Michelle Rhee has just announced that she will begin a new organization called, Studentsfirst.org to give a voice to students and the many people in this country who believe that reform in education is, in Arne Duncan’s words, the civil rights of our day. Working ahead to bring about the change we need for all students, especially those in the Title 1 Schools, will not be easy, fun or without challenge.  But it is arguably the most important work we have to do for the rights and the future of all students and for the chance to have an economy going forward which is worthy of our past.

Appointed under Adrian Fenty who was mayor of D.C., and lost the most recent election, Rhee worked quickly to overhaul the system for evaluation, adopted new reading programs, reversed flagging attendance and made D.C schools the schools of choice for the first time in 41 years.   She herself says that she is likely the reason for Fenty’s loss of the election, but she sees the strides she has made in D.C.  as part of larger, scalable change model which will reflect favorably in the end on Fenty’s legacy.

Rhee is not against teachers, but rather she is not for keeping poor performing teachers in their positions at the expense of effective teachers who are able to motivate and inspire the most difficult students.   If there were tenure for doctors, would you want to be operated on by someone who had a poor record of surgery success and was paid the very same as someone who had an outstanding record?   It is perhaps time that we look carefully at systems and ways of thinking which can be reworked or replaced with more modern models.

I left a Vice President job in corporate America ten years ago to begin LifeBound because I could see first-hand in my work with college freshmen that we were not preparing students for college success or their own career and life success.  The first two years of this company, I was a volunteer teacher at the Federal Prison.  We also taught GED, ESL and computer skills for the Denver Housing projects.  By observing these two arenas, I learned volumes about how we are failing the most vulnerable people in our society. The books and programs I’ve published with LifeBound are designed to be the support and perspective that all students need, but often only those in the wealthiest families are able to receive.   We have worked with several inner city schools like Lincoln and Martin Luther King in Denver Public Schools, conducted parent sessions, trained teachers in coaching skills and next month we’ll be training the after school members of groups like the Boys and Girls Club.  We also have a close relationship with the district as well as the teachers and counselors on the ground.   Working with each of these groups who play a role with children at all  points of the day or the week influences the chances of the child’s success, as opposed to the old model of everyone in their own silo.

I applaud Michelle Rhee, who announced her new program earlier this week on Oprah and in Newsweek, and anyone else in any profession who is willing to step out and challenge how we’ve always done things.  What would have happened if someone as courageous as Rhee had been able to call attention to the SEC’s inability to govern financial practices that sent this economy and others around the world plummeting? What would have happened if someone in Countrywide Financial or one of the other agencies had questioned why poor people were being given loans that they couldn’t afford if they lost their jobs or had an unexpected illness?  On the other hand, what would have happened if Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yumus hadn’t discovered microfinancing and hadn’t been courageous enough to share his innovation and give  financial opportunity to countless women and citizens of the developing world? What if innovation was supported instead of feared?  If anyone had had the influence—public and political—we may not be in the financial hole we are in right now.    By encouraging people to fight for change, leave the cushiness of their world in order to make this world better—whether it is for eliminating the sex trade, setting up microfinance models, taking a stand within a company when there is clearly wrong doing — we are asking people to be active participants in ensuring our survival on a global level.   Confronting the issues of our day whether it is education reform, a cure for cancer, equal rights for all people, or global warming will take courage, tenacity and follow-through.  The times we live in right now are not for the meek.  Indeed, they are challenging enough to help us all find our own place of strength to help make our lives, our families, our communities and the world a better place.

Carol’s Summary:

How can teachers achieve a balance in the classroom between compliant students and those who are inactive, or too active, in the class? Teachers have the difficult task of taking the energies from a slew of different kids and making an atmosphere that harnesses learning for each student. Can a teacher take the chaotic energy from a rambunctious student and help an under-spoken student come out of his shell? Every student naturally brings their gifts, whether it be creativity, problem-solving, a positive attitude, or peacekeeping abilities to the classroom. How can these skills be assets instead of liabilities?

