The federal government is making $3.5 billion in stimulus money available to some of the nation’s lowest performing schools. This pro-active step can help us to close the achievement which starts to nose-dive when students hit fifth grade. Taking measures to help students with academic, emotional and social help will allow students to understand themselves, focus better in class, and learn to have a vision for their future success based on specific goals.
Three things are needed for this to be successful:
1) Teacher training on motivating and inspiring at risk students.
2) Parent sessions which focus on creating a culture of learning at home and an expectation of college or career school education.
3) Student programs which focus on rigorous academic, emotional and social opportunities for growth and coaching skills which can help them develop better critical thinking and decision-making abilities.
By working with America’s most oppressed population through the Title 1 programs, we can create a strong workforce in the coming decades, we can decrease the numbers of students who drop out or stop out, and we can decrease the growing prison population among this demographic. For our nation to thrive, we must act quickly to get these changes in place, to evaluate the progress, and to set ever-higher standards that can get us out of this poor-performing reality.
ARTICLE:
$3.5 Billion in Turnaround Aid Flowing to States
By Lesli A. Maxwell
Education Week
April 19, 2010
The largest-ever federal investment in fixing low-achieving schools is now flowing to states, raising the pressure on district leaders to make tough—and quick—decisions about firing principals, replacing teachers, or shutting down schools entirely.
Since last month, the U.S. Department of Education has been sending states their shares of $3.5 billion in Title I School Improvement Grants, money provided mostly by last year’s economic-stimulus package, as well as from $546 million in regular fiscal 2009 appropriations.
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