Archive | June, 2012

Report: Some good news about high school graduation rates

If children are to have a chance to participate not only in society, but in the economy, they must graduate from high school. In A B.A., not a high school diploma is the new threshold degree, moi said:

Laura Pappano reports in the New York Times article, The Master’s As the New Bachelor’s

Call it credential inflation. Once derided as the consolation prize for failing to finish a Ph.D. or just a way to kill time waiting out economic downturns, the master’s is now the fastest-growing degree. The number awarded, about 657,000 in 2009, has more than doubled since the 1980s, and the rate of increase has quickened substantially in the last couple of years, says Debra W. Stewart, president of the Council of Graduate Schools. Nearly 2 in 25 people age 25 and over have a master’s, about the same proportion that had a bachelor’s or higher in 1960.

“Several years ago it became very clear to us that master’s education was moving very rapidly to become the entry degree in many professions,” Dr. Stewart says. The sheen has come, in part, because the degrees are newly specific and utilitarian. These are not your general master’s in policy or administration. Even the M.B.A., observed one business school dean, “is kind of too broad in the current environment.” Now, you have the M.S. in supply chain management, and in managing mission-driven organizations. There’s an M.S. in skeletal and dental bioarchaeology, and an M.A. in learning and thinking.

Alexander Eichler is reporting in the Huffington Post article, Many With Only High School Degree Laid Off During Weak Recover:

Among those Americans with only a high school degree who have lost a job since 2007, a third became unemployed after the official end of the recession, according to The Washington Post.

It’s a troubling statistic in its own right — job seekers without a college degree are having serious difficulty finding work in the current market, and the unemployment rate for high school graduates is more than twice that of college grads — but it also underscores the fact that, for many Americans, the recovery hasn’t felt very different from the recession that preceded it.

Economists consider the Great Recession to have ended in the summer of 2009, nearly three years ago. That’s the point when the economy stopped outright shrinking and began growing again. But the subsequent period of modest expansion has been marked by job cuts, uncertainty and a gradual erosion of financial security for many Americans. These conditions are expected to remain pronounced for a long time to come.

U.S. employers cut 529,973 jobs in 2010, according to the outplacement company Challenger, Gray & Christmas. In 2011, that number rose to 606,082. At the same time, wages and benefits barely grew, with the high jobless rate giving employers little incentive to pay workers more. Today, there are still nearly 13 million Americans looking for work.

It’s not that life has gotten much better for those with a job either. All together, median household incomes have now fallen more in the recovery than they did during the recession. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/07/jobless-recovery_n_1260678.html?ref=email_share

https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/a-b-a-not-a-high-school-diploma-is-the-new-threshold-degree/

So, the Education Week report about improved high school graduation rates is welcome news.

Here is the press release about the Education Week report:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Carrie Matthews, (301) 280-3190, CommDesk@epe.org

National Graduation Rate Keeps Climbing; 1.1 Million Students Still Fail to Earn Diplomas

Report Examines Challenges Facing Latino Students; Identifies Promising Strategies and Districts Beating the Odds

Individualized Graduation Reports Issued for All 50 States and D.C.

WASHINGTON—June 7, 2012—A new national report from Education Week and the Editorial Projects in Education (EPE) Research Center finds that the nation’s graduation rate has posted a solid gain for the second straight year, following a period of declines and stagnation. Amid this continuing turnaround, the nation’s graduation rate has risen to 73 percent, the highest level of high school completion since the late 1970s. The report shows that the nation’s public schools will generate about 90,000 fewer dropouts than the previous year. Nationwide improvements were driven, in large part, by impressive gains among Latino students.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that the educational and economic future of the nation will hinge on our ability to better serve the nation’s large and growing Latino population, which faces unique challenges when it comes to success in high school and the transition to college and career,” said Christopher B. Swanson, Vice President of Editorial Projects in Education, the nonprofit organization that publishes Education Week. “Given what’s at stake, it is heartening to see that graduation rates for Latinos are improving faster than for any other group of students.”

The nation’s 12.1 million Latino schoolchildren encounter significant barriers on the road to educational success: language challenges, poverty, lagging achievement, low rates of high school and college completion, and, more recently, a wave of state laws targeting illegal immigrants that have put additional strain on Hispanic students, families, and communities. The 2012 edition of Diplomas Count—Trailing Behind, Moving Forward: Latino Students in U.S. Schools—takes a closer look at the state of schooling for this population of students, the challenges they face, and the lessons learned from some of the schools, districts, organizations, and communities that work closely with Latino students.

The report—part of an ongoing project conducted by the Bethesda, Md.-based Editorial Projects in Education—also tracks graduation policies for all 50 states and the District of Columbia and presents an updated analysis of graduation patterns for the nation, states, and the country’s 50 largest school systems. The new analysis focuses on the class of 2009, the most recent year for which data are available.

GRADUATION RATE TRENDING UPWARD

The national public school graduation rate for the class of 2009 reached 73.4 percent, an increase of 1.7 points from the previous year. Much of this improvement can be attributed to a rapid 5.5 point rise in graduation rates among Latinos and a 1.7 point gain for African-Americans. These increases more than offset modest drops in graduation rates for Asian-American and Native American students. Rates for white students remained largely unchanged. Diplomas Count 2012 www.edweek.org/go/dc12

The class of 2009 marked the end of a decade—punctuated by periods of sluggish growth and some troubling reversals—during which the nation’s graduation rate rose by more than 7 percentage points. These improvements have been widespread. Forty-four states have posted gains ranging from a fraction of a point to more than 20 points. All major demographic groups have also improved, with the drive toward higher graduation rates led by African-Americans and Latinos, both of which have posted improvements of 10 percentage points over the last 10 years.

While such signs of progress are reason for encouragement, that optimism is tempered by the reality that far too many young people are still failing to complete a high school education. Diplomas Count projects that 1.1 million students from this year’s high school class will not graduate with a diploma. That amounts to 6,000 students lost each school day, or one student every 29 seconds.

LATINOS IN FOCUS

Because the Latino graduation rate, at 63 percent, lags substantially behind the U.S. average, this group makes up a disproportionate number of the students who do not finish high school. Of the 1.1 million members of the class of 2012 that we project will fail to graduate with a diploma, about 310,000 (or 27 percent) will be Latinos. Two states—California and Texas—will produce half the nation’s Hispanic dropouts.

The educational experiences of Latino students are largely reflected in—if not directly driven by—the characteristics of the communities in which they live and the school systems by which they are served. Latinos are much more likely than whites to attend districts that are large and highly urbanized, that serve high proportions of English-language learners, and that struggle with high levels of poverty and racial and socioeconomic segregation. Yet some schools, districts, and communities—including those profiled in the report—have demonstrated records of success serving diverse Latino populations.

In a special analysis conducted for Diplomas Count 2012, the EPE Research Center identified a nationwide group of large, majority-Hispanic districts that are beating odds when it comes to graduation rates. Topping the list is California’s Lompoc Unified School District, which graduated 89 percent of its Latino students, compared with an expected rate of 67 percent. Three other districts “overachieved” by at least 15 percentage points: the Ceres Unified and Merced Union districts in California and Arizona’s Yuma Union High School District. High-performing systems outside the West and Southwest included those serving Providence, R.I., and Yonkers, N.Y.

SPECIAL WEB-ONLY FEATURES AVAILABLE AT EDWEEK.ORG

 The full Diplomas Count 2012 report and interactive tools: http://www.edweek.org/go/dc12.

 State Graduation Briefs for the 50 states and the District of Columbia featuring detailed data on current graduation rates and trends over time, definitions of college and work readiness, and state requirements for earning a high school diploma: http://www.edweek.org/go/dc12/sgb.

 The public release event for Diplomas Count 2012 will be streamed live in a simulcast from Washington, D.C. The webcast will be available at 10 a.m., EDT, on June 8 on edweek.org: http://www.edweek.org/ew/dc/2012/dc-livestream.html.

 EdWeek Maps, a powerful online database, lets users access graduation rates and other information for every school system in the nation and easily compare district, state, and national figures at maps.edweek.org.

# # #

The EPE Research Center is the research division of the Bethesda, Md.-based nonprofit Editorial Projects in Education. It conducts policy surveys, collects data, and performs analyses that appear in the annual Quality Counts, Technology Counts, and Diplomas Count reports. The center also conducts independent research studies and maintains the Education Counts and EdWeek Maps online data resources. The EPE Research Center is on the Web at http://www.edweek.org/rc.

In Is mandating 18 as the dropout age the answer? Moi said:

History is a race between education and catastrophe.

H. G. Wells

This world is in a period of dislocation and upheaval as great as the period of dislocation which ushered in the “industrial revolution.” The phrase “new, new thing” comes from a book by Michael Lewis about innovation in Silicon Valley. This historical period is between “new, new things” as the economy hopes that some new innovator will harness “green technology” and make it commercially viable as the economy needs the jump that only a “new, new thing” will give it. Peter S. Goodman has a fascinating article in the New York Times, Millions of Unemployed Face Years Without Jobs Unless, children are given a meaningful education which provides them with basic skills to adapt to a changing environment, the education system is producing a permanent underclass which will not be able to participate in the next “new, new thing.” The U.S. Department of Education has issued the following Press Release which describes the new method for calculating graduation rates.

Henry M. Levin and Cecilia E. Rouse opine in their New York Times opinion piece, The True Cost of High School Dropouts:

If we could reduce the current number of dropouts by just half, we would yield almost 700,000 new graduates a year, and it would more than pay for itself. Studies show that the typical high school graduate will obtain higher employment and earnings — an astonishing 50 percent to 100 percent increase in lifetime income — and will be less likely to draw on public money for health care and welfare and less likely to be involved in the criminal justice system. Further, because of the increased income, the typical graduate will contribute more in tax revenues over his lifetime than if he’d dropped out.

When the costs of investment to produce a new graduate are taken into account, there is a return of $1.45 to $3.55 for every dollar of investment, depending upon the educational intervention strategy. Under this estimate, each new graduate confers a net benefit to taxpayers of about $127,000 over the graduate’s lifetime. This is a benefit to the public of nearly $90 billion for each year of success in reducing the number of high school dropouts by 700,000 — or something close to $1 trillion after 11 years. That’s real money — and a reason both liberals and conservatives should rally behind dropout prevention as an element of economic recovery, leaving aside the ethical dimensions of educating our young people….

