Junior high and high school students and their teachers from throughout the Sacramento region will gather tonight for dinner and inspiration for future careers at a “Dinner with a Scientist” event at the Twin Rivers Unified School District offices in North Highlands.

The keynote speaker will be immunologist James Hildreth, dean of the UC Davis College of Biological Sciences, who will discuss his journey to becoming a scientist.

That journey started at Harvard University, where he graduated magna cum laude in chemistry in 1979. He then went to Oxford University in England as a Rhodes scholar, where he earned a doctorate in immunology in 1982. In 1987, he earned a medical degree at Johns Hopkins’ School of Medicine in Baltimore... Read More

Nona Evans

I know the original saying is “an apple a day” but we’ve learned so much about how easy it is to nourish our bodies with leafy greens and a rainbow of colorful fruits and veggies... Read More

LOS ANGELES (AP) - California's top education official is expected to unveil a new system of student achievement testing on Tuesday.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson was tasked by the state Legislature last year to revamp the state's bank of standardized tests that measure student progress in English language arts and math and qualify high school students for graduation.

The proposed new testing comes as the state starts phasing in new national curriculum standards known as Common Core State Standards. The emphasis of the new testing will be on critical thinking and problem solving skills that will be aligned with Common Core's focus.

The proposal is the result of six months of meetings by a statewide taskforce that has held meetings around California gathering input from educators. 

The Associated Press