In his column yesterday, Thomas Friedman raised the issue of America’s competitiveness now and in the future. By Newsweek’s latest account, the U.S. ranks number 11.  When Friedman drills into the reasons for this lack of competitiveness, he cites the opinion of Washington Post economist Robert Samuelson:
Carol’s Summary:
Seattle school districts are providing summer-bridge programs that are among the most intensive in the nation. This 5 1/2 week summer program offers freshmen academic review, a chance to build relationships with new teachers, and an introduction to high school activities. Summer-bridge programs are growing nationwide and are making a difference in ninth-grade pass rates and discipline and self-esteem problems.
The school sends invitation letters to families with graduating middle schoolers who would benefit from the program, using factors such as grades and attendance. In one of Seattle’s summer-bridge intensives, four days a week the students reviewed math and language arts in the morning followed by enrichment classes in the afternoon – offering classes like cooking, robotics, and martial arts. Then on Fridays, the class learned about college and did community service. Even the popular one week program that is found nationwide makes a difference in a students transition into high school. Meeting teachers and getting familiar with the campus sets the tone through developing personal relationships before the school year begins. If the students have strong friendships and rapport with teachers, they tend to do better in school.
LifeBound’s books, MAKING THE MOST OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL and STUDY SKILLS FOR HIGH SCHOOL are the two most popular resources for summer bridge and summer academy programs. Other resources include LEADERSHIP FOR TEENAGERS and CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING FOR TEENAGERS.
Article:Â Summer-bridge classes help kids kick-start high school
Before this summer, Josh Chase wasn’t sure he was prepared for high school. He wanted to do better than he had in middle school when he went through a rough time at home, but worried he was too far behind.
To read the full article: www.seattletimes.com
Carol’s Summary:
A recent study found, by the age of 40, children who did not attend preschool were twice as likely to be arrested for a violent crime as those who did attend preschool. The study also found children who did not attend preschool were more likely to be enrolled in special education programs in K-12. Last year, the Bay area spent $1.5 billion on special education programs compared to $117 million spent on preschool programs. Investing in early childhood education pays and the more toddlers are learning in school and out, the better off they are for school, career and life success.
In California, local police chiefs and legislators are taking a preventative stance by pushing for state funds to be directed into preschool programs instead of paying for incarcerated juveniles and adults later down the line. The problem Contra Costa County faces now is there are 3,500 low-income children on the preschool waiting list for a center that serves 231 low-income children. Adjusting out expectations for children under five could make a difference not only in their lives, but in our future economy and society.
Article: Well-funded preschool programs reduce crime, report says
CONCORD — One dollar spent on preschool today could save $16 in special education and crime-related expenses over the long term, according to a report released Tuesday.
Read full article at: contracostatimes.com
Carol’s Summary:
Research has found that the old advice to study in the same, quiet workspace with the same study schedule may be an ineffective way to get the most out of your study time. Psychologists believe adding variety to a study routine makes learning more effective. When you are studying, the brain is subconsciously making subtle connections between the study material and the background sensations, which is thought to enrich the information, making you less likely to forget.
Psychologists also recommend spacing study sessions, like studying one hour tonight, one tomorrow and one this weekend. Retention is more effective because every time the student has to relearn pieces of information, the knowledge is reinforced from the last study session before piling on new information. The same effect comes into play when someone has to dig for information when taking a test. Researchers call it “desirable difficulty†which translates to:  the harder something is to remember, the harder it will be to forget once the material is revisited. These studies show students should be pushed to love difficulty and thrive in an environment enriched with diverse learning, peppered by mini-tests, quizzes, essays and on-the-spot oral reviews. Encouraging students to have diverse minds will help prepare them for the world of work where much of the chaos has to be ordered on a daily, hourly and by the minute.  LifeBound’s curricula feature many ways to test students–multiple choices, essay, true/false, fill in the blank and oral review–so that students can test what they know in diverse ways.  We applaud the concept of “desirable difficulty” and think it has many applications for success in school, career and life.
Article: Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits
Every September, millions of parents try a kind of psychological witchcraft, to transform their summer-glazed campers into fall students, their video-bugs into bookworms. Advice is cheap and all too familiar: Clear a quiet work space. Stick to a homework schedule. Set goals. Set boundaries. Do not bribe (except in emergencies).
To read the full article: nytimes.com
Carol’s Summary
The southwest suburban district of Chicago is the second school district in the state to use new tracking technology to locate students boarding and exiting their school bus. The technology serves to ease the parent’s mind and increase safety for the child. The tracking system is used in 5% of the 490,000 buses nationwide and tracks K-12 students.
The system works by using GPS to track the whereabouts of the bus and radio frequency to locate the student. The student has a card that gets scanned when they board the bus and when they exit, so parents can call the transportation director or school secretaries to find the location of their child’s bus and know whether or not they safely arrived at school or if they got off at the right bus stop. Psychologists say a relaxed parent can result in a happier child. Because this is geared to ease the parent’s mind, it’s believed that the next step in this tracking technology will be to allow the parent to track their child themselves without having to contact the school.
Article: A beep, a flash and one less worry for parents
Josh Case climbed aboard the yellow school bus Tuesday, lifting his backpack to scan an ID card that had been assigned to him on his first day of kindergarten.
Read the full article at: www.chicagotribune.com
Carol’s Summary:
Healthy Lifestyle Choices is a program dedicated to empowering children in grades kindergarten to eighth grade, through teaching lifelong skills in the areas of nutrition, safety, fitness, conflict resolution and violence prevention and substance abuse prevention. The program is currently in 40 states and is part of a nationwide initiative to improve youth health.
The HLC program realizes the power they can have in fighting the epidemic of childhood obesity, but the program aims to look at the bigger picture. HLC hopes healthy changes in children’s lives will not only give them a chance to turn their lives around before they reach adolescence, but also help HLC answer the question: “Do healthier students perform better academically and have less behavior problems at school?”
Article: Students take healthy lifestyle pledge
Students at Krotz Springs Elementary School, like fourth-grader Jaidyn Robinson, lined up Tuesday to take a healthy lifestyle pledge.
Read the entire article at: www.dailyworld.com
50 years ago, professor E. Paul Torrance tested a group of nearly 400 Minneapolis children on creativity, which has since evolved into his colleague tracking the grown kids to see if the documented levels of creativity were any indication of their adult accomplishments. Time has shown those who came up with more creative ideas on Torrance’s tests grew up to be entrepreneurs, inventors, college presidents, authors, doctors, diplomats, and software developers. It’s no wonder 1,500 CEOs said creativity was the number one leadership skill of the future.