of one religion over another.

Charles Haynes thinks the schools are generally doing a good job.

CHARLES HAYNES: "So public schools now I think understand that their role is to expose students to learning about different religions in a fair way, an objective way. Their role is to protect the religious liberty rights of students; if they want to express their faith, they may do so. But school officials under the First Amendment may not take sides in religion."

Hollie Jones teaches six year olds at a public school in Loudon County, Virginia. Each December, she has her students make posters about their own celebrations at home and present them to the class. The posters are discussed and then shown on the walls at the school. And what celebrations have been represented?

HOLLIE JONES: "Four years looking back, we've had some students will do Hanukkah, some Kwanzaa, some Christmas. Some we've had in the past do the Chinese New Year. This year I had a student whose father was from Iceland, and he did the Icelandic Elf School, and talked about all the different elves that are represented and their names and their meanings."

Some children come from families with more than one religion.

HOLLIE JONES: " I have had many students who come from a blended culture family who perhaps the mother celebrated Hanukkah and the father celebrated a different holiday, and so they really do both within their home."

Hollie Jones says the children always ask lots of questions about the traditions of other families.

HOLLIE JONES: "And it's really interesting because for many children, especially in first grade, they are very unaware that these different things go on in other homes. So it's not necessarily imposing other religions on them, but just kind of creating a sense of awareness in celebration of how different and diverse just within our classroom we are."

And Charles Haynes says that is one of the purposes of public education in America.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. You can find transcripts and podcasts of our reports, and you can post comments, at voaspecialenglish.com. And you can find us on Twitter and YouTube at VOA Learning English. I'm Steve Ember.

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Educational Technology: Not Just Computers
A question from the Palestinian territories about the use of tech in U.S. schools. And meet Cosmobot, a therapy robot for children with developmental disabilities. Transcript of radio broadcast: 16 December 2009

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

A question from the West Bank: Zuheir Khlaif wants to know how American schools use educational technology.

There is not a simple answer. It depends on the subject and level of students, of course. But it also depends on the interest and training of the teachers, and the goals and budgets of the schools.

Schools are almost all connected to the Internet. But some have more technology, and use it more, than others. For example, some schools use computers for activities like video conferencing, to bring the world into the classroom.

Calculus teacher Shane Costello uses a Smart Board to teach his class in Pinedale, Wyoming

And some classrooms are equipped with things like a Smart Board, a kind of interactive whiteboard. Interactive whiteboards are large displays for presentations. They connect to a computer and can operate by touch. They can be used for documents or writing or to project video.

Some teachers are trying creative new ways to teach with devices like iPods and mobile phones. But educators say the most important thing, as always, is the content.

Yet technology can have special importance in some cases. Cosmobot is a therapy robot. It stands about half a meter tall and has a blue body and a friendly face with big eyes.

One child who works with it is six-year-old Kevin Fitzgerald. Kevin has developmental dyspraxia; he has difficulty moving his mouth and tongue.

He works with Carole Semango-Sprouse as he interacts with the Cosmobot during therapy for his condition. Here, he uses a set of buttons attached to a computer to make the silent robot move forward, backward or around in circles.

Carole Samango-Sprouse with Kevin Fitzgerald

CAROLE SEMANGO-SPROUSE: "Say come!"

KEVIN: "Om here …"

CAROLE SEMANGO-SPROUSE: "Good boy. Call him again! Come here!"

KEVIN: "Om ere … "

CAROLE SEMANGO-SPROUSE: "Perfect! Say it again, Kev! Come here."

KEVIN: "Om ere."

CAROLE SEMANGO-SPROUSE: "Good boy. That's beautiful."

Kevin's mother thinks the robot has had a calming influence, helping her son get along better with his friends.

Cosmobot

Cosmobot was developed by AnthroTronix. Corinna Lathan started the company ten years ago to work with children with cerebral palsy, Down's syndrome, autism and other developmental disabilities.

Children become friends with the robot, she says. That can have a big effect on their behavior, helping them work harder and longer in therapy sessions.

