High School » Carol J. Carter

Five Money Lessons for New College Grads

CAROL’S SUMMARY: This spring, as the article below indicates, graduates will face a tough economic climate. But the smartest grads who actually have the discipline to be conscious of their spending, saving and ability to delay gratification will set themselves up for long term financial success and open the greatest number of job options during thick and thin. Grads need to avoid credit card debt and realize that their credit score in life will be with them forever. So, taking the bus or riding your bike to work or walking if that is possible, may be better than being saddled with car payments each month.

Second, grads need to think carefully about who they decide to live with, sign leases with and know fully the tiny print in legal documents that may be binding. If you are not with trustworthy friends, donâ€™t agree to share an apartment with them when they may eat your food or default on the rent which will then impact your credit. Choose your friends wisely and protect yourself.

Finally, think about the most creative ways you can earn money and save it. Work two jobs this summer. Live off the income from one and use the other job to pay down student loans and/or save for the future. Developing financial discipline is not only good for you personally, but it will be expected of you in any job you secure at a level which pays more than minimum wage.

ARTICLE:

By KAREN BLUMENTHAL
May 3, 2009

This spring’s college grads are heading out into a world where jobs are tough to come by. The economic outlook is uncertain and all the older people they know are feeling the pain of stock-market losses.

Worse, there are all kinds of nitty-gritty details to deal with: opening bank accounts, choosing health insurance, finding an apartment, lining up transportation and figuring out how to invest. How is a young person supposed to get ahead in this environment?

It’s not easy to master money management during the best times and it’s especially hard to navigate the challenges of a recession. Still, many of the same basic principles apply in good times and bad. And getting a taste of a downturn at the start may make current graduates smarter and more thoughtful than those who graduate during boom times.

Visit www.wsj.com to view the entire article

Share this Article with Your Friends:

Lumina’s Leader Sets Lofty Goals for Fund’s Role in Policy Debates

CAROL’S SUMMARY:

Jamie Merisotis, the 45-year-old President of the Lumina Foundation, has a lot to teach college presidents and K-12 principals through the actions in his first year in this position. First, he has set ambitious goals, the primary one being 60% of the U.S. population earning degrees or credentials by 2025. Second, Merisotis has asked key questions like, why are other developing countries outpacing the U.S. in education and why have we been satisfied with academic performance which is at a 40-year-old standard from which all other countries have moved ambitiously beyond?

Third, he has broadened Lumina’s scope and mission to be a policy-driven change agent in addition to a grant-funding organization. Fourth, he has taken specific steps to model progressive and successful European models in Indiana, Minnesota and Utah so that those models can be improved and expanded in other areas in the U.S. Fifth, Merisotis is forging necessary partnerships with businesses and business leaders who can support, buttress and take action on behalf of this mission. Finally, Merisotis gets that more Americans students need access and student success preparation for continued life success. If we are going to have 16 million more graduates by 2025, we all need to have this same vision, standards, commitment and collaboration.

ARTICLE
Chronicle of Higher Education
By SARA HEBEL

Soon after Jamie P. Merisotis took over the Lumina Foundation for Education last year, he began talking about a “big goal.” America must increase the proportion of its population with degrees or credentials to 60 percent by 2025, in order to remain globally competitive and meet the nation’s growing demand for college-educated workers, he said. The United States, he warned, is falling behind, and the foundation would make reversing the trend the core of its work.

To view the entire article please visit
http://chronicle.com/temp/email2.php?id=3BtgtkkntsQJxWqc5P3r2k9G9twJmjgd

Share this Article with Your Friends:

‘Nation’s Report Card’ Sees Gains in Elementary, Middle Schools

CAROL’S SUMMARY: In the Washington Post article below, the â€œNationâ€™s Report Cardâ€ sees some encouraging gains in elementary schools scores, but no movement in high school scores. In fact, the average reading performance for seventeen year olds hasnâ€™t changed since the early 1970â€™s. Our nationâ€™s future depends on improving student achievement and while it is encouraging that gains have been in elementary education, it is sobering from a workforce standpoint that we still have so many underprepared and unprepared high school students.

Student success classes for elementary and middle school students can help this upward trend continue. Success classes which emphasize academic, emotional and social intelligence are a must for high schools in the U.S. where scores lag behind other developed nations. Once students understand how they learn, how they are motivated, how to manage themselves by themselves and with others they can master the basics of focus and solid attention which can foster deep learning. Without these core success habits and framework, students are likely to aimlessly go through high school and college until they get a wake-up call in the world of work. Giving them these tools early eliminates needless stress and sets clear expectations for high school, college and the global business world.

ARTICLE:

By Maria Glod
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Math and reading scores for 9- and 13-year-olds have risen since the 2002 enactment of No Child Left Behind, providing fuel to those who want to renew the federal law and strengthen its reach in high schools.

Performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which offers a long view of U.S. student achievement, shows several bright spots. Nine-year-olds posted the highest scores ever in reading and math in 2008. Black and Hispanic students of that age also reached record reading scores, though they continued to trail white peers.

But results released yesterday were disappointing for high school students. Seventeen-year-olds gained some ground in reading since 2004, but their average performance in math and reading has not budged since the early 1970s.

