2011 NAEP Science Scores, Achievement Levels, and Achievement Gaps
Average NAEP Science Scores and Achievement Levels by State

Fewer than one-third of American 8th graders are proficient in science, but most students are improving, and achievement gaps are closing between students who are black or Hispanic and their white peers, a special administration of the test known as “the nation’s report card” shows.

The National Assessment Governing Board released findings Thursday morning on earth, life, and physical sciences mastery on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP.

Excellent resource to see where your state’s 8th-graders fall (SPOILERS: WI is 14th, go North Dakota, DC will make you cry).

The Scale of the Universe - Interactive
Flash Animation Credit & Copyright: Cary & Michael Huang

I found this scale of the universe on one of my favorite websites the other day and thought both the science and math departments would enjoy it.  The link is to an interactive program that lets you zoom in and out in powers of ten and see the scale of the universe from the large (the visible universe) to the small (quantum foam).  The program is a lot of fun and very interactive. 

via APUSMonty

Twilight of the Lecture

The trend toward “active learning” may overthrow the style of teaching that has ruled universities for 600 years.

Reviewing the test of conceptual understanding, Mazur twice tried to explain one of its questions to the class, but the students remained obstinately confused. “Then I did something I had never done in my teaching career,” he recalls. “I said, ‘Why don’t you discuss it with each other?’” Immediately, the lecture hall was abuzz as 150 students started talking to each other in one-on-one conversations about the puzzling question. “It was complete chaos,” says Mazur. “But within three minutes, they had figured it out. That was very surprising to me—I had just spent 10 minutes trying to explain this. But the class said, ‘OK, We’ve got it, let’s move on.’

via Mr Montgomery

Pearl Harbor Day interactive resources from National Geographic Education allows your students to explore the history of this day. A timeline map with narration steps you through each moment of the attack.

The Privatization of Education

As Lee Fang reports in this week’s issue, under the banner of high-tech innovations and cost-cutting efficiency, privatization warriors have scored a number of significant victories in the past year, pushing over a dozen reforms through state legislatures. In the interactive map above, click on the highlighted states to see which bills reforming online coursework, charter schools and online schools made it into law in 2010 and 2011.

The world at 7 billion: where do you fit?

The Holy Bible and The Holy Quran - A Comparison of Words (by Pitch Interactive)

An online interactive visualization of word occurrences and frequency in The Old and New Testaments, and The Quran (in English). Type in a word to see the results. Can be viewed in either HTML 5 or Flash format.

Try it out here

via prostheticknowledge

Broadband Availability Interactive Map

Great data on data.ed.gov! One of the interactive maps is Broadband Availability, by education level (K-12/College) and speed. Put in your City, State and you’ll see even more specific data (even down to the school).

How educated are your state legislators? Check out this great interactive graphic from The Chronicle .

The Chronicle has looked at where each of the 7,000-plus state legislators in America went to college—or whether they went at all. In doing so, we got a glimpse of how the citizens who hold these seats reflect the average American experience.

Related to the previous post: An interactive on how red light cameras work.

via latimes