Corinna Lathan is currently working with a British company to develop other socially assistive robots. She says they are still considered research tools in the United States, and not used as much as in places like Britain and Japan. But she hopes to change that.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach with Julie Taboh. Transcripts and podcasts are at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

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NYU Pushes Foreign Study
New York University has been in the lead as study abroad programs have grown more popular for American students. Transcript of radio broadcast: 30 July 2008

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

The number of American students who study in other countries has been growing. The Institute of International Education, in its most recent report, counted more than two hundred twenty-three thousand, a record.

Katie Parker, right, advises Sophia Prantera, 18, on study abroad programs at Michigan State University in East Lansing

A few years ago a commission established by Congress called for a goal of one million a year by two thousand seventeen.

The institute says growth in study abroad programs is partly the result of more choices of shorter lengths of study than a full school year.

More than half the American students who go abroad study in Europe, though fewer than in the past. Students have shown growing interest in Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.

Since two thousand one, New York University has been sending more students abroad than any other campus in the United States. It offers classes in Argentina, China, Ghana and several countries in Europe.

More than nine hundred sixty undergraduates from New York University will go abroad this fall. The largest number -- four hundred -- will study in Florence, Italy. Mostly local professors teach fifty courses there. Twenty-six students, the smallest number, are going to Berlin, Germany, where just eight courses are offered.

Ayla Schermer of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a nineteen-year-old business major entering her second year at N.Y.U. She wants to study in another country for the spring semester beginning in January. She has to decide which country in September.

Ayla says her choice will depend on the courses offered at each place and the cost. The classes will cost more than eighteen thousand dollars, but that does not include transportation or housing.

Chris Nicolussi is the student services director in the Office of Global Programs at N.Y.U. He says housing costs differ from program to program. Some places offer dormitory housing; in others, students live with local families or in apartments.

The strength of the euro against the dollar makes programs in Europe more costly than those in Argentina, for example. But Chris Nicolussi says the university has not seen any drop in the popularity of its European programs.

He did say, however, that more students are interested in low cost activities organized by the university during their time abroad. And before they go, he says, more want to learn how to better budget their money.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. Archives are at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

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Bess Lomax Hawes Brought Folk Music to a Wider Public
Musician and educator co-wrote a popular song about a man who forever has to ride the Boston subway. In 1993 she received the National Medal of Arts. Transcript of radio broadcast: 09 December 2009

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Bess Lomax Hawes was an American folk musician, singer and teacher who died last month at the age of eighty-eight.

She came from a family of music historians. She helped her father and brother, John and Alan Lomax, collect folk music. John Lomax developed an Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of Congress.

Bess Lomax Hawes

In the nineteen forties, after college, Bess Lomax joined the Almanac Singers, a group that sang social protest songs. Other members included Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and "Butch" Hawes, who became her husband.

The family later moved to California, where Bess taught music, including guitar and banjo. She also became an anthropology professor at what is now California State University, Northridge.

In the nineteen seventies, she worked at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. Later, she directed the folk arts program at the National Endowment for the Arts. She received the National Medal of Arts from President Bill Clinton in nineteen ninety-three.

Daniel Sheehy is acting head of the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage at the Smithsonian. He worked with her and remembers how she worked to keep folk traditions from being lost.

DANIEL SHEEHY: "Finding ways to help those voices, those songs, those stories, those craft traditions make it into the lives of a much broader public."

Bess Lomax Hawes may be best remembered for a song from nineteen forty-nine. She and Jacqueline Steiner took old music and wrote new words in support of a Progressive Party candidate for mayor of Boston, Massachusetts. One of Walter O'Brien's promises was to fight a fare increase on the transit system then known as the M.T.A.

The song is about Charlie, a man who does not have enough money to leave the train, so he has to ride forever. Here are Bess Lomax, Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger:

(MUSIC)

The candidate lost. But the "M.T.A." song later became a huge hit with a version by the Kingston Trio.

(MUSIC)

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. I'm Steve Ember.

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Some Advice on Choosing a College
A school's size is an important consideration. But so are questions like which programs are strongest and what do the top students go on to do after they graduate? Transcript of radio broadcast: 02 December 2009

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Last week, we told you that the number of foreign students in the United States had reached an all-time high. More than six hundred seventy-one thousand foreign students attended an American college or university during the last school year. So says the latest report from the Institute of International Education.

