Tag Archives: politics

Too many children of color skip advanced IB and AP courses

Moi wrote about “advanced placement” or AP courses in Who should take AP classes?

AP courses tend to attract students who are preparing for college and are very goal oriented. So, what if a student either doesn’t want to go to college or may want a career, should they take AP courses? Since the average person, according to Career Information Online will have three to five careers over the course of a life time, the best advice to everyone is prepare for any eventuality. Even if students don’t attend college after high school, they may attend later as part of a career change. Many former automobile workers are now getting college degrees in nursing and other fields, for example.

Huffington Post is reported in the article, AP Exams: Most Students Who Should Be Taking The Tests Aren’t:

More than 60 percent of students considered to have AP potential didn’t take the exam last year, even though their PSAT scores showed they could perform well on one, according to a College Board report released last week. Overall, black, Latino and Native American students were less likely to take AP exams than their white and Asian counterparts.

“AP potential” as defined by the College Board is a 70 percent or greater likelihood that a student will score a 3 (out of 5) or higher on an AP exam. The “potential” is calculated based on more than 2 million public school PSAT/NMSQT takers in the class of 2011.

Of those, nearly 771,000 graduates were classified as having AP potential, but nearly 478,000 — about 62 percent — did not take a recommended AP subject. The study points out that underserved minorities were disproportionately impacted: 74 percent of Native American students, 80 percent of black students and 70 percent of Hispanic students did not take recommended AP subject tests. A majority of Asian students with AP potential took the exams — 42 percent did not — and 62 percent of white students with AP potential didn’t take the exams.

This year’s report echoes findings from last year’s, as the College Board report last February revealed that while the number of minority students taking the exam has increased, it is still disproportionately low. To add to that, those groups are also still struggling to excel in performance: Of the half million students who passed an AP exam in 2010, just 14.6 percent were Hispanic or Latino. Only 3.9 percent of passing students were black….

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/13/ap-exams-most-students-wh_n_1273980.html?ref=email_share

The question is not only should a particular student should take AP courses, but whether the choice should be between AP courses or an International Baccalaureate. https://drwilda.com/2012/02/14/who-should-take-ap-classes/

Caralee Adams reported in the Education Week article, Racial and Income Gaps Persist in AP and IB Enrollment:

Each year, about 640,000 low-income students and students of color are “missing” from AP and IB participation—students who could benefit if they merely enrolled at the same rate as other students in their schools, the report says.

It is not just a matter access. About 1 million students do not attend schools that offer AP, and the authors note that only a small percentage of the gaps by race or family income can be accounted for by which schools do and do not offer the classes.

In many cases, students from disadvantaged backgrounds are not enrolling in existing programs.

Overall, about 11.7 percent of high school students attending schools with AP classes participate. Middle- and high-income students at these schools are three times as likely to enroll in an AP course as are low-income students. Black and American Indian students participate at about half the rate of the national average, while about 9 percent of Hispanic students sign up. This translates into about 614,000 students missing out on the opportunity.

The IB program offered in high schools to 11th and 12th graders is smaller than AP, but the Education Trust also identifies areas for growth among disadvantaged students. Looking at about 570 schools in 2010, the researchers found about one in 19 students participate in IB. White and upper-income students were more likely to enroll, leaving about 33,000 students of color and those from low-income families “missing” from the IB rolls.

The Education Trust report highlights schools that have managed to level the playing field, as evidence that these gaps can be closed. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/college_bound/2013/06/racial_and_income_gaps_persist_in_ap_and_ib_enrollment.html

Education Trust released this information about Finding America’s Missing AP and IB Students

New Analysis Finds Too Many Students Missing From AP and IB Programs

Programs like Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) are designed to provide high school students with challenging academic course work and a head start on a college education. But despite aggressive efforts — by federal and state lawmakers, private philanthropy, and districts and schools — to expand participation, there remain significant differences in the rates at which students from different racial and economic groups gain access.

These differences have been documented repeatedly and over time. What is less clear is why they persist. This new report from The Education Trust and Equal Opportunity Schools, “Finding America’s Missing AP and IB Students,” tackles the question head on. Do we simply need to expand the programs to more schools, especially those serving low-income students and students of color, or does the problem lie elsewhere? If we can identify and remedy where and why these inequities exist, these courses can be a powerful means of disrupting the high-end achievement gap, documented in the first report in this series.

Co-authors Christina Theokas, director of research at The Education Trust, and Reid Saaris, executive director of Equal Opportunity Schools, examined spring 2010 test-taking data from the College Board, which administers AP, and The International Baccalaureate and found that nationally, low-income students are one-third as likely to enroll in AP as their middle and high-income peers, while black and American Indian students participate at a rate about half that of white students. IB programs are both fewer and smaller, but similar national participation gaps exist. All in all, the authors found over 640,000 low-income students and students of color “missing” from existing AP and IB programs — that is, the additional numbers who would be participating if such students participated at the same rate as other students.

The report shows that 71 percent of traditional public high schools in the United States have AP programs. These schools serve about 91 percent of the high school student population. And, as a whole, “AP schools” enroll students who are reasonably representative of the full economic and racial diversity of all high schools, with the exception of American Indian students. Those schools without an AP program tend to be small, higher poverty, and rural. These deficiencies need to be remedied, but only a small part of the national participation gaps can be accounted for by which schools offer AP and which do not.

The real advanced course opportunity gap exists not between schools but within schools. Although the vast majority of students in every racial and economic group attend a school with an AP program, this is not well reflected in who is actually enrolled in AP courses.

The co-authors conducted a school-by-school analysis and examined whether various student groups within schools participated at similar rates. Unfortunately, within-school participation rates in many schools weren’t even close to parity, correlating with significant numbers of black, Latino, and low-income students missing from AP courses. Indeed, if all schools worked hard to find and enroll their “missing students,” the black and Hispanic national participation gaps would be entirely closed, and the low-income student gap would nearly close (90 percent).

Certainly, preparation prior to high school is part of the problem, and the nation’s schools need to work hard on that. But a recent analysis of PSAT scores by the College Board suggests there are far more students who have the potential to be successful, but are not enrolling. The College Board found that 72 percent of black students and 66 percent of Hispanic students whose PSAT scores suggested they had the potential to be successful in an AP math course, as well as 69 percent of black students and 65 percent of Hispanic students whose scores suggested they had the potential to be successful in an AP science course, were left out of the program.

Equal Opportunity Schools was created in 2008 to work with districts and schools on finding their “missing” students. Saaris and his team find that a focus on matching students with challenging high school learning opportunities results in immediate gains on the achievement gap and college readiness, while catalyzing a higher sense of what’s possible in our schools. Again and again, they discover that there are many low-income students and students of color literally sitting across the hall from the very high-level courses in which they are ready to succeed.

“We don’t need to re-invent the wheel here. At the vast majority of our high schools, we’re already using AP or IB classes to prepare students for the academic rigors of college. And yet most any educator will tell you that additional students could be benefiting from them right away,” said Saaris. “Some schools are making breakthroughs by studying the issue and quickly deploying innovative solutions to transition all their missing students up to AP or IB course participation and success.”

Lessons emerging from schools and districts already taking on these challenges can provide information for others working toward disrupting current patterns:

As one of the first school districts in the country to make college readiness a goal for all its students, the San Jose Unified School District began more than a decade ago requiring students to take the full sequence of courses needed for admission to the University of California system. More recently, district leaders began looking at gaps at the top: in AP participation. Staff at each school analyzed their own data and generated appropriate solutions. And, over time, participation rates for under-represented student subgroups doubled.

In the Federal Way Public Schools in Washington state, district leaders spotted the gaps in their data and knew that many of their students would be underprepared for college as a result. They started with a policy offering “open access” to AP/IB courses. But when that produced insufficient progress, they decided to automatically enroll students who scored proficient or better on the state exam. That approach has now been endorsed by the state Legislature, with other schools encouraged to follow a similar path.

