Carol’s Summary:
In order to qualify for $14 billion in federal money for the Title 1 program, President Obama is requiring that schools adopt more rigorous academic standards, particularly in reading and math. His proposal to create “college and career ready” standards is the reason we’ve updated our book for 9th graders, MAKING THE MOST OF HIGH SCHOOL, which is designed to build literacy and math skills in the context of helping students learn more about themselves and understand their strengths for success in college, career and life. In addition to content in every chapter that addresses the development issues for helping students make a smooth transition into high school, we’ve included new chapters on Technology and Financial Literacy that feature an eight-year finance plan. Projecting out for their high school and college years, the text helps students see how their math skills connect directly to real life. Resesarch shows that students are far more motivated to learn these skills when they can see the real-world correlation rather than learning these skills in isolation. To reserve a review copy of MAKING THE MOST OF HIGH SCHOOL, call us toll free at 1.877.737.8510 or email us at contact@lifebound.com.
ARTICLE:
New York Times
Obama to Propose New Reading and Math Standards
February 22, 2010
By SAM DILLON
WASHINGTON — In a proposed change to the No Child Left Behind law, the Obama administration would require states to adopt new academic standards to qualify for federal money from a $14 billion program that concentrates on impoverished students, the White House said Sunday.
The proposal, part of the administration’s recommendations for a Congressional overhaul of the law, would require states to adopt “college- and career-ready standards†in reading and mathematics.
The current law, signed by President George W. Bush in 2002, requires states to adopt “challenging academic standards†in reading and math to receive federal money for poor students under the program known as Title I, but leaves it up to states to decide what qualifies as “challenging.â€
The result was that states set their standards at widely varied levels, some as rigorous as those used in high-performing countries like Japan, but others at far lower levels that lay out at best, mediocre expectations for their students.
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