Dr. Robert Beichner is an award-winning professor of physics at North Carolina State University and is receiving the Prize for his work at the post-secondary level. He has changed how students learn in the science classroom not only on his home campus, but at the more than 100 institutions of higher education that have adopted SCALE-UP, an approach that uses digital technology combined with innovative teaching approaches centered on hands-on activities and roundtable discussions. He was named an American Council on Education Fellow for the 2010-11 academic year and co-authored the most widely used college physics textbook in the country. Since 2007 he has been the Director of NC State’s STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) Education Initiative, with a mission to study and improve STEM education in North Carolina and around the world.

Dr. Mitchel Resnick, Professor of Learning Research at the MIT Media Lab, develops new technologies and activities to engage children in creative learning experiences, helping them learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively. He is receiving the Prize for his work in pre-K and elementary education. His Lifelong Kindergarten research group developed ideas and technologies underlying the LEGO Mindstorms robotics kits and the Scratch programming environment and online community, used by millions of young people around the world. He also co-founded the Computer Clubhouse project, an international network of more than 100 after-school learning centers where youth from low-income communities learn to express themselves creatively with new technologies.

Julie Young is President and CEO of the nation’s largest and most influential virtual program: Florida Virtual School (FLVS). She is receiving the Prize for her work in secondary education. Young became interested in combining technology and learning while serving as a teacher trainer for a partnership between her district and IBM. Since its inception in 1997 when it enrolled 77 students, the school has evolved both in offerings and number of students. FLVS, a public school free to all Florida students and supported by tax dollars, currently provides online instruction in over 125 courses to more than 130,000 K-12 students. In addition to directing the work of 1,500 employees, Young is a frequent national speaker and sits on numerous boards. She was also recognized by Technology & Learning Magazine as one of the “Top 30 influencers in Ed Tech,” along with Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.

For the rest of the article, go to 2011 McGraw Prize in Education Winners Named

According to documents filed in the suit, Pungitore emailed Suffern Middle School guidance counselor Travis Jackson Jr. in October with concerns that her then-eighth-grade daughter was “upset” because she wasn’t being challenged in her current math class, high school honors algebra.

In the ensuing email exchange detailed in the suit, Pungitore and Jackson discussed the possibility of the student’s placement in an accelerated math class offered by the district through the Florida Virtual School.

At the time, the class included only male students, according to the documents.

At a meeting in November, the student’s parents, her guidance counselor and her teachers discussed the need to challenge the student’s “gifted and accelerated mathematical abilities,” documents state.

The teachers and counselors made recommendations regarding her placement in the program, but the request for the student to join the advanced class was turned down by Barbera.

“Mrs. Barbera did not feel FVS was a viable option for current eighth-grade students scheduled for honors algebra,” Jackson wrote in an email to Pungitore on Dec. 7, documents state.

For the rest of the article, go to Ramapo Central faces sex-bias lawsuit involving student