America Falling: Longtime Dominance in Education Erodes

CAROLâ€™S SUMMARY:
Across the United States, higher education is tightening budgets while Singapore and many Asian countries are investing more money into their systems and into research. Experts consider the withdrawal of funds poor timing since 13 percent of European students and 20 percent of students in Asia major in engineering compared with only 4 percent of American students. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United States ranks 10th in the number of 25 to 34-year-olds who hold at least an associate degree.

The “Rising Above the Gathering Storm” report, produced by a national panel, warns that America is falling behind other countries in science and technology. Panelist, Mr. Vest, believes higher education stimulates the economy and worries that the United States wonâ€™t take action until itâ€™s too late. â€œLook what happened in the manufacturing sector when the Japanese got serious,â€ he says. â€œWeâ€™ve only partially caught up.â€

According to the article below, the United States has benefited from the educational advances of other countries since half of all students who earn doctorates in major science and technology fields come from overseas and one quarter of the faculty members of American colleges today are foreign-born. But as other countries improve their education systems, more top performing international students may decide to remain in their native countries. Not to mention the decline in performance of American high-school students. In 2004, half of â€œhighly qualifiedâ€ in math low-income high-school seniors enrolled in a four-year institution, 20 percentage points lower than the Class of 1992.

Many experts believe the U.S. could benefit from adopting the mindset of foreign countries desperately trying to improve their educational systems as a way of sparking economic growth. And while the 50 individual state legislations governing education makes it difficult to assess the national impact of current educational standards, everyone seems to agree that an overarching ministry of education, like those seen in Asia, is not a good fit with Americans.

Note:Â Carol Carter gives keynote speeches and session presentations here in the US and overseas to gain insights on learning-based standards and to share her expertise. Here is Carolâ€™s itinerary for this Fall:

October 14
The Tri-Association: Latin America and the Caribbean
Keynote: The New Global Competition for Talent
Location: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

October 29 and 30
Florida School Counselor Association
Keynote: Counselors as Leaders
Location: Orlando

November 4-7
American Business Communications
Three presentations on coaching and professional skills
Location: Portsmouth, VA

November 13
Utah School Counselor Association
Keynote: Counselors as Coaches
Location: Salt Lake City

November 19-21
European Council of International Schools

Due to scheduling conflicts, Carolâ€™s co-author on the Critical and Creative Thinking book, Maureen Breeze, is presenting three presentations in her place on coaching and critical and creative thinking skills.
Location: Hamburg, Germany

ARTICLE
Chronicle of Higher Education
by Karen Fischer

Henry T. Yang, a prominent engineer, is one of a half-dozen American academics and entrepreneurs who sit on an international panel that advises Singapore’s government on its higher-education and research efforts. At its last meeting, the group reviewed plans for a new public university, the country’s fourth.

Back at home, where Mr. Yang has been chancellor of the University of California at Santa Barbara since 1994, the situation is one of contraction, not expansion. Facing the deepest state-budget cuts in decades, public-university officials in California have slashed salaries, furloughed employees, and reduced enrollments.

To view entire article visit
http://bit.ly/35ie3G

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Models of School Reform

CAROL’S SUMMARY:

In WSJ’s Report over the weekend, Maria Bartiromo interviewed New York City Chancellor, Joel Klein, head of the largest public school system in the United States, to hear his ideas for school reform. Mr. Kleinâ€™s comprehensive education reform program, Children First, is transforming the nation’s largest public school system into a system of high-achieving schools. The first steps of the reform effort included ending social promotion in third, fifth, seventh, and eighth grades; creating a wide array of academic supports for struggling students; establishing new supports for parents by assigning a parent coordinator in nearly every school; and expanding small schools and charter schools to provide more high-quality educational options for students. The second phase of Children First involved restructuring the system, changing how schools are operated and supported, and giving principals greater control over how they run their schools while holding them accountable for results. Here are other specific ideas that Klein stated in his interview:

– Elevate the teaching role to a full-professional standing starting in higher education by recruiting the top quarter of college students to become teachers

– Promote accountability and reward success among school administrators and staff

– Learn from successes overseas; students need more time in school and the U.S. needs to establish high expectations of students while giving them the tools they need to succeed

*-Follow the data and implement programs that work.