An outgoing student may need to learn how to channel her energy, while the quiet student needs to find how to express himself. A classroom is a great atmosphere for the student to be challenged, to take risks, get creative, and think outside of the box. School doesn’t always have to be about following rules and standards. School can be a place which encourages unique strengths, provides safety for introverts to expand and interact and creates boundaries for the overly energetic and talkative to calm down and focus.

At Ellis High School in Austin Minnesota, the whole school is thinking outside the box — in a different direction. Teachers no longer have parent-teacher conferences to discuss how a student turned their homework in late, was tardy to class, or didn’t raise their hand. Rather, teachers can only discuss specific skills the student isn’t grasping, changing the emphasis from having mastered their social skills to the emphasis that they need to master a subject. This mirrors the performance review process in the world of work. What did you accomplish?  What was the quality?  What was the contribution?  Could social problems be erased when the emphasis shifts to academic success and a quality track record? Would students be better prepared in the short run in school and in the long run in the world of work?

New Book Gives Teenagers 21^st Century Skills for Personal, Academic and Career Success

Denver, CO – December 1, 2010 – LifeBound, the company dedicated to student success, announced the release of Critical and Creative Thinking for Teenagers, available on Amazon.com and Lifebound.com.

Tony Wagner, Harvard-based education expert, cites critical thinking and problem-solving as two leading skills U.S. students must master to close the global achievement gap. LifeBound’s new book helps students develop these higher level thinking skills by using cross disciplinary examples and hands-on activities to illustrate the critical thinking and problem-solving involved in compelling science innovations, engineering feats, and humanitarian advocacy.

“Recent headlines report teen suicides triggered by social media blunders, high student credit card debt, and binge drinking in epic proportions—all pointing to teenagers’ need for greater critical thinking skills,” says LifeBound president, Carol Carter. “And in a challenging economy, the students armed with creative thinking skills will be better able to launch innovations and new companies that will drive the 21^st century economy.”

However, lessons for slowing down, thinking through options, imagining solutions, weighing consequences, and evaluating actions are often neglected in current resources. In response, Critical and Creative Thinking for Teenagers gives teens easy-to-use strategies for:

• Improving observation skills.
• Developing question asking abilities.
• Analyzing information by comparing, contrasting and connecting ideas.
• Piquing curiosity and stimulating the imagination.
• Evaluating options, decisions and outcomes.

This interactive book includes skill building activities that both challenge students’ thinking, while calling on them to contemplate some of the world’s greatest problems. Classroom curriculum that accompanies the book is also available. “Your materials are right on target…and truly captivate the students,” says high school teacher, Rebecca Mendoza.

About LifeBound

LifeBound was founded in 2000 by Carol Carter, a student success expert who’s written over 20 books on college and career success. LifeBound works nationally and internationally with students, teachers, administrators and parents to help students transition throughout their academic years and to succeed in school, career and  life.

Carol’s Summary:

New York Times reporter, Matt Richtel, looks at technology and the side effects on younger people in Sunday’s article, “Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction.” Richtel follows a few students who have natural obsessions with a variety of technologies and who see it effecting their academic lives. Vishal Singh, 17, is a bright student who aspires to be a filmmaker. He ended last year with a 2.3 GPA. He works on filming and cutting videos when he should be studying and hopes his talent will make up for where his grades lack when he is applying for college. Another student spends 6 hours playing video games during the week, and an even higher daily average on the weekends. While still another sends 27,000 texts a month and can get so caught up she forgets to do her homework. Can schools tear students away from their favorite technology? The principal at Singh’s school, David Reilly, believes that the classroom should incorporate more technology to get more students interested. “I am trying to take back their attention from their BlackBerry’s and video games,” says Reilly. “To a degree, I’m using technology to do it.”

Reilly’s method seems to be a common idea in the school system. Give students what they want and they will be more likely to show up and be engaged. Researchers are saying this might not really be so. Young brains are developing on technology that only asks for a quick piece of your time and is easily manageable with a low-attention span. Schools that cater to this new programmed thinking might be harming the student if it is the emphasis in both their personal and academic lives.

How can teachers use technology, white boards and gaming  strategies to get students to create their own lesson plans?  How can students be creative about teaching their peers through the technology they love to use? How can students be an ally for teachers in becoming technologically savvy? How can we look more broadly at how students learn and get them to be active participants in the learning process?  How can students and teachers collaborate more by developing great lessons together?

