Four Charged in Richmond, Homecoming Gang Rape

CAROL’S SUMMARY
The gang rape of a 15-year-old girl after her homecoming dance in Richmond, CA, this week is shocking enough, but the realization that 25 or more people witnessed the crime–with no one helping the victim or calling the police–is even more horrifying. So far, four people are under arrest with more indictments likely to follow. One of the perpetrators is a 21-year-old male, and the other three are teenagers themselves. The victim was walking out of her homecoming dance at Richmond High School to meet her father to go home when a few other teens invited her to drink with them in the school’s courtyard where she became intoxicated, and a short time later she was assaulted. “This was a barbaric act. I still cannot get my head around the fact that numerous people either watched, walked away or participated in her assault,” Lt. Mark Gagan said Tuesday. “It’s one of the most disturbing crimes in my 15 years as a police officer.”

Tragic incidences like this aren’t as uncommon as we’d like to think. Here are a few statistics from various sources on teen violence and underage drinking:

Each year, approximately 5,000 young people under the age of 21 die as a result of underage drinking (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism)

In 2005, 23.4% of youths ages 12-17 reported that, in the past year, they had gotten into a serious fight at school or work.
(SAMHSA National Survey on Drug Use and Health)

In 2005, 7.4% of youths ages 12-17 reported that, in at least one instance, they had attacked others with intent to seriously hurt them.
(SAMHSA National Survey on Drug Use and Health)

Nationwide, 18.5% of high school students had carried a weapon (gun, knife, or club) one or more days in the last 30 days. The prevalence of having carried a weapon was higher among male (29.8%) than female (7.1%) students.
(2005 CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance)

During the past year, 9.2% of students nationwide had been hit, slapped, or physically hurt on purpose by their boyfriend or girlfriend (dating violence).
(2005 CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance)

During the past year, 7.9% of students nationwide had been threatened or injured with a weapon (gun, knife, or club) on school property one or more times.
(2005 CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance)

Nationwide, 6.0% of students had not gone to school on 1 or more days of the last 30 days because they felt they would be unsafe at school or on their way to or from school.
(2005 CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance)

The scenarios cited above, as well as ones that aren’t so extreme, point to the desperate need for teens to know how to set boundaries and develop a compassionate heart. The boys’ brutality shows a complete disconnect of empathy, and it’s well-documented that underage drinking often plays a major role in risky and violent behavior. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the brain’s frontal lobe is the control center of our emotions and the teenage brain is a work in progress. In a study by Dr. Deborah Yurgelun-Todd at Harvard’s McLean Hospital, she and her team:

“scanned brain activity while they identified emotions on pictures of faces displayed on a computer screen. Young teens, who characteristically perform poorly on the task, activated the amygdala, a brain center that mediates fear and other ‘gut’ reactions, more than the frontal lobe. As teens grow older, their brain activity during this task tends to shift to the frontal lobe, leading to more reasoned perceptions and improved performance.”
Source: http://parentingteens.about.com/cs/health/a/TEEN_BRAIN_2.htm

The frontal lobe contains most of the dopamine-sensitive neurons in the cerebral cortex, and the dopamine system is associated with reward, attention, long-term memory, planning, and drive. If we are to avoid such disastrous consequences like the one in Richmond, teachers, parents, and other levels of youth-oriented society need to grow in their understanding of how the teenage brain functions and how emotions effect behavior. Further, we must collaborate with students and youth on setting healthy boundaries and making wise choices. LifeBound’s People Smarts for Teenagers program is designed to help students gain emotional and social skills such as empathy, self-awareness and emotional well-being and can be used in a variety of teaching platforms. Questions:

How can we spark a national dialogue on emotional and social intelligence among teens and young adults so that they can better gauge how their choices will impact themselves and those around them?

How can we begin to raise the value of social and emotional intelligence in schools to complement academic pursuits, since both are crucial to human development and indicators of success in school, career and life?

How can we as a society of educators, community leaders, parents and law enforcement officials foster, among students, positive peer pressure, role modeling and environmental strategies to prevent destructive decisions and help teens set a healthier, safer course for their lives?

ARTICLE
ABC News
RICHMOND, Calif. (Oct. 28) — Manuel Ortega, a 19-year-old former Richmond High School student, has been charged with robbery, assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily injury, rape in concert [gang rape] and rape with violence, according to Richmond Police Lt. Mark Gagan.

The Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office is going to ask for a life sentence for Ortega, Gagan said. His bail has been set at $1,230,000

The other three suspects are juveniles, ages 15, 16 and 17, but are to be charged as adults, and the D.A.’s office will seek life sentences for the trio, Gagan said.

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A Push for Colleges to Prioritize Mental Health

CAROL’S SUMMARY:
As the NPR story below indicates, college campuses are seeing a surge in mental health issues among students. From a compilation of research reported by the University of Michigan’s, Daniel Eisenberg, statistics reveal:

* In 2007, approximately 15 percent of students reported having been diagnosed with depression, according to the American College Health Association
Â *Over 90 percent of college counseling centers who were surveyed nationwide say they are seeing more severe cases of mental health issues
Â *Half of all cases of mental illness first show up in the early teen years
Â *75 percent are present by age 24.

As psychologists theorize why campuses are seeing this increase, Eisenberg thinks one factor is better screening and earlier diagnosis of mental illness in high school and even before than in previous generations. New medications for depression, bipolar disorder and other problems are enabling many people to go to college who would not have been able to in the past. While many people think college is a prime time to intervene and get these kids on a healthy path, that may not be soon enough. If we can give young adolescents the tools and coping skills earlier, we may help avert some of the suffering associated with mental illness and anxiety disorders before students get to college. LifeBound’s resources, such as Success in Middle School and People Smarts, boost social and emotional skills requisite to success in school, career and life.

How can we effectively teach students appropriate coping and self-advocacy skills at each of the various educational levels (elementary, middle and high school) and start a national dialogue about emotional and social skills for all students?

What are the percentages of students who experience the onset of various mental health difficulties before the 9th grade, and how can we do a better job reaching out to them?

How can we create a more supportive school culture to help students at risk of developing mental health issues?

How can parents, teachers, counselors and students at early ages be aware of these issues to address problems early before they escalate?

How can all of us be more authentic ourselves in ways that give students the permission to avoid â€œsuper humanâ€ tendencies which often fuel mental illness, depression and desire to contemplate suicide?

ARTICLE
National Public Radio
by Deborah Franklin

Arcadio Morales, one of six residence deans at Stanford University, has lived in an apartment in the campus dorms for 15 years, often fielding late-night phone calls from students about everything from Frisbee injuries to mid-term anxiety to alcohol poisoning. He says some arriving freshmen have always packed emotional baggage along with their laptops and books. But the mix of problems he’s called to weigh in on has become more serious in recent years.
Colleges See Rise In Mental Health Issues, Oct. 19, 2009. “Early on,” he says, “most of the issues that surfaced were roommate issues, compatibility issues.” He still gets that sort of thing, along with the calls from “very involved” parents who want him, for example, to go down the hall and wake up their son or daughter. But these days, Morales is getting more calls about students in need of substantial psychiatric support.

To view entire article visit
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114055588

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Study Finds Growing Work for School Counselors

CAROL’S SUMMARY:
According to the New York Times article below, the ratio of school counselors to students, particularly at public high schools, continues to increase in part because of the influx of students applying to college. Nearly half of public schools have raised the caseloads of high school counselors this year, compared with last year, with the average increase exceeding 53 students, according to a study by the National Association for College Admission Counseling. While the core role of many counselors is helping students through the college admissions process, an equally if not more challenging task is helping at-risk students stay in school. Another report published in 2005 by the Educational Testing Service titled, One-Third of a Nation: Rising Dropout Rates and Declining Opportunities, documents, “On average, only one certified counselor is available for each 500 students in all schools, and one counselor to 285 students in high schools. “And they have many assignments that leave little time to spend with students at risk of dropping out.”
Source: http://www.ets.org/Media/Education_Topics/pdf/onethird.pdf

While the role of guidance counseling has largely been ignored in the education reform movement of the past two decades, that trend is beginning to change. Increasingly, counselors are driving student success and transition programs in districts and schools across the country, which is one of the antidotes to stemming our nation’s high school drop out rate. In my work with counselors, I see a commitment to managing their divergent demands and growing their role as school leaders. The president-elect for Florida’s School Counselor Association, Karalia Baldwin, had this to say: “School counselors must seem themselves as leaders of their programs, advocates for counseling, for students, and representatives of the profession, as they are an integral part of student learning.” Former president of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), Dr. Judy Bowers, says, “It is critical that school counselors move beyond their current roles as helper-responders in order to become proactive leaders and advocates for the success of all students.”

