VOASE1205_Education Report

05 December 2007

Excuse Me, Professor, How Much Do You Earn?
We answer a question about the salaries of American professors.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Today we answer a question from a listener who wants to become a Spanish professor. Orlando Carvajal asks how much professors earn in the United States.

Money from the sale of books written by professors can add to their salaries. Florida State University professor Darrin McMahon shows his book 'Happiness: A History.'

We looked in the almanac published by the Chronicle of Higher Education. It shows that the average salary for full professors last year was ninety-nine thousand dollars. For associate professors it was seventy thousand. And for assistant professors it was fifty-nine thousand dollars.

Private, independent schools pay more than public colleges and universities. But how do professors compare with other professions? For that we turn to the latest numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Assistant professors earned about the same last year as workers in business and financial operations. But they earned about ten thousand dollars less than computer programmers, for example.

The highest paying group of jobs in the United States is in management. The average wage last year was ninety-two thousand dollars. Next came lawyers and other legal workers, at eighty-five thousand.

Orlando also asks about benefits, things like health insurance and retirement plans. Benefits differ from school to school just as salaries do.

The Chronicle Almanac shows that new assistant professors in foreign language earned forty-eight thousand dollars last year. That was a little more than the national average for all education jobs. But averages do not tell the whole story.

Sally Hadden is an associate professor of history and law at Florida State University in Tallahassee. She notes that language professors generally earn less than those in subjects like engineering, for example.

But these days, professors of some languages, including Arabic, can earn much more than Spanish professors. Universities are competing for them with government and industry.

Professor Hadden also notes that colleges in different areas of the country pay different salaries. Some states have strong unions that have negotiated set increases in salaries for professors.

And different schools value different skills in their professors. Community and liberal arts colleges generally value good teaching skills more than big research universities do.

Salaries can also be tied to something else -- tenure. More about that next week.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. Our reports are online with transcripts and MP3 files at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

VOASE1128_Education Report

28 November 2007

Unscientific Poll: Calculators Subtract From Thinking Skills
We asked for your opinions, and found more critics than supporters of using calculators in school.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

A high school student in Pennsylvania works on a math question

Recently we asked how you feel about calculators in school. We heard from about thirty people in twelve countries, including a large number of Chinese.

Turbo Zhang writes: "My brain is rusting. Why? Because I use calculators everywhere, on my mobile phone, on my computer, etc. New technology makes us use everything except our brain."

Joony Zhu says calculators can provide us with an answer, but we may not understand it completely. And a student at an architectural and engineering college in China, Zhao Jing-tao, calls using a calculator "a kind of laziness."

Critics of using calculators in school, at least until high school or university, outnumbered supporters two to one.

Khaled Hamza in Cairo says "calculators affect badly on the thinking ways of students." Jose Gudino from Mexico City says this is because "you don't need to make an effort to get a result."

Hemin, a math teacher in Kurdistan-Iraq, says good math skills help in life. So he believes in solving problems with a pencil until high school.

Randy Bin Lin, a Ph.D. candidate from China at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, writes: "You should work out problems with some kind of pain without computers. Then you may come to appreciate the power of these sophisticated machines."

Abbas from Iran, now living in Sweden, says it is good to use your brain because calculators are not always available. "Last week I met a university student who could not subtract six from forty and used a calculator," says Abbas.

But He Wenbo from China says calculators reduce careless mistakes. And Yang Linwei, an eleventh grader from China, says: "When I was young we couldn't use calculators. But when I entered high school we have to solve a lot of math problems. We have to use a calculator. It makes my homework easier."

From Burkina Faso, Compaore Tewende Michel writes: "I can say that the handheld calculator has been important in my studies and even in my life."

And Barnabas Nyaaba in Ghana advises that "as we enjoy the use of calculators, let's be careful so that it does not have any bad effects on us."

A Chinese abacus, or suan pan

Finally, Thomas, a student in China, says he likes using electronic calculators in school. But he wanted to tell us about what he called a special calculator which he does not know how to use. He even sent us a picture of this special -- and, in fact, ancient -- calculator. In English we call it an abacus.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. I'm Steve Ember.