Proven educational strategies to increase high school completion, like high-quality preschool, provide returns to the taxpayer that are as much as three and a half times their cost. Investing our public dollars wisely to reduce the number of high school dropouts must be a central part of any strategy to raise long-run economic growth, reduce inequality and return fiscal health to our federal, state and local governments. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/opinion/the-true-cost-of-high-school-dropouts.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

In order to compete internationally, the U.S. must have an educated workforce and high school is the first step for college and additional vocational training. https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/is-mandating-18-as-the-dropout-age-the-answer/

Is there a ‘model minority’ ?? https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/06/23/is-there-a-model-minority/

Title IX also mandates access to education for pregnant students https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/06/19/title-ix-also-mandates-access-to-education-for-pregnant-students/

Helping at-risk children start a home library https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/06/13/helping-at-risk-children-start-a-home-library/

Research papers: Student Motivation: An Overlooked Piece of School Reform https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/research-papers-student-motivation-an-overlooked-piece-of-school-reform/

Study: When teachers overcompensate for prejudice https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/05/10/study-when-teachers-overcompensate-for-prejudice/

A baby changes everything: Helping parents finish school https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2011/12/26/a-baby-changes-everything-helping-parents-finish-school/

Dr. Wilda says this about that ©

Tags: Diplomas Count 2012, Dropout, Education Week, High School Dropouts, High School Graduation Rates, Many With Only High School Degree Laid Off During Weak Recover, Millions of Unemployed Face Years Without Jobs, The Master's As the New Bachelor's, The True Cost of High School Dropouts:

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Categories Dr Wilda

The IB Career-related Certificate (IBCC)

28 Jun

In The International Baccalaureate program and vocational students, moi said this:

There is an “arms race” going on in American Education. More people are asking whether college is the right choice for many. The U.S. has de-emphasized high quality vocational and technical training in the rush to increase the number of students who proceed to college in pursuit of a B.A. Often a graduate degree follows. The Harvard paper, Pathways to Prosperity argues for more high quality vocational and technical opportunities:

The implication of this work is that a focus on college readiness alone does not equip young people with all of the skills and abilities they will need in the workplace, or to successfully complete the transition from adolescence to adulthood. This was highlighted in a 2008 report published by Child Trends, which compared research on the competencies required for college readiness, workplace readiness and healthy youth development. The report found significant overlaps. High personal expectations, self-management, critical thinking, and academic achievement are viewed as highly important for success in all three areas. But the report also uncovered some striking differences. For instance: while career planning, previous work experience, decision making, listening skills, integrity, and creativity are all considered vital in the workplace, they hardly figure in college readiness.

http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news_events/features/2011/Pathways_to_Prosperity_Feb2011.pdf

There is a reluctance to promote vocational opportunities in the U.S. because the is a fear of tracking individuals into vocational training and denying certain groups access to a college education. The compromise could be a combination of both quality technical training with a solid academic foundation. Individuals may have a series of careers over the course of a career and a solid foundation which provides a degree of flexibility is desired for survival in the future. See, Why go to college? https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2011/11/28/why-go-to-college/

https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2011/11/29/the-international-baccalaureate-program-and-vocational-students/

Jay Mathews is writing in the Washington Post article, Trying to save vocational education about the IB Career-related Certificate (IBCC). http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/class-struggle/post/trying-to-save-vocational-education/2012/06/27/gJQAMikx7V_blog.html Here is a description of the IB Career-related Certificate (IBCC):

What is the IB Career-related Certificate (IBCC)?

The IBCC incorporates the educational principles, vision and learner profile of the IB into a unique offering that specifically addresses the needs of students who wish to engage in career-related education. The IBCC encourages these students to benefit from elements of an IB education, through a selection of two or more Diploma Programme courses in addition to a unique IBCC core, comprised of an approaches to learning (ATL) course, a reflective project, language development and community and service.

This new qualification is designed to provide a “value added” educational offering to schools that already offer the IB Diploma Programme and are also delivering career-related courses to their students.

The IBCC enables schools to widen participation to an IB education. Schools retain the ability to choose the career-related courses that are most suited to local conditions and the needs of their students. Schools gain the added flexibility in direct curriculum development as well as the IBCC core to create an educational pathway that puts a strong focus on individual student needs

The IBCC enables students to:

develop a broad range of career-related competencies and to deepen their understanding in general areas of knowledge

prepare for effective participation in an ever-changing world of work

foster the attributes of the learner profile allowing students to become true lifelong learners willing to consider new perspectives

engage in learning that makes a positive difference to future lives

become a self confident person ready for life in the 21st century.

Download the IBCC flyer 2011 [PDF, 1.49MB – opens in a new window]

http://www.ibo.org/ibcc/

Here are some FAQs about the IB Career-related Certificate (IBCC):

IBCC FAQs

What is a ‘career-related education’?

Career-related qualifications use different terminology in different parts of the world. They can be described as vocational, professional or technical qualifications and there will be other definitions in different local or national systems.

How does the IBCC prepare a student for the future?

The IBCC prepares students for flexibility and mobility in a range of employment opportunities as well as continuing lifelong learning.

What are the aims of the IBCC?

The IBCC has four aims.
A) Providing a more inclusive provision for students aged 16-19,
B) Responding to the IB’s mission statement and extending the influence of international education, C) Filling a gap in international education,
D) Reducing the ‘academic versus vocational’ divide.

What do students receive on completion of the IB Career-related Certificate (IBCC)?

If completed successfully, students will receive From the IB the IB career-related Certificate (IBCC) as well as a statement of results. Additionally they will receive a certificate from the awarding body of the career-related qualification

Why should students choose the IB Career-related Certificate (IBCC)?

The IBCC provides an opportunity for more students to benefit from an IB education. The approach of blending local and international elements is an excellent solution to allow local economic, cultural and educational choices to be made according to the local or national context. Similarly, such a flexible framework will create a dynamic network of internationally minded schools sharing a vocabulary and educational aims for lifelong learning and responsible citizenship, collaborating to develop a truly international educational experience for their students.

What are the advantages to University entry of doing IBCC rather than two IB Diploma Programme courses?

The IBCC is a holistic qualification framework in its own right and the incorporation of the IBCC core gives greater overall value to the student. The IB expects this to be reflected in a slightly higher credit or tariff for the whole IBCC rather than two DP certificates alone. The value to the student in application to further or higher education is the linkage with a career-related qualification which, if passed to an appropriate standard or grade, will add further credit or tariff for the student’s application to the further learning of his/her choice.

Is the IBCC recognized by universities?

The IBCC has been accredited by the UK education regulator (Ofqual) for accreditation. The IB will consult with schools in every country on the requirements of their national education framework and apply for accreditation or approval as required.

What sort of school can offer the IBCC?

Any IB World School authorized to offer the Diploma Programme can apply to offer the IBCC. The IBCC is likely to be very popular in where there is usually a history of offering a career-related course.

http://www.ibo.org/ibcc/faq/

There shouldn’t be a one size fits all in education and parents should be honest about what education options will work for a particular child. Even children from the same family may find that different education options will work for each child.

Resources:

Vocational Education Myths and Realities

http://www.fape.org/idea/How_it_works/voced_myths_8.html

Vocational Education in the United States, The Early 1990s

http://nces.ed.gov/pubs/web/95024-2.asp

The International Baccalaureate program as a way to save struggling schools

https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/04/30/international-baccalaureate/

Dr. Wilda says this about that ©

Tags: (IBCC), Pathways to Prosperity, The IB Career-related Certificate, Trying to save vocational education, Vocational Education, Vocational Training

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Categories Dr Wilda

The Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative

27 Jun

In Inappropriate discipline: The first step on the road to education failure, moi said:

One of the causalities of the decline and death of newspapers is the decline in investigative journalism. When the Seattle PI was still a print publication in 2001, they published a series of articles about discipline in the Seattle Public Schools. At that time, the list of behaviors included:

1. Disruptive conduct

2. Fighting

3. Disobedience

4. .Assault

5. Rule-breaking

6. Alcohol/drugs

7. Theft

8. Trespass

9. Smoking

10. Weapons

When this report was written, African American students were suspended at a higher rate than other students. The great thing about this piece of journalism was the reporters examined assumptions about what could be causing the disparity in expulsions. The assumptions about why African American students are disciplined and the statistical reality often do not provide clear-cut answers. The Seattle PI followed the report with a 2006 Update and the disparity issue remained. Perhaps, Dr. Bill Cosby is on to something with his crusade to ask tough questions about whether a “hip hop” culture is conducive to promoting success values in a population who must survive in the dominant culture. Debates about what cultural norms are healthy and should prevail are not useful to a child who is facing a suspension or expulsion and who must deal with that reality. It is imperative that children stay in school and receive a diploma or receive sufficient skills to allow them to prepare for a GED. If a child is facing a suspension or expulsion, the parent or guardian has to advocate for the child and the future placement and follow-up treatment for the child. The hard questions about placement in an education setting center on student behavior and whether the behavior of the individual child is so disruptive that the child must be removed from the school either for a period of time or permanently. https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/inappropriate-discipline-the-first-step-on-the-road-to-education-failure/

Jane Ellen Stevens has written two great Huffington Post articles. In the first article, Trauma-Sensitive Schools Are Better Schools, Stevens writes:

The kid was ready. Ready, man! For an anger blast to his face…”How could you do that?” “What’s wrong with you?”… and for the big boot out of school. But he was NOT ready for kindness. The armor-plated defenses melt like ice under a blowtorch and the words pour out: “My dad’s an alcoholic. He’s promised me things my whole life and never keeps those promises.” The waterfall of words that go deep into his home life, which is no piece of breeze, end with this sentence: “I shouldn’t have blown up at the teacher.”

Whoa.

And then he goes back to the teacher and apologizes. Without prompting from Sporleder.

“The kid still got a consequence,” explains Sporleder — but he wasn’t sent home, a place where there wasn’t anyone who cares much about what he does or doesn’t do. He went in-school suspension, a quiet, comforting room where he can talk with the attending teacher, catch up on his homework, or just sit and think about how maybe he could do things differently next time.

Before the words “namby-pamby”, “weenie”, or “not the way they did things in my day” start flowing across your lips, take a look at these numbers:

2009-2010 (Before new approach)
• 798 suspensions (days students were out of school)
• 50 expulsions

2010-2011 (After new approach)
• 135 suspensions (days students were out of school)
• 30 expulsions

“It sounds simple,” says Sporleder about the new approach. “Just by asking kids what’s going on with them, they just started talking. It made a believer out of me right away.”

Trauma-sensitive schools. Trauma-informed classrooms. Compassionate schools. Safe and supportive schools. All different names to describe a movement that’s taking shape and gaining momentum across the country. And it all boils down to this: Kids who are experiencing the toxic stress of severe and chronic trauma just can’t learn. It’s physiologically impossible.

