The Daily Report Card: Educating Grandchildren, Criminal Parents, and Unusual Academic Majors
In The Classroom Today:
What’s Your Major? Probably Not One of These – News – The Chronicle of Higher Education Pop quiz: What is the difference between a tangerine and a clementine? If you’re stumped, then you probably did not get a degree from Florida Southern College in citrus studies, an interdisciplinary major that introduces students to the ins and outs of producing and marketing—you guessed it—citrus fruits. Courses include CIT 3301: “Introduction to Citrus” and a for-credit internship in Florida’s citrus industry. If that experience doesn’t result in a full-time job, at least graduates know they’ll have a leg up in the produce aisle on all those chumps who majored in history. Here are some other majors that get extra credit for originality. (chronicle.com)
Education Week: Statistics Show More Grandparents Caring for Grandchildren Years after she’d thought her parenting days were behind her, Minneapolis retiree Sandra L. Smith got the news that her grown daughter in Ohio had been badly injured in an accident. Ms. Smith found herself with custody of her granddaughter, Jonea, who was just entering 1st grade. She had to help the child cope not only with a new home but also a new school. “It did change my world a great deal,” Ms. Smith recalled. “I was disabled when I got her, but I got into a routine of getting up early where I hadn’t before. I got involved more; I joined the PTA.” (Education Week)
Parents of truant children now will be tried in adult court | The Indianapolis Star | indystar.com If children cut class this year, their parents could end up in criminal court. The Marion County prosecutor’s office will now use the adult court system to prosecute the parents of children 11 and younger who have 10 or more unexcused absences — an effort to push parents to take truancy seriously. Previously, such charges against adults were handled in juvenile court, a less intimidating setting that focuses more on rehabilitation than punishment. (Indianapolis Star)