VOASE1121_Education Report

21 November 2007

Pilgrims Face Competition in Thanksgiving Lessons
Who really did hold the first celebration in America? For some teachers, including those of American Indian children, that is beside the point.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

The fourth Thursday in November is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Tradition says early English settlers known as the Pilgrims held the first celebration in sixteen twenty-one in Plymouth, Massachusetts. They invited local Indians to a feast to thank them for help in surviving their first year in America.

Yet the Berkeley Plantation along the James River in Virginia calls itself the site of the first official Thanksgiving in America. In sixteen nineteen an English ship arrived with directions for the crew to observe their arrival date as a yearly day of thanksgiving to God.

But now comes a book called "America's REAL First Thanksgiving." A Florida schoolteacher, Robyn Gioia, tells the story of Spanish explorer Pedro Menendez who founded Saint Augustine, Florida. He celebrated with a thanksgiving feast with the native Timucua Indians. That was in fifteen sixty-five.

Students at an elementary school in Long Beach, California, prepare for a Thanksgiving performance

So what are schoolchildren learning these days about Thanksgiving?

Sharon Biros is a first-grade teacher in Clairton, Pennsylvania. Her students learn about the holiday as they discuss being good citizens. They read stories about the Indians and the Pilgrims. And the children tell what they are each thankful for.

Many of the families are poor. The school organizes a project in which students bring food and money to share with those in need.

Brook Levin heads a preschool in Broomall, Pennsylvania. She says the kids learn about native culture and the Pilgrims and how people at that time grew their own food. Thanksgiving, she says, is a good time to teach about the importance of sharing. The children make bread and other foods and invite their parents to school to enjoy them.

Cheryl Burrell is curriculum director for the public schools on the reservation of the Winnebago Indian tribe in Nebraska. She is not American Indian, and she says there is only one native teacher. But she says all the teachers are trained in native culture and history.

Students learn about the Pilgrims, she says, but not at Thanksgiving time. They learn about them when they study American history. Thanksgiving is used as a time to strengthen a sense of community.

She says most of the families in the tribe celebrate Thanksgiving just like other Americans do. But in addition the students take part in a traditional Indian harvest festival in October.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. I'm Steve Ember.

VOASE1114_Education Report

14 November 2007

Number of Foreign Students Rises in US
A new report shows a 3 percent increase last year, the first notable gain since 2001.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

A new report says the number of foreign students at colleges and universities in the United States increased three percent last year. This was the first notable increase since two thousand one. And it included a ten percent jump in new international students.

The "Open Doors" report is from the Institute of International Education in New York, with support from the State Department.

American schools last fall had five hundred eighty-three thousand foreign students. The record is five hundred eighty-six thousand. That was set in two thousand two after many years of gains. But after that the numbers fell.

The September eleventh, two thousand one, terrorist attacks led to more restrictive visa requirements. Now, stronger efforts are being made to get more foreign students to study in the United States.

For the sixth year, India sent the most international students last fall, almost eighty-four thousand. That was up ten percent from the year before. China remained in second place, and South Korea was third.

Japan was fourth among the twenty leading senders of foreign students. But the number of Japanese fell sharply -- nine percent.

There were three percent drops from Indonesia and Kenya, the only African country in the top twenty last year. But there were notable increases from Saudi Arabia, Nepal and Vietnam. The number of Saudi students more than doubled, to nearly eight thousand.

For a sixth year, the University of Southern California in Los Angeles had the most foreign students -- more than seven thousand. Columbia University in New York was second.

Other schools in the top five were New York University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Purdue University.

The leading area of study was business and management. That was the choice for eighteen percent of foreign students last year. Second was engineering.

The new report also says more than two hundred twenty thousand Americans studied in other countries. That was during the two thousand five-two thousand six school year. It was a record number, and an increase of eight and a half percent from the year before. But only five and a half percent of them stayed for a full year.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. For a link to the "Open Doors" report, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

VOASE1107_Education Report

07 November 2007

After 40 Years, Calculators in School Still Add Up to Debate
Teachers say electronic brains can be useful, but young students should know basic operations before they begin using them.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Can you do the math: What is one hundred times four, divided by the square root of a hundred? If you know that, then you know the answer to this: How many years ago did three scientists at Texas Instruments invent the handheld electronic calculator?