These kids express their toxic stress by dropping the F-bomb, skipping school, or being the “unmotivated” child, head down on the desk or staring into space. In other words, they’re having typical stress reactions: fight, flight or freeze.
In trauma-sensitive schools, teachers don’t punish a kid for “bad” behavior — they don’t want to traumatize an already traumatized child. They dig deeper to help a child feel safe so that she or he can move out of stress mode, and learn again….

What’s severe trauma? We’re not talking falling on a playground and breaking a finger here. This trauma is gut-wrenching, life-bending and mind-warping: Living with an alcoholic parent or a parent diagnosed with depression or other mental illness. Witnessing a mother being abused (physically or verbally). Being physically, sexually or verbally abused. Losing a parent to abandonment or divorce. Homelessness. Being bullied. You can probably name a few others.

Since at least 2005, a few dozen individual schools across the U.S. have adopted some type of trauma-sensitive approach. But the centers of gravity for most of the action are in Massachusetts and Washington. These two states lead the way in taking a district-wide approach to integrating trauma-informed practices, with an eye to state-wide adoption.

Without a school-wide approach, “it’s very hard to address the role that trauma is playing in learning,” says Susan Cole, director of the Trauma an Learning Policy Initiative, a joint project of Harvard Law School and Massachusetts Advocates for Children. Cole is co-author of a seminal book: Helping Traumatized Children Learn, sometimes known as “The Purple Book.”

With a school-wide strategy, trauma-sensitive approaches are woven into the school’s daily activities: the classroom, the cafeteria, the halls, buses, the playground. “This enables children to feel academically, socially, emotionally and physically safe wherever they go in the school. And when children feel safe, they can calm down and learn,” says Cole. “The district needs to support the individual school to do this work. With the district on board, principals can have the latitude to put this issue on the front burner, where it belongs.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-ellen-stevens/trauma-sensitive-schools_b_1625924.html

See, Trauma-Sensitive Schools Are Better Schools, Part Two http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-ellen-stevens/traumasensitive-schools-part-two_b_1632126.html?utm_hp_ref=education

Massachusetts Advocates for Children describes the Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative:

Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative

Mission The Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative’s (TLPI) mission is to ensure that children traumatized by exposure to family violence and other adverse childhood experiences succeed in school. To accomplish this mission, TLPI engages in a host of advocacy strategies including: legislative advocacy, administrative advocacy, coalition building, outreach and education, research and report writing, and limited individual case representation in special education where a child’s traumatic experiences are interfacing with his or her disabilities.Genesis

This cutting-edge and vital contributor to education reform in the state had its roots in the expulsion crisis in the mid-1990’s. MAC noticed in calls from parents a pattern of violence in the lives of many of the children who had been expelled or suspended from school. Working together with parents and experts across the disciplines of education, psychology, law, and neurobiology, MAC/CLSP organized the Task Force on Children Affected by Domestic Violence, which developed five working papers on the impact of domestic violence on education, family law and other matters. These papers laid the foundation for later advocacy and led to the development of TLPI.

In 2000, MAC joined in partnership with Lesley University’s Center on Special Education to hold the first ever conference on the impact of trauma on learning. From that point the work on trauma and learning gained momentum as MAC worked with an interdisciplinary group of psychologists, educators, and attorneys to draft what would later be published as Helping Traumatized Children Learn (HTCL).

In 2004, MAC and Harvard Law School jointly recognized the importance of this work and entered into a formal partnership called the Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative (TLPI). In addition to advocacy at the state and national levels, TLPI teaches Harvard’s law students MAC’s signature multi-strategic approach to systemic change, harnessing their talents to represent individual families and participate in this powerful policy agenda.

Ongoing Activities

Advocating for laws, regulations, policies, and funding streams to enable schools to create trauma-sensitive environments (including those related to school reform, anti-bullying, dropout prevention, and collaboration between schools and mental health);
Improving trauma sensitive approaches to the needs of individual children at school in both regular and special education;
Engaging in a public education campaign to educate policymakers, educators, administrators, health and mental health providers and parents on the impact of trauma on learning and the need for schoolwide approaches to address the need; and
Working with researchers to foster a clearer understanding of evidenced–based approaches that schools can use to ensure the success of traumatized children.

Highlights

This project has grown to become an important force in Massachusetts education reform efforts. Through a combination of printed copies and internet downloads, it has disseminated more than 49,000 copies of its ground-breaking publication. It has trained over 10,000 educators, policymakers, parents and others on the impact of trauma on learning. TLPI also led advocacy efforts to pass MGL c. 69, Section 1N, which established a grant program to create “trauma-sensitive schools.” The “Flexible Framework” for creating safe and supportive whole-school environments proposed in HTCL has served as a basis for the work of the Schools and Behavioral Health Task Force (created pursuant to Section 19 of the Children’s Mental Health Law). It has also influenced the Model Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan, developed by DESE pursuant to Chapter 92 of the Acts of 2010 (“An Act Relative to Bullying”), and the Essential Conditions for School Effectiveness developed by DESE pursuant to Chapter 12 of the Acts of 2010 (“An Act Relative to the Achievement Gap”).

For further information about Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative, send us an email.

Download or Purchase Helping Traumatized Children Learn

http://www.massadvocates.org/trauma-learning.php

Family First Aid has a good discussion about the types of behavior problems that result in suspension or expulsion. Dore Francis has a guide, which lists what parents should do if their child is suspended. The guide gives detailed instructions to these steps and other steps. Francis also lists what questions to ask after meeting with school officials.

Additionally, Family First Aid discusses the education questions a parent or guardian should ask when their child has been permanently excluded from a school setting because of behavior problems.

What options are there now that your teen has been expelled?

– Home School? Yes, your teen may get the academics, the grades, and the knowledge. But he will not learn to interact with others in a positive manner, and the original problem still exists.

– Alternative School? The focus at an alternative school is to finish the coursework for graduation. There is no focus on the original problem of why the student could not succeed socially in the regular school setting and again, the original problem still exists.

– Specialty School? There are several different kinds of specialty schools and programs. There are wilderness programs “boot camps” military schools, and religious schools. Some include academics and some do not. Some programs are an intense “wake up call” that last about a month, and others are long term. Some focus only on the child and some involve the entire family in the healing process.

If your child has a behavior disorder, one month of intense “wake up” won’t change anything. It also won’t change the peer group he has or his involvement with drugs and/or weapons.

The focus at this point should be how best to address the behavior issues that resulted in the disciplinary action. It is important to contact the district to find out what types of resources are available to assist the student in overcoming their challenges. Many children have behavior problems because they are not in the correct education placement. Often, moving the child to a different education setting is the beginning of dealing with the challenges they face.

See:

Education Law Center

Discipline In Schools: What Works and What Doesn’t?

Justice for Children and Youth has a pamphlet I’m being expelled from school – what are my rights?

An explosion of ‘baby mamas’ https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/an-explosion-of-baby-mamas/

Autism and children of color https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/03/27/autism-and-children-of-color/

Sometimes schools must help children grieve https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/sometimes-schools-must-help-children-grieve/

Ohio State University study: Characteristics of kids who are bullies https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/ohio-state-university-study-characteristics-of-kids-who-are-bullies/

U.S. Education Dept. Civil Rights Office releases report on racial disparity in school retention https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/u-s-education-dept-civil-rights-office-releases-report-on-racial-disparity-in-school-retention/

Dr. Wilda says this about that ©

Tags: Childhood Trauma, Discipline, Family First Aid, Massachusetts Advocates for Children, Part Two, School Discipline, The Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative, Trauma-Sensitive Schools Are Better Schools

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Categories Dr Wilda

Study: Early mastery of fractions is a predictor of math success

26 Jun

Joy Resmovits has an interesting article at Huffington Post. In U.S. Students’ Low Math Test Proficiency Could Have Consequences For GDP Resmovits reports:

U.S. students rank poorly in proficiency on both domestic and international math exams, a problem that could cost the country $75 trillion over 80 years, according to a new study.

U.S. students fall behind 31 countries in math proficiency and behind 16 countries in reading proficiency, according to the report released Wednesday, titled “Globally Challenged: Are U.S. Students Ready to Compete?“

Resmovits is reporting about the report, Globally Challenged: Are U. S. Students Ready to Compete? The latest on each state’s international standing in math and reading by Paul E. Peterson, Ludger Woessmann, Eric A. Hanushek and Carlos X. Lastra-Anadón. Here is a portion of the Executive Summary:

Proficiency in Mathematics

U.S. students in the Class of 2011, with a 32 percent proficiency rate in mathematics, came in 32nd among the nations that participated in PISA. Although performance levels among the countries ranked 23rd to 31st are not significantly different from that of the United States, 22 countries do significantly outperform the United States in the share of students reaching the proficient level in math. In six countries plus Shanghai and Hong Kong, a majority of students performed at the proficient level, while in the United States less than one-third did. For example, 58 percent of Korean students and 56 percent of Finnish students were proficient. Other countries in which a majority—or near majority—of students performed at or above the proficient level included Switzerland, Japan, Canada, and the Netherlands. Many other nations also had math proficiency rates well above that of the United States, including Germany (45 percent), Australia (44 percent), and France (39 percent). Shanghai topped the list with a 75 percent math proficiency rate, well over twice the 32 percent rate of the United States. However, Shanghai students are from a prosperous metropolitan area within China, with over three times the GDP per capita of the rest of that country, so their performance is more appropriately compared to Massachusetts and Minnesota, which are similarly favored and are the top performers among the U.S. states. When this comparison is made, Shanghai still performs at a distinctly higher level. Only a little more than half (51 percent) of Massachusetts students are proficient in math, while Minnesota, the runner-up state, has a math proficiency rate of just 43 percent. Only four additional states—Vermont, North Dakota, New Jersey, and Kansas—have a math proficiency rate above 40 percent. Some of the country’s largest and richest states score below the average for the United States as a whole, including New York (30 percent), Missouri (30 percent), Michigan (29 percent), Florida (27 percent), and California (24 percent)….

Performance of U.S. Ethnic and Racial Groups

The percentage proficient in the United States varies considerably across students from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. While 42 percent of white students were identified as proficient in math, only 11 percent of African American students, 15 percent of Hispanic students, and 16 percent of Native Americans were so identified. Fifty percent of students with an ethnic background from Asia and the Pacific Islands, however, were proficient in math. In reading, 40 percent of white students and 41 percent of those from Asia and the Pacific Islands were identified as proficient. Only 13 percent of African American students, 5 percent of Hispanic students, and 18 percent of Native American students were so identified….

Here is the citation:

http://www.hks.harvard.edu/pepg/PDF/Papers/PEPG11-03_GloballyChallenged.pdf

Mary Niederberger of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes in the article, Formula written for math success:

Mastery of fractions and early division is a predictor of students’ later success with algebra and other higher-level mathematics, based on a study done by a team of researchers led by a Carnegie Mellon University professor.

