Early Eaters
While many Americans are slurping the last of their wake-me-up lattes, some students at Lowell High School in Massachusetts have moved on to lunch. The school recently won permission from the federal government to introduce a 9:30 a.m. lunch period. The reason for the early hour: It solves overcrowding pressures and scheduling conflicts at the 3,900-student school.
Color Blind?
Both black and white children score higher on math and reading tests when their teachers are the same race they are, a study of 6,000 Tennessee schoolchildren suggests. The National Bureau of Economic Research finds that this connection is particularly strong for poor children, students with inexperienced teachers, and kids attending segregated schools. On the bright side, the group says race- linked test-score differences disappear when kids are assigned to smaller classes.
Air Freshener
Regular gas is passé for some California school buses this year. Subsidized by several sources, including an oil company, the Los Angeles and San Diego districts are converting more of their school buses to environmentally friendly, low-sulfur diesel vehicles. Although school officials from other states have expressed interest in following their example, the higher cost may prevent wider use of the technology for several years, says a spokesperson.
Love Notes
Teachers may be paid less than their friends in other industries, but they have an edge in the dating game, according to Glamour. The magazine recently dispatched writers pretending to be preschool teachers, lawyers, and other professionals to bars to gauge which careers make women attractive to men. Their martini-fueled research implies that guys consider teachers more desirable than refugee workers, lawyers, and dentists, and less desirable than only massage therapists and flight attendants.