The handheld electronic calculator was invented in 1967

The answer is forty. The scientists were Jerry Merryman, James Van Tassel and Jack Kilby. Their first device could add, subtract, multiply and divide. It had twelve bytes of memory -- close to nothing compared to today's powerful calculators. And it weighed more than a kilogram.

But it was powered by batteries. That meant it could be taken anywhere. Other electronic calculators had to be plugged into electricity. Not only that, they weighed close to twenty-five kilograms and were almost as big as typewriters.

In the United States, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics says teachers at every level should support the use of calculators. Students are even permitted to use them when they take college entrance tests. That may surprise parents who still think of the days of paper-and-pencil only.

Yet after forty years, calculators in the classroom still add up to the same old debate.

Some education experts think calculators are used too much. Children, they say, learn to depend on these electronic brains instead of their own. Calculators may not only give students answers to questions they do not really understand, critics argue. They may also keep them from discovering ideas for themselves. The danger? Students who cannot even do simple addition and subtraction.

Other experts, though, say calculators have helped make mathematics more understandable to more students. They say calculators give students more time to understand and solve problems -- and to develop a better sense of what numbers mean. That way, the reasoning goes, they can study higher level ideas than they would otherwise. And they can feel better about their abilities.

What do teachers think? Generally they say calculators can be useful -- especially with more complex math. But they also say that young students should know basic operations before they begin using them.

What do you think of calculators in the classroom? Send your thoughts to special@voanews.com. Tell us about your own experience. And be sure to include your name and where you are from.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. Our reports are online with transcripts and MP3 files at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

VOASE1031_Education Report

31 October 2007

From the Airwaves to Webcasting, the Many Sounds of College Radio
Students gain experience at stations that each have their own personality.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

The band Coheed and Cambria performing at the WBRU studio

No two college radio stations sound alike.

(SOUND)

Some stations have a low-budget sound and students do all the work. Others, like WBRU at Brown University in Rhode Island, have a professional operation heard throughout their communities.

College stations play all kinds of music, from jazz to hard rock. Many also have news, including national or international programming.

More than three hundred college radio and television stations belong to a group called Collegiate Broadcasters Incorporated. CBI helps organize a National College Media Conference which this year took place in Washington. Hundreds of students, professors and media professionals were at the four-day event last week.

Warren Kozirenski at the State University of New York-Brockport is chairman of CBI. He points to WBRU as an example of a commercial station, meaning it earns money by selling time to advertisers.

The station is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission which polices the public airwaves. For example, the station could be fined if it broadcasts offensive language.

Many colleges and universities operate stations that are also licensed by the F.C.C but do not sell advertising. They raise money other ways, including donations from listeners. Stations like these including KTRU at Rice University in Houston are known as public broadcasters.

(SOUND)

College radio stations may receive money from the student government or their school administration. Warren Kozirenski says a majority have small budgets of less than fifty thousand dollars a year.

Some stations do not broadcast over the public airwaves so they do not have to follow F.C.C. rules. They stream their programming over the Internet or are heard through cable systems. Or they use low-power transmitters heard only on school grounds. Still, many of their adult advisers want the young broadcasters to act professional.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Jill Moss. I’m Steve Ember.

VOASE1024_Education Report

24 October 2007

Weighing the Idea of a Year Off Before College
Some students use the time to explore professional interests. Others see a 'gap year' as a chance to recover after high school.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

In Britain and other countries, young people sometimes take a "gap year," a year off between high school and college. This idea never gained a big following in the United States. Recent news reports have suggested that interest may be growing, though there are no official numbers.

Charles Deacon is the dean of admissions at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He estimates that in the current first-year class of one thousand six hundred students, only about twenty-five decided to take a year off. He says this number has not changed much over the years.

Mister Deacon says the most common reason is to have a chance to travel. But he says international students may take a gap year to meet requirements at home for military duty.

Some high school graduates see a year off as a chance to recover after twelve years of required education. But it can also give students a chance to explore their interests. Students who think they want to be doctors, for example, could learn about the profession by volunteering in a hospital for a year.