That means more effective teaching of the concepts is needed to improve math scores among U.S. high school students, which have remained stagnant for more than 30 years….

The study said a likely reason for U.S. students’ weakness in fractions and division could be linked to their teachers’ “lack of a firm conceptual understanding” of the concepts, citing several other studies in which many American teachers were unable to explain the reasons behind mathematical solutions, while most teachers in Japan and China were able to offer two or three explanations.
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/education/formula-written-for-math-success-640962/#ixzz1ym9qos5j

Citation:

Early Predictors of High School Mathematics Achievement

Robert S. Siegler 1,

Greg J. Duncan 2,

Pamela E. Davis-Kean 3,4,

Kathryn Duckworth 5,

Amy Claessens 6,

Mimi Engel 7,

Maria Ines Susperreguy 3,4 and

Meichu Chen 4Abstract

Identifying the types of mathematics content knowledge that are most predictive of students’ long-term learning is essential for improving both theories of mathematical development and mathematics education. To identify these types of knowledge, we examined long-term predictors of high school students’ knowledge of algebra and overall mathematics achievement. Analyses of large, nationally representative, longitudinal data sets from the United States and the United Kingdom revealed that elementary school students’ knowledge of fractions and of division uniquely predicts those students’ knowledge of algebra and overall mathematics achievement in high school, 5 or 6 years later, even after statistically controlling for other types of mathematical knowledge, general intellectual ability, working memory, and family income and education. Implications of these findings for understanding and improving mathematics learning are discussed.

Published online before print June 14, 2012, doi: 10.1177/0956797612440101 Psychological Science June 14, 2012 0956797612440101

» AbstractFree

Full Text

Full Text (PDF)

Supplemental Material

Math is important for a number of reasons.

Michigan State University’s Office of Supportive Services succinctly states why math is important:

Why is math important?

All four year Universities have a math requirement

Math improves your skills:

Critical Thinking Skills

Deductive Logic and Reasoning Skills

Problem Solving Skills

A good knowledge of math and statistics can expand your career options

Physical Sciences – Chemistry, Engineering, Physics

Life and Health Sciences – Biology, Psychology, Pharmacy, Nursing, Optometry

Social Sciences – Anthropology, Communications, Economics, Linquistics, Education, Geography

Technical Sciences – Computer Science, Networking, Software Development

Business and Commerce

Actuarial Sciences

Medicine

http://oss.msu.edu/academic-assistance/why-is-math-important

In Perhaps the biggest math challenge is how to teach math, moi said:

There will continue to be battles between those who favor a more traditional education and those who are open to the latest education fad. These battles will be fought out in school board meetings, PTSAs, and the courts.

There is one way to, as Susan Powder says, “Stop the Insanity.” Genuine school choice allows parents or guardians to select the best educational setting for their child. Many policy wonks would like to believe that only one type of family seeks genuine school choice, the right wing wacko who makes regular visits on the “tea party” circuit. That is not true. Many parents favor a back-to-the basics traditional approach to education.

A one-size-fits-all approach does not work in education https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/perhaps-the-biggest-math-challenge-is-how-to-teach-math/

Dr. Wilda says this about that ©

Tags: Early Predictors of High School Mathematics Achievement, Formula written for math success, Globally Challenged: Are U. S. Students Ready to Compete?, Math Competence, Math Curriculum, Math Education, Math Proficiency, Math Teaching, U.S. Students' Low Math Test Proficiency Could Have Consequences For GDP

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Categories Dr Wilda

Teachers running schools

25 Jun

In an Education Week article, Union Victory in LA Schools Showdown Ups Ante, Lesli A. Maxwell is reporting.

In Los Angeles, where teacher groups and charter schools engaged in a head-to-head competition to operate schools in the sprawling urban district, teachers have emerged—to the surprise of many observers—as the clear winners in the latest showdown.

With the management of 12 existing schools, all of them low-performing, and 18 new campuses up for grabs under the city’s “public school choice” policy approved last summer, the Los Angeles Unified Board of Education late last month voted in favor of teacher-led proposals in all but six cases. More than 40,000 students will attend the newly managed schools this fall.

Charters, which many had expected to be the dominant players, were largely left out, including three of the city’s most successful operators, whose proposals to run new schools were endorsed by Superintendent Ramon C. Cortines. But in his full slate of recommendations to board members on which groups should manage the schools, Mr. Cortines also favored some internal proposals over external ones. …

Different forms of schools run by teachers are beginning to evolve. See, School teachers in charge? Why some schools are forgoing principals. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2010/0901/School-teachers-in-charge-Why-some-schools-are-forgoing-principals

Melissa Bailey reports in the New Haven Independent article which was posted at Huffington Post, High School In The Community, New Haven Turnaround School, To Be Run By Teachers, Union:

New Haven’s turning one of its low-performing schools over to its teachers and the teachers’ union in an experiment that shatters traditional definitions of American school reform.

Officials announced the news at a Wednesday afternoon press conference at High School in the Community (HSC).

Meanwhile, news swirled around the school as teachers found out their fate. All 31 teachers at the school had to reapply for their jobs. On Wednesday, some 21 teachers won the right to stay; the rest were guaranteed jobs elsewhere within the district.

Moods were mixed around the hallways.

A crew of younger teachers said they’re looking forward to the flexibility to write their own curricula and continue working as a team.

Veteran calculus teacher Rob Orciuch refused to reapply for his job: After 32 years of teaching, he said, “I have to sit and beg for my job? I’m not going to take it.” He’ll be sent to work at another school.

The changes are taking place as HSC becomes New Haven’s sixth “turnaround” school. (One, Hill Central, is technically a federally sanctioned “turnaround,” not part of the city plan.) As part of the city’s school reform drive, New Haven has designated some lower-performing schools as “turnarounds” in order almost to start from scratch and try new ideas. School leaders can change strict work rules that apply at traditional schools.

Labor unions nationally have cast a wary eye on such experiments, including those that turn control to charter organizations (as New Haven did with Roberto Clemente Academy). In fact, the city’s local teachers union president, Dave Cicarella, had previously asked the city to take a “time out” this year from naming new turnarounds.

However, in the case of HSC, the city is turning management of the school over to the union itself, the New Haven Federation of Teachers.

The move reflects New Haven’s effort to include teachers and their union in school reform experiments rather than fight with them. The union’s national parent, the American Federation of Teachers, played a direct role in striking a landmark 2009 labor contract with the city that allowed for changes like a new evaluation system for instructors and administrators and a streamlined method for getting rid of failing teachers. Both city leaders and national AFT President Randi Weingarten have tried to make New Haven an example of how school systems and unions can work together rather than fight each other to change and improve public education. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/21/high-school-in-the-commun_n_1616697.html?utm_hp_ref=email_share

Winnie Hu’s New York Times article, In a New Role, Teachers Move to Run Schools discusses some of the challenges of schools run by teachers:

But some educators and parents question whether such schools are the solution for urban districts, which typically have large concentrations of poor students and struggle with low test scores and discipline problems.

They say that most teachers have neither the time nor the expertise to deal with the inner workings of a school, like paying bills, conducting fire drills and refereeing faculty disputes.

“Ever try to plan a vacation with a large extended family? That’s what it’s going to be like,” said Michael J. Petrilli, a vice president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, an education policy group in Washington. “It’s a good idea in theory, but there are just a handful of teachers who can pull it off….”

Tim McDonald, an associate with Education Evolving, a policy group in St. Paul that supports teacher-led schools, said studies showed that when teachers were given control — much like doctors or lawyers running their own practices — schools had higher morale, less turnover, more efficient decision-making and greater motivation to improve.

Still, Mr. McDonald was skeptical that a truly collaborative model could succeed widely in school districts, unless it was somehow freed from the traditional bureaucracy.

“You’re trying to run an upside-down pyramid in a pyramid structure,” he said. “There is so much momentum against being completely different in most districts.”

James H. Lytle, an education professor at the University of Pennsylvania who teaches a course on urban school reform to Teach for America teachers, said the test of school leaders was whether they could make a school work smoothly.

Teachers, he said, “want the textbooks to be there and the students to come on time.”

“The question is whether teachers have the patience to do the ‘adminis-trivia,’ ” said Dr. Lytle, a former principal and superintendent in Philadelphia and Trenton. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/education/07teachers.html?_r=1

Still another idea is put forth by Andrew J. Rotherham in the Time article, Can Parents Take Over Schools? http://ideas.time.com/2012/03/08/can-parents-take-over-schools/#ixzz1ygVQ5kIA

The point is, there is no magic bullet or “Holy Grail” in education. There is what works to produce academic achievement in a given population of children.

Teacher Cooperatives http://educationnext.org/teacher-cooperatives/

Can Teachers Run Their Own Schools? http://charlestkerchner.com/

Can Teachers Run Schools? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-vander-ark/can-teachers-run-schools_b_803312.html

Dr. Wilda says this about that ©

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Categories Dr Wilda

Protecting your child from predators

24 Jun

Frequently there are reports in the media that some adult occupying a position of trust has abused that trust and inappropriately had contact with a minor child. Adults accused of inappropriate contact come from all social strata, religions, races, and occupations. Bonnie Rochman writes in the Time article, After the Sandusky Verdict, Lessons for Parents about the predator next door.

It goes without saying that conscientious parents would go to great lengths to spare their children from such experiences. And experts say the Sandusky trial revealed many valuable lessons for parents looking to do just that.

Lesson No. 1: One not-so-obvious insight? Don’t tell secrets…. When children are being molested, the perpetrator tells them, ‘This is a secret. Don’t tell anybody.’ So we encourage parents to not include kids in secrets. Talk instead in terms of surprises.”

Lesson No. 2: Be leery of any adult who seems smitten with your kid. Child molesters are savvy; they often prey on vulnerable kids — poor children, or those whose parents aren’t often around….

As a parent who has gone through the aftermath of sexual abuse and studied a lot about pedophile tactics, the allegations against Jerry Sandusky are a classic case of child sexual predator and pedophile grooming. The prosecution has done well in explaining the consistent and predictable grooming process that Jerry Sandusky employed — from building trust with his victims, to currying favor and control by buying them gifts and giving them access to the Penn State football program, and then forcing them to participate in sex acts and then remain quiet about it.

Jerry Sandusky groomed his victims so well that some of them have kept in touch with him as recently as two years ago. Many from the defense are asking why would they, in fact, do such a thing if it were true that Jerry Sandusky had sexually abused them. But that is how predators work. They manipulate children and control them by bribing, brainwashing, threatening, controlling and embarrassing them.Lesson No. 3: Perhaps most important is simply paying attention to your kids’ rhythms and learning to recognize potential signs of abuse: changes in mood, behavior or school performance and reluctance to participate in activities.

