VOA Learning English Lesson 2

A Review of Education Reports This Past Year

In two thousand nine, Special English Web site users began posting comments about our stories on our Web site. The Education Reports have received many of those comments.

We began the year in the middle of our Foreign Student Series. These were reports about how foreign students could attend a college or university in the United States.

The report that received the most comments–seventy-three–told how to qualify for free training at an American community college.

The next highest number of comments was forty-nine. They were about a report on services at American colleges that help foreign students adjust to studying in the United States.

Close behind with forty-eight comments was a report about financial aid. Forty-seven comments followed a story about college student grade expectations. And forty-six people wrote in reaction to our guide to writing college papers.

Other education stories included the deaths of college test preparation pioneer Stanley Kaplan and music educator Bess Lomax Hawes.

We explained the work of school nurses. We had a report about what foreign exchange students thought about American high schools. We discussed the California digital textbook program as well as the use of digital textbooks in general.

We talked to education experts about teaching handwriting, choosing a college, and publishing research in medical journals. And we looked at the job market for American college graduates as well as for foreign students who finish their educations at American colleges.

Now we would like your help. Please write with suggestions or questions you would like us to answer about American education. We might be able to answer them on this program. In December, for example, we answered a question about educational technology.

And we are preparing to answer a few other questions. One is about educator John Dewey. Another is about the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Post your comments and questions on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. You can also find transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our programs, including our Foreign Student Series. We look forward to hearing from you. And thats the VOA Special English Education Report.