LifeBound’s curriculum is coordinated to the national ASCA model, and is being implemented in Advisory and other programs by counselors who are in a unique position to be agents of change. At LifeBound, one of our objectives is to support school counselors in their role as leaders, and here are questions we ask of ourselves and others at the forefront of education reform:

How can we prepare school counselors to become action-oriented, critical thinkers and champions of change? One way we do this at LifeBound is through academic coaches training, and counselors from across the country who have attended this training have been promoted in their schools and districts.

How can we help counselors integrate student success and transition programs that positively impact school attendance, test scores, grades and behavior?

How can counselors lead the way with parents and coach them on modeling behaviors at home, such as turning off the TV and initiating conversations about the value of an education, that we know impact at-risk students?

ARTICLE
By JACQUES STEINBERG

The struggling economy has taken a toll on those directly responsible for advising students about the college admission process. Nearly half of public schools have raised the caseloads of high school counselors this year, compared with last year, with the average increase exceeding 53 students, according to a study by the National Association for College Admission Counseling.

To view the entire article visit
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Successful Schools Avoid False Choices

Today’s commentary published in Education Week by Karen Chenowith, senior writer for the Education Trust Foundation, contains broad and profound implications supported by brain-based learning and cognitive research. In her observations of successful schools who work with disadvantaged students, she writes: “they based their teaching not on a preset philosophy, or a set of program prescriptions, but on what would best help their students learn” (italics mine). People often say that everyone can learn. Yet the reality is that everyone does learn. As Prentice Hall author, Dr. Lynn Quitman Troyka, writes in the introduction of some of her books, “Thinking is not something you choose to do any more than a fish chooses to live in water. To be human is to think.”

Indeed, the brainâ€™s ability to act and react in ever-changing ways is known, in the scientific community, as â€œneuroplasticity.â€ This special characteristic allows the brainâ€™s estimated 100 billion nerve cells, also called neurons (aka â€œgray matterâ€), to constantly create new pathways for neural communication and to rearrange existing ones throughout life, thereby aiding the processes of learning, memory, and adaptation through experience. Without the ability to make such functional changes, our brains would not be able to memorize a new fact or master a new skill, form a new memory or adjust to a new environment. The brain’s plasticity is the reason it can heal itself after stroke or injury and overcome addictions. According to Dr. Norman Doidge, author of The Brain That Changes Itself: “The brain is not â€˜hardwiredâ€™ from birth, but holds a remarkable lifelong power to changeâ€”a phenomenon called â€˜plasticity.â€™ Positive or negative environments, exercise, nurture, learning, and other experiences continue to change the brain throughout life.”

Which brings us back to today’s article. The reason a flexible approach to teaching works– as this article implies–is because students aren’t a one size fits all, nor is their intelligence fixed at birth. Everyone’s brain is unique and malleable for endless learning possibilities. As the principal at Imperial High School, Lisa Tabarez, in the Imperial Valley of California, quoted in this article said: â€œEvery single student who comes before us has the ability to learn. As educators, we must accept our daily responsibility of taking students, at whatever level and place in their lives they may be, and helping them to learnâ€”to learn how to become productive, contributing members of our society through the opportunity of education.â€

How can we ignite and nurture student minds and emotions to transform learning?
How can the revolutionary findings in the field of neuroplasticity direct us to new possibilities for â€˜rewiringâ€™ the brain to help overcome learning disorders and to enhance memory, learning, and achievement in all learners?
What are the implications of cognitive research for student success and transition programs, which seek to address opportunities and vulnerabilities during adolescence?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

ARTICLE:
Education Week
Published in Print: October 14, 2009
Commentary
Successful Schools Avoid False Choices
By Karin Chenoweth

I know I am not the first to notice that education as a field tends to get whipsawed between what seem like incompatible alternatives: We can teach phonics or surround children with literature; we can teach skills or content; we can prepare students for the workforce or for college; we can provide schools that are equitable or schools that are excellent. The examples are endless.

