New Dating Seminars Target Teen Violence

CAROL’S SUMMARY:

This week National Public Radio is airing stories on preventing violence in teen relationships and featuring the programs cropping up across the country that seek to address it.  Known as “teen dating abuse,” school officials say too many teens are hitting and slapping the people they’re dating, a behavior that is recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which estimates that 1 in 10 adolescents report an experience with physical violence from a dating partner.   Physical aggression isn’t the only form of abuse, name calling, insults, isolating their partner and using coercion to get a partner to do something s/he maynot want to like have unsafe sex. 

Many sociologists say the problem stems from the ways boys and girls are socialized in our culture; boys are conditioned to be aggressive and girls more passive.  And today’s media outlets tend to escalate violence through the content of some television shows and video games, and social media sites can create a haven for cyberbullying.   STo address these issues, schools and communities are bringing in programs such as Safe Dating, Student Connection and My Strength. 

At the forefront of this movement is a professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Toronto, Ontario, Dr. David Wolfe, who created a curriculum called, “Fourth R:  Skills for Youth Relationships,” for 20 middle schools in Ontario and has grown to 800 schools throughout Canada.  Now his program is being adopted in the United States. Using interactive scripts related to sexuality, drugs and fighting into situations students are likely to face, Wolfe says the goal of his program is, “to identify healthy and unhealthy responses, and then practice them enough to feel comfortable.”

Another popular program that uses creative role-play to educate teenagers about the dangers of abusive relationships and how to prevent the cycle is “The Yellow Dress,” based on a real story about a teen girl who was murdered by her high school boyfriend. Their web site at http://www.deanaseducationaltheater.org/yellowdress.html discusses these topics with teen audiences after the performance:

  • Recognize the early warning signs of abuse
  • Learn how to help friends/family members who are victims or perpetrators of abuse
  • Understand the cycle of abuse
  • Access and utilize community resources.

Being inexperienced at dating makes teens more susceptible to dating violence, but the problem can have far reaching implications into marriage and domestic violence patterns later.   Coaching teens on how to set healthy boundaries is one of the keys to preventing a lifetime cycle of abuse.  LifeBound’s program, Success in Middle School: A Transition Road Map, helps students develop meaningful friendships with both sexes and encourages students to listen to their instincts that cue them on controlling or manipulative tactics by other people.  Making judgments about when someone is dishonoring you or making you feel scared can be difficult for students without well developed emotional intelligence.  Our People Smarts for Teenagers guides students through developing their EI, as well as, walks them through scenarios that help them learn to enforce their boundaries.

Important Questions to Consider:

How do we start as early as fifth grade to teach adolescents to develop a compassionate heart and listen to their instincts?

How can we help teens recognize when someone is trying to exert power or control over them?

How can we as educators do a better job coaching adolescents and teens on developing healthy relationships?

ARTICLE

by Brenda Wilson

School officials are worried that too many teens are hitting and slapping the person they’re dating. To target this dating abuse, violence prevention classes are springing up in schools around the country. This fall, middle and high schools in Wichita, Kan.; Providence, R.I.; Boise, Idaho; the Bronx in New York; Boston; and six other cities have lined up programs based on a curriculum that has proven effective in Ontario.

To listen to the podcast visit

http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=113211662&m=113265246

 

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Obama education chief Duncan to push schools reform

CAROL’S SUMMARY:
Inspired by the late Dr. Martin Luther King , U. S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, in his speech yesterday to D.C. stakeholders called education “the civil rights issue of our generation.” Speaking to more than 150 groups from education, business, civil rights and social services, Duncan challenged them to rewrite the No Child Left Behind (NCLB), which was approved by Congress in 2001 and finalized by President Bush in 2002, a law that reauthorized and amended federal education programs established under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965.

