According to the recent Donor Confidence Report issued by Campbell-Rinker, a marketing research company for the nonprofit world, the overall Donor Confidence Index fell lower than any point since December 2008, meaning donors are less sure of their giving. That’s the bad news. The good news is the same report says that giving to educational institutions “remains relatively untouched by waning donor confidence in the post-summer season.”

More and more, you see tattoos on people from all walks of life. Body art is becoming mainstream. American tattoo artist Don Ed Hardy has a hugely successful clothing line based on his art, which has branched out into shoes and even fragrance. His art is marketed in high-profile fashion areas.

“The current economy.” Those words often reverberate with some fear—fear that your school is pricing itself out of the market. And then the question comes, “Should we lower our tuition?” Or, “How do we keep our school affordable?” That question has become a hot topic on ISM’s Just for Heads listserv. The predominant response was “NO.” Once you lower tuition—even as a temporary response to a current economic condition—it is difficult to bring it back up to where it belongs to support your programs. Your school gets into a spiral of catch-up and your programs—and your mission—suffer.

The University of Chicago led a study observing math test scores of female students over the 2008-2009 school year. The study revealed that first-and second-grade girls scored significantly lower on math tests than their peers after spending a year with a teacher anxious about his/her own mathematic abilities.

The Internet isn’t just for kids and computer nerds anymore. In fact, you don’t even have to be computer savvy any longer to have your own Web presence out there among the millions and millions of digital pages. All you need is something to say.

On August 17, 2010, USA Today reported exclusively on research findings from Michigan State University, revealing that the youngest students in their grades are 60% more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than their older classmates. A second study conducted by researchers at North Carolina State University came to similar conclusions. Both are scheduled for publication in the Journal of Health Economics.

Night sky observing this October (or for the southern hemisphere, this November) will be one of the best fall shows in decades. Hartley 2, a comet first discovered in 1986, will be the closest to Earth it’s been in decades, promising to add excitement to science classrooms worldwide. And, you don’t have to be a science teacher or student to find this night sky appearance exciting. For anyone with an interest in astronomy, this is something you should be sure to see. And, with several weeks of viewing opportunity, there really isn’t a reason not to steal a glimpse of this newly discovered comet.

Early into this school year, the mom of a middle-school boy posted on Twitter: “Anyone else been told by their child's principal that because they play video games and talk of them at school they will have BIG issues later?” President Barack Obama urged families to “turn off the TV, put away video games, and read to your child.” On the other hand, the government has sponsored an application-design contest, looking for the best mobile-phone games and apps to battle the plague of obesity.

Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has embraced gaming to help teach children civics. iCivics.com is a Web site free to all schools and students.

In an algebra class in Delaware, students are asked to complete a short series of problems when they arrive in class. First, the teacher sees cooperative learning going on, then moves on to discuss what he calls the drill so that the students will understand what they did right and wrong. Out in Colorado, algebra teacher Karl Fisch approaches his lessons backwards. He flips what we have all come to know as the standard class. Rather than spend time providing the lesson and then having students go home only possibly be frustrated and confused trying to complete the homework, Fisch uses class time to discuss the lesson, when he is there to help them understand it. Students watch the lesson at home on YouTube. Homework, he says is problematic. In the traditional teaching model, he’s found that one group of students “get it” and go home and do the homework correctly. A second group gives up before even trying, for a variety of reasons. The third group will struggle through it and probably do it wrong, which means going over the concept again.