Lesson No. 4: It’s never too early to start teaching your kids about what kinds of touches are appropriate….

Lesson No. 5: Keep the conversation going as kids become teens. It’s a mistake to assume that most children will readily tell a grown-up they’ve been sexually assaulted….

Lesson No. 6: Listen when kids talk. One of Sandusky’s victims said he’d told guidance counselors that he’d been abused but he wasn’t believed….
http://healthland.time.com/2012/06/23/after-the-sandusky-verdict-lessons-for-parents/

If a child is involved, the following activities are a few examples considered to be sexual abuse:

· Touching of a child’s private parts

· A child touching someone else’s genitals

· Sexual intercourse

· Obscene phone calls

· Watching sexual activity

Keep in mind these examples do not constitute a legal definition of sexual abuse. Each state defines what constitutes sexual abuse in that state. Generally, sexual abuse occurs when an adult person makes sexual contact with a child or there is forced sexual contact by a peer of the child.

Questions to Ask Childcare Providers and Caregivers

The Attorney General of the State of Hawaii has an excellent resource about questions to ask a care provider. Hawaii Attorney General Among their suggestions are:

While not a guarantee against acts of sexual exploitation being committed, it is a good idea to select a licensed facility that conducts criminal history- background checks on its employees and volunteers. When you have chosen a daycare provider, the best way to get to know the staff and observe their behavior firsthand is to involve yourself in some way in the activities of the center by volunteering to assist on field trips or for special events.

Visit prospective daycare centers, take a tour, and interview the daycare staff while personally observing their interaction with your children and the other children. Look for mature and responsible people who listen and respond well to your children and appear relaxed and happy with them. Also arrange to meet with other individuals who may have contact with your child such as bus drivers, janitors, and relatives of the daycare personnel. Visit unannounced. When you have a list of possible daycare centers, carefully check their references. Contact local law enforcement, county licensing agencies, and the department of social services to determine if any reports have been made about the daycare provider. Check state sex-offender registries, which are generally accessible through your state law enforcement agency.

Be suspicious of any care provider that will not allow you to drop in unannounced and will not allow you unlimited access to the facility.

What is a Criminal Background Check?

The legal definition of a “criminal background check” focuses upon the review of public records. Legal Definition of Criminal Background Check

A criminal history background information check is the review of any and all records containing any information collected and stored in the criminal record repository of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the state Department of Public Safety, or any other repository of criminal history records, involving a pending arrest or conviction by a criminal justice agency, including, but not limited to, child abuse crime information, conviction record information, fingerprint cards, correctional induction and release information, identifiable descriptions and notations of convictions; provided, however, dissemination of such information is not forbidden by order of any court of competent jurisdiction or by federal law. Criminal history background information generally does not include any analytical records or investigative reports that contain criminal intelligence information or criminal investigation information….

Parents should be aware of any criminal record, but they should focus on crimes of violence and sexual crimes like rape. Is the person a known registered sex offender?

The US Department of State describes the different ways that an individual can demonstrate that they do not have a criminal record.State Department Criminal Records Check

LOCAL POLICE CHECK: Go to your local police department where you reside or last resided in the United States, request that the police conduct a criminal records search and provide you with a document reflecting that there is no history of a criminal record. Local police departments may require your personal appearance in order to conduct the search. Your local police department can phrase this in whatever way they deem appropriate. The document should then be authenticated for use abroad following our guidance on authentication or legalization of documents.

FBI RECORDS CHECK: The Criminal Justice Information Services centralizes criminal justice information and provides accurate and timely information and services to local, state, federal, and international law enforcement agencies, the private sector, academia, and other government agencies. The subject of an identification record may obtain a copy thereof by submitting awritten request to the CJIS . The request must be accompanied by satisfactory proof of identity (consisting of name, date and place of birth, and a set of roll-inked fingerprint impressions) and a certified check or money order for the $18 processing fee. The FBI will not provide copies of arrest records to individuals other than the subject of the record. Requests should be directed to FBI CJIS Division, Attn: SCU, Mod. D-2, 1000 Custer Hollow Rd., Clarksburg, West Virginia 26306. If there is no criminal record, a report reflecting this fact is provided.

If you are interested in a criminal background check, the CASA program lists resources for each state.Casa State Background List

How to Recognize Signs of Sexual Abuse in Children

Shelia Wilkinson describes signs of sexual abuse in children. Sexual Abuse Behaviors Among the signs she tells parents to observe are:

1. Pay attention to your child’s posture. If your child suddenly has pain or difficulty sitting or walking, talk to them. Check out their bodies but be prepared that they may fight you on this. Abusers often threaten to harm the children or their families or pets and your child may be terrified.

2. Look for adult behaviors. Suddenly seductive rubbing on or around the genital area, using sexual words or adult, flirty behavior. …

3. Watch for sudden shyness or fearfulness. Refusing suddenly to change in front of others or in gym class is common. So are nightmares, bedwetting and sleeplessness….

4. Know your child’s habits. Are they suddenly eating a great deal more or less? Do they want to be alone more or never alone at all? Are they afraid or reluctant to go places they always enjoyed? Do they talk about or try running away? Daycare, school, friends’ and relatives’ homes, the nursery at church, all seem like safe places but these are the places where kids most often get abused.

5. For older children, pregnancy or contracting an STD may not be promiscuity. It may be sexual abuse. ….

6. Talk to others–discreetly. Getting to know your child’s teachers, principal, nursery workers and sitters is extremely important if you want to ensure your child’s safety.

7. Listen to your child. The last warning sign is the most important. If your child talks about or reports sexual abuse, believe it to be true. The evidence is very clear that this is not something that children make up…..

8. Remember to take action if you have suspicions…..

Don’t be afraid to gently ask your child about their experiences in different settings like school, daycare or recreational activities. Listen to them and any cues they provide. Abuse sometimes happens to infants and toddlers. Since an infant is too young to verbalize what is happening there are certain signs that a parent should look for. Dr. F. Felicia Ferrara’s video describes what parents should observe in infants and toddlers. Infant and Toddler Abuse Parents should look for strange rashes and an unusual fear of people as possible clues that something might be wrong.

What to do if You Suspect Your Child has been Abused or Molested

The National Child Trauma Stress Network has excellent resource material available.NationalTrauma Stress Network They suggest the following actions’ if you suspect your child has been abused:

1. Stay calm…..

2. Believe your child, and let your child know that he or she is not to blame for what happened. Praise your child for being brave and for telling about the sexual abuse.

3. Protect your child by getting him or her away from the abuser and immediately reporting the abuse to local authorities. If you are not sure who, to contact, call the ChildHelp® National Child Abuse Hotline at 1.800.4.A.CHILD (1.800.422.4453; http:// http://www.childhelp.org/get_help) or, for immediate help, call 911.

4. Get help. In addition to getting medical care to address any physical damage your child may have suffered (including sexually transmitted diseases), it is important that your child have an opportunity to talk with a mental health professional who specializes in child sexual abuse. Therapy has been shown to successfully reduce distress in families and the effects of sexual abuse on children. Many communities have local Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs) that offer coordinated support and services to victims of child abuse, including sexual abuse. For a state-by-state listing of accredited CACs, visit the website of the National Children’s Alliance

5. Reassure your child that he or she is loved, accepted and an important family member. Don’t make promises you can’t keep (such as saying you won’t tell anyone about the abuse), but let your child know that you will do everything in your power to protect him or her from harm.

6. Keep your child informed about what will happen next, particularly with regard to legal actions. (For more information on helping abused children cope with the stress of dealing with the legal system, see the National Child Traumatic Stress Network’s factsheet, Child Sexual Abuse: Coping with the Emotional Stress of the Legal System, available on the web.

It is not the child’s fault that he or she has been abused It is the fault of the abuser and parents must emphasize that what occurred is not the child’s fault.

What can Parents do to Prevent Their Child from being a Victim

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, parents should take the following steps. Sex Abuse Prevention

· Talk to your child about sexual abuse. If your child’s school sponsors a sexual abuse program, discuss what he learned.

· Teach your child which body parts are private (parts covered by a bathing suit) and the proper names of those parts. Let him know that his body belongs to him. Tell him to yell “no” or “stop” to anyone who may threaten him sexually.

· Listen when your child tries to tell you something, especially when it seems hard for him to talk about it. Make sure your child knows it’s OK to tell you about any attempt to molest him or touch him in a way that made him feel uncomfortable, no matter who the abuser may be. Let him know he can trust you and that you will not be angry with him if he tells you.

· Give your child enough time and attention. Weekly family meetings can be used to talk about all good and bad experiences.

· Know the adults and children with whom your child is spending time. Be careful about allowing your child to spend time alone or in out-of-the-way places with other adults or older children. Make visits to your child’s caregiver without notice. Ask your child about his visits to the caregiver or with child sitters.

· Never let your child enter a stranger’s home without a parent or trusted adult. Door-to-door fund-raising is particularly risky for unsupervised children.

· Check to see if your child’s school has an abuse prevention program for the teachers and children. If it doesn’t, start one.

· Tell someone in authority if you suspect that your child or someone else’s child is being abused.

The world can sometimes harbor dangers, but parents must be ever vigilant and always aware of their child’s world to prevent predators from robbing their child of their childhood. Hopefully, the vigilance of the parents and the community will prevent more children from an experience that will take away their childhood and sometimes can take their life.

Dr. Wilda says this about that ©

Tags: After the Sandusky Verdict Lessons for Parents, CASA, Child Sexual Abuse, Criminal Background Check, Infant and Toddler Abuse, Jerry sandusky, NationalTrauma Stress Network, predator, Sex Abuse Prevention, Sexual Abuse Behaviors

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Categories Dr Wilda

Will a three year B.A. help more students afford college?

24 Jun

In 3rd world America: College increasingly out of reach, moi said:

Moi really doesn’t know what to make of the idea of privatizing state universities. In the recent past, government had the goal of raising the standard of living and producing the economic conditions that fostered livable wage jobs. The goal of most politicians was to create the conditions that promoted and fostered a strong middle class. Particularly, after WWII and the Korean War, with the G.I Bill, one part of that equation was the wide availability of a college education. This push produced an educated workforce and a college education was within reach, no matter one’s class or social status. This educated workforce helped drive this country’s prosperity. Now, have we lost the goal of providing educational opportunity the widest number of people possible, no matter their class or social status? This question causes moi to wonder about privatizing state universities.

