Dropouts Costing Wages
I fixed my hyperlinking, finally....
This article talks about how costly it is for kids to dropout of high school. They have realized the value of the 2008 dropouts, which was just under 600,000 nationwide to be about $4.1 billion in lost wages and over $500 million in lost property, federal, and state taxes. This is an insane amount! Earlier in the blog I discussed about dropout rates and how much it can cost the state over the life of the person. This is a much larger deal. We all know that dropouts earn less than high school graduates and earn at least less than half that of a college graduate. However, if these guys had stayed in school and only graduated high school, hundreds of millions of dollars would have been generated in wages and taxes. This would help strengthen the economy despite the high unemployment rate. The employment market is turning into a bunch of unskilled labor because so many jobs go unfilled because of lack of qualified hires. There are jobs where the base salary is above 70K a year but no one qualified applies because everyone qualified already has a job. We think that dropping out only costs the student, but in fact it can have huge impacts on our communities, local and federal governments, and the economy. The dropouts are USUALLY never successful beyond creating trouble in and around their home cities. There are many who go back to school or make a life change, but those are fewer than the ones who drop out and do anything good. I know many high school and college dropouts from my high school class and they struggle on a daily basis. They have no career and are working a $8.50/hr job. Not that that is bad, earning money and working a job is important, but when a person is so creative and energetic and they waste it away because they want to party or are too lazy to do the work, it is not right. Most of my friends that graduated with me are working a rough 9 to 5 and can't get a break. I am happy where I am and know I can make a career out of teaching. However, back to the point of dropouts, it is never a good thing. People take for granted the opportunities an education can afford you. All I know is the less school I have the longer I will work. I would like to retire after 30 years of service and not have to put in 45 because I made the right decision to stay in school and go as far as I possibly could to earn the most amount of money.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Trying to Stop the Binge Drinking
Still cannot fix the hyperlinking issues. There has to be an embedded problem on my blogger account I can't see. It will absolutely not work for me I am sorry!
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/sports/ncaafootball/19drunk.html?_r=1&ref=education
Attempts at Cutting Down Binge Drinking on Campus
A couple of college campuses are now implementing ways of trying to curb underage and young adult drinking on football game days. Several colleges in the northern states are now making students complete a BAC check before entering stadiums. They are attempting to target individuals who habitually drink, go to games and get ejected for unruly behavior. In affect, these students are entered into a program where a counselor attempts to help them with their alcohol problems early. I see this as a good program and think it would be a wonderful idea at college campuses all over the country. I sometimes look at my friend's Facebook pages and see pictures of tailgating where they were drinking underage and looking very stupid. The idea that you have to be 21 to drink is not taking seriously anymore amongst the students, parents, or organizations who operate major events like these. I have been to concerts where kids that barely look 18 have magaritas and beer and are plumb drunk with parents and the like. Alcohol is not a laughing matter. Now I believe an individual over 21 is entitled to make their own decisions about alcohol, suffering consequences or not. But someone under 21, because it IS illegal, should absolutely not be allowed to consume alcohol. Most people probably are soft on this idea and they think, I did it in high school or college, so my kid probaly will do it, they just need to be safe. Minors' judgements are off already so why make them even more off? A lot of my friends ruined their college experiences because much of it was spent in a drunken stupor. Friends who were smarter than me flunked out of schools like UGA because of too much partying at 18, 19, and 20. Some are still in school, others work at dead end jobs now. It has a bad tricle down effect no one likes to look at. Again, I say I believe there is nothing wrong with someone over 21 drinking, but under 21 seems just to be wasting your brain and life away just to feel good or relaxed. Teen death rates are at an all time high with so many car accidents and othe things, they need to be protected. The people interviewed for the article seem either pessimistic or optomistic about the new programs. Those who think it won't work are probaly under the impression that college students will do as they please regardless of the regulations whereas those who believe that it will work know they may be able to reach some people before they die of alcohol poisoning or something in the likes. I wonder what everyone thinks about this article and the view that college students may be drinking too much?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/sports/ncaafootball/19drunk.html?_r=1&ref=education
Attempts at Cutting Down Binge Drinking on Campus
