Education News

MPR News keeps track of the latest education news in Minnesota so you can understand the events shaping the future of learning and how it impacts students at any level.

Stay informed about local education events, policies and more happening in schools and colleges across Minnesota.

Another 30 schools and school districts in Minnesota are joining the state's merit pay program for teachers.
He has only three ratings. All pretty much the same. No comments. You think he …? Nahhh.
How Eric Kaler's teaching was rated
Having just posted a look at RateMyProfessors.com, I thought I’d look up the University of Minnesota’s president-designate, Eric Kaler. (Update: This is just for fun.) Whoa — nice score. It’s from his University of Delaware days. He’s got no chili pepper, but hey — it’s the engineering department.
Eustress via Wikimedia Commons Think you’re hot stuff, eh? We’ll be the judge of that. Minnesota State University Mankato student reporters have done a piece on classmates’ experiences with RateMyProfessors.com — the bane of many faculty — just after the university came off not-so-hot in rankings that used the site’s data. The Reporter’s piece —…
Incoming Iowa House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, a Republican, joins other critics in questioning whether college faculty sabbaticals are just a long paid vacation at a time when other public employees are suffering budget cuts: “Why should the taxpayers of Iowa be paying to basically give these folks a year off from teaching? It’s as simple…
When the University of Minnesota hired Jerry Kill, I posted a chart showing 2009 data on salaries and records for head football coaches within the Big Ten. Today USA Today has a list of 2010 salaries for 120 schools listed alphabetically by institution. Below is just a snippet. Get the full chart here. College football…
The Minnesota Daily argues that the University of Minnesota’s Board of Regents is a rubber-stamp body that has long been complacent: Meet the Board of Regents. There are only 12 of them, and they’ve been responsible for approving the president’s proposed tuition hikes year after year. Very few of them chirp a word in healthy…
Video: Lake Superior College's thing about robots
Robotic waiters, anyone? This year’s batch of students in Lake Superior College’s Integrated Manufacturing program has had to design and build robots that can carry two paper cups filled with water for 20 feet — all in a race next week, HowieBlog.com reports. (The video above is from the 2008 competition involving water balloons.) I…
Colleges and Students Would Benefit From White House Tax Compromise Among the expiring tax breaks the deal would extend are a research-and-development tax credit and a trio of deductions and credits for college tuition. (chronicle.com) Why WikiLeaks Is Bad for Scholars The cumulative effect of governments’ likely responses will make it harder for political scientists…
Three more groups have won state approval to sponsor charter schools in Minnesota as part of a new law meant to make so-called authorizers more accountable.