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Nicolas Cage’s father, literature professor August Coppola, has died at age 75

Nicolas Cage’s father, August Coppola, dead at 75

Report says states set low student achievement bar, bolsters Obama on common standards

Report: States set low bar for student achievement

Parents file lawsuits on behalf of students aim to halt Hawaii teacher furloughs

HONOLULU — Two groups of parents angered by the prospect that Hawaii children will be in school nearly three dozen fewer days over the next 20 months have filed lawsuits seeking to halt teacher furloughs set to begin Friday.

New breed of Home Economics focuses on careers instead of homemaking

HOUSTON — In just 40 minutes, Cafe Mirabeau would fill with hungry patrons — and every dish needed to be delectable, every plate a model of perfect presentation.

Hawaii reducing school year and closing classrooms on Fridays amid recession

HONOLULU — At a time when President Barack Obama is pushing for more time in the classroom, his home state has created the nation’s shortest school year under a new union contract that closes schools on most Fridays for the remainder of the academic calendar.

Medical examiner: UConn football player killed by single stab wound, death ruled a homicide

STORRS, Conn. — An autopsy shows a University of Connecticut football player was killed by a single stab wound to his abdomen, and the state medical examiner’s office has ruled his death a homicide.

Editors of student humor publication at Oregon college apologize for satire about killing Jews

PORTLAND, Ore. — A student editor at a college campus-run humor publication in Portland says he and others plan to be more cautious when making decisions about the newspaper’s content after running a phony article that said students at another college killed all the Jews at their school.

On nationwide math tests, fourth-grader progress stalls but eighth-graders improve

WASHINGTON — New math scores show fourth-graders made no gains since 2007, the first time in two decades they have failed to improve. Eighth-graders advanced for yet another year.

College students lukewarm to Kindle textbooks: What about doodling in the margin?

SEATTLE — It’s an experiment that has made back-to-school a little easier on the back: Amazon.com gave more than 200 college students its Kindle e-reading device this fall, loaded with digital versions of their textbooks.

NM Indian school beats poverty, language barrier to boost reading, math scores in 3 years

TOHATCHI, N.M. — Fifth grader Darius Yazzie’s after-school chores include hauling water for horses and feeding chickens, while his classmate, Shanika Begay, rides a bus 15 miles each way through the rolling hills of this impoverished corner of the Navajo Nation.

Witnesses: Instructors rushed to help bleeding student after stabbing attack at UCLA lab

LOS ANGELES — Blood gushed from a student’s neck and formed a puddle on the floor of a UCLA lab as instructors struggled to stanch the wound.

Kennedy Center program that links arts groups with struggling schools could reinvent education

WASHINGTON — The Kennedy Center is announcing a new program that could reinvent arts education for schools struggling with budget cuts and fewer art teachers.

Summary of key events in the life and times of President Barack Obama

WASHINGTON — President Barack Hussein Obama’s long, winding path to the White House was strewn with a mix of personal and social obstacles, victories and defeats, comebacks and come-uppances. A summary of key points in his life, his quest for the presidency and key themes and goals he’s articulated while in the White House:

Obama hosts White House party where the stars (and the moon and Jupiter) are the real stars

WASHINGTON — Call it a star party with real star power.

Young people in 4-H do better in science and are more likely to pursue it, Tufts study finds

BOSTON — American universities have an ally in their efforts to educate more students in science, technology and engineering and keep the nation competitive in the global economy, a Tufts University study released Wednesday shows.

Supreme Court declines to review constitutionality of Fla. Pledge of Allegiance law

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal to review a Florida law that requires public school students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance each day unless they have their parents’ written permission excusing them.

Indonesia calls off search for survivors under rubble, focuses on rebuilding after quake

PADANG, Indonesia — Helicopters dropped instant noodles and other aid to cutoff hillside communities that were without food for five days, as rescue workers gave up their search Monday for survivors from last week’s massive Indonesian earthquake.

Victims of Indonesian quake threatened by storms, possible landslides

PADANG, Indonesia — Heavy rain threatened to trigger more landslides and hamper delivery of desperately needed aid Monday on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where thousands of people were buried by last week’s powerful earthquake.

Some students get classes in tents after Indonesian quake ravages school system

PADANG, Indonesia — Hundreds of children went back to class Monday in schools set up in tents in Indonesia’s earthquake zone to get counseling on the loss of loved ones and homes, as authorities tried to restore normalcy after the disaster.

Freshmen at large universities embrace ‘psychologically smaller’ approach to college life

COLUMBIA, Mo. — The freshman experience at large state universities can still resemble a failed social experiment more than the start of a four-year journey to enlightenment.