海角大神

For women in Alabama, there鈥檚 a generational divide over right and wrong when it comes to weighing loyalty, ethical behavior, tax cuts, and Roy Moore鈥檚 candidacy.

What would Jesus bake? The US Supreme Court weighs in on whether free speech rights trump civil rights when a baker chooses not to sell a wedding cake to a gay couple.

The next story deftly weaves a big political shift in Zimbabwe into the fabric of the lives of new moms and dads, forming a tapestry of cautious, newfound hope.

If you鈥檙e a refugee, you get used to temporary, stopgap solutions. That鈥檚 why the construction of two solar electricity plants for Syrian refugees epitomizes a deeper commitment to progress.

In Tulsa, Okla., they鈥檝e learned that high school graduation rates rise when relationships are built with students, especially those with challenges outside of school.聽

The graduation rate for American high school students reached a record high in 2016, according to a new federal report. Of course, such data has only been collected in a standardized way since 2011. And many public schools, facing pressure to succeed, have been accused of lowering standards to help students earn a diploma. Still, the progress appears real. Over five years, the graduation rate has steadily risen from 79 percent to 84 percent. Even better, all disadvantaged groups saw an increase.

Other measures of student achievement, such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress, do not indicate as much progress or even show a decline in certain measures. Yet the larger point is that many schools are showing improvements, and one cause may be higher expectations. Ever since the 1983 landmark report 鈥淎 Nation at Risk鈥� put a spotlight on the poor state of public schools, governments have lifted standards and instilled an expectancy of success in classroom learning.

Not all efforts aimed at holding schools accountable 鈥� such as the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act or the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act 鈥� have been welcomed. But no one can deny that the focused attention on education is driving reforms.

A surprising example of progress is the Chicago Public Schools. Despite the city鈥檚 social and economic disadvantages, its schools have shown above-average progress in raising the reading and math levels for elementary students, according to new research by Stanford University. One reason, according to The New York Times, are the attitudes of educators. 鈥淲hatever kids come in here, we know we can grow them,鈥� one principal, Tracey Stelly, told the Times. 鈥淲hen kids come in the building, they know, 鈥楾his is where I belong.鈥� 鈥�

Research studies that prove teacher attitudes can improve 鈥� or worsen 鈥� a student鈥檚 performance are surprisingly few. Perhaps the most definitive study is a recent one by Seth Gershenson of American University and Nicholas Papageorge of Johns Hopkins University. They used data that tracked 10th-grade students into adulthood and also measured what teachers expected of each child in future performance. The scholars showed that students randomly assigned to a teacher whose expectations were 40 percent higher than another teacher were 7 percent more likely to complete a four-year college degree.

Teachers do make the ultimate difference in education, not in positive thinking but in understanding each student鈥檚 innate abilities and qualities of thought. They can help students overcome disadvantages often seen as intractable, such as family dysfunction or poor skills in English. And with this high expectation in the classroom, more students are able to finish 12th grade, raising the educational attainment for the whole United States.