While Duncan credits NCLB for highlighting the achievement gap in schools and for focusing on student outcomes, he said the law puts too much emphasis on standardized tests, unfairly labels many schools as failures, and doesn’t account for students’ academic growth in its accountability system. But Duncan says the biggest problem with NCLB is that “it doesn’t encourage high learning standards,” which contributes to our nation’s staggeringly high dropout rate. Duncan relayed a conversation he had with a 9th grader, Teton Magpie, on a Montana reservation who told Duncan that adults simple don’t expect enough of him and his peers. Duncan said, “When kids aren’t challenged they are bored—and when they are bored they quit.” Here are statistics Duncan cited to underscore the problems:

– 27% of America ‘s young people drop out of high school. That means 1.2 million teenagers are leaving our schools for the streets.
– Recent international tests in math and science show our students trail their peers in other countries. For 15-year-olds in math, the United States ranks 31st.
– 17-year olds today are performing at the exact same levels in math and reading as they were in the early 1970’s on the NAEP test.

– Just 40% of young people earn a two-year or four-year college degree.

– The US now ranks 10th in the world in the rate of college completion for 25- to 34-year-olds.

A generation ago, we were first in the world but we’re falling behind. The global achievement gap is growing. At LifeBound we are committed to education reforms that support success in college and careers. Solving global problems in the 21st Century requires innovative people who face life with curiosity and the desire to dig beneath the surface for answers and ideas. As educators, it is our responsibility to foster these critical and creative thinking skills in our students so that they are prepared to enter the global marketplace. Students don’t get bored and quit when they are challenged to think deeply about themselves, their gifts and talents and their role in the world.

1) At the district and school levels, how can we place a bigger value on student success and transition programs that help students achieve their full potential?

2) What can we do to foster adaptable thinkers who are both self and world-smart?

3) How can we help ensure that all students are prepared for college, career and life success?

ARTICLE
By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan plans to challenge educators, civil rights groups and others to put aside “tired arguments” about education reform to help him craft a sweeping reauthorization of federal education legislation by early 2010.

To view entire article visit

http://bit.ly/aoDqJ

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Skills Set Drafted For Students Nationwide

CAROL’S SUMMARY:

The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a joint effort by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) in partnership with Achieve, ACT and the College Board. Governors and state commissioners of education from across the country have created a state-led process to develop a common core of state standards in English-language arts and mathematics for grades K-12.

According to their web site at www.corestandards.org, these standards will be research and evidence-based, internationally benchmarked, aligned with college and work expectations and include rigorous content and skills. The NGA Center and CCSSO are coordinating the process to develop these standards and have created an expert validation committee to provide an independent review of the common core state standards, as well as the grade-by-grade standards.

In math, the goal is to have students “solve systems of equations; find and interpret rates of change; and adapt probability models to solve real-world problems.” In English and language arts, the goal is to have students be able to “analyze how word choices shape the meaning and tone of a text; develop a style and tone of writing appropriate to a task and audience; and respond constructively to advance a discussion and build on the input of others.”

There is still much work and research to be done if a national consensus on education is to be adopted, but one thing is certain: Students from the United States need to be prepared to compete in the global marketplace among students from Asia and Europe. With education reform inevitable, here are some important questions to consider:

· Could standards be developed by type of student? College-bound, career-school bound?

· Could we identify skills that will make students successful no matter what path they choose and emphasize cross-curricular learning?

· How can we better work with the initiatives such as the 21century skills, which foster critical thinking, technological literacy, cross-curricular core-competencies and global knowledge needed to compete with counterparts world-wide?

Whatever standards are developed, the voice of Higher Education and employers will need to be heard. Learning needs to be linked to success in the working world. To fuel our economy of the future, students will need knowledge, skills and the initiative to tackle the toughest problems with confidence, competence and faith that the solutions—while difficult and elusive—can and will come with a quality mindset and follow-through.

ARTICLE:

Skills Set Drafted For Students Nationwide
By Nick Anderson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Experts convened by the nation’s governors and state schools chiefs on Monday proposed a set of math and English skills students should master before high school graduation, the first step toward what advocates hope will become common standards driving instruction in classrooms from coast to coast.

The proposal aims to lift expectations for students beyond current standards, which vary widely from state to state, and establish for the first time an effective national consensus on core academic goals to help the United States keep pace with global competitors. Such agreement has proven elusive in the past because of a long tradition of local control over standards, testing and curriculum.

To view this entire article visit www.washingtonpost.com

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Schools Official in New Jersey Orders Plan to Combat Hazing

CAROL’S SUMMARY:

Bullying can take many forms (verbal, psychological and physical), and administrators for a district in New Jersey will participate in sensitivity training and devise a plan within the next two months to combat hazing at Millburn High School. These actions were ordered by the president of the Board of Education after a board meeting revealed that another school year started off with hazing of freshman girls by seniors that included being pushed into lockers, having whistles blown in their faces and the release of a “slut list.”