“As states across the country implement college- and career-ready standards, we must take immediate action to close the devastating participation gaps that currently exist in our most rigorous courses,” said Christina Theokas. “Educators are the backbone of these efforts, and should be encouraged to take steps to examine enrollment patterns at their school, audit entry requirements, examine what students and teachers know about accessing a school’s AP or IB program, and work together as a team encouraging and supporting students in these classes. By following the example of schools and districts that have already found success with these steps and others, educators will be better prepared to close the gap in high-end achievement.”

There is also more work to be done by federal and state policymakers. The report recommends that policymakers make sure that all high school students have access to AP or IB programs, require all high schools to offer a minimum number of advanced courses, and — to help close the large within-school gaps in participation — require schools to report school-level participation and success rates for all groups of students.

Furthering the research in this area is a new report by The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, “The Road to Equity: Expanding AP Access and Success for African-American Students,” which examines successful strategies used by school systems that have not only maintained their level of AP participation by African-American students, but have also been able to increase AP test passing. Released today, the report provides case studies of six districts that provide even more examples for other educators, schools, and districts to follow.

—May 5, 2013

www.edtrust.org/sites/edtrust.org/files/Missing_Students.pdf

Moi wrote in Race, class, and education in America:

Many educators have long recognized that the impact of social class affects both education achievement and life chances after completion of education. There are two impacts from diversity, one is to broaden the life experience of the privileged and to raise the expectations of the disadvantaged. Social class matters in not only other societies, but this one as well.

A few years back, the New York Times did a series about social class in America. That series is still relevant. Janny Scott and David Leonhardt’s overview, Shadowy Lines That Still Divide describes the challenges faced by schools trying to overcome the disparity in education. The complete series can be found at Social Class

https://drwilda.com/2011/11/07/race-class-and-education-in-america/

https://drwilda.com/2012/12/22/the-role-economic-class-plays-in-college-success/

An interesting critique of the College Board’s AP test report https://drwilda.com/2013/03/10/an-interesting-critique-of-the-college-boards-ap-test-report/

The International Baccalaureate program as a way to save struggling schools https://drwilda.com/2012/04/30/international-baccalaureate/

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Tags: AP Exams: Most Students Who Should Be Taking The Tests Aren't:, Ap. Advanced Placement Class, business, economy, education, Education Trust, Finding America's Missing AP and IB Students, IB, International Baccalaureate, politics, Race and Class, Racial and Income Gaps Persist in AP and IB Enrollment, research, science, Shadowy Lines That Still Divide

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Punishing parents for a child’s bad behavior

4 Jun

The latest attempt to punish parents for a child’s behavior is described in Doug Erickson’s Wisconsin State Journal article, Monona police can now cite parents for a child’s bullying:

Monona parents whose children repeatedly bully others can now be ticketed by police and fined in municipal court.

The approach, part of a broader anti-bullying ordinance passed May 20 by the Monona City Council, appears to break new ground in the national effort to reduce harassment and emotional abuse among young people.

Julie Hertzog, director of the National Bullying Prevention Center in Bloomington, Minn., said she had not heard of such a tactic and was hesitant to comment for that reason. “This is the first time it’s been on my radar,” she said.

Likewise, the League of Wisconsin Municipalities said it could find no other municipal ordinances in the state that hold parents accountable for an offspring’s bullying. The Monona ordinance took effect Thursday.

Monona Police Chief Wally Ostrenga said no specific incident led to the ordinance, just a general concern about the tragic consequences of bullying, including a rash of school shootings and teen suicides across the country.

He thinks the parent-liability clause will be used sparingly, if at all, and only in cases where parents are obstructive or uncooperative. He hopes the mere threat of a ticket will be enough.

“Sometimes you’ll knock on someone’s door and they won’t want to talk to you — their kids are perfect, they could never do anything wrong,” Ostrenga said. “This is for those times when we get the door slammed in our faces.”

Parents who are making a good-faith effort to address a child’s behavior would not be ticketed, he said.

City Attorney William S. Cole called the tactic “a tool of last resort” and said he believes it would withstand a court challenge.

Parents can’t be blindsided under the ordinance. Before being ticketed, a parent or guardian must be informed in writing by an officer of a separate violation of bullying by the same minor within the prior 90 days.

A ticket is a municipal code violation, not a criminal offense. (Only the state Legislature can make something a criminal offense.)

A first violation of the parent-liability clause carries a $114 fine. Subsequent violations within the same year carry fines of $177 each.

“I think it’s fantastic,” said Jason Burns, executive director of Equality Wisconsin, a Milwaukee nonprofit organization that works on bullying prevention in schools. “It forces parents to be more involved in their child’s life, if they’re not already.”

The broader ordinance prohibits any person age 12 or older from engaging in bullying, subject to similar municipal fines. The ordinance defines bullying as “an intentional course of conduct which is reasonably likely to intimidate, emotionally abuse, slander, threaten or intimidate another person and which serves no legitimate purpose.”

Much of the broader ordinance addresses conduct already prohibited by state statute, Ostrenga said. However, the state statutes don’t use the term “bullying.” The city wanted to be explicit and public about its stand against bullying, he said.

Much of the work on the parent-liability clause — the unique aspect of the ordinance — was done by Monona Det. Sgt. Ryan Losby, who shepherded the ordinance through a year-long city review process. Losby said he was motivated by research showing almost all of the recent school shootings in the country were committed by students who felt they were victims of bullying.
http://host.madison.com/news/local/crime_and_courts/monona-police-can-now-cite-parents-for-a-child-s/article_1e85dcbd-419a-502b-8ada-952c393dc2e1.html#ixzz2VJrbmQDX

Moi has written about other instances of punishing parents for their children’s behavior.

In We give up as a society: Jailing parents because kids are truant, moi wrote:

Alexia Campbell reports in the Sun Sentinel article, New court could mean jail for parents of truant kids:

A new truancy court in Palm Beach County won’t just go after children if they miss too much school, it could result in jail time for their parents.

Palm Beach County‘s main courthouse in West Palm Beach hosts the truancy court — launched in November — and is testing it on parents and students from kindergarten to third grade. The family hearings before Palm Beach Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Kroll will be the last resort before Palm Beach County parents face criminal charges.

The new program is South Florida’s first experiment with a truancy court, although a handful of other counties have their own initiatives. The Broward and Miami-Dade state attorney’s offices run truancy intervention programs, but there is no judge set aside to specifically handle truancy cases.

Under Florida law, parents can be charged with truancy if a child between 6 and 16 has 15 or more unexcused absences in three months. They face up to two months in jail if convicted of the second-degree misdemeanor.

No one has been before a judge or charged in more than 15 years in Palm Beach County, according to the State Attorney’s Office. The reason? Prosecutors have focused on more important violent crimes and schools didn’t have liasons to help present strong cases.

Palm Beach School District staff have struggled to force parents to bring their absent kids back to school ever since budget cuts ended law enforcement interventions several years ago, said Judith Klinek, chief academic officer for the School District.

“We needed a little bit of muscle. There was no follow through,” Klinek said.

Palm Beach County schools reported that 6.6 percent of its 198,351 students committed truancy in the 2009-2010 school year, state records show. In Broward County, that number was 12.6 percent of 287,935 students. Records only included kids with 21 or more unexcused absences, so the truancy rate of students who missed at least 15 days is likely higher.

A group of 11 elementary schools with known truancy problems are part of the test, and it may expand next school year depending on the results. Among those in the group are Pleasant City Elementary, Roosevelt Elementary and Seminole Trails Elementary, all three in West Palm Beach.

When a child reaches five unexcused absences in three months, the School District sends parents a letter. After 10 unexcused absences, they get another letter and a call from a “truancy liason.” After 15 absences, social workers with Boys Town, a nonprofit organization that provides family support services, will work with parents and children to find out what is going on.

If no progress is made, Judge Kroll will step in.

