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Sugar-laden drinks like soda and some fruit juices have been linked to a wide range of ills, from the current obesity epidemic to the rising incidence of type II diabetes and heart disease in this country. The soda habit is one that frequently begins during youth, particularly for children that have the sugary drinks readily available at home or at school. Fortunately, many schools are taking a stand against allowing these types of drinks on their campuses, with fewer soda options available at public schools, according to a recent study.

Research Methodology

�鶹������ý research conducted by the Institute for Health Research and Policy at the University of Chicago at Illinois indicates that the availability of sugary beverages at the elementary school level is on the decline. The study, conducted by Lindsey Turner and Frank Chaloupka, used the guidelines issued by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) when analyzing their research. The IOM recommends that schools only offer students water, 100-percent juice and non-fat and 1-percent milk on their beverage menus, according to the .

Turner and Chaloupka’s research looked at five years of surveys from public elementary schools nationwide. According to , researchers were able to compile data from hundreds of schools between 2007 and 2011. The information was provided by principals and food service workers that recorded the specific types of beverages available to students and precisely where in the school those beverages were sold.

What the Numbers Show

The research found

Whoever said, “There is no such thing as a free lunch,” could have easily been referring to the state of public education today. In addition to the rising cost of school lunches, many other components of the so-called “free” education system in the United States are also increasing in price. As parents prepare to pack their children off for the world of academia in just a few short weeks, it is wise to weigh the cost of such an endeavor to avoid the sticker shock that many parents face today.

BYOS (Bring Your Own Supplies)

Parents who grew up in school systems that provided supplies to students are often surprised by the long supply lists they are expected to fill before the school year begins. The reports that one Brooklyn mother spent more than $300 on supplies to equip her two first-graders for their year at Public School 130 last year. Included on the list were items like construction paper, crayons, and markers.

However, this parent might have gotten off relatively easy for this school year, as other parents reported purchases of graphing calculators to the tune of $300 apiece and other expensive equipment. Others cite lists that include basic necessities for the classroom, such as hand sanitizer, soap, and paper towels. One parent even told the New York Times that rugs for the classroom turned up on one of her recent supply lists.

Tina Manis, a parent of a New

A new school year is filled with excitement and expectation for most children, but for those who are unsure whether they are prepared for the next grade, the time can also be filled with worry and trepidation. How can parents know definitively their children are ready to advance to the next step of their academic careers? There are several signs to watch for and many more tips parents can use to get their kids started on the right foot when the new school year begins.

Getting Started in Early Education – Separation, Focus, and Reading

The early years of school are an exciting time for children, but they can also be scary for some. To ensure your child is ready to enter the hallowed halls of academia, consider the following:

• Leaving Mom and Dad – Is your child ready to say goodbye to you every morning? If not, begin breaking those attachment ties down by enrolling your tot in a preschool or church program. According to , children entering Kindergarten should be happy away from home and be able to handle basic needs like bathroom trips on their own.
• Focusing on Tasks – Throughout the early years of school, children must learn to focus on tasks and see them through to completion. This process begins in Kindergarten with “circle time” and cut and paste projects and continues through first and second grade, with reading groups, math tests, and writing practice.

The term “gifted” has been thrown around in public education circles for decades – often misused, misdiagnosed and misunderstood. Gifted children may present in various ways; some are positive characteristics and some, are not as desirable. When determining giftedness in a student, it is essential to take a number of factors into consideration, since not all gifted children will exhibit the same characteristics at the same time. This list offers 10 of the most common characteristics seen in gifted students.

Verbal Ability

Gifted children often begin communicating verbally at an early age, and they use vocabulary far beyond their age. These children are often referred to as “precocious” because of their language usage. The website for Amend Psychological Services list some of the verbal features of gifted children as “avid storytellers,” early talkers or those with and extensive and precise vocabulary. These children often choose their words carefully, but tend to use a lot of them. They can also get frustrated with children in the same age group who are unable to understand them and often turn to older children or adults for conversation.

Information Processing

states that gifted children often have an “unusual capacity for processing information” and are often able to process that information more quickly and accurately than their peers. These children typically master subjects like reading and math much more quickly than their peers, which can make it difficult to keep them challenged in a regular school

Although Brown v. Board of Education eliminated school segregation 58 years ago, the idea of bussing students to integrate them more effectively is still going strong in some school districts. Today, the issue is not race as much as it is socioeconomic status—integrating wealthy and low-income students into a diverse student body that performs better academically. Does it work? The answer depends on who asks the question.

In this TED Talk, Kandice Sumner sees the disparity every day in her Boston classroom. In this inspiring talk, she asks us to face the facts and change them.

School Assignments by Socioeconomic Status Not a New Idea

reported more than two years ago that more than 60 school systems used socioeconomic status as a factor in school assignments. These schools made this decision primarily to improve performance in schools with a high concentration of poverty.

“To the extent that we can eliminate the highest concentrations of poverty, or spread more thinly those concentrations of poverty, I think we make the environment a little less challenging for students and staff to be successful,” Michael Rice, superintendent for Kalamazoo Public Schools in Michigan, told USA Today at the time.

Wake County in North Carolina was one of the first school districts in the country to consider bussing based on income level. In 2000, this school district shifted its bussing policy from one