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The article talks about the demand of cybersecurity-related education in schools including K-12 and protect the country from digital threats. It talks of a shortage of skilled cybersecurity workers to protect from cyber-espionage and hacking. It talks of a requirement of more people capable of designing, building, operating and securing information and technology systems and has thus become a top priority for education.

The article reports that the curriculum and advocacy group iCivics and several university partners are taking steps with the National Endowment for the Humanities and the U.S. Department of Education, the same backers of a history-standards project.

The author reflects on how to foster and encourage curiosity among students when much of the educational focus is on ensuring students meet assessment expectations rather than motivating students to want to learn. He argues that the use of educational technology is unfulfilling while teacher development programs do not address or prioritize curiosity. He goes on to suggest that disengaging the educational system from standardized testing and common curricula can promote curiosity.

The article examines results from the 2012 SAT standardized test for college admissions in the United States. After results indicated that students from the class of 2012 did not improve scores in the subject areas of reading, mathematics, and writing from the previous year, various suggestions for improving academic achievement are discussed. These include ensuring students complete a core curriculum, developing more challenging courses, and emphasizing the senior year of high school.

The article discusses a June 2012 meeting of teacher educators and higher education officials in Bloomington, Illinois, to discuss the alignment of teacher education curricula in the state to the state's common-core standards curriculum in education. Comments by State School Superintendent Christopher Koch and Lanette Poteete-Young of Judson University are presented. Topics include Colorado legislation regarding teacher-preparation programs and the Illinois' teacher licensure system.

The article discusses the implementation of a high school "A-G sequence" core curriculum in Los Angeles, California, meant to increase college access for poor, black, and Latino students, the passage of which is required for admission into the University of California and California State University systems. Topics include a 2012 reduction in requirements to pass the core curriculum, comments by Superintendent John Deasy, and views on elective courses by education union head Judith Perez.

A news brief is presented on the Next Generation Science Standards and their attempt to lay the groundwork for computer science standards in U.S. education, with criticism by the Computing in the Core coalition about the computer science standards' role in the core curriculum.

The article reports on the partial efforts of 46 U.S. states and the District of Columbia to adopt the proposed Common Core State Standards within their educational systems as of January 2012. A survey by the organization Editorial Projects in Education is cited, noting how multiple states are only working to enact partial elements of the standards. Further information is given detailing which areas the states are focusing on, particularly teacher development.

The article discusses the closure of BlueSky, an online charter high school by the state of Minnesota due to audits and an investigation which found that students graduated, despite failure to complete courses required by the state.

The article reports that the Memphis, Tennessee city school district will enforce the requirement that every student must take one online course in order to graduate.

The article reports on a continued demand for online credit recovery classes for students who have failed courses in high school which is being seen across the U.S. in 2010. Credit recovery programs which have been developed in school districts in New York City, Boston, Massachusetts and Chicago, Illinois are discussed. An increase in sales of online credit recovery courses which have been manufactured by Aventa Learning of Portland, Oregon, is discussed.