Parents » Carol J. Carter

Are Non-cognitive Skills the Key to Academic, Professional & Personal Success?

What are the top skills employers demand? Communication skills, judgement and decision making, active listening to name a few. These skills are referred to as soft skills, or non-cognitive skills that are not measured by a cognitive or academic test, like IQ, for example.

In an age when our economy demands more college grads in order to fill the jobs of the future and to be globally competitive, the answer has been to make our classes harder and rank students, schools, and teachers by the scores students earn on their standardized test. Put more effort behind increasing IQ and get a better prepared workforce, right?

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Are Millenials Really the “Worst Generation”?

Millenials have it rough. Not only are these 18-25 year olds struggling to complete college, land a job that requires a degree, and start a family, they get criticized for all these shortfalls, and on top of it, get called narcissistic, lazy, and lecherous.

Matt Bors is one Millenial whose “rage” over the headlines about his generation lead him to create the opinion cartoon below, “Can We Stop Worrying About Millenials Yet?“. Our own summer intern, Sarah, a college senior who works, has an internship, goes to school full time, and lives with her parents, also had something to say in response to the TIME magazine article “The Me Me Me Generation” with her article, “Long Live the Twixter!”

Check out the Cartoon below (via @CNN), and let know what you think. Â Can we stop worrying about Millenials yet?

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LifeBound Joins the Summer Learning Day Movement, June 21!

It’s National Summer Learning Day on June 21st! This advocacy day aims to spread awareness of the critical role learning plays in the summer months for kids from all backgrounds and socioeconomic standing.

Why is summer learning so important? Research shows:

All young people experience learning loss when they are not engaged in a summer learning activity.
Most students lose about two months of grade level equivalency in mathematical computation skills over the summer months.
Only about 10 percentÂ of students nationwide participate in summer school or attend schools with non-traditional calendars.

There are many ways parents can give students summer learning experiences, from no cost/low cost experiences to structured day camps.

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Upcoming at LifeBound: Now on Huffington Post, Summer Reading, Academic Coaches Training & More

This spring we’re definitely not sitting still at LifeBound. In the next few months we have many new events, trainings, blogs, and more that will reach communities who are dedicated to improving learning opportunities for students, teachers, and professionals. One initiative we’re supporting all summer long is to get more students involved in productive learning activities over the summer months.

Research shows all young people experience learning losses when they do not engage in educational activities during the summer. That’s why LifeBound is offering summer enrichment workshops at Lighthouse Writers Workshop for students in middle school through high school thatÂ foster self-awareness, critical thinking, and practical know-how. You can find out more about our week-long workshops for teens at our website. We are also encouraging students to read over the summer with our book display at theÂ Tattered Cover Book Store on Colfax.

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Coaching the Developmental Student to Success in Math

As many as 1.7 million first-year students will take a remedial course to learn the math, reading, or writing skills they need to enroll in a credit-earning college-level course. Of all remedial courses most students are remediated in math skills. Due to a variety of factors — class dynamics, curricula, instruction, Â skill-level, academic support, financial standing, life — retaining and passing students in a remedial course is a major concern.

Colorado Community College System conducted a longitudinal remedial math study that tracked remedial math students for 4 years. They found that though the majority of students required remedial math, math had the lowest pass rate of all remedial classes.
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What Can Be Done to Improve Americaâ€™s Math Performance?

There is no question that the need to improve American studentsâ€™ math scores has garnered much attention on a national level. U.S. Education officials have been pushing reform for years now. We simply arenâ€™t going to be able to compete with our global competitors in knowledge-based fields if we continue to fall short in math and science. So what can we do?

Set high expectations

According to the College Readiness report by ACT, students who take the recommended core curriculum for high school including three years of math achieve higher ACT scores than those who donâ€™t, regardless of socio-economic background, race and gender.¹

But expectations for students to take and succeed at high level math and science courses in high school must be balanced by preparing them well in early years to do just this.

Our expectations for students to succeed at high levels of math and science need to be rooted in deep learning early on and continued support throughout the years, rather than pushing high level curriculum down the pipeline to earlier grades.

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Education Equity: Involving Students, Parents, Community this Summer

Children from low-income families tend to fall behind their more affluent peers in every stage of life. They are less likely to be prepared to enter school at age 5, achieve academic and social competencies by the end of elementary schools graduate from high school with good grades, no crime involvement, or teen pregnancy, or achievement equivalent income in their twenties.[i]Â

This summer, LifeBound is working to equalize summer learning opportunities for students by assisting communities, organizations, school districts, and individuals in creating a summer learning solution that fits their students’ needs. Early and consistent intervention is key to student success.
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21st Century Writing: More Does Not Always Mean Better

The ability to write well is meant to evolve naturally from a few simple sentences on a first-graderâ€™s notebook to the polished draft of a senior paper, and when it does the entire school experience tends to proceed naturally as well. In the workforce, good writing is the hallmark of a professional that can express himself clearly and display oneâ€™s company/product in an attractive way. This has only become more true in todayâ€™s world, where email, text messaging, and social media have taken over many of the communications that used to be performed by phone or in person.

In fact, the changing role of writing in the world today has many teachers wondering how they should adapt their teaching to make it more relevant to todayâ€™s writing needs, personally and professionally. Susan Lucille Davis, a writing teacher with over 30 years of experience, expresses this question in her blog, â€œTeaching Authentic Writing in a Socially Mediated World,â€ but admits that she herself doesnâ€™t have the whole answer. She and many of her colleagues agree, however, that the answer would need to address and prove relevant towards improving writing in the following categories:
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Reading Scores Drop, Demand for Literacy Skills Rise

Itâ€™s clear that literacy is important to Americaâ€™s future, however, it’s also clear that we should begin to worry about what is to come if literacy scores in the U.S. continues to decrease.

Both the SAT and ACT scores in 2012 show poor reading levels. The SAT showed an average score that was one point lower than last year’s, and the lowest since 1972 (Layton and Brown 1-2). According to college readiness benchmarks in the SAT, only 49% of test takers were ready for critical reading at the college level (College Board 24). Only 57% of grads who took the ACT met their benchmark for reading scores, which is much the same result as last year’s tests; in fact, the average composite score for the ACT hasn’t shown much change at all in either direction since 2008 (ACT, Inc. 1,16). The reason these particular tests are important in evaluating high school graduates is because they’re one of the most important evaluation tools a college uses to determine whether an applicant should be admitted. As such, the tests are widely recognized by colleges as trustworthy in determining whether or not a student is ready for college-level work.
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The Power of Literacy: Preventing Poverty, Dropouts, Crime

Did you know:

60% of America’s prison inmates are functionally illiterate and 85% of all juvenile offenders have reading problems.
Approximately 50% of the nation’s unemployed youth age 16-21 are functionally illiterate, with virtually no prospects of obtaining good jobs.

55% of adults with below basic reading comprehension did not graduate high school.1

By 2020, it’s predicted that:

Â 75% of jobs will require some form of higher education.2

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