Klein’s model hearkens to Mastery Charter Schools, a company with four schools in Philadelphia, that Education Secretary Arne Duncan and other education leaders, have called a potential “national model” for school reform (see web link to full article below). The Mastery approach aims to prepare students for college with a strong behavior code, rigorous curriculum with personal responsibility and emotional/social skills. The model includes a longer school day (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and a longer school year. Tutoring is mandatory for struggling students, and all students must show “mastery” by earning a grade of at least 76 percent before advancing.

How can we begin to implement these models of success into other school districts while honoring each school’s distinct population?

What role should local governments play to give principals more autonomy in running their schools?

What can colleges and universities do to help recruit its top students to K-12 teaching as a profession of choice.

*Note: LifeBound offers data assessments for every one of its programs, and we have a strong track record of results. If you would like to see a sample of our data, call us toll free at 1.877.737.8510 or email at contact@lifebound.com.

PODCAST
Wall Street Journal Report
October 4, 2009

Fixing America’s Schools: Back to school and back to business with Joel Klein, head of the largest public school system in the United States.
To hear the podcast visit
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1283037153&play=1#

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Report Finds Achievement Gap Continuing to Narrow

CAROL’S SUMMARY:

This week the Center on Education Policy (CEP)Â released a report that examines testing data from all fifty states to determine if achievement gaps between subgroups of students are narrowing. The report also looked at the achievement trends of subgroups of students at the elementary school level. In summary, the CEP reported that “on the whole, the disparities appear to be narrowing because of the accelerated achievement of lower-performing groups, not slower progress by high-achieving groups.”

While this is certainly good news, we have a long way to go before every student has equal access to a quality education. One important way large high schools are attempting to close the achievement gap is through freshmen success programs, or what some schools call freshmen or 9th grade academies. Schools with 1,000 or more students can apply for the federally funded Smaller Learning Communities (SLC) grant, which pays for assessments, materials and faculty training. In these classes, curriculum focuses on helping at-risk students boost their academic, emotional and social skills.

SLCs also include structures such as multi-grade academies organized around career interests or other themes, “houses” in which small groups of students remain together throughout high school; and autonomous schools-within-a-school, such as student advisories, family advocate systems, and mentoring programs. Grants are awarded for up to 60 months to the Local Education Agency (LEA) that apply on behalf of large public high schools. Projects integrate the implementation or expansion of SLCs with improvements in curriculum and instruction, and other activities to raise student academic achievement.

LifeBound works with SLC-awarded districts and schools across the country, andÂ the Smaller Learning Communities Program plans to announce a new grant competition sometime in 2010.Â For more information about applying for a SLC grant, please contact LifeBound by calling toll free 1.877.737.8510 or emailing contact@lifebound.com.

ARTICLE
Education Week
by Stephen Sawchuk

Achievement gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged students on state tests have narrowed in many instances over the past decadeâ€”continuing a trend that appears to have been bolstered in the 1990s by the standards-based-reform movement, concludes a wide-ranging analysis released today.

The study from the Center on Education Policy analyzes the achievement gap between low-income students and their peers, and between minority and white students, using test data from all 50 states collected from 2002 through 2008.

To view entire article visit
http://bit.ly/2rEqhP

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Science, Math in Vogue at Hughes

CAROLâ€™S SUMMARY:
The Chinese philosopher Confucius said, “I hear and I forget. I see and I believe. I do and I understand.” Economists and trend analysts predict that as white-collar and other jobs are either replaced by technologies or moved overseas, those who are able to synthesize, design and problem solve will emerge as leaders in the 21st century. Experiential learning programs were created to help students learn by doing, and the article below features an example of this teaching method at a new high school in Cincinnati. The value of experiential learning is that it incorporates not only the cognitive, but the emotional and physical. By using experiential learning, people get immediate feedback on their assignments and activities.