“Maybe a parent is significantly depressed and can’t get their child ready for school,” said Seth Bernstein, program director for Boys Town South Florida. “Or a parent goes to wake their child up in the morning and can’t coax them out of bed.” http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-12-11/news/fl-palm-truancy-court-20111209_1_truancy-court-absences-parents-of-truant-kids

Detroit Prosecutor Kim Worthy has explored the option of jailing parents as well. Christine Mac Donald reported in the Detroit News, Worthy Proposes jail For Parents Who Skip Kids’ Conferences This next comment is in no way PC. Prosecutor Worthy is correct that parents MUST be involved in the lives of their children. Problem is, jailing them will not force the majority of them into meaningful involvement and interaction with their child. Society has a couple of options to counter the this it’s my life and I’ll do what I want philosophy. The first is discouraging and condemning out-of –wedlock births, particularly among low-income women. Too bad the First Lady doesn’t want to take this one on. The second thing is to intervene early and terminate the rights of negligent and abusive parents, freeing children up for adoption earlier. Finally, this society needs to support adoptive parents with financial and counseling resources. Not PC, but there it is.

It is going to take coordination between not only education institutions, but a strong social support system to get many of these children through school. This does not mean a large program directed from Washington. But, more resources at the local school level which allow discretion with accountability. For example, if I child is not coming to school because they have no shoes or winter coat, then the child gets new shoes and/or a coat. School breakfast and lunch programs must be supported and if necessary, expanded. Unfortunately, schools are now the early warning system for many families in crisis.

Resources

How to Raise A Healthy Happy Child

The Importance of Play in Child Development

Protectors or Perpetrators

Questions to Ask Before You Divorce

How Can I Get A Good Divorce

Just Whom is This Divorce Good For?

Divorce as Friends

Divorce, What to Tell Your Children

Tell Your Children About Your Divorce

When to Seek Counseling

Helping Kids Cope With a Breakup

Intervening in the lives of truant children by jailing parents https://drwilda.com/2012/10/07/intervening-in-the-lives-of-truant-children-by-jailing-parents/

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Tags: Bullying, challenge parents, current-events, Detroit Prosecutor Kim Worthy, doug erickson, league of wisconsin municipalities, Monona police can now cite parents for a child's bullying, New court could mean jail for parents of truant kids, politics, Punishing parents for a child's behavior, Sun Sentinel, Wisconsin State Journal, Worthy Proposes jail For Parents Who Skip Kids' Conferences

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Categories Dr Wilda

High school newspapers are important

2 Jun

Scott Simon reports in the NPR story, High School Newspapers: An Endangered Species:

Does your local high school have a student newspaper? And in this day when a social media message saying, “Tonight’s Green Design and Technology class homework sucks!” can instantly be sent to thousands, does it need to?

The New York Times reports this week that only 1 in 8 of New York’s public high schools has a student newspaper — and many of those are published just a few times a year. A few more are online, which can leave out poorer schools.

The national figures are a little higher. But as Rebecca Dwarka, an 18-year-old senior in the Bronx who works for her student paper, The Dewitt Clinton News, told the Times, “Facebook is the new way of finding out what happened. Nobody wants to actually sit down and read a whole article about it,” which makes a “whole article” sound a little like a long sentence in solitary confinement.

I am not nostalgic about high school student newspapers and never worked for mine. I put out what was then called an underground magazine with a group of friends because we wanted to write about peace, war and rock n’ roll without school officials admonishing us not to make jokes about the local alderman.

But we learned. Trying to convince a local druggist to buy an ad in your slender rag can be humbling and make you determined to turn out a paper he’s proud to have his name in, too.

Hearing that school newspapers are in decline because students now “find out what happened” in social media bites is a little discouraging because it confirms that for millions of Americans, journalism is becoming a do-it-yourself enterprise….

But truly good journalism is a craft, not just a blog post. It requires not only seeing something close-up, but also reporting it with perspective. It uses an eye for detail to help illuminate a larger view. And even journalism that conveys an opinion strives to be fair. If school newspapers begin to disappear, I hope there are other ways for students to learn that. http://www.npr.org/2013/06/01/187534165/are-high-school-newspapers-an-endangered-species?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=share

The American Press Institute 2008 report High School Journalism Matters finds:

High school journalism students earn higher grade point averages, score better on the ACT college entrance examination and demonstrate better writing and grammar

skills in college, compared with students who do not have those journalism experiences. http://www.americanpressinstitute.org/docs/foundation/research/journalism-matters_exec.pdf

College Media Matters has an interesting perspective on school newspapers.

In the article, Are High School Student Newspapers in Trouble? Dan interviews Kansas State University journalism professor, Kelly Furnas.

Furnas: “I haven’t seen any evidence to suggest that there’s a connection between the newspaper industry’s profit margins and the state of high school journalism programs. However, this article looks at a segment of high schools– especially those in low-income areas– that have the hardest time maintaining elective or extra-curricular activities. You could have just as easily replaced ‘student newspaper’ with ‘foreign language classes’ or ‘arts’ and the article probably would have read the same way.

“There are a ton of variables that affect the viability of a student newspaper, and finances are certainly part of the equation. While sometimes advertising helps support student newspapers, staffs also fund printing through fundraisers, sponsorships, state support, and booster programs. Unfortunately, those schools in areas where advertising sales are challenging also are going to struggle with those other funding models, too.

“However, I’d argue the most dangerous threat to a journalism program is the turnover of teachers in those schools. Teaching journalism can be an especially stressful, time-intensive and lonely position, and the lack of support can be a real threat to their longevity. Without a steady hand overseeing a journalism program, small problems can suddenly become major threats to the newspaper’s existence.” http://collegemediamatters.com/2013/05/30/are-high-school-student-newspapers-in-trouble/

Working on a high school paper has pros and cons.

Scott Free writes in the SparkLife article, Pros and Cons of Working at a School Newspaper:

Pro: A better environment than you’ll ever find working at a college. Student employees can only have so much fun serving coffee or tutoring math pariahs, but at a newspaper people are usually doing what they love—whether it’s writing, photography, videography or pagination. Plus, writers are just cool people. We at SparkLife should know.

Con: Long hours and/or little to no pay. The long hours don’t apply unless people strive to do their best, and it can be frustrating if they don’t. Sometimes a paper pays its students and sometimes they’re volunteers, but there’s never a lot of money put into campus newspapers.

Pro: You can put out a product to show off for years. You won’t always be proud of the result of all the sweat, blood and tears, but the times you are will outweigh the times you aren’t.

Con: Not everyone will take you seriously. Even students who work for the paper.

Pro: You can find out what you want to do for a career. If writing or photography or editing isn’t your thing, it’s a good thing you didn’t get a degree in it and then figure out, right?

Con: It can be frustrating while you’re figuring it out.

Pro (for guys): You’ll get all the girls. When people think “reporter,” they usually think “Clark Kent unbuttoning his shirt,” and when they think of “photographer,” they think of Peter Parker in spandex. All of this is 100% true. Ask anyone. http://community.sparknotes.com/2012/11/29/pros-and-cons-of-working-at-a-school-newspaper

High school newspapers report on local news.

Fran Collingham writes the Guardian article, Local news crisis: why newspapers remain so important to the public:

So why bother buying a local newspaper (or listening to the local radio station) when the news is out there in the digital world for us all to share and contribute to, updated constantly, and without a cover price?

The best local newspapers are embracing this challenge, and proving that in a world where there are a million views and interpretations of the news at the touch of a button residents, more than ever, need their local media to make sense of the digital cacophony around them.

What was the first thing Gandhi would suggest for a village? Setting up a newspaper, a central point through which all the news is filtered and which brings the people together. It may be he didn’t have to deal with Twitter in
those days but even so, he saw the careful and controlled dissemination of local news as being vital to the thriving heart of any society. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2012/jun/25/marketingandpr-local-newspapers

High School newspapers are important because they teach students writing, investigative, and critical thinking skills. These skills are useful whether students pursue journalism as an avocation. These newspapers report stories of local interest which are often overlooked by other media.

