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ING Unsung Heroes Award
ING honors outstanding teachers in all 50 states through a $2,000 grant program. The First Place Teacher receives $25,000. Deadline: April 30 every year. More information please refer to http://www.ing-usa.com/us/aboutING/CorporateCitizenship/Education/INGUnsungHeroes/index.htm.
Never Mind Those Who’d Do Well Anywhere
In Raehoke, N.C., 48 seniors are in a fast-track program that earns a high school diploma and up to two years of college credit in five years — completely free, reports The New York Times. Most programs like these serve affluent, overachieving students as a way to keep them challenged and to give a head start on college work, but the SandHoke Early College High School enrolls kids whose parents lack college degrees. SandHoke is one of 71 “early-college schools” in the state — where high school students attend college courses — specifically designed to eliminate the divide between high school and college for at-risk kids. “Last year, half our early-college high schools had zero dropouts, and that’s just unprecedented for North Carolina, where only 62 percent of our high school students graduate after four years,” said Tony Habit, president of the North Carolina New Schools Project, the nonprofit that spearheaded this reform. Significantly, North Carolina’s early-college high school students are performing slightly better than their college classmates. This model is now spreading in California, New York, Texas, and elsewhere, and is seen as a promising approach to reducing the high school dropout rate and increasing the number of degree holders. Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/08/education/08school.html?ref=education.
Play, Then Eat: Shift May Bring Gains at School
Can something as simple as the timing of recess make a difference in a child’s health and behavior? At the advice of experts, some schools are sending students out to play before they sit down for lunch, which appears to have led to positive changes in both cafeteria and classroom. Read more about pilot studies and results at
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/25/play-then-eat-shift-may-bring-gains-at-school/?8dpc.
Principals Link Recess to Academic Achievement
When most people talk about how to improve education, they tend to focus only on what happens in the classroom. But elementary principals, who are the key instructional leaders in the learning process, report in a new Gallup poll that the most unexpected opportunity to boost learning may exist on the playground at recess. The first-of its-kind survey of almost 2,000 principals nationwide, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) and Playworks, revealed enthusiastic support for recess among principals, who see it benefiting kids both in the classroom and in life. Read more at http://www.convergemag.com/policy/Principals-Link-Recess-to-Academic-Achievement.html?elq=87daa1d2327a4d28a5adda69318df9c7.
Our Future Success Demands New Systems of Education
A new book by Linda Darling-Hammond of Stanford University proposes a clear set of policies that can be used to create high-quality and equitable schools. In The Flat World and Education: How America’s Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future, Darling-Hammond bases her recommendations on the successes of effective school systems in the U.S. and abroad, and looks at the roots of our modern education system and how skills required for our 21st-century global economy cannot be learned in traditional education systems. Darling-Hammond identifies an “opportunity gap” that has evolved as new kinds of learning have become necessary — a gap that leaves low-income students, students of color, and English language learners without the same access as others to qualified teachers, high-quality curricula, and well-resourced classrooms. “Once again, Darling-Hammond brings clarity to complexity, thoughtful analysis to politically charged issues, and sound policy recommendations to the hysteria of what to do to save America’s public schools,” says advance reviewer Gloria Ladson-Billings of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “In this volume, the macro meets the micro on terms that lets all democratically-minded citizens breathe a sigh of relief.” For more information refer to http://www.srnleads.org/resources/publications/flatworld.html.
Teaching English Language Learners: What the Research Does – and Does Not – Say
This article summarizes the key findings of the reviews of the research on educating English learners by the National Literacy Panel (NLP) and the Center for Research on Diversity, Education, and Excellence (CREDE). The author first provides demographic data on English learners and charts their growth in population, especially in the Midwest and upper South. He then supplies statistics on language background and information about the students’ instructional environments. Despite the diversity of English learners’ identities and experiences, they share one important common factor: a tendency towards low academic achievement. View this article at http://www.schoolsmovingup.net/cs/smu/view/rs/18044.
Using The Right Data To Determine If High School Interventions Are Working To Prepare Students For College And Careers
This report is designed to guide educators in collecting and analyzing valuable student achievement data that can help them determine if and how high school interventions for under prepared students are working to effectively prepare them for college and careers. For more information go to http://www.betterhighschools.org/docs/NCEA_CollegeCareerReadiness.pdf.
Personal Safety
The Riot! has published a newsletter focused specifically on personal safety and what self-advocates should know to protect themselves. To access the issue in RTF go to http://www.hsri.org/docs/Riot_Issue_22.RTF and to access it in PDF go to http://www.hsri.org/docs/Riot_Issue_22.PDF.
Self Advocacy Tips for Teens
Disability.gov has published a variety of self-advocacy resources for teens that help them begin to express their needs and wants by participating in their Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings. These meetings assist teens in learning ways to talk about their disability to others, setting goals, and practicing other self-advocacy skills. To access the resources, go to http://www.disability.gov/education/student_resources/self-advocacy.
Identifying Effective Models and Practices for Postsecondary Transition
The report, “Systematic Reviews of Research on Postsecondary Transitions: Identifying Effective Models and Practices” focuses on transition programs for youth to postsecondary education. It’s from the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education (NRCCTE). To access the report, go to http://tinyurl.com/yftk7z2.
