Video: Need to Know, March 18, 2011: Crisis in Japan, stories of academic transformation

Summary: The devastating earthquake in Japan has prompted fears of a nuclear crisis as the country desperately tries to curb the damage. This week, Need to Know provides an update on Japan's unfolding tragedy. Also, we reprise some of the best segments from our hour-long special on education (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/uncategorized/need-to-know-february-11-2011-an-education-hour-preview/6949/), which aired earlier this year. We feature three dramatic stories of academic transformation – focusing on literacy, physical education and science education.Watch the individual segments: (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/uncategorized/brockton-high-proves-that-big-schools-can-be-good-schools/6959/)(http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/files/2011/03/Japan-Essay-th.jpg) Essay: Japan's 'third atomic bomb' (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/video/video-essay-from-japan-a-self-inflicted-third-atomic-bomb/8074/) Need to Know correspondent Abby Leonard reports from Japan, where she spoke with a survivor of the Hiroshima nuclear attack about Japan's most recent nuclear crisis. (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/uncategorized/brockton-high-proves-that-big-schools-can-be-good-schools/6959/) (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/files/2011/03/Japan-Essay-th.jpg)(http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/files/2011/03/Japan-Levi-th.jpg) What happens after Japan's nuclear crisis? (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/video/video-the-crisis-in-japan-what-it-means-for-nuclear-power-in-the-u-s/8073/) Michael Levi, a nuclear expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, discusses the future of nuclear power here and around the world after Japan's earthquake. (//www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/files/2011/02/Brockton2-th.jpg) School of thought in Brockton, Mass. (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/uncategorized/brockton-high-proves-that-big-schools-can-be-good-schools/6959/) In 1998, when Massachusetts implemented new standardized testing, administrators at Brockton High School, the largest public school in the state, learned that more than 75 percent of their 4,000 students would fail to graduate. But thanks to a small group of dedicated teachers who implemented a schoolwide program to bring reading and writing lessons into every classroom, even gym, Brockton is now one of the highest performing schools in the state. (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/files/2011/02/naperville-th.jpg) A physical education in Naperville (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/video/a-physical-education-in-naperville-ill/7134/) While physical education has been drastically cut back across the country -- in response to budget concerns and test score pressures -- Naperville Central High School, in the Chicago suburbs, has embraced a culture of fitness: PE is a daily, graded requirement. And for one group of struggling students, there’s an innovative program to schedule PE right before their most challenging classes. In the six years since that program started, students who signed up for PE directly before English read on average a half year ahead of those who didn’t, and students who took PE before math showed dramatic improvement in their standardized tests. (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/files/2011/02/MarylandChemistry-th.jpg) Good chemistry (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/video/good-chemistry-creating-more-scientists-in-maryland/7321/) Most people agree that for the U.S. to remain competitive in the global economy, we need more people in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). But today, two-thirds of college students who start out majoring in the sciences end up switching concentrations. One university in Maryland is bucking that trend.