Resource:

The Student Press Law Center’s High School Top Ten List http://www.splc.org/knowyourrights/legalresearch.asp?id=3

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Tags: Are High School Student Newspapers in Trouble?, College Media Matters, education, gh School Newspapers An Endangered Species, High School Journalism Matters finds, High School Newspaper, Local news crisis why newspapers remain so important to the public, media, Newspaper, NPR, politics, Pros and Cons of Working at a School Newspaper:, Social Media, SparkLife, The American Press Institute

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The 05/28/13 Joy Jar

27 May

Moi knows that in some quarters it is fashionable to hate America and what it stands for. Many of those who think this is the worst country in the world wouldn’t leave if you took a crowbar to them. They know that there is no such thing as perfection, no matter they simply want something to hate. Through a fortunate accident of fate, moi was born an American. Moi is grateful for the sacrifices so many have made for her. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is the gratitude moi feels for being born an American.

I love America more than any other country in this world; and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.

James Baldwin

America is so vast that almost everything said about it is likely to be true, and the opposite is probably equally true.

James T. Farrell

What is the essence of America? Finding and maintaining that perfect, delicate balance between freedom “to” and freedom “from.”

Marilyn vos Savant, in Parade

How often we fail to realize our good fortune in living in a country where happiness is more than a lack of tragedy.

Paul Sweeney

What the people want is very simple. They want an America as good as its promise.

Barbara Jordan

This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.

Elmer Davis

This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in. Theodore Roosevelt

America is a nation with many flaws, but hopes so vast that only the cowardly would refuse to acknowledge them.

James Michener

If our country is worth dying for in time of war let us resolve that it is truly worth living for in time of peace. ~Hamilton Fish

To me, being an American means feeling safe.

Currielene Armstrong

Only Americans can hurt America.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.

Abraham Lincoln

Tags: Accident of Fate, America, Born an American, current-events, Dr Wilda, Joy Jar, politics, quotes

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For many college women binge drinking is the norm

26 May

For many college students, college brings more freedom and fewer restrictions than they may have been accustomed to during their high school years. Many college students are naive about the consequences that can arise from certain social situations.

The Crisis Connection reports the following statistcs about rape on campus

60% of male college students “indicated some likelihood of raping or using force in certain circumstances.”

Men in fraternities appear to engage in more non-physical coercion and use of drugs and alcohol as a sexual strategy than do independents.

Every 21 hours there is another rape on an American college campus.

90% of all campus rapes occur under the influence of alcohol.

Men are more likely than women to assume that a woman who drinks alcohol on a date is a willing sex partner. 40% of men who think this way also believe it is acceptable to force sex on an intoxicated woman.

Alcohol use at the time of the attack was found to be one of the four strongest predictors of a college woman being raped.

43% of college men admit using coercive behavior to have sex, including ignoring a woman’s protest; using physical aggression; and forcing intercourse; 15% acknowledged they had committed acquaintance rape; 11% acknowledged using physical restraint to force a woman to have sex.

College rape victims receive external physical injuries in over 47% of all rapes.

Of the college woman who are raped, only 25% describe it as rape.

Of the college women who are raped, only 10% report the rape.

College women are most vulnerable to rape during the first few weeks of the freshman and sophomore years.

One in twelve college-age men admit having fulfilled the prevailing definition of rape or attempted rape, yet virtually none of these men identify themselves as rapists.

34% of completed rapes and 45% of attempted rapes take place on campus. Almost 60% of the completed campus rapes that take place on campus occur in the victim’s residence, 31% occur in another residence, and 10% occur in a fraternity.

3/4 of off-campus rapes and 7/8 of on-campus rapes involved perpetrators who were known to the victims.

78% of the men identified (as rapists) were an acquaintance, friend or boyfriend of the victims.

Most rapes occur on the weekend.

A key factor in many college rapes and sexual assaults is the involvement of alcohol and the fact that the victim may be intoxicated or possibly drugged.

Nina Bahadur writes in the Huffington Post article, College Women Exceed Drinking Guidlines More Often Than College Men, Study Finds:

College women are drinking more alcohol than is good for them — and they are doing it more often than their male counterparts are.

A study forthcoming in the October 2013 issue of “Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research” explored how often college men and women drank. A team led by medical researcher Bettina Hoeppner recruited 992 incoming students (average age of 18.4) at three New England universities and colleges.

Participating students were asked to complete an online survey about their alcohol consumption every two weeks throughout the academic year, where they indicated their daily alcohol consumption in the 7 previous days.

In 1990, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) issued guidelines that define low-risk drinking on a daily and weekly level. For men, 5 drinks a day and 14 drinks a week are considered low-risk. For women, 4 drinks a day and 7 drinks a week are considered low-risk.

Researchers found that, among students who drank alcohol, 85.4 percent exceeded an NIAAA drinking guideline at least once during their first week of college. More men than women exceeded the daily limit, and more women than men exceeded the weekly limit.

In January 2013, researchers at the University of Vigo found that female college students were more likely to binge drink than male college students. According to a CDC report, binge drinking in women and high school girls contributes to an estimated 23,000 deaths annually in the US. The same report found that white, college-educated woman aged 18-24 with $75,000 or more annual household income were more likely to binge drink than women of other races, ages, and socioeconomic categories. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/21/college-women-binge-drinking-more-likely_n_3312967.html?utm_hp_ref=email_share

Citation:

Sex Differences in College Student Adherence to NIAAA Drinking Guidelines

Bettina B. Hoeppner^1,*,

Anna L. Paskausky²,

Kristina M. Jackson³,

Nancy P. Barnett³

Article first published online: 17 MAY 2013

DOI: 10.1111/acer.12159

Copyright © 2013 by the Research Society on Alcoholism

Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research

Early View (Online Version of Record published before inclusion in an issue)

Additional Information(Show All)

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (186K)

Background

Exceeding nationally recommended drinking limits puts individuals at increased risk of experiencing harmful effects due to alcohol consumption. Both weekly and daily limits exist to prevent harm due to toxicity and intoxication, respectively. It remains unclear how well college students adhere to recommended limits, and whether their drinking is sensitive to the wider sex difference in weekly versus daily drinking limits.

Methods

This study used a daily-level, academic-year-long, multisite sample to describe adherence to NIAAA daily (no more than 4 drinks per day for men, 3 drinks per day for women) and weekly (no more than 14 drinks per week for men, 7 drinks per week for women) drinking guidelines, and to test for sex differences and time effects. College students (n = 992; 58% female) reported daily drinking on a biweekly basis using web-based surveys throughout their first year of college.

Results

Women exceeded weekly limits more frequently (15% of weeks [14 to 17%]) than men (12% [10 to 14%]). Women and men exceeded daily drinking limits similarly often (25 and 27%, respectively). In a generalized estimating equations analysis across all 18 biweekly assessments, adjusted for covariates and a linear trend over time, women were more likely to exceed weekly guidelines compared to men. Sex differences in exceeding daily limits were not significant. Over time, rates of exceeding limits declined for daily limits but only for men for weekly limits.

Conclusions

Female college students are more likely to exceed weekly alcohol intake limits than men. Furthermore, trends over time suggest that college students may be maturing out of heavy episodic drinking, but women may not mature out of harmful levels of weekly drinking. The observed disparity in risk for long-term health consequences may represent a missed opportunity for education and intervention.

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (186K)

So parents when you are preparing to drop your children off at college, in addition to what type of frig or microwave to buy for the dorm room you need to have the following conversations:

1. Another candid conversation about sex, this conversation should be ongoing from when they were age appropriate children

2. Sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy

3. Binge drinking and substance abuse

4. Personal safety issues such as always letting at least one person know where they are going

5. The college’s code of conduct

Critical thinking skills for kids are crucial: The lure of Superbowl alcohol ads https://drwilda.com/2013/02/02/critical-thinking-skills-for-kids-are-crucial-the-lure-of-superbowl-alcohol-ads/

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Tags: Alcohol on campus, Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, Binge Drinking, College Women Exceed Drinking Guidlines More Often Than College Men Study Finds, Crisis Connection, current-events, politics, research, science, Sex Differences in College Student Adherence to NIAAA Drinking Guidelines, statistcs about rape on campus, women, Women and Alcohol

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The 05/24/13 Joy Jar

24 May

Today is the beginning of the Memorial Day Weekend which honors those brave men and women who gave their lives so that moi has FIRST AMENDMENT and other Constitutional rights. Today’s deposit in the ‘Joy Jar’ is the thanks moi gives to the men and women of the military.

