Education

Classrooms in New Franklin, Mo. got a visit from members of the U.S. Department of Education. Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement Jim Shelton, who wanted a firsthand look at the eMINTS approach to education.

eMINTS (enhancing Missouri’s Instructional Networked Teaching Strategies) is a professional development program created by the University of Missouri. The New Franklin School District implemented the eMINTS program about 10 years ago. It promotes inquiry-based learning as well as an increased focus on using technology.

The latest Department of Economic Development report shows there were almost 18,000 new jobs in Missouri in August. The manufacturing industry added the most jobs with an increase of nearly 5,000 new positions.

Missouri Department of Economic Development spokesperson John Fougere says Missouri’s progress in job creation continues to grow following a big drop during the recession.

College of the Ozarks filed a lawsuit today against the US Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury, arguing that the so-called “contraceptive mandate” in the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional. 

Columbia public schools are implementing programs that bring more male role models into the school environment. The new program is called the Males On Duty Squad, or MOD Squad.  These male volunteers serve as crossing guards and play with students during recess and lunch. Shepard Elementary Principal Jacquie Ward said that the largely female faculty introduced the program to fulfill students’ need for positive male role models.

MU Extension is implementing a new staffing model and budget structure that would give programs a more geographic focus. 

Student advocacy group Coal Free Mizzou presented the MU Board of Curators today with 3,000 student signatures asking the University of Missouri to transition from coal to clean energy.

Columbia Public Schools are having a difficult time finding enough part-time substitute teachers. So the School District is considering hiring full-time substitutes to help solve the problem. Columbia Public Schools’ spokesperson Michelle Baumstark explains full-time substitutes would have to fill in wherever they were assigned. Part-time substitutes don’t have to.

Sergeant Major Mike Lederle surprised his children at their school in Ashland Wednesday afternoon. His 9th and 11th graders, Trinten and Samantha, thought they were just attending a flag presentation assembly at Southern Boone County high School. But during the ceremony, their father – who they thought was still on deployment to Afghanistan – walked out to greet them with a hug.

Jefferson City officials are considering the use of “clickers” – an interactive teaching device.

The Jefferson City School Board met last night  to discuss how the devices could benefit teachers.

Sharla Buthod is the Library Coordinator for Jefferson City public schools. She says the “clickers” would give teachers a better idea of how students are learning during lessons.

This year in honor of Patriot Day, Chancellor Brady Deaton and Dr. Anne Deaton hosted a barbecue on the quad.

MU Senior Matthew Beckum is in MU’s ROTC program and says they appreciate the Chancellor honoring the university’s veterans.

“We’re here to show our support, to let our presence be known and to congratulate and thank all the veterans that are here attending with us.” Beckum says.

Beckum says he and his classmates graduating this year are looking forward to starting their service.

The Columbia School Board has also approved a plan to allow public school teachers in the district the ability to have a specific organization represent them in negotiating their salaries. School Board members voted unanimously to approve the representation at a budget meeting Monday night.

For representation , teachers can choose the Columbia Missouri National Education Association, or maintain the current system, which involves an informal mode of communication between teachers and administrators.

The Columbia School District is considering new kindergarten readiness assessments.

The Columbia Board of Education addressed the program at its meeting Monday night. Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Schools Peter Stiepleman says that better assessments are necessary because the children entering kindergarten have a wide variety of experience.

A new Chinese language program will be taught at several Columbia public schools. The program is a partnership between Columbia Public Schools and University of Missouri’s International Program and Confucius Program. Three Chinese teachers will be training Columbia School teachers the language so they can start the program in fall of 2013.

The Institute signed the memorandum on Friday for the program and Spanish teacher John Becker is happy they have it set in stone.

A group of University of Missouri students is partnering with the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri as it opens a new food pantry called Tiger pantry. It will open next month to distribute food to the MU community. Food Bank Executive Director Peggy Kirkpatrick is optimistic that Tiger Pantry will help a great amount of need-based students.

“We know some of those folks that we serve are students, university students," said Kirkspatrick. "And so what this will do is allow the students to have some of their basic needs met closer to where they live.”

Next month the Supreme Court will take up the matter of race in college admissions. But Chuck May from the MU Admissions Office says the case will have no effect on MU since race is not a factor in undergraduate admissions.

"If a student meets our admission requirements that are published, which all students and parents can see, then they are automatically admissible," May says. "We have no cap on admissions, so there is no student   that would take the place of another student that is eligible for admission.”

Columbia Public Schools announced Thursday that one of its board members, Paul Cushing, is stepping down to take a job in Minnesota.

Fulton’s Westminster College has received license approval from Arizona to open a campus in the state’s third largest city of Mesa.  President Barney Forsythe says that after the city of Mesa completed its marketing study research, researchers found that there was an under representation of private residential higher education in Arizona. 

Forsythe says that the school’s intent is to hire mostly locally in the Mesa and Phoenix area for the new campus.

Missouri has tapped a state reserve fund for cash flow purposes for the second consecutive month. The Office of Administration said Wednesday the state has borrowed $100 million from the Budget Reserve Fund, the same amount borrowed the previous month. The funds must be repaid by next May 15.

Missouri State Budget Director Linda Luebbering says the reserve fund can be used if monthly revenue collections do not meet monthly expenditures.

The University of Missouri has decided to invest $2.5 million into its online education program to better cater to students’ needs.

The main reason for expansion? To reach out to new groups of students, according to Jim Spain, vice provost for undergraduate studies.

“We’re targeting students who can’t physically come to Columbia," he says. "So, it’s an effort to improve and increase accessibility.”

MU spokesperson Christian Basi says Mizzou Online will implement more degrees where students can do all their coursework online -- without ever entering a classroom.

Wednesday will be the eighth time -- since the school year began less than a month ago -- that some students at Columbia public schools are dismissed early because of the heat.

Jefferson and West Junior High schools don’t have air conditioning. Five Columbia elementary schools had units installed during the summer. But, Michelle Baumstark, spokesperson for Columbia Public Schools, says it may take more than a year to complete the remaining two schools.

More than a dozen Missouri school districts are among nearly 900 nationwide planning to apply for a slice of nearly $400 million in grants from the U.S. Education Department.

The University of Missouri announced today the first recipients of funding awards though its partnership with the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation; which will fund biomedical research projects.

Students in the Columbia Public School system who took Advanced Placement exams in 2012 outscored their peers across Missouri. Some of the district’s highest scores came in Psychology and Biology.

Updated 8/29/12 3:00 p.m.

The University of Missouri says it will keep its academic publishing business open and drop plans for a new reimagined publishing operation.

Missouri State University has been awarded a $2.5 million federal grant aimed at providing graduate courses for mid-career students at the Department of Defense.

The grant goes to the university's Department of Defense and Strategic Studies, which is located in Washington. The department will work with the National Defense University to provide graduate courses for up to 48 mid-career students with the Department of Defense.

The University of Missouri Health System has announced that chief executive officer Jim Ross will retire at the end of the year.

Speaking on KBIA’s Intersection earlier this week, Deputy Commissioner for the Missouri Department of Higher Education Paul Wagner said that Missouri has been a national leader in keeping college tuition down. He said that tuition increases at public four year institutions in the state were the lowest in the country over the last three years. That statistic comes from a College Board Report released earlier this month. Wagner points to two factors that have helped limit tuition increases.