Academic Achievement

American households with children have an average of 2.8 televisions. Ninety-seven percent of those households have one or more VCRs or DVD players. Two-thirds have at least one computer. If you think American kids are media-saturated, you're right. But if a new study conducted by the Bloomberg School of Public Health at the Johns Hopkins University is to be believed, it's not the quantity that matters; it's where kids are being saturated. "We looked at the way kids use media and how it related to academic achievement," says Dina Borzekowski, lead author of "The Remote, The Mouse, and the No. 2 Pencil," a research paper on the project that was published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine yesterday.

Annapolis schools could have nearly $800,000 next year for academic and behavior interventions and teacher training from a grant partially restored by the state legislature, and revenues from an elementary school parking lot. Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. did not include a $1 million challenge grant in his proposed budget last year or this year, although state budget officials have said funding for county schools increased overall. But just as last year, the legislature returned $558,000 of the grant to Annapolis schools in its spending plan, which Ehrlich is expected to sign.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has announced he will sign an executive order on Monday in Annapolis to create the Governor's Commission on Quality Education in Maryland. He said he plans to appoint Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele to chair the panel. The purpose of the commission is to examine issues critical to the academic achievement for all students in Maryland, the governor's office said. The commission's inaugural meeting is planned after the signing of the executive order.

Calling Baltimore County's middle schools a "weak link," Superintendent Joe A. Hairston is proposing an overhaul that would toughen instruction for sixth- to eighth-graders and focus their learning on core subjects such as language arts and math. The goal is to improve academic achievement, which test scores indicate drops after pupils leave elementary school. "Middle schools must challenge students to meet higher academic standards, and the curriculum should emphasize a deeper understanding of concepts," said Hairston, who presented the plan to the school board last week.

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Democrats lament that the presumptive war with Iraq has kept them from focusing the public's attention on domestic issues. OK, let's talk about one of their favorite domestic issues: education. Most Democratic candidates (and sometimes a few Republicans) promise that if elected, or re-elected, they will fight to spend more money for education. They imply a relationship between increased spending and better academic performance. The public has mostly accepted this line of thinking.

ONE OF the great mysteries of all time - alongside Stonehenge and tomato plant wilt - is what motivates a teen-ager to succeed in school. If parents knew the answer, fewer teen-agers would have to wait until the next report card before getting their driver's license, and more would go on to college. By the time a teen-ager enters high school, academic habits are usually well-established and - with their kids grown so big and mouthy - parents are either counting their blessings or throwing up their hands in resignation.

The Howard County school system says one of its top priorities is the elimination of the so-called "achievement gap" between groups of district students aiming to reach state standards of success. The system's Office of Academic Support's sole purpose is to deal with that issue - and, during the past three years, has expanded its efforts and earned high praise. But neither board members nor Superintendent John R. O'Rourke have added money to next year's proposed operating budget to help that office.

The Howard County school system says one of its top priorities is the elimination of the so-called "achievement gap" between groups of district students aiming to reach state standards of success. The system's Office of Academic Support's sole purpose is to deal with that issue - and, during the past three years, has expanded its efforts and earned high praise. So why didn't board members or Superintendent John R. O'Rourke add money to next year's proposed operating budget to help that office tackle Howard's most pressing problem?

THE ARTS play an essential role in the quality of education and in the quality of city life. The connection becomes clear when we examine the evidence. Children thrive in schools with arts education. This is not new. Rigorous national research supports the idea that arts instruction has a profound influence on academic achievement, discipline, the development of skills and critical thinking. The arts inspire students to achieve and challenge students to examine the world in different ways.

OCEAN CITY -- Twelve-year-old Brittanie Thornton was taking no chances yesterday. Shrieking at the top of her lungs, clutching an inner tube with one hand and pinching her nostrils tight with the other as she hurtled down a giant plastic tube at Splash Mountain Water Park, the rising seventh-grader from William H. Lemmel Middle School in Baltimore had but one worry. She was not bothered by the 60-foot drop or the speed of her descent. But she was absolutely determined that no water get up her nose.