For the past five years, I have been examining schools that have, for the most part, sidestepped these battles. They are schools I have visited as part of my work for the Education Trust, a Washington-based nonprofit organization. The job involves identifying and writing about schools with significant populations of low-income children and children of color that are also high-achieving or rapidly improving. In many of these, just about all of the students meet or exceed state standards, and achievement gaps are narrow, or sometimes nonexistent.

To view this entire article visit www.edweek.org

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CHS lifts ban on social networking sites

CAROL’S SUMMARY:
As the article below illustrates, educators are discovering that social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, have applications that extend beyond an individual’s circle of family and friends to the classroom. Although not cited in the article, following are observations from a landmark study by researchers at the University of Minnesota, released on July 8, 2008:

94 percent use the Internet, 82 percent go online at home and 77 percent had a profile on a social networking site. When asked what they learn from using social networking sites, the students listed technology skills as the top lesson, followed by creativity, being open to new or diverse views and communication skills. Data was collected over six months from students, ages 16 to 18, in thirteen urban high schools across the Midwest. Beyond the surveyed students, a follow-up, randomly selected subset was asked questions about their Internet activity as they navigated MySpace.

“What we found was that students using social networking sites are actually practicing the kinds of 21st century skills we want them to develop to be successful today,” said Christine Greenhow, a learning technologies researcher in the university’s College of Education and Human Development and principal investigator of the study. “Students are developing a positive attitude towards using technology systems, editing and customizing content and thinking about online design and layout. They’re also sharing creative original work like poetry and film and practicing safe and responsible use of information and technology. The Web sites offer tremendous educational potential.”

“Now that we know what skills students are learning and what experiences they’re being exposed to, we can help foster and extend those skills,” said Greenhow. “As educators, we always want to know where our students are coming from and what they’re interested in so we can build on that in our teaching. By understanding how students may be positively using these networking technologies in their daily lives and where they as yet unrecognized educational opportunities are, we can help make schools even more relevant, connected and meaningful to kids.” Based on these findings, here are questions to consider:

How can we incorporate the educational benefits of social networking into student success and transition programs, which may offer a more flexible teaching format than core curriculum classes?

How can we create a 21st century global education to include project-based learning, which connects social networking to curriculum standards?

How can we teach students to become online leaders and digital citizens by using technology in appropriate, respectful ways?

####

ARTICLE via ASCD feed–BIMSMARCK, ND
Century Star
by Jordan Stalk
What started out as a way to keep in touch with family and friends has how grown to be much more. Social networking has been absorbed into the lives and daily needs of the average person.

To view the entire article visit
http://bit.ly/7ZPz8

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Study Finds High Rate of Imprisonment Among Drop Outs

CAROL’S SUMMARY:
A new study from Northeastern University cites that students who quit high school are 3.5 times more likely to become incarcerated in their lifetimes than high school graduates. The research also estimates a national cost of $292,000 per drop out, based on lost tax revenues and government assisted amenities and programs.The director of the report, Andrew Sum, told New York Times reporter, Sam Dillon:

â€œWeâ€™re trying to show what it means to be a dropout in the 21st century United States,â€ said Sum. “Itâ€™s one of the countryâ€™s costliest problems. The unemployment, the incarceration rates â€” itâ€™s scary.â€

Among African-American males who drop out of high school–which is estimated at 40 percent–the situation is worse. Of those, 72 percent are jobless, and the likelihood of being incarcerated jumps to 60 percent, according to statistics from Ronald B. Mincy, professor of social work at Columbia University and editor of “Black Males Left Behind” (Urban Institute Press, 2006).

One obvious question is why do students drop out? While it’s often assumed that students do so because they can’t keep up with the academic load, recent studies paint a different picture. For example, in a joint project by the Civic Enterprises and Peter D. Hart Research Associates for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,”The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Dropouts,” the study found:

Nearly half of the former students – 47 percent – quit not because of the academic challenge, but because they found classes uninteresting. “These young people reported being bored and disengaged from high school,” the report said. “Almost as many (42 percent) spent time with people who were not interested in school. These were among the top reasons selected by those with high GPAs and by those who said they were motivated to work hard.”

An even larger number of students – 69 percent – said they were not motivated or inspired to work hard. In fact, two-thirds said they would have worked harder had it been required of them.

These findings underscore why schools must challenge students and prepare them for the different transitions they face. Freshmen year, in particular, is a precarious time in student’s academic future because students typically drop out the summer between their freshmen and sophomore years. If we don’t engage them at this entry point, we may lose them for the rest of their lives at great cost to the student and to society.