“People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”
George Orwell

“Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons.”
Douglas MacArthur

“Battles are won by slaughter and maneuver. The greater the general, the more he contributes in maneuver, the less he demands in slaughter.”
― Winston Churchill

“Mess with the best;
Die like the rest”
U.S. Special Forces

“We’re like America’s little pit bull. They beat it, starve it, mistreat it, and once in a while they let it out to attack somebody.”
Evan Wright, Generation Kill

“Marines I see as two breeds, Rottweilers or Dobermans, because Marines come in two varieties, big and mean, or skinny and mean. They’re aggressive on the attack and tenacious on defense. They’ve got really short hair and they always go for the throat.”
R. Adm. Jay Stark

“Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die”
― Alfred Tennyson

“The military don’t start wars. Politicians start wars.”
William C. Westmoreland

Tags: current-events, Dr Wilda, Holiday, Holiday Weekend, Joy Jar, Memorial Day, Mena and Women of the Military, Military, politics, Veterans

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New Federal speech guidelines for college campuses and the U.S. Constitution

19 May

Moi wrote in Free speech on college campuses:

The U.S. Constitution should be cherished by every American. Here is information about the First Amendment from the Legal Information Institute:

first amendment: an overview

The First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression from government interference. See U.S. Const. amend. I. Freedom of expression consists of the rights to freedom of speech, press, assembly and to petition the government for a redress of grievances, and the implied rights of association and belief. The Supreme Court interprets the extent of the protection afforded to these rights. The First Amendment has been interpreted by the Court as applying to the entire federal government even though it is only expressly applicable to Congress. Furthermore, the Court has interpreted, the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as protecting the rights in the First Amendment from interference by state governments. See U.S. Const. amend. XIV.

Two clauses in the First Amendment guarantee freedom of religion. The establishment clause prohibits the government from passing legislation to establish an official religion or preferring one religion over another. It enforces the “separation of church and state.” Some governmental activity related to religion has been declared constitutional by the Supreme Court. For example, providing bus transportation for parochial school students and the enforcement of “blue laws” is not prohibited. The free exercise clause prohibits the government, in most instances, from interfering with a person’s practice of their religion.

The most basic component of freedom of expression is the right of freedom of speech. The right to freedom of speech allows individuals to express themselves without interference or constraint by the government. The Supreme Court requires the government to provide substantial justification for the interference with the right of free speech where it attempts to regulate the content of the speech. A less stringent test is applied for content-neutral legislation. The Supreme Court has also recognized that the government may prohibit some speech that may cause a breach of the peace or cause violence. For more on unprotected and less protected categories of speech see advocacy of illegal action, fighting words, commercial speech and obscenity. The right to free speech includes other mediums of expression that communicate a message. The level of protection speech receives also depends on the forum in which it takes place.

Despite popular misunderstanding the right to freedom of the press guaranteed by the first amendment is not very different from the right to freedom of speech. It allows an individual to express themselves through publication and dissemination. It is part of the constitutional protection of freedom of expression. It does not afford members of the media any special rights or privileges not afforded to citizens in general.

The right to assemble allows people to gather for peaceful and lawful purposes. Implicit within this right is the right to association and belief. The Supreme Court has expressly recognized that a right to freedom of association and belief is implicit in the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments. This implicit right is limited to the right to associate for First Amendment purposes. It does not include a right of social association. The government may prohibit people from knowingly associating in groups that engage and promote illegal activities. The right to associate also prohibits the government from requiring a group to register or disclose its members or from denying government benefits on the basis of an individual’s current or past membership in a particular group. There are exceptions to this rule where the Court finds that governmental interests in disclosure/registration outweigh interference with first amendment rights. The government may also, generally, not compel individuals to express themselves, hold certain beliefs, or belong to particular associations or groups.

The right to petition the government for a redress of grievances guarantees people the right to ask the government to provide relief for a wrong through the courts (litigation) or other governmental action. It works with the right of assembly by allowing people to join together and seek change from the government. http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/first_amendment

Peter Bonilla explains why free speech rights on college campuses are important in a PolicyMic article. https://drwilda.com/tag/free-speech-on-college-campuses-a-must-especially-during-election-seasons/

InFree Speech On College Campuses a Must, Especially During Election Seasons:

As I’ve written here on PolicyMic, though, and as the case log and publications of my employer, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), make clear, colleges and universities frequently fall far short of being the bastions of free speech they should be. Further, they often come down especially hard on political expression at the very times when it’s most relevant. Part of the problem is universities’ tendency to misinterpret their obligations under the Internal Revenue Code, which prohibits nonprofit educational institutions from engaging in certain political activities, such as institutionally supporting candidates for office.

Such misinterpretations frequently lead university administrations to prohibit or restrict broad swaths of protected speech, defying both the First Amendment and common sense. The University of Oklahoma, for example, in 2008 banned “the forwarding of political humor/commentary” using university e-mail accounts. That same year, the University of Illinois system issued warnings to faculty against engaging in basic political activities — including wearing campaign buttons, attending rallies, and even placing stickers on their cars. Then in 2011, Illinois’ flagship campus in Urbana-Champaign proposed an electronic communications policy that would have banned any and all “political campaigning” by faculty and students. Fortunately, these policies were all revised or scrapped after FIRE objected. Yet such misconceptions by universities are common enough that FIRE has issued and re-issued a policy statement on political activity to guide universities in policy and practice. http://www.policymic.com/articles/3454/free-speech-on-college-campuses-a-must-especially-during-election-seasons

See, Censorship of Free Speech on College Campuses Grows http://www.educationnews.org/higher-education/censorship-of-free-speech-on-college-campuses-grows/

and Why Students Need a Guide to Free Speech on Campus More Than Ever http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2012/08/why-students-need-a-guide-to-free-speech-on-campus-more-than-ever219.html

Greg Lukianoff writes in the Wall Street Journal article, Greg Lukianoff: Feds to Students: You Can’t Say That:

The scandals roiling Washington over the past two weeks involve troubling government behavior that had been hidden—the IRS targeting of conservative groups and the Justice Department’s surveillance of the Associated Press, among others. Largely overlooked amid the histrionics has been a shocker hiding in plain sight. Last week, the Obama administration moved to dramatically undermine students’ and faculty rights at colleges across the country.

The new policy was announced in a joint letter from the Education Department and Justice Department to the University of Montana. The May 9 letter addressed the results of a year-long joint investigation by the departments into the school’s mishandling of several serious sexual-assault cases. The investigation determined that the university’s policies addressing sexual assault failed to comply with Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

But the joint letter, which announced a “resolution agreement” with the university, didn’t stop there. It then proceeded to rewrite the federal government’s rules about sexual harassment and free speech on campus….

This attack on campus free speech follows the Education Department’s directive two years ago requiring every college in the country that receives federal funds to lower the standard of evidence in sexual-harassment cases. The “preponderance of the evidence,” the judiciary’s lowest standard of proof, became the required standard. (Many institutions had previously used the “clear and convincing” standard.) As former Dean of Harvard CollegeHarry Lewis has noted, the “preponderance of evidence” mandate means “more convictions—of both guilty and innocent individuals,” which is a troubling result “in a society that values individual rights.”

Last week’s letter is part of a decades-long effort by anti-“hate speech” professors, students, activists and administrators to classify any offensive speech as harassment unprotected by the First Amendment. Such speech codes reached their height in the 1980s and 1990s, but they were defeated in federal and state court and came in for public ridicule.

Despite these setbacks, harassment-based speech codes have become the de facto rule. Earlier this year, my organization, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, published a study that looked at 409 colleges and found that 62% maintain codes that violate First Amendment standards. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323582904578485041304763554.html?mod=hp_opinion

Lukianoff goes on to state in Federal Government Mandates Unconstitutional Speech Codes at Colleges and Universities Nationwide:

Among the forms of expression now punishable on America’s campuses by order of the federal government are:

Any expression related to sexual topics that offends any person. This leaves a wide range of expressive activity—a campus performance of “The Vagina Monologues,” a presentation on safe sex practices, a debate about sexual morality, a discussion of gay marriage, or a classroom lecture on Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita—subject to discipline.