Sam Dillion was writing about the prospect of privatizing public universities in the New York Times in 2005. See, At Public Universities, Warnings of Privatization In 2004, William Symonds wrote an opinion piece in Business Week about the role of public universities

Justin Pope, AP Education Writer details just how fast college costs are rising all over the country in the article, College prices up again as states slash budgets:

Average in-state tuition and fees at four-year public colleges rose an additional $631 this fall, or 8.3 percent, compared with a year ago.

Nationally, the cost of a full credit load has passed $8,000, an all-time high. Throw in room and board, and the average list price for a state school now runs more than $17,000 a year, according to the twin annual reports on college costs and student aid published Wednesday by the College Board.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2097835,00.html

Prospective students and families will not only have to worry about getting into college, but finding a way to pay for college. So, it comes as no surprise that reducing the time it takes to get a B.A. is an idea that is being floated. https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2011/10/27/3rd-world-america-college-increasingly-out-of-reach/

Mary Beth Marklein writes in the USA TODAY article, Cut college tuition by getting 4-year degree in 3 years:

Yet for all its pocketbook appeal, the three-year concept hasn’t taken off, particularly at public universities. Legislation in Rhode Island in 2009 and Washington last year encourages public universities to develop three-year options, but no programs have been proposed to date, officials in both states say. State budget challenges have pushed a University of California committee’s recommendation to a back burner, says system spokesman Steve Montiel.

At Ohio State University, which must phase in three-year degrees beginning this fall, provost Joe Alutto says a three-year degree may be “misdirected for an institution such as ours.” He told legislators last year that students who earned college credit in high school tend to add a minor or second major rather than graduate early.

Some skeptics worry about quality. “It’s as if they put students on a conveyer belt and just speed them up and spray them with a fire hose and the students catch what they can,” Southern New Hampshire University professor Marty Bradley says of models that compress four years into three. He pioneered a three-year degree on his campus in 1997 that required an overhaul of the curriculum.

Some education groups argue that resources, particularly at public institutions, should focus on students who are most at risk of dropping out. A study of 33 states by the non-profit Complete College America found that just 26% of students enrolled at public institutions earn a bachelor’s in four years; 54.3% take six years. About 2% of students earning a bachelor’s in 2007-08 did so in three years, federal data show. Hartwick’s four-year graduation rate in recent years averages about 46%. http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/college/story/2012-06-18/three-year-college-degrees/55746696/1#.T-U7ubWwBmE.email

For many students, a three year program will result in a huge savings, but there are risks for other students.

Mandee Heller Adler, Founder and Principal of International College Counselors writes in the article, 3-Year college degrees can save time and money, but is it worth it?

Some of the pros and the cons of the 3-year plan include:

PROS

• Three years give a boost for ambitious students who know what they want to study.

• It will be easier for families to afford college

• Students enter the workforce quicker and/or go on sooner for graduate study.

CONS

• An undergraduate’s social experience could be compromised.

• College would tilt more toward job training and away from the broad-based education that many U.S. schools offer.

• Employers may then insist on a master’s before they employ anyone and this will increase the cost to students of the future.

• Parents will pressure their students to enter a 3 year program and then students will have a miserable time, taking an overload of courses, and missing the experience of college.

• Students should enjoy these four years of freedom. They have the rest of their lives to work.

From my experience as a college advisor, my thought is, if you’re smart and dedicated enough to graduate in 3 years, you can figure out how to do it on your own. AP credits, summer courses, and college credits gained during high school can be used to reach this goal. I work with a few high school freshmen now who are accumulating college credit. Their life goals may change in the next two years but the college credit can work favorable for them no matter what college or major they enter. I know more than a few students, including my sister, who graduated in three years or less without their colleges having to create a special program.

If you have any other college admissions questions for a college counselor, I’d be happy to answer them. Please write me here or at my personal email which can be found on my International College Counselors college counseling website.

http://internationalcollegecounselors.com/blog/?page_id=81

For the article that served as a basis for these college counselor thoughts, see: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/22/AR2009052203681_Comments.html#

There are also concerns that a three year program might not be appropriate for at-risk students.

Christina Couch writes at Bankrate.com in the article, Pros and cons of accelerated degree programs:

Greater risk to the at-risk

The economic reasons for shortening college tenure are strong. Not only knocking out a year of tuition, room and board — a value of anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000 — they also reduce student loan interest and help students get a jump on paying their student loans back. The problem, says Karen Gross, president of Southern Vermont College in Bennington, Vt., is that the students most economically motivated to reduce their college costs are frequently the ones who need a four-year program the most.

“Many students come into college with certain academic deficiencies. There’s a fair amount of work that has to be done just to catch them up,” she says. “There are a subgroup of students from elite high schools for whom a three-year degree would be just fine. But that’s a very small percentage.”

Certain populations of students are more at-risk than others. Students from low-income, English as a second language and first-generation college backgrounds are less likely to complete a bachelor’s degree than other students.

“If you fit into any of these vulnerable populations, it doesn’t mean that you can’t graduate,” says Gross. “It just means that you are statistically at greater risk. You need to consider that.”
Trend on campus: three-year college degrees http://www.bankrate.com/finance/college-finance/pros-and-cons-of-accelerated-degree-programs-1.aspx#ixzz1yaNmMMdQ

Increasingly, the question is whether colleges are using the resources available to them effectively.

A principal reason for the rush toward three year programs is the cost of college. Robin Wilson wrote in the Chronicle of Higher Education article, Colleges Spend Far Less on Educating Students Than They Claim, Report Says:

While universities routinely maintain that it costs them more to educate students than what students pay, a new report says exactly the opposite is true.

The report was released today by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, which is directed by Richard K. Vedder, an economist who is also an adjunct scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a Chronicle blogger. It says student tuition payments actually subsidize university spending on things that are unrelated to classroom instruction, like research, and that universities unfairly inflate the stated cost of providing an education by counting unrelated spending into the mix of what it costs them to educate students.

“The authors find that many colleges and universities are paid more to provide an education than they spend providing one,” says a news release on the report, “Who Subsidizes Whom?”

The report’s authors used data from the U.S. Education Department’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, or Ipeds, to conclude that more than half of students attend institutions that take in more per student in tuition payments than what it actually costs them to deliver an education.

The chief reason universities inflate the figures on what they spend to educate students, says the report, is that institutions include all of their spending—whether it is directly related to instruction or not—when calculating what it costs them to provide an education. In reality, says the report, depending on the type of institution, it can cost universities much less to educate students than what the institutions bring in through tuition charges.

“This study finds that education and related spending is only a portion of many institutions’ budgets,” says a news release on the study, “and that many schools spend large amounts on things unrelated to educating students.” http://chronicle.com/article/Colleges-Spend-Far-Less-on/127040/

The question lawmakers should be asking themselves is why society developed public universities and do those reasons still exist? In the rush to get past this moment in time lawmakers may be destroying the very economic engine, which would drive this country out of the economic famine that currently exists. While tuition is increased for students, the pay of college administrators remains hefty. Administrators are in effect pigs at the trough and should come under some scrutiny. Of course, if the current public universities were privatized, we wouldn’t have to worry about pigs still at the trough or would we? In a totally privatized university environment, administrators could be paid what the market will allow or the regents can go wink, wink at. Wait, wasn’t unfettered pay one element in the U.S. financial meltdown?

Choosing the right college for you https://drwilda.wordpress.com/tag/the-college-affordability-and-transparency-center/

Many U.S. colleges use the ‘Common Application’ https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/many-u-s-colleges-use-the-common-application/

Tags: 3-Year college degrees can save time and money but is it worth it?, Accelerated Degree Program, At Public Universities Warnings of Privatization, College Access, College Admission, College Affordability, College prices up again as states slash budgets, Colleges Spend Far Less on Educating Students Than They Claim Report Says, Cut college tuition by getting 4-year degree in 3 years, Pros and cons of accelerated degree programs, Three Year B/A.

Comments 3 Comments
Categories Dr Wilda

Is there a ‘model minority’ ??

23 Jun

Let’s get this out of the way, moi has always thought the term “minority” as applied to certain ethnic groups or cultures is and has been condescending and demeaning. Edward Schumacher-Matos, the NPR ombudsman writes in On Race: The Relevance of Saying ‘Minority’

As America’s ethnic and racial make-up changes, so, too, does the nation’s language and the consensus over acceptable word usage. One word that slowly is becoming more challenged and is likely to get a big work out over the coming years is “minority.”

NPR guests, hosts and correspondents used the term in nearly 80 stories in the last year, not counting the hourly newscasts. Ken Wibecan, a listener from Schuyler Falls, NY, wrote to us:

“Many people use [minority] when they really mean African American or Latino. That it is not only inaccurate, but it is also offensive…Does NPR really think that the population of America is composed of only two elements — whites and minorities? I don’t think so. And if not, isn’t it time to retire that insulting word and use more specific designations instead?”

Already, just over a third of the country is Latino, black or Asian American, according to the 2010 Census. Non-Hispanic whites have fallen to less than 50 percent of the population in the country’s two most populous states, California and Texas. Demographers cited in a June 27 report on Tell Me More projected that non-whites will become the majority of the U.S. population by roughly 2050. Add growing inter-marriage to the mix and the lines between majority and minority are becoming ever more blurred. http://www.npr.org/blogs/ombudsman/2011/08/29/140040441/covering-race-considering-journalists-use-of-minority

Schumacher-Matos cites Mallary Jean Tenore’s article, Journalists value precise language, except when it comes to describing ‘minorities’:

Poynter’s Roy Peter Clark said the word “minorities” may be going through a “semantic shift” — a change in the associations and meanings of words over time. “Sometimes the changes in a word take centuries,” Clark told me. “Other times it can happen very quickly.”

The word “girl,” for example, used to refer to a young person of either gender. The definition of “colored” has also shifted.

“The term ‘colored’ was used for a long time to designate African Americans until it was deemed offensive. And it only really referred to ‘black’ people,” Clark said. “Now we have ‘persons of color,’ which seems to be a synonym for non-white. As the population changes, a term like ‘person of color’ rather than ‘minority’ might be more appropriate.”

Some people, however, argue that “person of color” is as bad as “minorities” or worse. We also may be limited by the AP Stylebook or our newsrooms’ style. When that’s the case, it helps to be open with readers about why we use certain terms.

On its “About” page, the Asian American Journalists Association explains: “AAJA uses the term ‘Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders’ to embrace all Americans — both citizens and residents — who self-identify with one or more of the three dozen nationalities and ethnic groups in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and the Pacific Islands. We use this term to refer to our communities at large, as well as to our membership, which includes representatives from all these regions.”

Recently, the Los Angeles Times published a memo from Assistant Managing Editor Henry Fuhrmann explaining why the Times uses “Latino” over “Hispanic.” Some readers applauded the Times for its decision, while others suggested the term is misleading and raises more questions than it answers.