In the past, some seniors have been expelled, but Principal William Miron said that no student will be disciplined without proof. Board member Debra Fox remembers being hazed as a freshman and suggested punishing the entire female population of the senior class in order to get the names, saying “because no one is going to take the rap for someone else.” One parent was applauded when she said parents must also take responsibility when their children acted like bullies.

Tragically, every day thousands of students wake up afraid to go to school. As educators, we have an inherent responsibility to make our schools safe, bully-free cultures because every child and teenager has the civil right to learn unhindered. Because parents, teachers, and other adults don’t always see it, they may not understand how extreme bullying can get. According to the web site, www.kidshealth.org, two of the main reasons people are bullied are because of appearance and social status. Bullies pick on the people they think don’t fit in, maybe because of how they look, how they act (for example, kids who are shy and withdrawn), their race or religion, or because the bullies think their target may be gay or lesbian.

Hazing is a form of bullying and often the result of underdeveloped emotional intelligence, or people smarts, such as empathy and compassion. LifeBound’s book, People Smarts for Teenagers: Becoming Emotionally Intelligent, helps students develop these skills by boosting self-awareness and empathy. Every chapter includes a real-life story about another teenager who overcame their own obstacles to emotional well-being. This past spring, a progressive district in Colorado Springs used this book with all of their sixth graders and observed a spike in test scores, which they attribute to this program. Learning is linked to emotions and when we teach children and teens emotional and social skills we give them another advantage in the learning process. For more information about this and other student success and transition resources, visit www.lifebound.com

ARTICLE:

The New York Times
September 22, 2009
Schools Official in New Jersey Orders Plan to Combat Hazing
By TINA KELLEY

MILLBURN, N.J. — The president of the Millburn Board of Education said on Monday night that district administrators would have to undergo sensitivity training and ordered them to come up with a plan within the next two months to address the longstanding tradition of hazing at Millburn High School.

The action came at a board meeting that drew about 50 parents and lasted more than three hours.

“This is not acceptable behavior; it will not be tolerated,” the board president, Noreen Brunini, said of the most recent hazing, which included the distribution of an annual “slut list” of incoming freshman girls. “This is the end of this.”

To view this entire article visit www.nytimes.com

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Panel Urges Attention to Adolescent Literacy

CAROL’S SUMMARY:

In the article below, Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Council on Advancing Adolescent Literacy experts gathered to discuss their final report in which they spent five years examining the need for better reading and writing skills among students in grades 4 through 12. The experts stressed the importance of action at each state level, suggesting reading and writing standards be set high and state tests be set to the levels of the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Statewide data systems for all literacy, as well as, including adolescent-literacy training in state teacher-certification programs were considered of high importance.

Catherine Snow, a Harvard University education professor who chaired the Carnegie panel, said an important tenement of the report is to have the nation’s entire education system recognize that the traditional literacy approach (focusing on building skills at a young age) doesn’t help students with “complex vocabulary, composition, and concepts they encounter in high school.” Another panelist, Michael Kamil, a Stanford University education professor, said that the sole responsibility for teaching adolescent literacy cannot rest on the shoulders of English teachers. Literacy needs to be taught across the disciplines in each subject of middle and high school, because at these higher levels, literacy comprehension, and therefore instruction, is grounded within the content.

Students learn best when they can draw comparisons and connections between information they already know and the new knowledge presented to them. That is why in Critical and Creative Thinking for Teenagers, the basics of problem solving are presented to high schoolers within profiles about innovators in medicine, science, math, finance, art, music and English to relate their previous knowledge of the core subject to the new critical and creative thinking skills taught within the book. There is no reason why adolescent literacy cannot also be strengthened if it were taught within the core subjects.

How can literacy instruction be integrated into the curriculum of other subjects?

What can districts do to ban together and mastermind effective statewide standards and data systems to measure and track outcomes?

What role does emotional intelligence play in students’ ability to build a strong literacy foundation for cross-curriculum learning?