Any sexually themed joke overheard by any person who finds that joke offensive for any reason.

Any request for dates or any flirtation that is not welcomed by the recipient of such a request or flirtation.

There is likely no student on any campus anywhere who is not guilty of at least one of these “offenses.” Any attempt to enforce this rule evenhandedly and comprehensively will be impossible.

“The federal government has put colleges and universities in an impossible position with this mandate,” said Lukianoff. “With this unwise and unconstitutional decision, the DOJ and DOE have doomed American campuses to years of confusion and expensive lawsuits, while students’ fundamental rights twist in the wind.”

“The Departments of Education and Justice are out of control,” continued Lukianoff. “Banning everyday speech on campus? Eliminating fundamental due process protections? Ignoring its own previous statements? They even misquoted the Supreme Court. This cannot be allowed to continue. FIRE will use all of its resources to oppose this menace to our constitutional freedoms and to free speech and academic freedom on campus.” http://thefire.org/article/15767.html

Ben Franklin states it best:

AUTHOR:	Benjamin Franklin (1706–90)
QUOTATION:	“Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy?”“A Republic, if you can keep it.”

See, http://constitutioncenter.org/learn/educational-resources/historical-documents/perspectives-on-the-constitution-a-republic-if-you-can-keep-it

Resources:

Center for Campus Free Speech http://www.campusspeech.org/

Free Speech Off Campus Must Be Protected http://chronicle.com/article/Free-Speech-Off-Campus-Must-Be/130660/

Column: Free speech sacks ban on college-athlete tweets http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/story/2012-04-15/twitter-social-media-college-sports-coaches-ban/54301178/1

Student Press Law Center http://www.splc.org/wordpress/?cat=26

Free Speech, Social Media and Community Colleges: Let the Clash Begin http://www.communitycollegereview.com/articles/401

Where information leads to Hope. © Dr. Wilda.com

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Blogs by Dr. Wilda:

COMMENTS FROM AN OLD FART© http://drwildaoldfart.wordpress.com/

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Dr. Wilda © https://drwilda.com/

Tags: Censorship of Free Speech on College Campuses Grows, due process clause of the fourteenth amendment, Federal Government Mandates Unconstitutional Speech Codes at Colleges and Universities Nationwide, FIRE, First Amendment, first amendment of the united states constitution, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, Free Speech, free speech on college campuses, Free Speech On College Campuses a Must Especially During Election Seasons:, government, Greg Lukianoff: Feds to Students You Can't Say That, Legal Information Institute, Opinion College is about free speech not stamping out rights, PolicyMic, politics, Why Students Need a Guide to Free Speech on Campus More Than Ever

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A charter school for young entrepreneurs shows the diversity of charters

16 May

Charter schools invoke passion on both sides of the argument as to whether they constitute good public policy. A good analysis of the issues can be found at Public Policy Forum Charter Schools: Issues and Outlooks http://www.rockinst.org/pdf/public_policy_forums/2007-03-28-public_policy_forum_charter_schools_issues_and_outlook_presented_by_judy_doesschate_and_william_lake.pdf

presented by Judy Doesschate and William Lake Another good summary of the arguments for and against school choice can be found at Learning Matters analysis which came from the PBS program , News Hour. In DISCUSS: Is School Choice Good Or Bad For Public Education? several educators examine school choice issues. http://learningmatters.tv/blog/web-series/discuss-is-school-choice-good-or-bad-for-public-education/8575/

Whtittney Evans of NPR reports in the story, Utah Charter School Nurtures Entrepreneurial Spirit:

A new charter school in Utah wants to equip students in kindergarten through ninth grade with a solid foundation in business.

Students’ daily lessons are peppered with concepts like sales and marketing, finance and entrepreneurship, says first-grade teacher Tammy Hill. “And that plays into leadership and improved math skills. And finance plays into every part of their lives.”

About 580 students attend Highmark Charter School in a suburb just north of Salt Lake City. They earn play money by turning in homework on time and performing chores. They’re encouraged to make items and sell them to each other.

“So they’re learning about supply and demand and how to make a budget and then those who have money left when the classroom store opens, they can come buy little erasers and stickers and lollipops and whatnot with the money they’ve saved from their budget,” Hill says.

Around lunch time, a group of rowdy fifth-graders lines up outside the school store.

Most of them say they’re looking forward to sixth grade when they’ll be old enough to apply for a job here.

Eighth-grader Kymira Jackson hastily ties her apron and races to the counter to start her shift. “I’m not good at math so it gives me a little more time to work it out, but it’s a lot of fun,” she says.

Cheryl Wright is a professor in the department of family and consumer studies at the University of Utah. She specializes in kindergarten through third grade education.

“Money is an external reinforcer,” Wright says. “And when you think about what is really foundationally important to early learning in particular, it’s intrinsic motivation.”

She says financial literacy is a bold objective. But it is social networks and good relationship skills that are the key to lifelong happiness and success, not just making money. http://www.npr.org/2013/05/15/183914596/utah-charter-school-nurtures-entrepreneurial-spirit

Moi wrote in The Center for Education Reform releases 2012 charter school law guide

Business Week has a concise debate about the pros and cons of charter schools featuring Jay P. Greene, University of Arkansas; Manhattan Institute arguing the pro position and Jeffrey Henig, Columbia University arguing against charter schools. The Education Commission of the States succinctly lists the pros and cons of charter schools

Pros

According to proponents:

· Charter schools present students and parents with an increasingly diverse array of education options.

· The competition provided by charter schools forces school districts to improve the performance of their schools in order to attract and retain students and dollars.

· If managed properly, charter schools serve as laboratories for education experimentation and innovation. The easing of certain regulations can free teachers and administrators to develop and implement new learning strategies.

· Increased accountability for charter schools means that schools have to perform or risk closure. This extra incentive demands results.

Cons

According to opponents:

· Because charter schools operate as a business, as well as a learning institution, they are subject to market forces that may eventually force them to close, depriving students of a continuous education.

· Charter schools sometimes segregate students along racial and class lines and fail to adequately serve students with disabilities or limited English proficiency.

· Accountability for student performance is difficult to measure and enforce in the burgeoning charter school movement. The usual complications of accurate student measurement are compounded by the often-conflicting demands of the state government’s need for accountability and the marketplace’s desire for opportunity.

· The emergence of education management organizations as proprietors of charter schools creates “pseudo-school districts” in which decisions are made far removed from the school.

The Center for Education Reform (Center) has been publishing information about charter schools for the past several years.

https://drwilda.com/2012/04/04/the-center-for-education-reform-releases-2012-charter-school-law-guide/

Moi supports neighborhood schools which cater to the needs of the children and families in that neighborhood. A one-size-fits-all approach does not work in education. It is for this reason that moi supports charter schools which are regulated by strong charter school legislation with accountability. Accountability means different things to different people. In 2005 Sheila A. Arens wrote Examining the Meaning of Accountability: Reframing the Construct for Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning which emphasizes the involvement of parents and community members. One of the goals of the charter movement is to involve parents and communities. http://www.edreform.com/issues/choice-charter-schools/

http://www.mcrel.org/PDF/AssessmentAccountabilityDataUse/4002IR_Examining_Accountability.pdf

Resources:

Why Charter Schools

NAPCS_2012_StateLawRankings_Final.pdf (1.00 MB)

Good or bad? Charter schools and segregation https://drwilda.com/2012/02/23/good-or-bad-charter-schools-and-segregation/

Focus on charter schools: There must be accountability https://drwilda.com/2011/12/24/focus-on-charter-schools-there-must-be-accountability/

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Tags: Charter School, DISCUSS: Is School Choice Good Or Bad For Public Education?, education, Highmark Charter School, NPR, politics, pros and cons of charter schools, Public Policy Forum Charter Schools: Issues and Outlooks, School Choice, The Center for Education Reform, The Education Commission of the States, Utah Charter School Nurtures Entrepreneurial Spirit

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National Center on Education and the Economy report: High schools are not preparing students for community college

14 May

Moi wrote in Many NOT ready for higher education:

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. https://drwilda.com/2012/10/06/many-not-ready-for-higher-education/

Katherine Mangan reports in the Chronicle of Higher Education article, High Schools Set Up Community-College Students to Fail, Report Says:

Community colleges’ academic expectations are “shockingly low,” but students still struggle to meet them, in part because high-school graduation standards are too lax in English and too rigid in mathematics, according to a study released on Tuesday by the National Center on Education and the Economy.

