Search results for

National high school graduation rates have reached a 40-year high, according to a new report by Education Week. Host Michel Martin asks if this is good news for every district. She speaks one of the report's authors, Chris Swanson, and Mikala Rahn, who founded a Los Angeles charter school for former dropouts.

President Obama and his GOP rivals are sparing over gas prices. In an election year, that pocketbook issue could hurt the president, but Republican voters still have no clear cut nominee to face off in November anyway. Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney square off in Michigan on Tuesday, with poll numbers flipping between the two. Weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz speaks with Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page about these and other news stories from the week.

Eight months after President Obama signed the federal stimulus funding into law, states are seeing the money flow now. A health clinic in a low-income part of Nashville, Tenn., teachers in California and highway construction workers in Illinois were among the beneficiaries.

The yule log debuted on WPIX in New York City 45 years ago this Christmas. Since its first broadcast, the log has inspired a quirky genre of film that's finding new popularity on high-definition televisions and beyond.

The White House has taken some heat for its slow pace in nominating federal judges. But the administration has quietly pursued candidates who are far more diverse in terms of race, gender and sexual orientation than any of its predecessors, a move praised by many. But that strategy may have a cost.

By Catherine M. WelchWilmington, NC – The North Carolina Highway Patrol says seven people were killed in car accidents over the Thanksgiving weekend.…

Bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacterial cells, employ an arsenal of chemical weapons. Microbiologist Vincent Fischetti of Rockefeller University describes using tricks learned from the phage in developing new antibiotics that may be effective even where others fail.

Television critic David Bianculli on the season premier of "L.A. Law".

Polls show that most Americans already know who they want for president in 2012. Both campaigns must target the relatively few truly persuadable voters in swing states — those who may actually decide the election. And the race has begun to try and convince those coveted, sometimes quirky minds.

In an op-ed piece for the Daily Beast, sports columnist Buzz Bissinger writes that an "insidious culture of sports in America" helped cover up the child sex abuse scandal at Penn State. He argues that the NCAA should ban the university's football program for five years.