Many colleges and universities support gap-year projects by permitting students to delay their admission. Experts say students can grow emotionally and intellectually as they work at something they enjoy.

The Harvard admissions office has an essay on its Web site called "Time Out or Burn Out for the Next Generation." It praises the idea of taking time off to step back, think and enjoy gaining life experiences outside the pressure of studies. It also notes that students are sometimes admitted to Harvard or other colleges in part because they did something unusual with that time.

Of course, a gap year is not for everyone. Students might miss their friends who go on directly to college. And parents might worry that their children will decide not to go to college once they take time off.

Another concern is money. A year off, away from home, can be costly.

Holly Bull is the president of the Center for Interim Programs. Her company specializes in helping students plan their gap year. She notes that several books have been written about this subject. She says these books along with media attention and the availability of information on the Internet have increased interest in the idea of a year off.

And she points out that many gap-year programs cost far less than a year of college.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Dana Demange. I'm Jim Tedder in Washington.

VOASE1017_Education Report

17 October 2007

Colleges See Green in Sustainability Studies
Schools around the US are developing new programs related to the environment.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

We talked last week about a movement to build environmentally friendly school buildings in the United States. Today we look at the spread of "green" studies in higher education.

Dominican University of California has what it calls the Green MBA program. John Stayton, left, is the director.

Many colleges and universities around the country now offer programs in sustainability studies. These programs combine environmental science, social science, economics, agriculture, renewable energy and other subjects.

Antioch University in New Hampshire and Maharishi University of Management in Iowa are just two of the schools with sustainability programs. At Dominican University of California, near San Francisco, students can receive a master's of business administration in sustainable enterprise. School officials say their Green MBA brings together the aims of the financial world with those of the social justice and environmental movements.

This year, Arizona State University opened its Global Institute of Sustainability. The aim is to do research across many departments, then bring that information to schools, businesses and industries.

Arizona State has also launched a School of Sustainability. Like many sustainability programs, this one grew out of an existing environmental studies program.

The school is just starting its first academic year. Students can take courses towards a master's degree or a doctorate in sustainability. And the school will soon offer undergraduate programs.

Officials say the School of Sustainability aims to educate a new generation of leaders to solve environmental, social and economic problems.

But experts sometimes question whether students who study sustainability will be able to sustain themselves by finding jobs.

Charles Redman is the director of the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University. He says more and more local governments around the country are forming sustainability committees that need environmental experts. And he says companies increasingly want experts who know how to make businesses as environmentally responsible as possible.

He cannot talk yet about graduates of his own school, since it has just started. But he says he does know that among colleges and universities, there is a high demand for professors who can teach sustainability.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Dana Demange. Last week's report about green schools can be found at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

VOASE1010_Education Report

10 October 2007

'Green' Schools Grow Around US
Environmentally friendly designs cost more to build. But supporters say they lead to energy and water savings and healthier students.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

In Alexandria, Virginia, the two thousand students at T.C. Williams High School started classes last month in a new building. It was built as a "green" school based on requirements from the United States Green Building Council.

The council is a nonprofit organization made up of building industry leaders. It has a rating system for buildings called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED.

In two thousand one, there were four schools asking for LEED certification. Now there are four hundred, including T.C. Williams. So far, fifty-eight schools have been recognized for meeting the requirements.

These include protecting natural areas and limiting the amount of chemicals in building materials. They also include better lighting and improved indoor air quality.

Buildings are also rated on how well they use energy and water, and on things like the use of recycling programs.

At T.C. Williams, one example of green design can be seen in the many windows that let in natural light. Students say the sunny rooms help them stay awake during class.

A rooftop garden is designed to provide stormwater control and help keep the building cool in the sun. And an underground tank can store one million seven hundred thousand liters of rainwater for air conditioning and other systems.

The new building cost about ninety million dollars to build. It stands next to the old T.C. Williams building, which officials say will slowly be taken apart and recycled.

T.C. Williams High School is still waiting for the final part of the LEED certification process. Schools receive points for the number of requirements they meet. Buildings are rated silver, gold or platinum.

Around the country, concerns about limited budgets for public schools sometimes lead to objections to investing in green schools. But the Green Building Council points to a report by Capital E, a Washington, D.C., company that serves the clean energy industry.

Capital E examined the cost of thirty green schools in the United States. It says the average cost was only two percent higher compared to a traditional school. And it says this extra cost is small compared to the savings over time from lower energy and water costs and healthier students.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Dana Demange. To learn more about American schools, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Jim Tedder.

VOASE1003_Education Report

03 October 2007

New Civics Questions for US Citizenship Test
Officials announce the 100 questions (and answers) about history and government. The newly redesigned naturalization test will be given starting next October.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

What does the Constitution do? What are the first ten amendments to the Constitution called? What did Susan B. Anthony do?

New American citizens at a naturalization ceremony in Boston

These are three of the one hundred history and government questions on the newly redesigned test for American citizenship. People will begin taking the new test in October of two thousand eight as part of the naturalization process.

The government will provide study materials beginning early next year.

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services announced the new civics questions and answers last week. The reading and writing parts of the naturalization test have also been redone.

Government officials began a project in two thousand to redesign the test. Studies had found differences in how it was being given and scored around the country. There were concerns about fairness.

Also, officials say preparations for the new test will do a better job of helping people understand the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

As for those three questions, the Constitution sets up and defines the government and protects basic rights of Americans. The first ten amendments are called the Bill of Rights. And Susan B. Anthony fought for women's rights.

Some questions have minor changes from the current version. For example, "Who is the President of the United States today?" is replaced by "What is the name of the President of the United States now?"

And some questions no longer appear, such as "What is the name of the ship that brought the Pilgrims to America?" and "What group has the power to declare war?"

There are new questions like: "What is freedom of religion?" "Name one American Indian tribe in the United States." "What major event happened on September 11, 2001 in the United States?" And "What are two ways that Americans can participate in their democracy?" Among the answers to that one are vote, join a political party, run for office or write to a newspaper.

Another new question is "What are two rights only for United States citizens?" The answers are apply for a federal job, vote, run for office and carry a United States passport.

All of the new questions and answers are available free on the Citizenship and Immigration Services Web site. It also has vocabulary lists for the reading and writing parts of the new test. For a link to the site, go to voaspecialenglish.com.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Jill Moss. I’m Bob Doughty.

VOASE0926_Education Report

26 September 2007

The Debate Over Merit Pay for Teachers
Unions argue that linking performance-based pay to student test scores is unfair. A program in Denver offers a number of ways to earn more money.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

More than half the teachers in the Houston Independent School District, the largest in Texas, have earned merit pay awards this year. Marjorie Hunt-Bluford is one of them.

The idea seems reasonable. Recognize better workers with extra pay. But it's not that simple. Performance may be easy to measure in some workplaces. But teachers say a classroom is not one of them.

Last year, we reported on a program in Florida to give merit pay to teachers if student scores increase on a statewide test. But a newspaper in Florida now reports that school systems across the state are rejecting the program for a second year.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune says only about one-third of the school districts in Florida may answer a call for proposals by October first.

Why? Teachers say the program forces them to compete against each other. They say it is unfair to link their pay to results on statewide tests. Also, a high school teacher told the paper that a limited budget means that some top teachers may not be recognized.

Critics say performance-based pay should recognize all that happens in a classroom, not just student performance on tests. All that will do, they say, is get teachers to teach to the test. This is already a concern now that yearly testing is federally required for millions of students.

Attempts at merit pay for American teachers have failed in many cases because of resistance from teachers unions or budget cuts.

Lawmakers in Congress are considering a proposal to provide federal money for performance-based pay. It would give merit pay to teachers who do excellent work in schools in poor areas. But the proposal does not necessarily tie the pay to test scores.

Lawmakers and others point to a successful program in Denver, Colorado. It began in a few schools about eight years ago. Last year it was expanded to all the public schools in the city.

Teachers can earn more by working in unpopular schools or teaching unpopular subjects. They also can earn more by taking classes to improve their teaching, or by raising test scores. The plan also reduces teacher pay if students fail to improve on statewide tests.

A local tax increase pays for the program. Reports from Denver say more teachers are asking to work in lower-income areas. And parents in the Denver area seem to support it.