ARTICLE:

EducationWeek

Published Online: September 15, 2009
Panel Urges Attention to Adolescent Literacy
By Catherine Gewertz

Washington

Leading figures in education policy, academia, and philanthropy called today for a “re-engineering” of the nation’s approach to adolescent literacy, saying nothing short of a “literacy revolution” is needed to keep students in school and ensure that they are able to learn the complex material that college and careers will demand of them.

The experts gathered to discuss and draw attention to the release of the final report of the Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Council on Advancing Adolescent Literacy, which has spent five years examining the need for better reading and writing skills among students in grades 4 through 12. Vartan Gregorian, the president of the foundation, urged audience members to “be good ancestors” to future generations by pushing for sound adolescent-literacy policy and practice, given the pivotal role such skills play in young people’s lives, and the low level of skill students have shown on national tests.

To view this entire article visit www.edweek.org

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European Universities Look Overseas for New Partnerships

CAROL’S SUMMARY:

Last year Spain’s government created a foundation to recruit more international students. The Spanish Foundation is the newest addition to the European trend to expand their global presence. This week roughly 4,000 European educators will meet at the annual conference of the European Association for International Education in Madrid. The European Union, consisting of 27 nations, has said that it aims to make European higher education more attractive internationally. For the past decade Europe has been overhauling their higher-education systems in 46 countries to create greater consistency among degree programs and a more coherent degree-granting process. For example, fewer than 700 students from China enrolled at Spanish universities during the 2007-8 academic year. To bring in more Chinese students, Spain’s Ministry of Education agreed in 2007 to recognize Chinese university-entrance qualifications, a concession that had been reserved for European Union students.

While the European push for international students competes with U.S. efforts, these goals also provide opportunities for American colleges and universities looking for new partnerships overseas, particularly with Asia and the Middle East. John K. Hudzik, vice president for global engagement at Michigan State University and president of NAFSA: Association of International Educators is quoted in this article saying, “They’re making higher education more portable across national boundaries, and that is creating a very powerful force in the world. We’re talking about a population and a GDP greater than the U.S. What they’re doing is beginning to shape what we do.””

Much of the impetus for Europe’s aim to raise international profiles of their universities hinge on two demographics: Age and diversity. Their aging population has translated into lower enrollments, and their increasingly diverse population across the continent necessitates that the keep step with the changing base of prospective students. Hudzik says, “If we believe firmly in the virtues of internationalization and cross-border learning, and all the rest,” he says, “then we should be happy anytime we see somebody build the numbers up, regardless of who it is.” Here a considerations:

How can American and European institutions streamline their efforts to promote the globalization of learning?

How might these efforts help shape the global economy and the creation of future careers?

ARTICLE
Chronicle of Higher Education
by Aisha Labi

With its sunny climate, relaxed lifestyle, and relatively easy-to-learn language, Spain would seem to need little selling as a destination for foreign university students. Yet although it is a popular study-abroad option for Americans and draws a fair number of students from Latin America, the country is not a major player in the fast-growing international student market.

So last year the Spanish government created a foundation to promote Spanish higher education abroad. Starting with nearly $3-million from the ministries of education, science and innovation, and foreign affairs, the organization will tap into a global network of embassies and cultural institutions to create an international marketing campaign.

To view entire article visit
http://bit.ly/gC30w

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What Traditional Academics Can Learn From a Futurist’s University

CAROL’S SUMMARY:

Singularity University, founded by futurists Ray Kurzweil and Peter H. Diamandis, forward-looking thinkers who share ideas about where technology is headed in the near future and in the long term, is designed to study technologies that are manifesting exponential change. The first ever nine-week session was held last summer and cost $25,000 per student. The course was divided into three parts: In the first three weeks, students attended lectures by experts from business and academe. Over the next three weeks, students each chose one of four areas to research. And the final three weeks, students worked in groups on global challenges that aimed to help at least a billion people around the world.

The article below cites that more than 1,200 students applied to fill the 40 slots, making the program more selective than Harvard University. James A. Dator, director of the Hawaii Research Center for Futures Studies, at the University of Hawaii-Manoa says Singularity University is an example of the rise in interest in futurology with courses offered at Anne Arundel Community College (Arnold, Maryland), the University of Notre Dame and San Diego City College.

