SO, THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE GOOD AT

American education's increased emphasis on math and science has boosted school kids' proficiency, and and more students are taking advanced classes such as biology, chemistry and physics, the federal government reports. But a gender gap in math and science achievement still exists; the survey found that boys outscore girls in both disciplines. The good news follows a poor showing by American students in reading and writing skills, which was reported earlier by the U.S. Department of Education.

Quotes of the Day »

RAY KELLY, New York City Police Commissioner, on the arrest of a New Jersey man in one of the nation's most baffling missing-children cases, the disappearance more than three decades ago of 6-year-old Etan Patz.
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