1) As educators, how can we provide a more supportive academic environment at school and at home that would improve students’ chances of remaining in school? What needs to be differentâ€”with students, parents, teachers, counselors and administratorsâ€”for that to happen?

2) How can we continuously challenge teachers so that they are always learning, growing and contributing to their own passion-level? If a teacher isnâ€™t motivated, students arenâ€™t likely to be either.

3) How can we help students discover their gifts and talents so that they can envision the crucial role that education plays in their future? When students know what they are good at, research shows they will persevere.

4) What can we do to increase awareness of the value of student success and transition programs in fostering engagement and relevance in the classroom? How can we start these classes in fifth grade so that we avoid these costly patterns from the get-go?

ARTICLE
New York Times
by Sam Dillon

On any given day, about one in every 10 young male high school dropouts is in jail or juvenile detention, compared with one in 35 young male high school graduates, according to a new study of the effects of dropping out of school in an America where demand for low-skill workers is plunging.

To view the entire article visit
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Attorney General, in Chicago, Pledges Youth Violence Effort

CAROL’S SUMMARY
Chicago has been in the national and international news lately not only for losing the bid as host city for the 2016 summer Olympics, but for the tragic beating death of high school honor student, Derrion Albert, who was caught between two rival gangs on his way home from school on the city’s southside. Derrion’s murder is sparking a national conversation about youth violence. Many people compare the incident, which has been viewed by millions over YouTube, to Emmett Till’s brutal killing at the hands of white supremacists in 1955, when his open-casket funeral on television sparked the American Civil Rights Movement. Derrion was the third adolescent killed this school year. Since the beginning of 2007, close to 70 students have been murdered mostly on their way to or from school.

As the New York Times article below points out, youth violence isn’t only a Chicago problem; “it’s an American problem,” said Attorney General Eric H. Holder in his meeting yesterday with U.S. Secretary Arne Duncan, the former superintendent of Chicago Public Schools. As an admission counselor (who asked to not be identified) from another local high school on Chicago’s westside neighborhood said, “We’ve always heard of kids fighting kids, but they lived to tell about it. That’s not true anymore.”

Addressing such serious issues like youth violence requires support from many facets of society, including our school system. When former New York Times science journalist and co-founder of the Yale University Child Studies Center (now at the University of Illinois at Chicago) Daniel Goleman first coined the term emotional intelligence, he cited strong emotions as holding the potential for promoting great good in society as well as terrible atrocities, because some people use violence to release feelings of anger or frustration. LifeBound’s People Smarts for Teenagers program works with adolescents on developing self-awareness, as well as managing strong emotions. The principal at Skyway Elementary School in Colorado Springs, Patrick Webster, who used the People Smarts resources last spring told his counselor: “We have had ZERO disciplinary referrals from 6th grade this year, which is phenomenal.” In a typical time frame they would have received half a dozen by now.

As educators we need to cultivate a vision and establish a comprehensive game plan like they have in Colorado Springs for helping school communities curb violence and assess measurable goals. In addition to our resources for students and faculty, LifeBound provides programs for parents on coaching skills and other strategies so that they learn how to model the kinds of attitudes and behaviors they want their children to emulate. Children absorb how parents deal with a job layoff and other traumatic and stressful life events, and supporting parents in their roles is another effective way to stem the escalation of violence among school-aged children and teens.

For a review copy of People Smarts and more information about our programs for parents, please contact us by calling toll free 1.877.737.8510 or emailing contact@lifebound.com, and we’ll be glad to help you. Together we can answer the call to make a profound difference in our school communities.

ARTICLE:
Attorney General, in Chicago, Pledges Youth Violence Effort
By SUSAN SAULNY
Published: October 7, 2009

CHICAGO â€” Trying to spark what he called â€œa sustained national conversationâ€ about youth violence, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. met with public school students and elected officials here Wednesday, pledging a heightened crime-fighting commitment from the federal government toward vulnerable children.

Mr. Holder, joined by Education Secretary Arne Duncan, the former head of the local public schools, said the Obama administration was dedicated to being a full partner in the fight against youth violence, in part, because â€œtoo many of todayâ€™s victims become tomorrowâ€™s criminals.â€

To view this entire article visit www.nytimes.com

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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
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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.

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