Article: Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — On the eve of a pivotal academic year in Vishal Singh’s life, he faces a stark choice on his bedroom desk: book or computer?

Read the full article at nytimes.com

Carol’s Summary:

States understand that it is not a question of whether or not school standards will change, but rather when. The Obama administration has been working on improving common standards across the country to make American students competitive in the work force nationally and globally, but the debate lives on about whether or not an overhaul on school standards will have a positive effect on the system.

As common core standards are being proposed, we’ve watched the bar dip too low in order to pass students so schools could comply with the No Child Left Behind Act. States are battling alone to find a solution to boost scores despite worsening conditions like program and funding slashes. Only thirty-nine percent of college students are currently graduating from 2- and 4- year programs. States are facing common problems and a common solution may be the only way to pull the whole country from the poor performance scores and bring them back toward the top.

The proposed standards are supported by international evidence that shows mastery of these standards lead to higher success rates in college and the world of work. High school curriculums are expected to teach to college and career readiness to increase the percentage of graduates to 60 percent by 2020, as projected by President Obama.

Article: Coming to Terms with Common Core Standards

From its inception, the Obama administration has set its sights on the unevenness of existing state standards and promoting the development, adoption, and implementation of common standards that would provide each school across the country with clearly defined markers of what students should know and be able to do at each level of their K–12 schooling.

Read the full article at: ascd.org

Carol’s Summary:

Does more time in the classroom lead to better test scores? Elementary schools nationwide are cutting down on the number of recesses in the student’s day in hopes of doing just that. As the number of obese children rises, the amount of social interaction declines with technology, and more schools get criticized for not teaching to creative and critical minds, the elimination of recess becomes more of a highly debated topic among teachers and parents. Just as adults are required to take breaks throughout their day, a child especially needs that time to release balled-up energy from sitting in class. It seems time would be spent more efficiently if students were rewarded with more frequent breaks so they could return to class with a more focused attitude and the knowledge that their hard work leads to another deserved break.

It is hard to imagine taking more free minutes away from students will encourage them to work harder or enlarge their capacity to absorb more information. Eliminating recess shows the test score is the priority, not the student. A child’s school experience should be designed for the human mind with socializing, running, creating and breathing. Without these activities a child goes to school to get programmed like machinery to pass a test. We need to think very carefully about finding the balance between structured space and allowing enough playtime to roam and open a child’s mind. A successful student and member of society possesses both analytical and creative skills.

Carol’s Summary:

Beverly Woods Elementary school was recognized last year as a “National School of Character” by the national nonprofit Character Education Partnership for their character program. The school’s success has school officials wanting to spread the program statewide. At Beverly Woods, teachers select a group of 4th and 5th graders to be peer-mediators to solve conflicts between two people or small groups. After the session, the mediators respect the understood confidentiality and shred all paperwork linked to the session. Peer-mediation is usually a method used in middle or high school, but educators at Beverly Woods strongly believe their students need to learn conflict-resolution skills now so they are prepared to deal with the bigger issues they will inevitably encounter in 6th-12th grade.

Character programs are being placed in more and more schools to reduce discipline problems and bullying and encourage students to advocate for themselves. Systemwide, North Carolina schools choose to focus on one character trait for a month, such as respect, responsibility, and honesty studied so far this year. However, each elementary school has the freedom to implement the program in the best way they see fit for their individual school.

Technology has done amazing things for the student, like give them more information at their fingertips than ever before, but it has also caused new problems other generations haven’t had to deal with like cyber-bullying and the disconnected communication carried over social networking, texting, and IMing. Character education breeds a human connection that has become so rare, and builds a safe community only achieved in a physical environment that encourages interaction between peers. LifeBound helps students become emotionally intelligent through developing specific skills to learn about themselves, understand peers’ actions, strengthen their ability to make friends, and manage stress in People Smarts for Teenagers. For more information, please visit our website.

Article: Character program may go statewide

Officials from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction recently observed – and applauded – Beverly Woods Elementary’s Character Education program and would like to find ways to expand the concept to schools throughout the state.