June » 2012 » Carol J. Carter

Are U.S. Students Born Entrepreneurs?

High unemployment rates have led more people in the U.S. down an entrepreneurial career path, and some believe this is just the pathway all Americans should be taking. Yong Zhao, presidential chair and associate dean for global education in the college of education at the University of Oregon, recently gave a keynote at the International Society for Technology in Education conference where he compared high-achieving students around the world with American students, known for their declining test scores, according to a recentÂ Education WeekÂ article.
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Is College Worth It? When School Loan Debt Brings Less Opportunities

Higher education usually leads to higher pay and more job opportunities. With high unemployment rates, more people are staying in school longer — or returning to school — to reap these increased employment opportunities. In 2009, bachelor’s degree holders earned more than twice as much as those without a high school diploma, 50 percent more than those with a high school diploma, and 25 percent more than associate’s degree holders.¹
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The Solution to Closing the Achievement Gap

It’s a fact. If students don’t exercise their brains over the summer months, they can lose up to three months of reading and math skills gained over the last school year. Low-income students are at the highest risk for summer learning losses, as they have less learning opportunities afforded to them over their summer vacation.

Summer learning programs can be as simple as giving a child books to read over the summer. Or they can be formally offered through a community center, school, church, or neighborhood to serve many kids in the community. In Baltimore County, the number of homeless students has doubled in the last five years. Homeless students are likely to suffer summer learning loses at twice the rate of their nonhomeless peers.^ÂThat’s why Camp St. Vincent is offering a summer learning program for homeless students in the area. Their summer students are beating the odds and walking away from camp retaining more than 80 percent of their reading and math skills.Â ¹
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Increasing Number of College Grads by Aligning K12, Business, and Higher Ed

Alignment is key to getting more students through school and into a fulfilling career. We need to align middle school to high school, high school to college, and college to career. We also need alignent between K-12 systems, colleges, and businesses. And most importantly between students, schools, and parents.
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Finding Higher Education that Fits Your Passions and Financial Ability

Raised prices and lowered standards. That’s a familiar expectation for many of our experiences and products today.

In his recent article, “Subprime College Educations,” George F. Will shares some statistics that shed light on how increased prices and lower standards are changing higher education. Over the last 30 years, college tuition and fees have risen over 440 percent. Today, twenty-nine percent of student-loan borrowers will not graduate. Many college grads are entering the workforce unable to get a job that can put a dent in their student loans (He gives the example of one young woman who graduated with a degree in religious and women’s studies and $100,000 in debt making barely enough to pay off her monthly student loan bill).

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Transitioning Strong: Using the Summer Months to Prepare Students for Next Year

Learning is a process. We often think of the K-12 experience as a linear experience as students progress from one grade to the next, but within the 12+ years of school, students undergo multiple transitions that break that numerical structure and make it anything but seamless.

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Maximize Summer Learning: Tips for Brain Growth Over the Summer Months

Most summer learning programs are designed for younger students. A summer program or a list of books to checkout from the library is all it takes to help kids stay academically active over the summer months and ready to take on the next school year.

But what about college students? After a stressful senior year in high school or a challenging semester in college, many students are inclined to take a break from learning before the next semester. This can do more harm than good. Putting the brakes on learning at any point in one’s life is discouraged, especially in college where we hope students are learning knowledge is power, knowledge is infinite, and knowledge fades if it’s not put to use.

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Closing the “Book Gap”: A Simple Step to Empower Low-income Families

The achievement gap is not an invisible problem. It is one that we can see and one that can be eliminated if we take action. Every summer underprivileged students who don’t have the means for learning resources or experiences will get set behind their more affluent peers. They also are more likely to return to a home environment every day that is not conducive to learning. Low-income families may have illiterate parents, no or limited access to technology, and a lack of literature — all influences that keep the poverty cycle going and the achievement gap strong.
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Is Being “Special” a Responsibility?

Everyone is special.

That’s the message many students have learned over the last decade in supportive classrooms and home environments. That’s why for many a commencement speech that recently went viral was such a shock (and for some a breath of fresh air). Â In her article “Should We Stop Telling Our Kids That They’re Special?”Â Erika Christakis responded to the speaker who told the graduating class:Â “You’re not special, you are not exceptional.”
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As Blue-Collar Jobs Fade Higher Education Becomes Critical

Every year the economic demand for workers who have some level of higher education grows by 3 percent, but the number of college graduates has only grown by 1 percent per year. This gap has created a demand for more college graduates, which is why those with a college degree make 74 percent more than high school graduates, explains Anthony P. Carnevale in his article “The Real Education Crisis Is Just Over That Cliff.”

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