Many international students choose large schools. But a growing number of them are attending smaller ones.

Douglas Bennett, president of Earlham College in Indiana

Douglas Bennett is the president of Earlham College, a liberal arts college in Richmond, Indiana, that actively seeks foreign students.

DOUGLAS BENNETT: "We're a small college, just twelve hundred students. But about fifteen percent of our undergraduates come from homes outside the United States, which is astronomically high for an American college or university."

Doug Bennett has written several articles aimed at helping students choose a college that best fits their needs. He says one of the important things to consider is the size of a school. He says Earlham College is small for a reason.

DOUGLAS BENNETT: "We aren't that small because we couldn't be bigger. We're that small because we think we educate much more effectively and much more powerfully because we stay small. It stretches everyone more. It draws everyone into more different kinds of activities."

Of course, there are also good arguments for attending a larger school. Many big schools are widely recognized. And in some cases that might lead to more job interviews than a degree from a lesser known college. Larger schools also have more money, which can mean more resources for education, recreation and research.

Earlham College

In addition to size, Douglas Bennett says there are other important things to consider. For example: Which programs at the school are the strongest? Some schools have stronger programs in the sciences. Others are stronger in the liberal arts.

Also, what do the school's top students go on to do after they graduate? What kinds of activities are offered that might add to the educational experience? Are there sports teams? What about a radio station or newspaper?

Something else to consider is the kinds of services that a school offers for international students.

But Earlham College President Douglas Bennett says one choice tops all others.

DOUGLAS BENNETT: "The most important choice you make in going to college is who you choose to be yourself. If you're prepared to bring your best self to college, then it hardly matters where you go to college. On the other hand, if you choose not to be very motivated, not to be very responsible, not to be prepared to work very hard, it doesn't matter where you go; you probably won't get a good education."

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by June Simms. You can find transcripts and MP3s of our reports -- including our Foreign Student Series -- at voaspecialenglish.com. And you can follow us on Twitter and YouTube at VOA Learning English. I'm Steve Ember.

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Number of Foreign Students in US Hits New High
A new report shows that India and China remained the top senders of students last year. In all, seven of the ten top countries sent more, just as the recession was worsening. Transcript of radio broadcast: 26 November 2009

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

A new report says the number of foreign students in the United States reached a record high in two thousand eight.

More than six hundred seventy thousand international students attended an American college or university last year. That was eight percent higher than the year before, the largest percentage increase since nineteen eighty.

The "Open Doors" report is published by the Institute of International Education, with support from the State Department.

It says the number of international students last year was almost fifteen percent higher than the last record setting year, two thousand two. In all, seven of the ten top countries sent more students last year, just as the economic downturn was worsening.

Foreign students at Dickinson State University in North Dakota

For the eighth year, India remained the leader in sending students to the United States. More than one hundred thousand students from India attended American schools last year. That was nine percent more than the year before.

China again sent the second largest number, more than ninety-eight thousand, an increase of twenty-one percent. The biggest increases were in Chinese undergraduate students.

South Korea was third. The number of South Korean students increased nine percent to seventy-five thousand.

Canada was the only non-Asian country in the top five. It rose two percent to fourth place. Almost thirty thousand Canadian students enrolled for the school year that began last autumn.

Japan fell to fifth place. The number of Japanese students in the United States decreased for the fourth year, to just over twenty-nine thousand.

Taiwan also sent fewer students, and the number from Mexico was nearly unchanged.

The University of Southern California in Los Angeles once again had the highest number of foreign students. The "Open Doors" report says nearly seven thousand five hundred attended U.S.C. last year.

New York University and Columbia University, both in New York City, were second and third. The other schools in the top five were the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Business and management was again the most popular area of study for international students. The next most popular subjects are engineering, math and computer science.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by June Simms. You can find our Foreign Student Series with advice on studying in the United States at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

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US Colleges Set Enrollment Record
More young people than ever are in school, and not just because of the recession. Also, civil rights officials are investigating whether some female-majority schools discriminate against women. Transcript of radio broadcast: 19 November 2009

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

College enrollment has reached an all-time high in the United States. About forty percent of all eighteen- to twenty-four-year-olds -- or almost eleven and a half million -- were in school in October of last year.

