Carol On Education » Carol J. Carter

India Defies Slump, Powered by Growth in Poor Rural States

CAROL’S SUMMARY: Indiaâ€™s lowest classes, long denied access to the basics of education and civil living, are now being given the opportunity to change their lives through learning. In the WSJâ€™s article below, some of the poorest and the weakest areas of India are resurging and fueling an economic force that is shoring up the rest of India which, like the rest of the world, is in financial decline. The potential for these â€œlower castesâ€ to participate in Indiaâ€™s future has tremendous implications for labor and vitality in the most far-flung and often forgotten parts of India as well as people in the poorest slums of the largest cities. Most importantly, people who have a had a culture and history of non-importance and the most degrading life conditions are now being given dignity, access and the ability to change their plight through exposure to education in this â€œflatâ€ new world.

ARTICLE:

By PETER WONACOTT

DEV KULI VILLAGE, India — This country’s path out of the global economic turmoil may start here, among a community of outcastes who dine on rats.

In Bihar, India’s poorest and least literate major state, the Mushahar are the poorest and least literate. Most are farm laborers. About one in 10 can read. So impoverished is this group that they hunt field rats to supplement a deprived diet. Mushahar is Hindi for “rat eater.”

But the outlook for the state’s two million Mushahar has brightened in the past year. Thanks to government aid programs, more Mushahar children are attending school. Increased state investment in roads and local factories has put their parents to work. Demand for laborers has pushed up wages for field work.

Visit www.wsj.com for the entire article

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Europe’s Higher-Education Restructuring Holds Lessons for U.S., Report Says

CAROL’S SUMMARY:

Clifford Adelman from the Institute for Higher Education, is leading a new way of thinking in the U.S. based on the Bologna Process, the higher education agenda of 29 European countries. Like many of us, Adelman believes the U.S. is no longer on the cutting edge, nor can “we assume world-wide dominance oblivious to the creative energies, natural intelligence and hard work of other nations.”

The Lumina Foundation agrees with Adelman and will be working in three states–Minnesota, Utah and Indiana–to pilot some of the strategies from the Bologna Process. Most appealing to me, is that people from many perspectives will be surveyed–students, faculty, recent grads and, hang on to your hat, employers in an effort to define knowledge and skills needed from specific disciplines as they translate to real world success. Wow!
What a concept and how obvious in this age of serious global competition. I would encourage all states to follow suit as soon as possible.

The Lumina Foundation’s goal is to increase the quality of degrees–and I am sure there must be workforce equivalent to measure this longitudinally–from 39% to 60% by 2025. As I said, we could really benefit from this nationally. In this age of global achievement and opportunity, the U.S. needs to look out for best practices and then apply them to an educational system which can again become cutting-edge, hopefully on or before 2025.

ARTICLE
Chronicle of Higher Education
April 8, 2009

To view entire article visit
http://chronicle.com/temp/email2.php?id=tmVtWCKdrCC6W9rrvrhSmf5mcXpNkvfc

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Report Envisions Shortage of Teachers as Retirements Escalate

CAROL’S SUMMARY:Â

As the article below indicates, over the next four years, one third of the nationâ€™s 3.2 million teachers are slated to retire. In addition to that, many entering the professionâ€”one in three–drop out in their first five years of teaching.

What can we do to keep talented young teachers on the teaching track? What are we not doing in our schools of education to prepare these students for what lies ahead? How can we recruit some of the best and brightest people from industry to get their teaching certificates and become teachers in this tough economy? How can we look to other nations for top talent in teachers who can inspire and educate our students in the United States? How can more talented teachers become principals or leaders in their districts in other important capacities?

Many people with industry experience are now being considered for Superintendent positions. School boards value managers who are data driven, smart and able to motivate and inspire people beyond what they have always done. Michael Bennett in Colorado was a lawyer and a successful business person before he ran Denver Public Schools. Now that he is a United States Senator, his successor was the CFO under Bennet and has the same business sensibilities as the new Superintendent.

ARTICLE
New York Times

By SAM DILLON
April 7, 2009
Over the next four years, more than a third of the nationâ€™s 3.2 million teachers could retire, depriving classrooms of experienced instructors and straining taxpayer-financed retirement systems, according to a new report.

To view entire article visit

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/education/07teacher.html?emc=eta1

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Gossip Girls and Boys Get Lessons in Empathy

CAROL’S SUMMARY: Spoiled behavior among young adults has long been a problem, but schools are tackling those problems first-hand by developing programs and classes to teach students empathy. LifeBound publishes a book and a program called People Smarts for Teenagers, which focuses on teaching students what Daniel Goleman terms “emotional intelligence.” Goleman argues that your EQ is more important than your IQ in college, career and life. People Smartsâ€”and EQâ€”is all about how you understand and manage yourself, relate to and work with others, and handle life disappointments and setbacks. These qualities go into someoneâ€™s personal gristâ€”and those are some of the greatest indicators of life success.