Visit www.washingtonpost.com to view the entire article

Share this Article with Your Friends:

Invoking the Sputnik Era, Obama Vows Record Outlays for Research

CAROL’S SUMMARY:Â Obama made a huge commitment to science funding from grade school through corporate American, as stated in the article below.Â Innovation, Â strides in science, health and industry will not only help solve some of the worldâ€™s leading problems, it will also help us to create jobs and industries which can sustain our economy and the global economy for years to come.Â Â Â Currently, at the high school level America is number 27 in science compared to other developed nations.Â This focus and funding will help to turn around waning scores in science and math as we prepare students for the suite of competitive skills they will need as adults.

ARTICLE

New York Times

By Andrew C. Revkin

In a speech on Monday at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, President Obama presented a vision of a new era in research financing comparable to the Sputnik-period space race, in which intensified scientific inquiry, and development of the intellectual capacity to pursue it, are a top national priority.

To view the entire article visit

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/science/earth/28speech.html?_r=1&ref=education

Share this Article with Your Friends:

Large Urban-Suburban Gap Seen in Graduation Rates

CAROL’S SUMMARY:

A report by America’s Promise finds that one in four students in the U.S. drop out of high school, but some large cities are bucking the trend and improving their dropout rates. The report also found that some districts such as Philadelphia’s have graduated more students by focusing on ninth-grade achievement, creating smaller freshman classes and easing teens’ transition into high school. These schools show what is possible for all schools in the U.Sâ€”urban or ruralâ€”when clear programs are set forth and measured in the areas of academic, emotional and social intelligence, teachers are mission-driven to make this happen, and parents and community members participate with schools to buttress these efforts around smaller, focused communities of learning.

LifeBound offers books, trainings and services which can coalesce a school and schools within a district to set new standards for student learning, awareness, ambitions, achievement and readiness for the rigors of college and the world of work. Working with ninth graders is just the beginning and it is crucial, but the real opportunity is in better preparing students starting in elementary school and working with them in each of these areas as they progress to graduate from high school.

ARTICLE
New York Times
By SAM DILLON

It is no surprise that more students drop out of high school in big cities than elsewhere. Now, however, a nationwide study shows the magnitude of the gap: the average high school graduation rate in the nationâ€™s 50 largest cities was 53 percent, compared with 71 percent in the suburbs.

To view the entire article visit
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/22/education/22dropout.html

Share this Article with Your Friends:

Learning Skills Course Appears to Help Students Succeed

CAROL’S SUMMARY:
Freshmen success courses which emphasize personal growth, self-awareness, academic strategies and solid job-related activities and exercises do help students succeed in college, career, and life. Bruce Tuckman’s research at Ohio State University corroborates much of the research from the National Resource Center on the First Year Experience (FYE), the National Association of Developmental Education (NADE) and the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA).

But success-readiness doesn’t stop with one class. Prospective freshmen need to plan internships to discover careers and fields which interest them, join organizations on their campus or within their communities which can build their leadership skills, and reach out to establish rapport with people in fields and careers they might want to pursue. A freshmen success class, whether in the summer or fall of their first year of college, is just the beginning of the initiative needed for the challenges and rewards of today’s global world.

ARTICLE
Chronicles of Higher Education
By David Glenn

A learning and motivation course at Ohio State University appears to have succeeded in improving studentsâ€™ grades and retention rates, according to a study scheduled to be presented today at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association in San Diego.

To view the entire article visit
http://chronicle.com/temp/email2.php?id=mq24TxjvmCS4jmssbwdjy3XnbPmpndZx

Share this Article with Your Friends:

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

Share this Article with Your Friends:

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

Share this Article with Your Friends:

Community Colleges Anticipate Boom in Baby-Boomer Students

Students over 50 will be hitting college campuses this year at record rates. What does that mean for colleges and what does that mean for the students themselves?

Read the rest of this entry »

Share this Article with Your Friends:

High school dropouts cost US $319B over lifetime

CAROL’S SUMMARY: Virginia Governor, Bob Wise, says that the high school drop-outs in the class of 2008 will cost the nation $319 billion over their lifetime in lost or low wages, health-care and prison costs. Currently, 30% of all high students totaling 1.2 million, do not graduate from high school. For minority students, that number is a staggering 50%.

So, what can we do to start early and often to prevent this alarming trend from continuing? For one thing, we need to have a level playing field for minority students and at-risk students who may not have the resources at home to succeed. Schools featuring advisory classes can focus on the emotional, social and academic development of every child. The organization I founded, LifeBound, has books and resources to help every student discover their gifts, talents and abilities as well as their educational passion. Beginning in fifth grade, we need to emphasize success and transition so that we can prepare students for successâ€”not failure or even average performanceâ€”in the global world they are about to enter.

ARTICLE:

ATLANTA (AP) â€” High school dropouts from the class of 2008 will cost the country $319 billion over their lifetime, former West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise said during a panel discussion Thursday.

That number includes the income the students will have lost because of a lack of education and what they’ll cost taxpayers in publicly funded healthcare, prison stays and other services.

“The first group affected when a student drops out of high school is the student themselves, but there’s another group affected as well,” Wise told the room full of teens from across the country. “It’s the rest of us. It’s you, me, all of us.”

Visit www.edweek.org for the entire article

Share this Article with Your Friends: