Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner said that half of Chicago teachers were "illiterate" in a 2011 email, recently released to a city newspaper.

Over the last two decades, STEM teachers have become increasingly more likely to be female and well-qualified.

Marc Tucker explores the critical importance of trust in successful education systems and how trust was lost in U.S. education.

Saskia perseveres through language learning and connects with a young Albanian girl who becomes a follower of Jesus.

From age 17, Ana Maria prayed to serve God in Switzerland. While she waited, she became a dance instructor with no idea dance would become her ministry.

An OM worker in Cambodia shares about how a new training she is attending is transforming the way she does ministry.

Penn State Schuylkill LionLaunch held its fourth annual Business Plan Competition on Thursday, April 16. The program awarded $6,000 in funding to three small businesses at the competition, totaling $69,000 awarded to 21 small businesses throughout Schuylkill County over the last four years.

UEFA is to introduce minimum medical requirements at UEFA competition matches from the start of next season, with guidelines drawn up by the UEFA Medical Committee.

Talented young referees and international women referees are in Nyon this week for the latest courses in UEFA's referee development programme.

Youth and grassroots football was the focus on Tuesday as UEFA President Michel Platini attended the finals of a grassroots programme and a new maxi-pitch was opened in Bucharest.

Europe's up-and-coming referees are urged to make the most of their potential, as the UEFA referee talents and mentors programme continues to prove value for the future.

UEFA's technical team of experienced trainers will look at the trends and talking points at UEFA EURO 2012 from a coaching point of view, helping to produce a report on the tournament.

Youngsters in Northern Ireland celebrated UEFA EURO 2012 with a specially-themed event for UEFA Grassroots Day, one of several activities arranged across the country.

Former Swiss internationals including Pascal Zuberbühler helped turn the UEFA European Women's Under-17 Championship semi-finals into a family-orientated festival of football.

AS Roma's Italian midfield star Daniele De Rossi is handed a test of his passing accuracy with a new UEFA Training Ground challenge.

Youth and grassroots football was the focus as UEFA President Michel Platini attended the finals of a grassroots programme and a new maxi-pitch was opened in Amsterdam.

Matto Christ Church in Ishikawa prefecture experienced many answers to prayer since they were introduced to prayer walking by an OMer.

Source: The Irish Times - Harold Kingston, who runs a dairy farm in Courtmacsharry, Co Cork, with 160 cattle, is typical of the new generation of smart farmers, who have adjusted how they work in response to climate change.

Source: El Periódico - Las políticas climáticas que se centran en la agricultura y los bosques podrían llevar al aumento de los precios de los alimentos, pero reducir la deforestación e incrementar la captura de carbono en la agricultura podría reducir significativamente las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero, evitando riesgos para la seguridad alimentaria, según un nuevo estudio publicado en 'Environmental Research Letters'.

Source: EFE Verde - La ex secretaria de cambio climático de la ONU que alcanzó el Acuerdo de París y actual directora del proyecto Misión 2020, Christiana Figueres, subraya que EE.UU. "se queda rezagado y pierde competitividad" abandonando el Acuerdo de París y cediendo a otros países el liderazgo de la economía baja en carbono.

The new school year is guaranteed to intensify the already contentious debate about ways to narrow the achievement gap between the nation's second largest ethnic group and its white counterparts. I'm referring to the performance of Hispanics, whose numbers have grown dramatically over the past four

While foreign language requirements have long been a core requirement for high school graduation--second language classes at an earlier age would improve overall fluency for most students.

Dozens of states offer the seal of biliteracy, but more than 80 percent of students who earn the honor are concentrated in just five states, a new report reveals.

Nearly 20 years after voting to restrict bilingual education in a state with more than 1 million schoolchildren who don't speak English as their first language, California voters appear poised to reverse that ban.

Californians are expected to reinstate bilingual education. The vote is likely to be a milestone in the rise of Latino voting power. Bad news for Donald Trump; worse news for the GOP.

The ballot measure essentially repeals Proposition 227, the 1998 law that made it tougher for districts to offer bilingual education.

In California, nearly 1 in every 4 children don't speak English fluently. On Election Day, the state's voters will decide whether to overturn a longstanding policy of teaching these children in English-only classrooms, or whether to embrace bilingual forms of teaching.

After nearly two decades of restrictions, educators say it will take time for schools to create new programs and hire bilingual teachers.

Teaching via combined languages is important, as multiple races and immigrants from different countries live in the United States.

The new law overturns a nearly 15-year-old law that had eliminated bilingual education in most of the state's public schools.

Dual-language-immersion students in Portland, Ore., outperformed their peers in English-reading skills by a full school year's worth of learning by the end of middle school.

Demand for bilingual, biliterate graduates is high. Experts in dual-language learning explain how schools can start programs and strengthen existing ones.

More than 30 states and the District of Columbia have reported shortages of bilingual, dual-immersion, and English-as-a-second-language teachers, finds a new report by New America's Dual Language Learners National Work Group.

In 24 states and the District of Columbia, dual-language learners comprise more than 20 percent of children ages 8 and younger.

The extra work that many dual-language bilingual educators take on "too often goes unrecognized and is never remunerated," a new small-scale study concludes.

The recent wave of teacher strikes reflects a broader phenomenon, blurring the boundaries between national and local school politics, write three education professors.

While the number of principals running for office has been dwarfed by teachers, school leaders are hoping to change policies in statehouses and in Washington that they say impact their students and families.

There are five key values to consider when separating campaign rhetoric from how a candidate would actually govern, writes Robert Feirsen.

Both the AFT and the NEA vowed to engage their members more deeply this year in deciding who to back for the White House. How well have they done?

It is not known whether birth at a pediatric cardiac specialty center or at a hospital with a higher neonatal level of care affects mortality for infants with ductal-dependent congenital heart disease.

For infants with ductal-dependent congenital heart disease, there is no difference in 90-day mortality for those born at specialty centers versus other centers in the state of Washington. (Read the full article)

A number of studies have examined the early impact of the varicella vaccination program on varicella-related hospitalizations and have found evidence of decline after vaccine implementation.

This study further documents the continued decline in varicella-related hospitalizations during the 1-dose varicella vaccination era and demonstrates statistically significant declines of >65% in all age groups. These data suggest that varicella vaccination prevented ~50 000 hospitalizations from 2000 to 2006. (Read the full article)

The extent to which young adults' laboratory-confirmed sexually transmitted disease results and self-reported sexual behaviors are consistent has not been assessed in a nationally representative sample.

The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether young adults' reports of recent sexual behavior (presence of penile/vaginal sex in the previous 12 months) correspond with the presence of laboratory-confirmed nonviral STDs assessed by nucleic acid amplification testing. (Read the full article)

There have been no previous large studies of congenital heart disease in very low birth weight infants.

This study characterized the frequency, mortality rate, and lesion distribution of serious congenital heart disease in very low birth weight infants by using a large international multicenter database. (Read the full article)

Corticosteroids inhibit the expression of many proinflammatory cytokines released during the course of community-acquired pneumonia infection. Corticosteroids have been found in some studies to be associated with improved clinical outcomes in adults with pneumonia. No studies have investigated corticosteroid use in children with pneumonia.

Results showed that corticosteroid treatment in children with pneumonia is common and its use is highly variable across institutions. Although corticosteroid therapy may benefit children with acute wheezing treated with β-agonists, corticosteroid therapy may lead to worse outcomes for children without wheezing. (Read the full article)

Autism has been associated with pregnancy and birth complications that may indicate a suboptimal prenatal environment. Although the interpregnancy interval (IPI) may affect the prenatal environment, the association between the IPI and risk for autism is not known.

Using full-sibling pairs from a large population, the authors examined the association between autism and IPIs. Second-born children conceived after an IPI of <12 months had more than threefold increased odds of autism relative to those with IPIs of ≥36 months. (Read the full article)

The current standard of care includes informing women about prenatal testing and newborn screening for cystic fibrosis and providing genetic counseling to parents whose child is referred for sweat-testing. Despite counseling, early data identified some persistent confusion about residual risk.

Prenatal discussions about carrier testing and newborn screening for cystic fibrosis are not routine. Parental anxiety about abnormal results from a screen is decreased after speaking to a genetic counselor when scheduling the sweat test. Despite counseling, residual risk continues to be poorly understood. (Read the full article)

Optimism later in life is protective against a range of health problems. It has commonly been a focus in adolescent mental health promotion. Cross-sectional studies suggest a protective effect against adolescent health risks, but prospective studies have been lacking.

Optimism is somewhat protective against adolescent health risks; the strongest effect was seen against the onset of new depressive symptoms. Its protective effect against heavier substance use and antisocial behavior was modest and only for the highest categories compared to the lowest. Promoting optimism along with other positive aspects of psychological and emotional style has a role in mental health promotion that is likely to be enhanced if an intervention also addresses risk and protective factors in an adolescent's social context. (Read the full article)

Few epidemiological studies, which included varied exposure assessment, have investigated the relation between drinking-water–disinfection byproducts such as trihalomethanes and hypospadias, and their results have been inconclusive.

Little evidence was found for an association between trihalomethanes and hypospadias, but a novel association between water consumption and hypospadias was found. Factors that influence maternal water consumption, or other contaminants in tap or bottled water, might explain this finding. (Read the full article)

Several correlational studies documented that participants who would be classified as "pathological" video gamers demonstrate a pattern of correlations with other variables that are comorbid (eg, depression) or occur with (eg, poorer grades and increased hostility) other addictions.

Following a large sample across 2 years, this study provides needed data on risk factors for becoming a pathological gamer, how long pathological gaming lasts, outcomes, and whether it is a primary problem or is a symptom of comorbid problems. (Read the full article)