The new Hughes STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) High School of Cincinnati Public Schools aims to earn a rating of Excellent from the state of Ohio this school year through their focus on project-based lessons. Led by Hughes science teacher, Ronda Cargill, she aims that â€œ[students] know that learning is not in a textbook â€“ which people learn so they can be useful in society.â€ Although the curriculum is math and science heavy, Cargile says students pursuing careers outside these disciplines will also benefit. â€œEngineering lessons can teach students â€“ even those who have no plans to become an engineer â€“ how to work in a team and how to think pragmatically about abstract issues. The scientific method of inquiry, proposing a hypothesis and testing it, can also make students smarter consumers and lead to better political decisions,â€ said Cargile.

LifeBoundâ€™s Critical and Creative Thinking program fosters learning in context by helping teenagers, whose brains are learning to process abstract concepts, explore ideas and subject matter through different lenses: the lens of medicine, the lens of nature, and other relevant perspectives.

How can we help students develop broader skills on how to approach new subjects, to question and to integrate more than one perspective?

How can we create school climates that are conducive to critical and creative thinking?

What kinds of cross-disciplinary, technology-rich projects can enhance these objectives?

ARTICLE
Cincinnati Enquirer
by Ben Fischer

Four freshmen in science class at the new Hughes STEM High School debated last week how to design a small wooden car so it would win a race. The quartet didnâ€™t know each other six weeks ago, and only one said he wants a STEM career (in science, technology, engineering or math). But they deftly used their science class vocabulary words such as velocity and acceleration and built off each otherâ€™s explanations to add more detail.

To view the entire article visit
http://bit.ly/4ejGoO

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An Internship From Your Couch

CAROLâ€™S SUMMARY:

Every college student needs at least two internships under their belt in order to show prospective employers their potential for future jobs.Â In light of todayâ€™s global competition for talent, where U.S. students not only compete with American graduates but with their counterparts in other countries, internships allow job seekers to show a proven track record of results and to model tenacity in a fiercely competitive market.Â Another upside to internships is that many employers consider this experience in the hiring process, and often look to their own interns as the best potential candidates for full-time positions.Â Employers look for analytical, creative and practical intelligence in potential hires, and internships give students the playing field to demonstrate and grow these skills.

Particularly in a recessive economy, virtual internships offer an affordable and creative way for college students to gain real-world experience about a career field.Â Virtual or remote internships allow students to develop professional skills and get a birdâ€™s eye view of a career they may want to pursue without having to relocate and often with more time flexibility than traditional office hours require, as the article below iterates. And similar to traditional internships, students typically receive school credit for their work.

One of the keys to a successful remote internship is frequent and consistent communication between the intern and company or organizationâ€™s manager or supervisor.Â Conversely, internships give students the opportunityÂ to receiveÂ feedback on completed assignments and mentoring from a supervisor or manager.Â You can read more about how to make the most of an internship in LifeBoundâ€™s book, Majoring in the Rest of Your Life:Â Career Secrets for College Students.Â Additionally, LifeBound offers a variety of internships both live and virtual throughout the academic year and in the summer.Â For more information, visit http://www.lifebound.com/interns.html.Â

Â ARTICLE

Wall Street Journal

By Jonnelle Marte

Natalie Ann Roig completed a marketing internship last springâ€”while riding the bus, sitting on her parents’ couch and lounging at home in pajamas.

The internship, in which she worked 15 hours a week researching and blogging about corporate workplace benefits, was virtualâ€”she needed only a computer and Internet access. Ms. Roig, a senior at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, never even met her boss, in Atlanta.

“I didn’t have to dress up. I didn’t have to sit at a cubicle for hours,” says Ms. Roig, a senior studying graphic design. “It was more like work at your own pace and get the work done.”