The article also mentions that higher education has experienced relatively small changes: “Compared to most other markets, higher education in particular really hasn’t felt the earthquake,” says Paul Saffo, a technology forecaster who is a consulting professor at Stanford University, and chair of the futures-studies track of Singularity University. More “futures studies” at the university level would require better preparation of high schools students. LifeBound’s new book, Critical and Creative Thinking for Teenagers sparks innovative thinking, is cross-disciplinary by examining critical and creative thinking through various lenses and promotes media and technology skills. Such a curriculum would equip today’s high school students with the skills necessary to brainstorm and tackle the world’s greatest problems. For more information about this resource visit www.lifebound.com.

What steps can higher education take to embrace the technological strides over the last 50 years?

How can we promote critical and creative thinking in the classroom via technologies?

How can “futures studies” enhance 21st century skills among today’s students?

ARTICLE:

The Chronicle of Higher Education
September 14, 2009
What Traditional Academics Can Learn From a Futurist’s University
By Jeffrey R. Young
Moffett Field, Calif.

“We’re going to be unapologetically interdisciplinary,” said Neil Jacobstein, chairman of the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing, during one of the first lectures at Singularity University. “That’s not because it’s fashionable, or because the faculty took a vote, but because nature has no departments.”

The students burst into applause.

That dig against traditional institutions was par for the course at the unusual new high-tech university, which wrapped up its first nine-week session at NASA’s Ames Research Center here last month. Students were asked to come up with technological projects that would help at least a billion people around the world, reflecting the techno-utopian vision of the institution’s founders.

To view this entire article visit www.chronicle.com

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Botched Most Answers on New York State Math Test? You Still Pass

The article below, based on a school system in New York City, highlights a major concern that many educators hold nationwide: Standardized testing is often flawed and seemingly arbitrary. In this example, testing criteria shifted by lowering the percentage points needed to pass because some of the questions are harder than the ones on the same test from last year. As the article surmises:

“At a time when the tests are assuming an unprecedented role in classrooms across the state — used for everything from analyzing student deficiencies to determining which educators deserve cash bonuses — the debate underscores a central question: How accurate are the exams in measuring student learning and progress, and what skills should a passing grade reflect?”

Co-director of the Upward Bound programs at the University of Maine, Lori C. Wingo, addressed this issue in last week’s article dated 9/11/09, “Student Ability to Excel Lost.” She writes: “The gap between a high school diploma and college readiness is widening at an alarming rate.” She continues in her essay for the Bangor Daily News, “These matriculating college students have traded critical thinking skills and higher levels of learning for a curriculum that asks only for proficiency and tests for it in multiple choice format.”

[Source: http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/120013.html]

Indeed, critical and creative thinking skills are required if a person is to adapt and flourish in the 21st Century. Peter Sacks, in his book, Standardized Minds, concludes that “scoring high on standardized tests is a good predictor of one’s ability to score high on standardized tests.” Research has not been able to correlate achievement on these tests with any future success in school or work. Take this question from New York’s practice test:

The year 1999 was a big one for the Williams sisters. In February, Serena won her first pro singles championship. In March, the sisters met for the first time in a tournament final. Venus won. And at doubles tennis, the Williams girls could not seem to lose that year. The story says that in 1999, the sisters could not seem to lose at doubles tennis. This probably means when they played:

A. two matches in one day
B. against each other
C. with two balls at once
D. as partners

Is this test measuring reading skills or tennis knowledge? A strong reader could probably figure out the correct answer, but a student with knowledge of the rules of tennis has a definite advantage. Teaching to the test also narrows the curriculum, forcing teachers and students to concentrate on memorization of isolated facts, instead of developing fundamental and higher order abilities. As students and families strive toward college, career and life success in the ubiquitous testing environment, we need to ask ourselves:

  • What other methods of assessment are available that can accurately measure a student’s mastery of subject material and life skills?
  • What can we learn from other nations who tend to use performance-based assessments for evaluation of student achievement and future success rather than multiple-choice matrices?
  • How can the U.S. better prepare students for life after high school?

____________________________________________________________________________________________

ARTICLE
New York Times
by Javier C. Hernandez

For many students, bungling more than half the questions on a test would mean an F and all that comes with it — months of remedial work, irksome teachers and, perhaps, a skimpy allowance. But on New York State’s math exam this year, seventh graders who correctly answered just 44 percent of questions were rewarded with a passing grade.

