[ti:A Review of Education Reports This Past Year]
[ar:Shirley Griffith]
[al:Education Report]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]This is the VOA 
[00:01.61]Special English 
[00:03.20]Education Report.
[00:05.04]Early this year, 
[00:07.53]Special English 
[00:09.72]began receiving comments 
[00:11.78]about all the stories 
[00:14.07]on our Web site.  
[00:15.91]The Education Reports 
[00:18.31]have received many comments.
[00:21.17]We began the year 
[00:23.41]in the middle of 
[00:24.65]our Foreign Student Series. 
[00:26.89]These were reports about 
[00:30.50]how foreign students could 
[00:32.64]attend a college or university 
[00:34.80]in the United States.
[00:37.29]The report that received 
[00:39.73]the most comments-
[00:41.34]-seventy-three--told how 
[00:44.23]to qualify for free training 
[00:47.32]at an American community college. 
[00:50.26]The next highest number 
[00:52.92]of comments was forty-nine. 
[00:55.27]They were about a report 
[00:57.62]on services at American colleges 
[01:00.56]that help foreign students 
[01:03.20]adjust to studying 
[01:04.94]in the United States.  
[01:07.42]Close behind with forty-eight 
[01:10.71]comments was a report 
[01:12.55]about financial aid. 
[01:14.11]Forty-seven comments 
[01:16.70]followed a story 
[01:17.79]about college student 
[01:19.08]grade expectations. 
[01:21.22]And forty-six people wrote 
[01:24.51]in reaction to our guide 
[01:26.30]to writing college papers.
[01:29.21]Other education stories 
[01:31.99]this past year included 
[01:34.71]the deaths of college test
[01:36.37]preparation pioneer 
[01:37.42]Stanley Kaplan 
[01:40.08]and music educator 
[01:42.29]Bess Lomax Hawes. 
[01:44.63]We explained the work 
[01:47.09]of school nurses. 
[01:48.78]We presented comments 
[01:50.82]about American high schools 
[01:52.86]from foreign exchange students. 
[01:55.86]We discussed the California 
[01:58.95]digital textbook program 
[02:00.94]as well as the use of 
[02:03.19]digital textbooks in general. 
[02:06.04]We talked to education experts
[02:09.78]about teaching handwriting, 
[02:12.16]choosing a college, 
[02:14.15]and publishing research 
[02:16.64]in medical journals.  
[02:18.73]And we looked at the job market 
[02:21.87]for American college graduates 
[02:23.81]as well as for foreign students 
[02:27.01]who finish their educations 
[02:29.25]at American colleges.
[02:32.54]In the coming year, 
[02:34.88]we would also like your help.  
[02:37.22]Please write with suggestions 
[02:40.52]or questions you would like us 
[02:43.13]to answer about American education. 
[02:46.77]Earlier this month, 
[02:49.62]for example, 
[02:50.51]we answered a question 
[02:52.42]about educational technology.
[02:54.98]And we are preparing 
[02:57.69]to answer a few other questions. 
[03:00.69]One is about educator John Dewey. 
[03:04.33]Another is about the United States 
[03:07.96]Military Academy at West Point.
[03:12.49]Post your comments and questions 
[03:16.52]at our Web site, 51voa.com. 
[03:22.99]You can also find transcripts, 
[03:27.13]MP3s and podcasts of our programs, 
[03:33.05]including our Foreign Student Series. 
[03:36.55]We wish you all the best 
[03:39.63]in the New Year, 
[03:40.88]and look forward to hearing from you.
[03:44.27]And that's the VOA Special English 
[03:48.56]Education Report, 
[03:50.30]written by Nancy Steinbach. 
[03:53.22]I'm Shirley Griffith.