To view the entire article visit

http://bit.ly/2pMRqS

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New Dating Seminars Target Teen Violence

CAROLâ€™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.Â Known as â€œteen dating abuse,â€Â school officialsÂ say too many teens are hitting and slapping the people theyâ€™re dating, a behavior that isÂ 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.Â Â 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.Â

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

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,Â “Fourth R:Â Skills for Youth Relationships,” for 20 middle schools in Ontario and has grown to 800 schools throughout Canada.Â Now his program is being adopted in the United States. Using interactive scriptsÂ related toÂ 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 â€œThe Yellow Dress,â€ based on a real story about a teen girl who was murderedÂ 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.Â Â Coaching teens on how to set healthy boundaries is one of the keys to preventing a lifetime cycle of abuse.Â LifeBoundâ€™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.Â Making judgments about when someone is dishonoring you or making you feel scared can be difficult for students without well developed emotional intelligence.Â 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 gradeÂ to teachÂ adolescents toÂ develop a compassionate heart and listen to their instincts?

How canÂ weÂ help teensÂ recognizeÂ 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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Online Schools Test Students’ Social Skills

CAROL’S SUMMARY:
As online high schools increase in popularity nationwide, educators and psychologists are seeking to address a potential pitfall for students of digital learning: social isolation. The upside of these programs is that students can work at their own pace and delve more deeply into subject matter than a traditional classroom might allow. The downside is that some students feel lonely and see they’re missing out on proms, homecoming football games, and other social venues customary to high school life. According to the article below, approximately 100,000 of the 12 million high-school-age students in the U.S. attend 438 online schools full-time, up from 30,000 five years ago, based on research by the International Association for K-12 Learning Online, a Washington nonprofit representing online schools. The article reports:

“Online schools appeal to gifted students who want to work at their own pace, students who dropped out of traditional high schools or who are taught at home by their families, students who travel with globe-trotting parents and teens with competitive outside pursuits like ballet, tennis or gymnastics. Many more students take some classes online, while attending traditional schools.”

Of the home-schooled population, approximately 1.1 million students (2.2 percent of the school-age population) were being educated at home in 2003, compared to an estimated 850,000 students in 1999, says the Department of Education. The National Home Education Research Institute concludes that the homeschooling population is increasing each year. The institute estimates that the number of chilÂdren being homeschooled grows 7 percent to 12 percent per year.

1) How can programs like LifeBound’s People Smarts for Teenagers be introduced to home school populations, as well as more fully integrated into conventional school curriculum so that all students develop the requisite social and emotional skills to thrive in our global world?

2) What can local high schools do to help connect online learners with their student populations?

3) How can online programs foster human connection so that students don’t become lonely or miss out on the socialization important to teen and young adult development?

ARTICLE
Wall Street Journal
By Paul Glader
PALO ALTO, Calif. — Tatyana Ray has more than 1,200 Facebook friends, sends 600 texts a month and participated in four student clubs during the year and a half she attended high school online, through a program affiliated with Stanford University.

Although top public and private high schools abound in her affluent area of Palo Alto, the 17-year-old originally applied to the online school because she and her parents thought it looked both interesting and challenging. She enjoyed the academics but eventually found she was lonely. She missed the human connection of proms, football games and in-person, rather than online, gossip. The digital clubs for fashion, books and cooking involved Web cams and blogs and felt more like work than fun.

To view the entire article visit
http://bit.ly/Ybt7J

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Obama education chief Duncan to push schools reform

CAROLâ€™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 â€œthe civil rights issue of our generation.â€ 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 â€œit doesn’t encourage high learning standards,â€ 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 donâ€™t expect enough of him and his peers. Duncan said, â€œWhen kids aren’t challenged they are boredâ€”and when they are bored they quit.â€ 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 donâ€™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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Parental Involvement Reaps Big Benefits

According to the Department of Education, research reveals many benefits when parents are involved in their child’s education, including:

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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 â€œsolve systems of equations; find and interpret rates of change; and adapt probability models to solve real-world problems.â€ In English and language arts, the goal is to have students be able to â€œanalyze 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.â€

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:

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

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

Â· 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 solutionsâ€”while difficult and elusiveâ€”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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