That’s the problem with using one word or phrase to describe an entire group of people — it never fully captures the nuances of that group. Inevitably, some people are going to feel slighted or mischaracterized.http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/newsgathering-storytelling/diversity-at-work/142934/journalists-value-precise-language-except-when-it-comes-to-describing-minorities/

Just how misleading the term “model minority” is was the subject of an International Examiner article.

In Dispelling the Model Minority Myth: Illiteracy for APIs, Atia Musazay writes:

It’s just another stereotype commonly associated with Asian Americans: They’re naturally smart, attain high degrees with ease and make lots of money. But like most stereotypes, this “model minority myth” only accounts for one or two percent of the population and discounts a large segment of the group, particulary Southeast Asians.

According to statistics by University of Massachusetts, Amherst Sociology Professor C.N. Le, in his 2012 report, Southeast Asians are 5.3 times more likely to be illiterate compared to non-Hispanic whites. They have the highest high school dropout rate in the country. Yet, their needs and struggles are often overlooked.

“If you look at the vast group of Asian Americans, from Indians to Chinese to Southeast Asians, there is a wide range of gaps when it comes to socioeconomic status and education attainment, but we clump that entire group as one,” said Ay Saechao, co-chair and co-founder of the Southeast Asian American Access in Education Summit (SEAeD).

In a report prepared by University of Washington professors Shirley Hune and David T. Takeuchi, Southeast Asians are found to have a 14 percent dropout rate in Seattle’s public schools—the highest of any ethnic group.

Nationally, the rate of college degree attainment for Laoations, Cambodians, and Hmong, the three groups Saechao identified as the most struggling, is less than 10 percent. That’s a quarter the rate of the larger Asian American segment, according to Le’s report.

The SEAeD was established in January 2012 and is made up of 35 members, mostly of Southeast Asian descent. It has the mission of building awareness about the needs of SE Asian students and their parents to become successful in the education system. They also hope to provide mentors from within the community.

“Policymakers, researchers and educators don’t address this group,” said Saechao. “The community itself also has a lack of awareness when it comes to educational access.”

The lack of conversation is what perpetuates the stereotype, he said.

The group has identified several factors that have contributed to illiteracy in this community.

Cambodians and Laotians who immigrated in the 1980s as war refugees didn’t have an educational background. They worked in the farms and the fields. Their children today are not only first generation high school students, but in some cases, first generation elementary school students, said Saechaeo.

Saechao said that a common way to indicate if a student is going to succeed is by looking at the parent’s education level. For parents who can’t read, write or speak English, it can be difficult to navigate the complex education system with their children. They can’t communicate with teachers, help their child with math or writing or know what the pathway to college looks like.http://www.iexaminer.org/news/dispelling-the-model-minority-myth-illiteracy-for-apis/

The myth of the “model minority” is useful in some circumstances.

In Testing The “Model Minority Myth,” Miranda Oshige McGowan* & James Lindgren write in the Northwestern School of Law Review:

I. INTRODUCTION

The stereotype of Asian Americans as a “Model Minority” appears frequently in the popular press and in public and scholarly debates about affirmative action, immigration, and education. The model minority stereotype

may be summarized as the belief that “Asian Americans, through their hard work, intelligence, and emphasis on education and achievement, have been successful in American society.”1 As critiqued in the scholarly literature,

however, this positive image of Asian Americans as a model minority conceals a more sinister core of beliefs about Asian Americans and other racial minorities in America: a view of Asian Americans as foreign and

unpatriotic; a belief that there is little racial discrimination in America; a feeling that racial minorities have themselves to blame for persistent poverty and lags in educational and professional attainment; a hostility to foreigners, immigrants, and immigration; and a hostility to government programs to increase opportunities for Asian Americans and other ethnic minorities.2 http://www.law.northwestern.edu/lawreview/v100/n1/331/lr100n1lindgren-mcgowan.pdf

The use of the term “model minority” evolves over time.

Dr. Terence Fitzgerald writes in the Racism Review article, Divide and Conquer: The New Model Minority:

The fix is in, as they say. The announcement has been made. The ideological royal guard of racial stratification is standing at attention. There is a change of the guard in terms of the covenant title, (insert the sound of trumpets please), “Model Minority.” Previously I was swayed by the weight of a 2008 Journal of African American Studies article, “Race, Gender and Progress: Are Black American Women the New Model Minority?” by Amadu Jacky Kaba. This scholar asserts that Black females, despite the effects of slavery, gender discrimination, and racial oppression were slowly becoming the new model minority. Black females were described as replacing Eastern and Southern Asians upon the white pedestal for other minority groups to be in awe of.

Many do not know the term “model minority” was coined by sociologist William Peterson in a 1966 New York Times magazine essay entitled, “Success Story: Japanese American Style.” The piece made the argument that despite their experiences with historical marginalization, Asian Americans have attained “success” (whatever that means in this country), due to strong families, respect for education, and work ethic. In later years the media provided an array of articles and coverage that exhibited this point. In essence they were all nationally and internationally stressing the strength of the poignant question—“Why can’t Blacks get their act together?” The term by many is viewed as both racist and divisive. It was created by the White elite to serve as a way to downplay the effects of racism on Blacks while publicly blaming Blacks, the victim, for their own political, economic, and social status.

In my research, I have seen the trends of Black female graduation (high school, bachelors, and advanced degrees) increase while Black males have dropped. I have noticed the increase of Black females attaining corporate, medical, and legal jobs. I have also noticed the declining number of Black males entering the educational programs needed to attain these positions. I have seen the young Black male faces entering into a prison system that is plastered wall to wall with their image. The health and suicide rates fare no better. When taking this into account, I was not so sure the predicted change of guard would occur.

This was not until I became aware of the emerging research by Dudley Poston at Texas A&M, that points to China, which replaces Mexico (Mexican immigrants) as the new U.S. source for low wage workers coming to the US. He goes on to assert that the sentiment, legal maneuvers, and overall disdain targeting Mexican workers we have witnessed in the past few years will possibly be refocused on the replacing low-wage Asian worker. Due to this I feel that the outlook on Asians as the supposed “model” will cease to exist. They too will be blamed for the same issues Mexican workers are blamed for today. This will give way to a new champ to be elected in order to continue the divide between people of color, and at the same time sustaining the existing racist oppressive conditions that keep Blacks and Latinos down. http://www.racismreview.com/blog/2011/10/17/divide-and-conquer-the-new-model-minority/

There is no such thing as a “model minority” and getting rid of this myth will allow educators to focus on the needs of the individual student. Calling ethnic groups “minorities” is really a misnomer. According to Frank Bass’ Bloomberg article, Nonwhite U.S. Births Become the Majority for First Time:

Minority babies outnumbered white newborns in 2011 for the first time in U.S. history, the latest milestone in a demographic shift that’s transforming the nation.

The percentage of nonwhite newborns rose to 50.4 percent of children younger than a year old from April 2010 to July 2011, while non-Hispanic whites fell to 49.6 percent, the U.S. Census Bureau said today. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-17/non-white-u-s-births-become-the-majority-for-first-time.html

If a racial identifier must be used, it is better to describe the cultural group or ethnic group with an appropriate term for that group.

The is no magic bullet or “Holy Grail” in education, there is what works to produce academic achievement in each population of students.

model_minority_myth_interview.html

Tags: Divide and Conquer The New Model Minority, except when it comes to describing ‘minorities’, In Dispelling the Model Minority Myth Illiteracy for API, International Examiner, Journalists value precise language, Model Minority, Nonwhite U.S. Births Become the Majority for First Time, On Race: The Relevance of Saying 'Minority', Race, Testing The “Model Minority Myth

Comments 19 Comments
Categories Dr Wilda

Rural schools and the digital divide

21 Jun

In Rural schools, moi said:

A significant number of children attend rural schools. According to The Rural Assistance Center, the definition of a rural school is:

Question: What is the definition of a rural and/or small school?

Answer: According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the definition of rural schools was revised in 2006 after working with the Census Bureau to create a new locale classification system to capitalize on improved geocoding technology and the 2000 Office of Management and Budget definitions of metro areas that rely less on population size and county boundaries than proximity of an address to an urbanized area. Small schools do not necessarily mean rural, and rural does not mean small. A small school could be an urban school with a decreasing population. Rural schools can be large due to the center school concept where students are bused in to one school to save on costs. Some schools are considered small when compared to the mega-schools of several thousand that are common in some districts. A small school could be one designed to accommodate a specific population of students and their unique needs or a private school. Rural and/or small schools have similar needs and concerns.

According to The Condition of Education in Rural Schools (U.S. Department of Education, 1994), ‘few issues bedevil analysts and planners concerned with rural education more than the question of what actually constitutes “rural”.’ In the Federal Register published December 27, 2000, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced the Standards for Defining Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas. These new standards replace and supersede the 1990 standards for defining Metropolitan Areas. OMB announced definitions of areas based on the new standards and Census 2000 data in June 2003. The lack of a clear, accepted definition of “rural” has impeded research in the field of rural education. When defining the term rural, population and remoteness are important considerations as these factors influence school organization, availability of resources, and economic and social conditions.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, the definition of “small rural schools” are those schools eligible to participate in the Small Rural School Achievement (SRSA) program. SRSA includes districts with average daily attendance of fewer than 600 students, or districts in which all schools are located in counties with a population density of fewer than 10 persons per square mile, AND all schools served by the districts are located in a rural area with a school locale code of 7 or 8.

http://www.raconline.org/topics/schools/schoolsfaq.php

Rural schools face unique challenges. https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/rural-schools/

Sarah Butrymowicz of the Hechinger Report writes about the digital divide, one of the challenges faced by rural schools.

In Rural Schools In America Fight To Bridge Digital Divide, Butrymowicz writes in the Huffington Post:

Rural schools have long been leaders in distance-learning and online education—to offer a full slate of courses to their students, they’ve had to be. In fact, Edison has a fully online school that enrolls about 100 other students in the district. But when it comes to technology inside traditional classrooms, the small sizes—and budgets—of rural schools present unique hurdles.

Some states, fearing a divide between rural and urban communities, have developed statewide initiatives to provide technology to rural schools. Maine, for instance, gives every student a laptop, and Alabama requires all school districts to offer Advanced Placement courses through distance-learning technology, where students video-conference with teachers.

But in many places, the onus is on the already-strained staff of the schools to acquire and then use things like computers and iPads, leading to pockets of innovation, like that in Edison. Although it leaves a line in its budget for technology upkeep, Edison has supplemented its tech experimentation with a $10,000 grant from the Denver-based Morgridge Family Foundation.