A couple of college campuses are now implementing ways of trying to curb underage and young adult drinking on football game days. Several colleges in the northern states are now making students complete a BAC check before entering stadiums. They are attempting to target individuals who habitually drink, go to games and get ejected for unruly behavior. In affect, these students are entered into a program where a counselor attempts to help them with their alcohol problems early. I see this as a good program and think it would be a wonderful idea at college campuses all over the country. I sometimes look at my friend's Facebook pages and see pictures of tailgating where they were drinking underage and looking very stupid. The idea that you have to be 21 to drink is not taking seriously anymore amongst the students, parents, or organizations who operate major events like these. I have been to concerts where kids that barely look 18 have magaritas and beer and are plumb drunk with parents and the like. Alcohol is not a laughing matter. Now I believe an individual over 21 is entitled to make their own decisions about alcohol, suffering consequences or not. But someone under 21, because it IS illegal, should absolutely not be allowed to consume alcohol. Most people probably are soft on this idea and they think, I did it in high school or college, so my kid probaly will do it, they just need to be safe. Minors' judgements are off already so why make them even more off? A lot of my friends ruined their college experiences because much of it was spent in a drunken stupor. Friends who were smarter than me flunked out of schools like UGA because of too much partying at 18, 19, and 20. Some are still in school, others work at dead end jobs now. It has a bad tricle down effect no one likes to look at. Again, I say I believe there is nothing wrong with someone over 21 drinking, but under 21 seems just to be wasting your brain and life away just to feel good or relaxed. Teen death rates are at an all time high with so many car accidents and othe things, they need to be protected. The people interviewed for the article seem either pessimistic or optomistic about the new programs. Those who think it won't work are probaly under the impression that college students will do as they please regardless of the regulations whereas those who believe that it will work know they may be able to reach some people before they die of alcohol poisoning or something in the likes. I wonder what everyone thinks about this article and the view that college students may be drinking too much?
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Praying for a Test....
My hyperlinking is not working properly. I cannot get anything to hyperlink correctly. I am sorry.
http://www.ednews.org/articles/in-south-korea-nation-stops-for-mega-exam.html
In South Korea, today, the entire nation stopped as almost 700,000 high school students took graduation tests. Their desire to do well has been such a promoted idea that people are even praying observantly for more than 100 days. This devotion to such a higher education should be influential throughout the world. But some view it as a waste of time. There is so much stress and anxiety there are reports every year of teenage suicides because of the importance of this test. This test can possibly affect their futures in ways no one can imagine. It determines what college you can get into and what sort of education or career you may end up with. The extremely high college entrance rate of 83% is nothing to balk at either. However, the test took 9 hours to complete, so rigor and difficulty are probably words that undermine what actually happens during the test. How does this compare to our school system? Students take tests to see if the schools are teaching the right material. We are penalized if the students can't pass tests. Yet these students spend hours and hours on their own without persuasion to study for a test that can grant them every wish they ever wanted. Importance is placed on the quality of teaching, not the quantity. They probably never test to see how teachers are teaching. CRCT and AYP is just a letter sequence to them. Yet they are ahead of us in education, with more engineers and scientists graduating from college every year. Where have we gone wrong where testing has replaced the learning environment. With all of the new funding, it is going to be a rough road for our education system. It is not a good idea to link pay to testing because it will only mean teachers teach to a test that has no meaning or relevance for kids, because NCLB says we can't hold them back even if they fail miserably. I was hired to do a job and that job was to teach students about technology, show them how math, science, history, and writing are relevant, and make connections to the real world and careers every chance to make these kids productive citizens. However, the focus is on meeting expectations set by individuals who are not even associated with education. Let them sit in my classroom for 2 weeks and see how things are. They want to make things better, make us more competitive, but we never raise the bar on ourselves, simply the students, but then allow many to pass under like limbo and skate through the system. Can we please take a page out of the South Korean handbook we missed in ours about education. It IS important, it IS relevant, and it WILL get you somewhere. The lies on TV and on the internet are not helping our case. Sorry for the rant, but it is sad to see how things have changed.