ARTICLE:

By WINNIE HU
Published: April 4, 2009

SCARSDALE, N.Y. â€” The privileged teenagers at Scarsdale Middle School are learning to be nicer this year, whether they like it or not.
Readers’ Comments

English classes discuss whether Friar Laurence was empathetic to Romeo and Juliet. Research projects involve interviews with octogenarians and a survey of local wheelchair ramps to help students identify with the elderly and the disabled. A new club invites students to share snacks and board games after school with four autistic classmates who are in separate classes during the day.

Visit www.nytimes.com to view this entire article

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Recession Has Changed Views Among Prospective Adult Students, Study Finds

According to the firm, Eduventures, nearly half of adults learners in a 1,500 person survey believe that the value of an education has increased because of the economic crisis. While there are still the super-smart and talented exceptions to this rule like Bill Gates, most of us are going to benefit greatly from a college degree in this new economy.

Adults are not only competing with younger grads who have undergraduate and often graduate degrees, they are competing in many cases for jobs with people from other countries. The knowledge and skill-base required is definitely greater than a decade ago and will likely become more intense as time goes on. If you are an adult and you are thinking about going back to school while keeping your job, remember that whatever outlay you invest will likely be paid back because your earning potential is likely to be so much higher over the course of your career than if you forego the degree and stay in the ranks of the minimum-wage jobs.

If you’ve taken a hard look at your situation and you feel you really can’t go back right now, learn as much as you can at your current job and set your sites on being the most valuable contributor that you can be. If you aren’t working, but you are looking for a job, then volunteer where you can develop the same critical workplace success skills. When this tough economic time passes, which it inevitably will, set your sites back on getting your degree. There are many programs which will allow this to take place in your own time.

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ARTICLE:

Chronicles of Higher Education
by Eric Hoover

Nearly half of adult students believe the value of education has increased over the last year due to the economic crisis, according to a survey released this week by Eduventures Inc., an education-consulting firm.

Twenty-five percent of respondents said the value had not changed significantly. And only 20 percent said the value of additional education had decreased, meaning that they believed it was less likely to earn them a raise or better job.

To view entire article
http://chronicle.com/temp/email2.php?id=mdxR4ZWrGPcfwCzwCgzmdrSrzqbgHsdj

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Graduating With a Major in Go-Getting

CAROL’S SUMMARY:

Every college student this year and for the next few years needs to graduate with a major in â€œGo-Getting,â€ as the article below implies. Grads need at least one if not two solid internships and work experience from jobs in retail, fast food, child care or yard work. These experiences, if well done, can show employers how students think, work as a team and lead others to positive goals, which is something recruiters look for during the interview process. Companies today want to know that the grads they hire arenâ€™t just a good bet for the entry level, but for the long term as well. Data shows that companies spend an average of $40,000 training new hires. If those grads go on to be promoted to positions of more responsibility or better, start new divisions within their company, they will be fueling future economic growth. There is no better way to ensure job security than having outcomes which directly impact and create business growth.

ARTICLE
Wall Street Journal
By EILEEN GUNN
Reorganizations grab fewer headlines than job losses, but they are common in a recession, and often precede or follow layoffs. And they can be as just as disheartening. It can be difficult to figure out where you fit in as management changes are made, new work groups are formed, and you find yourself working for a new boss. To survive, you’ll need to adapt, while also assessing the future of your job.

To view the entire article visit
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123845358462571299.html

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Does Experience Trump Higher Education?

CAROL’S SUMMARY: Does experience trump education? It certainly can. That is why it is more important for students to plan interesting and different ways to spend their summer or winter breaks in high school than overly obsessing about their SAT score. In life, as Dr. Robert Sternberg says, you need Successful Intelligenceâ€”the ability to be analytically, creatively, and practically intelligent. Schools foster analytical skills, which are important, but the other skills you need for life success like taking calculated risks, learning new skills, stretching beyond your comfort zone and learning to work with people who arenâ€™t like you, can propel you to job success and security.

Questions to consider:
1. What are all the things you could imagine for yourself if things could go as well as possible?
2. What are the successes as well as failures that have been your greatest life teachers?
3. How can you think about your future as a balance of education and experience?

ARTICLE:

By Matthew Vuturo
Wall Street Journal
March 27, 2009

I wouldnâ€™t trade my education for anything. All of my educational experiences have shaped the person I am today, high school on through my business degree. Educating their children was my parentsâ€™ top priority, for which I will be eternally grateful.