For schools facing shrinking budgets and consolidation, technology could be rural schools’ saving grace, said Bob Wise, a former governor of West Virginia who now serves as president of the Alliance for Excellent Education, a national advocacy organization in Washington, D.C., that has studied the challenges facing rural schools. “We’re encouraging every district to develop a systematic strategy for employing technology,” he said. “My guess is you will see a number of rural schools actually saved and renewed as learning centers.”

Rural America lags behind the rest of the country in Internet usage, making rural schools an important center of connectivity in the communities. In 2010, for instance, 57 percent of rural households had broadband Internet access, compared to 72 percent in urban areas, according to a November 2011 report by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/21/rural-schools-in-america-_n_1617167.html?utm_hp_ref=email_share

The Rural Assistance Center has some great information about technology in rural areas.

In Technology Frequently Asked Questions, The Rural Assistance Center discusses technology issues:

Frequently Asked Questions

What are current issues related to technology in rural communities?

What are the benefits of high speed Internet access for rural communities?

How can tribal communities benefit from expanded access to Internet technology?

What funding programs are available for expanded Internet service in rural areas?

What is the FCC’s Universal Service program and how does it apply to rural areas?

What specific programs of the Universal Service would benefit rural areas?

How can rural communities bridge the digital divide?

What is a community technology center (CTC)?

Question: What are current issues related to technology in rural communities?

Answer: Lack of access to high-speed Internet connections presents a challenge to the economic development of rural communities. It also hinders the provision of enhanced educational content for K-12 education and adult learning. In addition, although many rural residents have Internet access at work, at school, via public libraries or community centers, home access is still somewhat limited. Cost is the primary reason for slower deployment. Internet providers, cable television companies and access providers may hesitate to expand costly infrastructure and operations in sparsely populated areas because lower population density results in less usage and lowered profits. In addition, fewer rural residents may be able to afford the cost of owning and using personal computers, and as young people migrate out of rural communities, an additional challenge facing rural providers is engaging older residents.

While Internet technology can be accessed anywhere there are phone lines, the cost of doing so for many rural residents may be unaffordable. A lack of competition among providers in rural communities may keep access costs high. Higher fees result from long-distance rates charged by phone companies serving rural areas.

Degree of access is also an important issue in rural communities. The quality of local phone lines, availability of alternative media such as wireless devices, and the level of high-speed broadband technology each influences Internet access. Furthermore, slower investment of local banks and other economic development groups poses a challenge. Broadband provides users with instant access, and enables them to download and upload information and software at a much faster speed. It also allows people to make telephone calls while online, eliminating the need for a second phone line. While some state departments of economic development are effectively addressing this issue, others have yet to do so.http://www.raconline.org/topics/technology/technologyfaq.php

All children have a right to a good basic education

Schools Must Bridge the Digital Divide http://www.abpc21.org/digitaldivide.html

Tags: Digital Divide, Rural Schools In America Fight To Bridge Digital Divide, Rural Schools. Rural Education, Technology and rural schools, The Rural Assistance Center

Comments 7 Comments
Categories Dr Wilda

Complete College America report: The failure of remediation

21 Jun

In Remedial education in college, moi said:

Whether or not students choose college or vocational training at the end of their high school career, our goal as a society should be that children should be “college ready.” David T. Conley writes in the ASCD article, What Makes a Student College Ready?

The Big Four

A comprehensive college preparation program must address four distinct dimensions of college readiness: cognitive strategies, content knowledge, self-management skills, and knowledge about postsecondary education.

Key Cognitive Strategies

Colleges expect their students to think about what they learn. Students entering college are more likely to succeed if they can formulate, investigate, and propose solutions to nonroutine problems; understand and analyze conflicting explanations of phenomena or events; evaluate the credibility and utility of source material and then integrate sources into a paper or project appropriately; think analytically and logically, comparing and contrasting differing philosophies, methods, and positions to understand an issue or concept; and exercise precision and accuracy as they apply their methods and develop their products.

Key Content Knowledge

Several independently conducted research and development efforts help us identify the key knowledge and skills students should master to take full advantage of college. Standards for Success (Conley, 2003) systematically polled university faculty members and analyzed their course documents to determine what these teachers expected of students in entry-level courses. The American Diploma Project (2004) consulted representatives of the business community and postsecondary faculty to define standards in math and English. More recently, both ACT (2008) and the College Board (2006) have released college readiness standards in English and math. Finally, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (2008), under mandate of state law, developed one of the first and most comprehensive sets of state-level college readiness standards….

Key Self-Management Skills

In college, students must keep track of massive amounts of information and organize themselves to meet competing deadlines and priorities. They must plan their time carefully to complete these tasks. They must be able to study independently and in informal and formal study groups. They must know when to seek help from academic support services and when to cut their losses and drop a course. These tasks require self-management, a skill that individuals must develop over time, with considerable practice and trial-and-error.

Key Knowledge About Postsecondary Education

Choosing a college, applying, securing financial aid, and then adjusting to college life require a tremendous amount of specialized knowledge. This knowledge includes matching personal interests with college majors and programs; understanding federal and individual college financial aid programs and how and when to complete appropriate forms; registering for, preparing for, and taking required admissions exams; applying to college on time and submitting all necessary information; and, perhaps most important, understanding how the culture of college is different from that of high school….

Students who would be the first in their family to attend college, students from immigrant families, students who are members of racial and ethnic minority groups traditionally underrepresented in college, and students from low-income families are much more easily thrown off the path to college if they have deficiencies in any of the four dimensions. http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct08/vol66/num02/What-Makes-a-Student-College-Ready%C2%A2.aspx

The difficult question is whether current testing accurately measures whether students are prepared for college.

Jon Marcus for the Hechinger Report, a nonprofit based at Teachers College, Columbia University that produces in-depth education journalism writes a guest post for the Washington Post, Many students could skip remedial classes, studies find.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/college-inc/post/many-students-could-skip-remedial-classes-studies-find/2012/02/28/gIQA5p5rgR_blog.html

Tamar Lewin of the New York Times also reports on the studies in, Colleges Misassign Many to Remedial Classes, Studies Find. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/29/education/colleges-misassign-many-to-remedial-classes-studies-find.html?emc=eta1

https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/03/04/remedial-education-in-college/

Complete College America has completed the report, Remediation: Higher Education’s Bridge to Nowhere which examines college remediation programs.

Huffington Post is reporting in the article, College Preparedness Lacking, Forcing Students Into Developmental Coursework, Prompting Some To Drop Out:

High school graduates may be attending college in record numbers, but that doesn’t mean they are necessarily ready for higher education.

According to Complete College America — a Washington-based nonprofit aimed at increasing college completion — four in 10 high school graduates are required to take remedial courses when they start college. According to Cincinnati.com, two-thirds of those students attending four-year colleges in Ohio and Kentucky fail to earn their degrees within six years — a number that is on par with national statistics.

College completion rates are even lower at two-year and community colleges. In Ohio and Kentucky, only 6.4 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively, of remedial students earn an associate’s degree in three years. The rest either require more than three years, or withdraw.

Researchers say that remedial numbers have increased from nearly one-third of incoming college freshmen in 2001, to about 40 percent currently. The most common remedial — otherwise known as “developmental” — classes are math, English and writing, and many students are unaware that they need theses courses until they start planning their schedules and colleges decide who is required to take placement tests.

About 1.7 million students nationwide take remedial classes — a cost of $3 billion a year, since developmental courses often cost as much as regular college courses.

Experts also say that remedial coursework makes taxpayers pay twice — once for students to learn in high school, and again in college.

“It’s not efficient to be using those higher education dollars for remedial coursework,” Kim Norris, spokeswoman for the Ohio Board of Regents, told Cincinnati.com. “It’s not only more difficult andmore expensive, it can cause students to not complete.”

The ACT indicates only about a third of high school students are college-ready, yet around two-thirds of them are college-bound every year. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/18/students-lacking-college-_n_1606201.html?utm_hp_ref=education

Here are the recommendations from the report, Remediation: Higher Education’s Bridge to Nowhere:

Students should be college-ready upon graduating high school. However, colleges and universities

have a responsibility to fix the broken remedial system that stops so many from succeeding.

Adopt and implement the new Common Core State Standards in reading, writing, and math. These voluntary standards, currently supported by more than 40 states, offer multiple opportunities for

states and sectors to work together to:

• Align high school curriculum to first-year college courses;

• Develop bridge courses; and

• Create support programs to help students make a smooth transition to college.

Align requirements for entry-level college courses with requirements for high school diplomas. Academic requirements for a high school diploma should be the floor for entry into postsecondary education.

K–12 and higher education course-taking requirements should be aligned. Provide 12th grade courses designed to prepare students for college level math and English.

Administer college-ready anchor assessments in high school.

These tests give students, teachers, and parents a clear understanding about whether a student is on track for college. Giving these assessments as early as 10th grade enables juniors and seniors to address academic deficiencies before college.

Use these on-track assessments to develop targeted interventions.

K–12 systems and local community colleges or universities can develop programs that guarantee that successful students are truly college ready and exempt from remedial education as freshmen.

Use multiple measures of student readiness for college.

• Recognize that current college placement assessments are not predictive and should be supplemented with high school transcripts to make recommendations for appropriate first year courses.

• Have all students taking placement exams receive a testing guide and practice test and time to brush up on their skills before testing.ne this: Some states are ensuring that more

Citation:

2012 Remediation Report

Download:

Summary (16 pages, 9MB)

Data tables (23 pages, 464K)

State profiles (63 pages, 3MB)

Full report (104 pages, 12MB)

K-12 education must not only prepare students by teaching basic skills, but they must prepare students for training after high school, either college or vocational. There should not only be a solid education foundation established in K-12, but there must be more accurate evaluation of whether individual students are “college ready.”

Resources:

States Push Remedial Education to Community Colleges http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2012/01/13/states-push-remedial-education-to-community-colleges

What are ACT’s College Readiness Benchmarks? http://www.nc4ea.org/files/act_college_readiness_benchmarks-01-14-11.pdf

College Board’s ‘Big Future’: Helping low-income kids apply to college https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/04/19/college-boards-big-future-helping-low-income-kids-apply-to-college/

Are college students stuck on stupid? https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/are-college-students-stuck-on-stupid/

Producing employable liberal arts grads https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/producing-employable-liberal-arts-grads/

Tags: College Preparation, College preparedness, College Preparedness Lacking Forcing Students Into Developmental Coursework Prompting Some To Drop Out, Colleges Misassign Many to Remedial Classes Studies Find, Complete College America, Many students could skip remedial classes studies find, Remediation, Remediation Higher Education's Bridge to Nowhere, What Makes a Student College Ready?

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