New programs have begun or are being planned in Minnesota, Maryland and Virginia. But many experts say there is still more to learn about the most effective ways to identify and recognize excellent teachers.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. I'm Steve Ember.

VOASE0919_Education Report

19 September 2007

Longer School Day = More Learning? Not Necessarily
Researchers say teachers must be trained to use added time in the classroom effectively.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Recently we talked about how some American schools have made changes in the traditional school year. Their goal is to improve student learning.

A teacher and student at Barcroft Elementary in Arlington, Virginia. The school uses a year-round schedule instead of a traditional calendar with a long summer vacation.

Some have extended the school year, or reorganized it to avoid a long summer break. Another choice is to extend the school day. A new report from the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy at Indiana University examines research into how effective this is.

The traditional school day has not changed much in more than a century. Activities or special programs might mean a longer day. But younger children usually go to school from about nine o'clock in the morning until about three in the afternoon. Older ones are traditionally in school from about seven a.m. until around two p.m.

Some high schools have changed to later start times because of findings that teenagers learn better that way. But the new report says results have been mixed. Teachers say students are more awake. But students say the changes interfere with after-school activities or jobs.

By two thousand one, almost one-third of all secondary schools had some form of block scheduling. The idea is to provide longer periods in the school day to teach basic subjects.

More class time should mean better results. This is the thinking, at least. Yet a two thousand one study found that secondary schools with traditional schedules had higher test scores by comparison. Schools with block scheduling did have higher scores in science, though.

In any case, the study agreed with earlier findings that students feel better about their schools in systems with nontraditional scheduling.

So how useful is a longer school day? Not surprisingly, the policy experts at Indiana say it is what educators do with the extra time that has the largest effect on student learning. They note a criticism that education leaders often make scheduling changes without changing the learning environment of a school.

The experts say teachers must be trained to use the added time effectively. Professional development is needed. The report notes that simply adding time to a program that is not very good or very interesting will not increase student learning.

Community support is also valuable for any changes. And there is another consideration. Schools may need a lot of extra money to pay for an extended day.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. I'm Bob Doughty.

VOASE0912_Education Report

12 September 2007

Appalachian State in Public Eye After Win Over Michigan
Who would have thought it? Well, some might have. The Mountaineers from North Carolina were two-time national champions at their own division level.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

An exciting start to the college football season: A team that many people never heard of defeats one of the best in the country.

A Michigan player catches the ball, but Appalachian State captured the game

If you follow American sports, then you know we are talking about the Michigan-Appalachian State game. It happened on September first at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, in front of more than one hundred thousand people.

Appalachian State University is in Boone, North Carolina. Its team plays in a stadium that holds about twenty-five thousand people.

The Mountaineers of Appalachian State and the Wolverines of the University of Michigan normally do not even play each other. Michigan is in the newly named Football Bowl Subdivision, the top level of college football. Appalachian State plays in the Football Championship Subdivision.

But they decided to meet for the first time. Michigan agreed to pay Appalachian State four hundred thousand dollars, win or lose.

Teams like Michigan need victories, even a victory over a lower division team, to get into big, nationally broadcast bowl games. These games are worth millions of dollars at the end of the season.

Fans expected an easy Michigan win. After all, in the preseason, sports experts had considered Michigan the fifth best college football team in the country.

But Appalachian State is a two-time national champion at its own division level. And its players wanted to show they could play well against a nationally ranked team. And they did.

The final score was Appalachian State thirty-four, Michigan thirty-two. The game quickly became known as one of the greatest upsets in college football history.

The win has brought national attention to Appalachian State. Local stores reported a huge increase in orders for college clothing and other items. And the university chancellor expects more students to seek admission next year.

The university has more than thirteen thousand undergraduates and one thousand six hundred graduate students. It has four colleges and a school of music.

Last Saturday, at home, Appalachian State defeated another North Carolina school, Lenoir-Rhyne College, forty-eight to seven.

The Wolverines also played again at Michigan Stadium. And they lost for the fourth time in their last four games, this time to the University of Oregon. The score was thirty-nine to seven.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. Our reports are online at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.