Online College Resources

The National Association of Charter School Authorizers’ Index of Essential Practices 2012

The quality of charters schools is a topic often covered by the media, stemming from debates about the potential impact of charter schools on student achievement. Only a few groups, however, place an emphasis on ensuring the quality of authorizers who contract with charters and have the responsibility to oversee their academic and fiscal performance. One of these groups called the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) publishes an annual report that collects self-reported survey data from authorizers, which indicate the extent to which they comply with the “Index of Essential Practices.” The best practices represent policies that would allow an authorizer to successfully accomplish their roles as a facilitator and compliance officer.

Of the eleven Buckeye State authorizers whom NASCA surveyed (including Fordham), NACSA found that Ohio’s authorizers scored well according to the index. Autho

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UF/IFAS expert: Female mosquitoes become savvy about other-species suitors

Talk about meeting Mr. Wrong.

Female yellow fever mosquitoes sometimes contend with the courtship and mating efforts of males from another, competing species the Asian tiger mosquito.

She’s naïve, he’s sneaky. Both species spread dengue, a viral disease that’s a major human health threat.

In an ironic turnabout, Florida dengue cases may rise in the near future due to female yellow fever mosquitoes becoming savvy about the false-flag suitors, leading to increased yellow fever mosquito populations, says an expert with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

When male Asian tiger mosquitoes successfully deceive yellow fever females, their matings are fruitless – the two species can’t produce offspring together, said Phil Lounibos, a distinguished professor of entomology with UF’s Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory in Vero Beach. Instead, chemi

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MeadWestvaco makes transformative gift to VCU Athletics

Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics has received the largest gift in its history.

As part of its sustained commitment to a thriving downtown Richmond, MeadWestvaco Corporation (MWV), a global leader in packaging and packaging solutions, has pledged $3 million to be paid over 10 years to support the new VCU Basketball Complex project. This new facility will enhance VCU’s stature as an athletic powerhouse and economic engine for downtown Richmond.  Part of the university’s master site plan, the complex is slated to be built adjacent to the Stuart C. Siegel Center.

“Great research universities have strong partnerships with great corporations,” said VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D. “Virgi

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Obama Administration Announces College Scorecard

Are you worried about the cost of attending college?  Well, you’re not alone – and the President has taken notice.  During the 2013 State of the Union last week, President Obama announced the launch of an interactive web-based tool that can help students and their families research the cost of attending particular colleges: the “College Scorecard.” 

The College Scorecard is an interactive database that gives students and their families important information about higher education institutions, including costs, graduation rate, loan default rate, average amount borrowed and employment.

“My administration will release a new ‘College Scorecard’ that parents and students can use to compare schools based on a simple criteria – where you can get the most bang for your educational buck,” said President Obama.

The goal of the College Scorecard is to help students and families make well-informed choices about the affordability of schools.  President Obama’s administration says the tool was created as part of “continued efforts to hold colleges accountable for cost, value and quality.”

Students can search for a college by name, or filter their options using criteria that fit their individual needs, like location, size, campus setting, and degree and major.  Try the card out for yourself by visiting the White House website here: .  

The new College Sco

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What is Happiness?

Aristotle said that happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.  Indeed, everyone wants to be happy. But what is happiness, really?

Does happiness mean something different to each one of us, or is there some common denominator?

One day, as I wondering about all this, I decided that it is time to find out.

I took out my scientist hat, went to the library, search out the psychology section, and took out a tall stack of book on happiness. As it turns out, scientists have a simple, clear definition of happiness, that’s surprisingly useful!

According to psychologists, happiness comes down to the number of positive and negative moment that we experience.

Whether a moment is positive or negative depends entirely on how we feel. So, f

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Governor Kasich’s Straight A Innovation Fund had long gestation

At last week’s ”virtual town hall” meeting to unveil his school funding and reform plan, Governor Kasich asked me to share what I thought was most exciting about his plan. I almost jumped out of my chair with excitement, and responded: “The Straight A Innovation Fund is incredibly exciting…You’re going to be freeing people up, and I think there’s a lot of untapped energy out in the field that’s waiting to, in effect, take charge and take control of the opportunities.”

It was hard to believe that an Ohio governor was actually proposing to create an innovation fund and that it would distribute real money: $100 million in FY2014 and $200 million in FY2015. The idea of a

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