To read or not to read? That is the question that English teachers are asking when it comes to including the work of William Shakespeare in their classes While Shakespeare remains the most produced playwright in the theater, his work is fading from English ccourses. Students at the University of Arizona can now choose between…
Seventy. That’s the percentage of fourth graders in Arizona who don’t read proficiently. If that isn’t alarming enough, a whopping 56 percent of third-graders failed the reading portion of the AzMERIT test in 2017, meaning they scored neither proficient nor highly proficient. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, 65 percent of fourth-graders nationwide…
The books are back in town. The Tucson Festival of Books returns to the University of Arizona campus Saturday and Sunday for the ninth year. Hannah Isaac, an AmeriCorps volunteer with the Festival of Books, says they are expecting 135,000 people to attend this year. The festival will have over 350 authors involved of all…
Children in rural and poor communities face a shortage of preschools due to underfunding and lack of access. Yet research has shown that children who come from these communities benefit the most from early education programs. “Kids who grow up in poverty tend to have a lower vocabulary and fewer experiences to be socialized in…
Nelly Valenzuela, wearing a white sports jacket and light blue jeans, walks into class smiling as she holds a tray of cinnamon rolls with the knife carefully placed on top to share with her fellow classmates. Valenzuela, a Mexican native, has become a regular attendee of the adult English language classes at the Quince Public…