What gives?

Three years ago, the threshold for passing was 60 percent. In fact, students in every grade this year could slide by with fewer correct answers on the math test than in 2006.

To view the entire article visit
http://bit.ly/19NCPj

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Duncan Urges Colleges to Help Underperforming Schools More

CAROL’S SUMMARY: U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, former chief executive of Chicago Public Schools before joining President Obama’s administration, delivered a keynote speech at an education forum to encourage other colleges and universities to follow the University of Chicago’s example by taking districts under their wings. Specifically, he charged universities to “establish their own charter schools, develop better research methods to track the results of efforts to improve schools’ performance and provide more hands-on training and support for teachers.” By working together school districts improve their graduation rates and universities promote higher education and career training. While Timothy Knowles, Director the Urban Education Institute admits, “Not every university in the country should own and operate a public school,” every university can involve themselves in education reform by coming alongside struggling schools.

Academic coaching, with its emphasis on asking powerful questions, can help equip teachers with the tools for creating dynamic classrooms and becoming leaders in their districts. Many student success programs operate at both the high school and college level and collaboration could serve as an iron sharpens iron proposition. If teachers and professors attended academic coaches training together it’s possible that bonds would form in the spirit of cooperation and common good that might withstand the high turnover of school district administrations.
Could your district benefit from academic coaching?

What specific steps can school districts and universities to band together to improve our nation’s educational system?

Who is ultimately responsible for education reform and how might student success and transition programs be at the center of this reform?

ARTICLE:
The Chronicle of Higher Education
September 10, 2009
Duncan Urges Colleges to Help Underperforming Schools More
By Libby Nelson
Washington

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan urged universities on Thursday to get more involved in helping to improve underperforming schools, by forming partnerships with local school districts, establishing charter schools, and improving teacher education.

In a keynote address at an education forum presented here by the University of Chicago, Mr. Duncan pointed to that institution’s charter schools as an example and praised the university for not being an “ivory tower in the middle of the city.”

To view this entire article visit www.chronicle.com

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Experts Point to Five Emerging Majors

CAROL’S SUMMARY:
New occupations develop when employers need workers to do tasks that have never been done before. Based on employment forecasters and other educational and career experts, The Chronicle of Higher Education points to the following five new majors related to emerging career fields:
service science, health informatics, computational science, sustainability, and public health.

For students, these emerging careers offer a chance to be on the leading edge of their fields. For adults, a shift within their career field can be the path out of a slow-growth career and into work with a more promising future. According to Career Voyages, a website collaboration of the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Department of Education, these five areas of study fall into three growing industries:

1. Biotechnology: The areas of research and development, quality control and assurance, manufacturing and production, agriculture, and bioinformatics all offer in-demand occupations in biotechnology. In bioinformatics, one of the newest sectors, specialists organize and mine huge amounts of biomedical data, such as research related to the study of the human genome, clinical trials, or diseases.

2. Nanotechnology: This field includes research and development of practical commercial applications using particles of matter the size of atoms.

3. Geospatial technology: This emerging field encompasses photogrammetry, remote sensing, and geographic information systems (GIS). The most widely known application is the GPS (global positioning systems) that are familiar to many of us in our vehicles and cell phones.
Source: http://www.careerpath.com/career-advice/209482-emerging-career-fields

As cited in the article below: “Most of the interesting work today is done at the interstices of disciplines,” says Robert B. Reich, a former U.S. labor secretary and a professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley. While not all colleges and universities are offering these majors, most do offer courses in related subject areas. For example, in the field of service science, 250 colleges and universities in 50 countries offer courses, mostly for graduate students. Often these are specialties that build on more general experience within a career, like a move into a homeland security role for a police officer. On the other hand, some of these emerging careers creatively link together two or more fields of expertise, such as nursing and computer science. Here are questions to consider:

How might high school curricula need to change to better prepare students in these emerging career fields?

What steps can students take to analyze opportunities in these new areas and figure out which ones might be a good fit for their interests, gifts and talents?

To view the entire article visit
http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/experts-point-to-5-emerging-majors/

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