http://www.ednews.org/articles/in-south-korea-nation-stops-for-mega-exam.html
In South Korea, today, the entire nation stopped as almost 700,000 high school students took graduation tests. Their desire to do well has been such a promoted idea that people are even praying observantly for more than 100 days. This devotion to such a higher education should be influential throughout the world. But some view it as a waste of time. There is so much stress and anxiety there are reports every year of teenage suicides because of the importance of this test. This test can possibly affect their futures in ways no one can imagine. It determines what college you can get into and what sort of education or career you may end up with. The extremely high college entrance rate of 83% is nothing to balk at either. However, the test took 9 hours to complete, so rigor and difficulty are probably words that undermine what actually happens during the test. How does this compare to our school system? Students take tests to see if the schools are teaching the right material. We are penalized if the students can't pass tests. Yet these students spend hours and hours on their own without persuasion to study for a test that can grant them every wish they ever wanted. Importance is placed on the quality of teaching, not the quantity. They probably never test to see how teachers are teaching. CRCT and AYP is just a letter sequence to them. Yet they are ahead of us in education, with more engineers and scientists graduating from college every year. Where have we gone wrong where testing has replaced the learning environment. With all of the new funding, it is going to be a rough road for our education system. It is not a good idea to link pay to testing because it will only mean teachers teach to a test that has no meaning or relevance for kids, because NCLB says we can't hold them back even if they fail miserably. I was hired to do a job and that job was to teach students about technology, show them how math, science, history, and writing are relevant, and make connections to the real world and careers every chance to make these kids productive citizens. However, the focus is on meeting expectations set by individuals who are not even associated with education. Let them sit in my classroom for 2 weeks and see how things are. They want to make things better, make us more competitive, but we never raise the bar on ourselves, simply the students, but then allow many to pass under like limbo and skate through the system. Can we please take a page out of the South Korean handbook we missed in ours about education. It IS important, it IS relevant, and it WILL get you somewhere. The lies on TV and on the internet are not helping our case. Sorry for the rant, but it is sad to see how things have changed.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Closing the Achievement Gaps
Let me go ahead and apologize for the formatting/nonworking hyperlinking to about half of this page. As I was typing and adding hyperlinks along the way, something happened with my edit post page and I could not take away the underlining. Please ignore it. I couldn't control it!
New Report on Achievement Gaps
So with all of the hubbub about schools lowering achievement goals, too much money being cut from education, and even news of how different states are doing certain programs, there is promising news. The Center on Education Policy published a new report that describes the situation in achievement gaps between different student populations. The report shows that in 74% of all cases from 2002 to 2008, minorities and low-income students closed the gaps in achievement across all grades with their counterparts. Even though this is promising news, there is still some gloom over the way all 50 states test. Taken from another article, but cited within this one, "Part of the progress on the percent-proficient measure is because the proficiency bar is set so low," said Bruce Fuller, a professor of education and public policy at the University of California-Berkeley. There is an alarming number of people who are calling for change, but those in charge are not doing much about it. In the actual report, found here, there are some very good possibilities that may come from the study. There were significant increases in Hispanic test scores and African American test scores, specifically in 4th grade math, which shows that new curriculum and methods that are being implemented are beginning to work. In other data, it showed that almost every subgroup closed the gap with White students in specific areas from 5 points to almost 25 points on standardized
New Report on Achievement Gaps
So with all of the hubbub about schools lowering achievement goals, too much money being cut from education, and even news of how different states are doing certain programs, there is promising news. The Center on Education Policy published a new report that describes the situation in achievement gaps between different student populations. The report shows that in 74% of all cases from 2002 to 2008, minorities and low-income students closed the gaps in achievement across all grades with their counterparts. Even though this is promising news, there is still some gloom over the way all 50 states test. Taken from another article, but cited within this one, "Part of the progress on the percent-proficient measure is because the proficiency bar is set so low," said Bruce Fuller, a professor of education and public policy at the University of California-Berkeley. There is an alarming number of people who are calling for change, but those in charge are not doing much about it. In the actual report, found here, there are some very good possibilities that may come from the study. There were significant increases in Hispanic test scores and African American test scores, specifically in 4th grade math, which shows that new curriculum and methods that are being implemented are beginning to work. In other data, it showed that almost every subgroup closed the gap with White students in specific areas from 5 points to almost 25 points on standardized
tests. I would like to believe that we are now truly in the realm of unbiased education and every student has an equal opportunity. Being at a school that is almost completely comprised of minority students, there are many unique challenges in order to reach these students. However, as we move to standards based classrooms and seek to diversify the way in which we deliver the curriculum, students seem to be better able to grasp the concepts. When we can stray from teaching to the test and give them life-long skills and concepts, they hold onto them longer. Educational theory also suggests that when the students do hands-on activities and even when students teach others, more than 60% of the knowledge is retained compared to about 10% when lectured to. This huge shift in the ability of students to comprehend and the need to differentiate instructional methods can be a good thing, as shown in the seemingly good test results. I would say that it has benefited education to start looking to teaching all and reaching all instead of just the majority. When I was in school, I knew, unfortunately, I was at an advantage because of how the material was directed. My friends, most of them minorities, would not benefit from the direction of the curriculum. This proved so in the standardized tests we took, including the SAT, ACT and AP tests. I generally outscored my friends who were smarter than I was, but were minorities. It appears that time is over and now every student has the opportunity to take control of their own education and that as we teach to new curriculum, the achievement gaps are closing. Hopefully in another 5 or 6 years, it will show that all races are equal in education.
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