NYC pupils will design video games to crack code

A computer program that teaches students to code by designing their own video games is being introduced into New York City public schools as part of a scheme to give every student access to computer science education. The Scalable Game Design program was developed over two decades by Professor Alexander Repenning of the University of Colorado Boulder. The intention was to combat the widely held notion that computer programming was “hard and boring”, he said.

Increase private education to boost GDP, study says

Sending more children to private schools would add billions to the British economy, according to research released this week. GDP per capita in the UK could have been more than pound;5,000 higher in 2007 if access to private education had been opened up using taxpayer-funded vouchers, the report claims. This is because greater competition between private schools promotes better quality education, thus improving the economy, it argues. In the UK, 7 per cent of students attend private schools. But the study by right-wing thinktank the Adam Smith Institute claims that if between 1960 and 2007 the attendance level had matched that of the Netherlands, where two-thirds of students are independently educated, the UK’s annual growth rate would have been nearly 1 percentage point higher.

Maths school revolution gets off to a slow start

Just three universities have agreed to back specialist maths schools for 16- to 18-year-olds, TES can reveal. In November 2011, the government announced that it wanted to create a “network” of schools to “give our most talented young mathematicians the chance to flourish”. At the time, it was widely suggested by government sources that between 12 and 16 maths schools would be set up. A Freedom of Information request made by TES reveals that just one application - from the University of Central Lancashire - has been received since January 2013. King’s College London and the University of Exeter are opening schools in September.

A Teaching Moment in Time: the sequel

TES is calling on teachers around the globe to take part in the world’s largest teaching experiment by tweeting or emailing a photograph of what they and their students are up to at 11am local time on 12 September. The project follows the success of last year’s A Teaching Moment in Time event, which caught the imagination of the world’s teachers, attracting contributions from as far afield as the South Pacific and Egypt. To take part in this year’s event, go to tesconnect.comteaching-moment

Greece hit by teacher supply crisis

The Greek government is attempting to hire more than 22,000 supply teachers to plug a staff shortage ahead of the new academic year. The government is in a race against time to find the substitute teachers after the mass retirement of teaching and administrative staff in schools up and down the country. Ministers said that the supply crisis had resulted from no new teachers being employed since 2013, owing to the dire state of public finances.