But, these days, as I look around, I canâ€™t help but feel like education is the biggest scam going. With so many accredited institutions minting fresh undergraduate and graduate degrees, the perceived value of formal education has become greatly diminished. An undergraduate degree used to represent a real achievement in life, whereas now it seems to be mere proof one has a pulse.

Like many others who went through a traditional M.B.A. program, I dedicated serious time and money to completing my degree. With a full time job and classes most nights of the week, the two years I spent dedicated to the cause was a grind to say the least. I remember a year ago now how much I believed my advanced degree would help me get my foot in the door, and in front of the right audience. I knew it didnâ€™t guarantee me anything, but I did think it would help me stand out and get my shot.

Visit http://blogs.wsj.com for the entire article

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Proximity to Fast Food a Factor in Student Obesity

CAROL’S SUMMARY

The study below shows that fast-food restaurants nearÂ schools is linked to obesity among students. But the issue doesnâ€™t stop there. Many school cafeterias serve high sugar, high carb menus with a plethora of soft drinks available from vending machines for purchase throughout the day. Data suggests that students who have diets high in sugar and carbs with very little protein have a hard time focusing, staying awake and keeping their attention on the subject matter at hand.

The Steamboat Springs school district in Colorado just banned these types of foods and beverages from their schools. No doubt with the obesity link and the even greater risk of students with attention problems, more districts around the country will follow suit. Parents would do well to think of ways that students can reduce sugar dependence and experiment with meals that feature protein and vegetables, which can form lifelong patterns of health. The alternative is a large crop of emerging students who become adults that tap out our healthcare system because they didnâ€™t form healthy eating habits in their youth.

ARTICLE
New York Times
By RONI CARYN RABIN
Ninth graders whose schools are within a block of a fast-food outlet are more likely to be obese than students whose schools are a quarter of a mile or more away, according to a study of millions of schoolchildren by economists at the University of California and Columbia University.

To view the entire article visit
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/health/nutrition/26obese.html?emc=eta1

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Our Students Need More Practice in Actual Thinking

CAROL’S SUMMARY: To be ready for the challenges of the global world, students need to have highly developed critical and creative thinking skills, problem-solving and decision-making to name a few. The trouble is, the standardized testing pattern rarely promotes critical and creative thinking.

How can you as a parent promote critical and creative thinking skills at
home?
* Ask questions of your child. Question-asking is one of the most prized
skills and helps you as a parent to be a coach for your child as they grow
older and need more complex thinking skills at their disposal.
* Do creative and different things together as a family. Spend time asking your
kids what they would do in the world if they could do anything–get them to
think big. Whatever they share, ask them to come up with small steps that could move them closer to their big dream. As much as possible, spend time at home imagining, creating and sharing your vision.
* Ask what else. If your child suffers a disappointment or a setback, ask what other good can come from that door closing. What will this setback
do to provide a stepping stone to a new experience?

The more you demonstrate thoughtful, probing and interesting behaviors with
your child, the more they will see critical and creative thinking first-hand
from you.

ARTICLE:

By ROB JENKINS

During a recent meeting of a committee charged with reviewing my state’s higher-education core curriculum, a committee member asked, “Do students really need two math courses?”

In a word, yes.

Admittedly, as an undergraduate English major, I may have asked the same question myself a time or two. And certainly it’s true that, in the nearly three decades since I sweated through pre-calculus, I’ve never once had to factor an equation â€” nor, frankly, do I remember how. (Just ask my teenagers, who’ve occasionally been misguided enough to ask me for help with their algebra homework.)

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Guiding Hands Find New Ways

CAROL’S SUMMARY:
Counselors these days are re-inventing themselves, stepping up to the challenges they face as are their counterparts in the world of business. One of the ways counselors are multiplying their efforts and expanding their leadership is through taking full responsibility for the advisory classes, grades 5-12. These advisory classes are becoming the backbone of academic, emotional and social intelligence for students. Counselors can make themselves indispensable to their principal, the teaching team and the district as a whole by taking the lead on the advisory courses, measuring data and providing the passion and the purpose behind full school compliance. Counselors are setting the standard by helping their management team to analyze these success factors:

1) Attendance

2) Critical and creative thinking skills

3) Grades

4) School involvement

5) Use of resources, including tutors and others who can help in learning

6) Planning and strategy for the future.

The more that counselors become strong leaders and coaches, the more they will lead their schools and districts to new, measurable outcomes of achievement. Thatâ€™s job security.

ARTICLE

Washington PostÂ

By Michael Birnbaum

Washington Post Staff Writer

They don’t just wait for students to come to their offices in search of college brochures, health pamphlets or other help. These days, counselors are scouring schools for at-risk kids to prevent personal or academic troubles before they arise. In tough economic times, students and families need the guidance more than ever.Â Â

To view entire article visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/22/AR2009032201899.html?referrer=emailarticle

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