Students entering community colleges have poor reading and writing skills and a shaky grasp of advanced math concepts that most of them will never need, the study found…. http://chronicle.com/article/High-Schools-Set-Up/139105/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Here is the press report from the National Center on Education and the Economy:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Emily Kingsland

May 7, 2013

(202) 379 -1800

ekingsland@ncee.org

High Schools Fail to Teach What Graduates Need to Succeed in Community Colleges, Instead Teaching What They Don’t Need

New report from the National Center on Education and the Economy is first to look at the literacy levels actually required for success in nation’s community colleges

WASHINGTON, DC — Students are failing to learn the basic math and English skills and concepts needed for success in community colleges, according to a new report from the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) entitled, What Does It Really Mean to Be College and Work Ready: The English and Mathematics Required by First Year Community College Students That’s the surprising and discouragingcentral conclusion of a groundbreaking two year study, which examined the skills and knowledge in mathematics and English literacy that high school graduates need to succeed in the first year of their community college programs.

“We were surprised how little math is used in first year community college courses, and what is used is mostly middle school math,” said Phil Daro, co-chair of the study’s Mathematics Panel and co-director in the development of the Common Core State Standards for mathematics. “Our system makes no sense for these students: even though so many students have a shaky understanding of the middle school mathematics they really need, high school courses spend most of these students’ time on topics not needed for their college programs.”

“The reading skills of our high school graduates are so low that most community college instructors do not expect their students to be able to read at the level of their textbooks,” said Catherine Snow, co-chair of the study’s English Panel and Patricia Albjerg Graham Professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. “Their writing skills are so low that instructors rarely ask their students to write very much outside of their English composition classes, and, when they do, the writing they are asked to do is not very demanding.”

These are just a few of the key findings from the first study ever done that actually examines the level of mathematics and English literacy needed to succeed in the first year of study at our nation’s community colleges.

Roughly 45 percent of our nation’s undergraduates are attending community colleges, according to the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). About half of those students are training to go directly into the workforce and enter popular fields such as nursing, law enforcement, auto mechanics or education, while others are working to complete the first two years of a four year degree program. The report concludes that students who cannot succeed in the first year of a community college program are surely not ready for success in college or the workplace.

Most studies of course requirements in our colleges simply ask instructors what students need to know to be successful in their institutions, but that method is notoriously unreliable, because instructors typically respond to such surveys by telling the interviewer what they would like students to know, not what they actually need to know.

This study was conducted by NCEE in collaboration with a team of leading scholars and community college leaders. It analyzed the textbooks, papers and projects students are assigned; the tests they are given; and the grades they get on both. These materials were gathered from a set of nine popular and diverse career oriented programs in randomly selected community colleges across seven diverse states.

AACC urged educators at the secondary and post -secondary levels to read carefully the specific findings of the report and reevaluate their courses and materials to ensure they are meeting students’ needs at every stage of their educational paths. “This study emphasizes the critical importance of better aligning the entire pipeline to ensure all students are adequately prepared for college and careers in the 21^st century,” said Walter Bumphus, president and CEO of AACC. Achieve President Michael Cohen pointed out that this report’s findings constitute a powerful argument for implementing the new Common Core State Standards for literacy in mathematics and English. “This very important report underscores the urgent need for states to implement the Common Core State Standards. If the CCSS were properly implemented, students would have the kind of mastery of middle school mathematics skills identified in this report as the most important math skills needed in the first year of community college. Similarly, the report makes it crystal clear why the CCSS English literacy standards stressed the need for great improvements in students’ ability to do non-fiction reading and writing.”

The reports’ authors concentrate their recommendations on the steps schools must take to enable more of their graduates to succeed in our community colleges, but also touch on what community colleges can do. Among the recommendations are the following:

! Make Algebra II a key course on just one of several mathematics paths to a high school diploma, eliminatingthe mandatory status it has in some states.

! Have most students spend more time on middle school mathematics rather than rushing toward Algebra I.

! Reconceive community college placement tests to align them with the mathematics students actually need to succeed in their first credit-bearing programmatic courses.

! Increase writing assignments across all high school courses, especially those that require the presentation of a logical argument and evidence to support claims.

! Have high school students read texts of greater complexity.

Marc Tucker, president of the National Center on Education and the Economy said, “This report shows that our community colleges have shockingly low expectations of the students entering their institutions, because many perhaps most of our future nurses, EMT’s and auto mechanics haven’t mastered middle school mathematics and cannot read much of the material in their first year college textbooks even though they are only written at the 11^th and 12^th grade levels and a large fraction of our future four year college students have a very hard time

Citation:

NCEE has just released What Does It Really Mean to Be College and Work Ready?, a study of the English Literacy and Mathematics required for success in the first year of community college. On May 7th, during a day-long meeting, key education and policy leaders joined NCEE to discuss the results of the study and its implications for community college reform, school reform, teacher education, the common core state standards, and vocational education and the workplace.

Click here to watch the video of the event.

Helpful Links:

Download the Executive Summary

Download the Math Report

Download the English Report

Agenda

Speaker Biographies

Q&As

Summary of Findings

InCritical thinking is an essential trait of an educated person, moi said:

There is a great deal of dissatisfaction with the state of education in America. A lot of that dissatisfaction comes from the belief that the education system fails to actually educate children and to teach them critical thinking skills. The University of Maine at Augusta defines an educated person:

An educated person exhibits knowledge and wisdom; recognizes and respects the diversity of nature and society; demonstrates problem solving skills; engages in planning and managing practices; navigates the on-line world; writes and speaks well; acts with integrity; and appreciates the traditions of art, culture, and ideas. Developing these abilities is a life-long process. http://www.uma.edu/educatedperson.html

Essential to this definition is the development of critical thinking skills.

The Critical Thinking Community has several great articles about critical thinking at their site. In the section, Defining Critical Thinking:

A Definition
Critical thinking is that mode of thinking – about any subject, content, or problem – in which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skillfully taking charge of the structures inherent in thinking and imposing intellectual standards upon them.

The Result

A well cultivated critical thinker:

raises vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and
precisely;
gathers and assesses relevant information, using abstract ideas to
interpret it effectively comes to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against relevant criteria and standards;
thinks open mindedly within alternative systems of thought,
recognizing and assessing, as need be, their assumptions, implications, and practical consequences; and
communicates effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex problems.

Critical thinking is, in short, self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking. It presupposes assent to rigorous standards of excellence and mindful command of their use. It entails effective communication and problem solving abilities and a commitment to overcome our native egocentrism and sociocentrism. (Taken from Richard Paul and Linda Elder, The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools, Foundation for Critical Thinking Press, 2008). http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-thinking/766

The question is how to teach critical thinking skills. David Carnes wrote the excellent Livestrong article, How to Build Critical Thinking Skills in Children. http://www.livestrong.com/article/167563-how-to-build-critical-thinking-skills-in-children/#ixzz1kB28AgFS

What the ACT college readiness assessment means https://drwilda.com/2012/08/25/what-the-act-college-readiness-assessment-means/

Study: What skills are needed for ’21st-century learning?’ https://drwilda.com/2012/07/11/study-what-skills-are-needed-for-21st-century-learning/

ACT to assess college readiness for 3rd-10th Grades https://drwilda.com/2012/07/04/act-to-assess-college-readiness-for-3rd-10th-grades/

Dr. Wilda says this about that

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Tags: College Admission, College preparedness, College Ready, Critical Thinking, education, High Schools Set Up Community-College Students to Fail Report Says:, National Center on Education and the Economy:, politics, research, Technology, What Does It Really Mean to Be College and Work Ready?, What Makes a Student College Ready?