A new report says both numbers are record highs. Richard Fry at the Pew Research Center points to a number of reasons.

Standing room only: A crowded classroom at California State University East Bay in Hayward

RICHARD FRY: "The number of young adults that have finished high school is also now at a record all-time high. Almost eighty-five percent of America's young adults have finished high school. That means they're college eligible. So part of the reason college enrollments are at an all-time high is because the pool of youth that's eligible to go to college is also at an all-time high."

Another reason for the enrollment increase: the recession. The unemployment rate reached a twenty-six year high in October. The economic downturn has hit young adults especially hard. Richard Fry says their job-holding rate is almost at the lowest point in nearly fifty years.

In a poor job market, many people turn to higher education, especially at two-year colleges. These schools, known as community colleges, have had the greatest enrollment increase. They offer professional training and traditionally cost a lot less than programs at four-year schools.

But experts say the recession has not cut enrollment in four-year programs, even with their higher -- sometimes much higher -- costs. The Chronicle of Higher Education says at least fifty-eight private colleges now charge fifty thousand dollars or more a year.

Lately there have been accusations that some private, competitive liberal arts colleges are trying to avoid being seen as "too female." Critics say that as a result these schools are discriminating against women and admitting less qualified men.

In August the United States Commission on Civil Rights opened an investigation. Spokeswoman Lenore Ostrowsky says the purpose is to identify if discrimination is taking place in schools.

But she adds that there may be lots of reasons why more women apply to colleges, and why colleges admit more women. The Census Bureau says fifty-four percent of full time students at two- and four-year colleges last year were female.

Federal law bars sex discrimination at any school that receives federal money. Most schools do in one way or another. However, the law does not bar sex discrimination in admissions at private undergraduate schools, only public ones.

The commission does not have enforcement powers, but it can suggest changes in the law. A report could take six months to a year.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by June Simms. Transcripts and podcasts can be found at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Jim Tedder.

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Bringing Young People Together by Video
Global Nomads Group, an American nonprofit, uses videoconferences to build understanding among students around the world. Transcript of radio broadcast: 11 November 2009

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

An American nonprofit organization helps young people around the world to understand important issues -- and each other.

The Global Nomads Group organizes educational videoconferences. Students and speakers discuss subjects like AIDS, world religions, nuclear weapons, immigration, climate change and politics.

A videoconference set up by the Global Nomads Group

For example, students from at least eight schools in Ghana talked with American students about the election and inauguration of President Obama. The Ghanaians took part from a distance learning center in Accra. Live coverage from Washington "brought the energy from the streets to the classrooms," said a story in Modern Ghana News.

The Global Nomads Group, or G.N.G., was started in nineteen ninety-eight by four university students. They wanted other young people to become more informed about the world.

Programs have been held in more than forty countries. The group says at least ten thousand students take part each year.

Shirley Herrin teaches high school in Magnolia, Texas. She says her school is not using the programs this year because of budget cuts. But she tells us in an e-mail: "A live conference feed was 100% better than a textbook. Magnolia is a small town and for many of my students this was an opportunity to travel around the world."

One thing her students discovered is that they liked the same music and activities as many other young people around the world.

The Global Nomads Group charges for programs, but says it tries to help schools with limited resources.

In one program, students in Rwanda and at several American high schools asked each other questions. These included questions from Rwandan students about subjects like drug use, H.I.V./AIDS and girls in school who get pregnant.

An American boy asked about ethnic groups in Rwanda.

BOY: "The Tutsi and the Hutu, I am wondering what you guys see as the differences between those two tribes?"
GIRL: "This is Alene speaking. There is actually no difference between the Hutus and the Tutsis. First of all they are not two different tribes. We are one people. They are just ethnicities ... "

At the end of the videoconference, the Rwandan teacher made an announcement.

TEACHER: "In our culture we never say goodbye, and we are going to entertain you. Thank you."

(MUSIC)

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Karen Leggett. I'm Steve Ember.

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