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New America Foundation report: Colleges select wealthy students for merit scholarships

12 May

Moi wrote in Race, class, and education in America:

Sam Dillion has written an insightful New York Times article, Merger of Memphis and County School Districts Revives Race and Class Challenges:

When thousands of white students abandoned the Memphis schools 38 years ago rather than attend classes with blacks under a desegregation plan fueled by busing, Joseph A. Clayton went with them. He quit his job as a public school principal to head an all-white private school and later won election to the board of the mostly white suburban district next door.

Now, as the overwhelmingly black Memphis school district is being dissolved into the majority-white Shelby County schools, Mr. Clayton is on the new combined 23-member school board overseeing the marriage. And he warns that the pattern of white flight could repeat itself, with the suburban towns trying to secede and start their own districts.

“There’s the same element of fear,” said Mr. Clayton, 79. “In the 1970s, it was a physical, personal fear. Today the fear is about the academic decline of the Shelby schools.”

“As far as racial trust goes,” Mr. Clayton, who is white, added, “I don’t think we’ve improved much since the 1970s….”

Toughest of all may be bridging the chasms of race and class. Median family income in Memphis is $32,000 a year, compared with the suburban average of $92,000; 85 percent of students in Memphis are black, compared with 38 percent in Shelby County….http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/06/education/merger-of-memphis-and-county-school-districts-revives-challenges.html?emc=eta1

People tend to cluster in neighborhoods based upon class as much as race. Good teachers tend to gravitate toward neighborhoods where they are paid well and students come from families who mirror their personal backgrounds and values. Good teachers make a difference in a child’s life. One of the difficulties in busing to achieve equity in education is that neighborhoods tend to be segregated by class as well as race. People often make sacrifices to move into neighborhoods they perceive mirror their values. That is why there must be good schools in all segments of the country and there must be good schools in all parts of this society. A good education should not depend upon one’s class or status. https://drwilda.com/2011/11/07/race-class-and-education-in-america/

Elvina Nawaguna of NBC News reports in the article, Study: Low-income students get less merit aid than wealthier classmates:

Low-income students are increasingly bypassed when colleges offer applicants financial aid, as schools compete for wealthier students who can afford rising tuition and fees, according to a public policy institute’s analysis of U.S. Department of Education data.

The study by The New America Foundation said that colleges, in their quest to advance their U.S. News & World Report rankings, are directing more financial aid to high-achieving applicants in a bid to elevate the profile of their student population.

“A lot of them (colleges) go for the same students from the rich suburban schools,” said Stephen Burd, the foundation’s education policy analyst who studied the data.

The U.S. News rankings of colleges and universities have become a popular gauge of the quality of an undergraduate and graduate institution’s education and the prestige of its degrees.

As part of their strategy to compete for the best students, colleges use merit-based aid, which does not take into account financial need. Under this strategy, institutions may, for instance, give four $5,000 awards to lure four wealthy students rather than award $20,000 to one needy student, the organization said.

While the federal government issues guidelines on distribution of its grants, it doesn’t regulate aid from an institution’s coffers. Colleges have fiercely fought efforts by lawmakers to force greater transparency in financial aid practices.

Colleges, many under tighter budgets as they offer more amenities and hire the best professors, are under pressure to raise revenues and are using tuition prices to do so.

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/study-low-income-students-get-less-merit-aid-wealthier-classmates-1C9864738

Here is the press release from New America Foundation:

NEW REPORT: Colleges Leaving Low-Income Students Behind

Schools Increasingly Using Financial Aid to Woo Wealthy Students Rather Than Help Low-Income Students Afford Tuition

Published: May 8, 2013

Washington, DC — In their relentless pursuit of prestige and revenue, American private and public four-year colleges and universities are increasingly using financial aid to attract the best and most affluent students rather than to help low-income and working-class families pay for college, according to a new report released today by the New America Foundation’s Education Policy Program.

The report presents a brand new analysis of little-examined U.S. Department of Education data showing the “net price” the lowest-income students pay after all grant aid has been exhausted. The analysis shows that hundreds of colleges expect the neediest students — those from families making $30,000 or less annually — to pay an amount equal to or even more than their families’ yearly earnings.

The report finds that over the past two decades colleges have made a dramatic switch in how they use the majority of their financial aid. Schools have gone from helping to make college more affordable for those with the greatest financial need to strategically awarding merit aid to students who can increase their standings in rankings like U.S. News & World Report and bring in more revenue. This report identifies colleges that are committed to enrolling low-income students and charging them affordable prices and others that are stingy with their admissions slots, their financial aid dollars, or both.

“Too many four-year colleges, both public and private, are failing to help the government achieve its college access mission,” Stephen Burd, author of the report, writes. “They are, instead, adding hurdles that could hamper the education progress of needy students or leave them with mountains of debt after they graduate.”

The report shows the situation is not as extreme at public universities but getting worse. One of the main ways states have dealt with dwindling state support has been to take a “high tuition, high aid” approach — raising tuition and the amount of financial aid they provide. However, this analysis finds the “high tuition, high aid” approach has been a failure for low-income students: in states such as Pennsylvania, the neediest students are being charged more than double what they are in low-tuition states.

Among the report’s findings:

• Nearly two-thirds of private nonprofit institutions charge students from the lowest income families a net price of more than $15,000. Only 11 percent charge them less than $10,000.
• Roughly one-third of public four year colleges charge the lowest-income students a net price over $10,000 and 5 percent require they come up with $15,000 or more.
• One-quarter of the public schools that charge more than $10,000 to lowest income students are in Ohio and Pennsylvania, two states that follow the high-tuition, high-aid model.
• The most expensive private college for low-income students is Santa Clara University (average net price is $46,347) and the most expensive public college for the neediest students is Rowan University in New Jersey (average net price is $20,384).

The report argues for a federal approach that follows a two-part plan laid out here:

• Offer Pell bonuses to financially strapped public and private four-year colleges that serve a substantial share of Pell Grant recipients (more than 25 percent) and graduate at least half of their students school-wide.
• Require wealthier colleges that have chosen to divert their aid to try to buy the best students so they can rise up the U.S. News rankings to match at least a share of the Pell dollars they receive.

Read the full report, “Undermining Pell: How Colleges Compete for Wealthy Students and Leave the Low-Income Behind.”

For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Clara Hogan.

http://www.newamerica.net/pressroom/2013/new_report_colleges_leaving_low_income_students_behind

The lawyers in Brown were told that lawsuits were futile and that the legislatures would address the issue of segregation eventually when the public was ready. Meanwhile, several generations of African Americans waited for people to come around and say the Constitution applied to us as well. Generations of African Americans suffered in inferior schools. This society cannot sacrifice the lives of children by not addressing the issue of equity in school funding in a timely manner.

The next huge case, like Brown, will be about equity in education funding. It may not come this year or the next year. It, like Brown, may come several years after a Plessy. It will come. Equity in education funding is the civil rights issue of this century.

The role economic class plays in college success https://drwilda.com/2012/12/22/the-role-economic-class-plays-in-college-success/

Helping community college students to graduate https://drwilda.com/2012/02/08/helping-community-college-students-to-graduate/

The digital divide affects the college application process https://drwilda.com/2012/12/08/the-digital-divide-affects-the-college-application-process/

College readiness: What are ‘soft skills’ https://drwilda.com/2012/11/14/college-readiness-what-are-soft-skills/

Colleges rethinking who may need remedial education https://drwilda.com/2012/10/24/colleges-rethinking-who-may-need-remedial-education/

Dr. Wilda says this about that

Blogs by Dr. Wilda:

Tags: Class, College Scholarships, Colleges Leaving Low-Income Students Behind, current-events, education, Education Equity, Education Funding, Merger of Memphis and County School Districts Revives Race and Class Challenges, New America Foundation, politics, Race, research, Schools Increasingly Using Financial Aid to Woo Wealthy Students Rather Than Help Low-Income Students Afford Tuition, Shadowy Lines That Still Divide, Social Class, Study Low-income students get less merit aid than wealthier classmates

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