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Author Archives: schooldog
At Risk Students: Lessons from the Post High School Scene
Summary: Community colleges struggle with the same deficits in low income students that handicap their progress in elementary and high school. Here are a couple of very different approaches to this pivotal dilemma. Serendipity sometimes informs the writer. Shortly … Continue reading
At Risk Low Income Students: Readiness Is All
Summary: In the race to improve the academic skills of low income students various “soft” skills need address as well. Student self-perception and personal vision, possession of a viable road map to success, and social skills pertinent to socioeconomic advancement … Continue reading
Schools and Politics: The Focus on Income Inequality Is Good News for School Reform
Summary: The rising political focus on income inequality brings renewed scrutiny to the role of school reform for low income students, and a cautious opening to political consensus. Many low income students I encountered as a high school counselor confounded … Continue reading
School Reform Via Targeted Hires and “Big Data”
Summary: The use of “big data” and derivative algorithms to predict which applicants will be successful hires in companies may prove useful in the identification of quality teacher candidates. The fact that 46% of new teachers leave the profession within … Continue reading
Schools and Culture: Voices from Unaccustomed Quarters
Summary: Voices from the business community and the Catholic Church give hope that the promise of “compassionate conservatism” will come to fruition, and eventually bipartisan funding will crystalize to supplement the educational growth of low income children. The populace is … Continue reading
At Risk Students: Parent Volunteers to the Rescue
Summary: Parent volunteers in schools can provide the critical attention needed to alter the academic trajectory of at risk kids. The daunting organizational tasks required, however, are often beyond the funding capabilities of schools themselves. One neighborhood association in Chicago … Continue reading
At Risk Kids: Wrap Around Services for Troubled Folk
Summary: The work of one non-profit and one Seattle Schools program showcase the intensive human support of at risk kids needed to bring those troubled kids along into the academically successful mainstream. Fine hors d’oeurves and good wine greeted us … Continue reading
Schools and Culture: Dysfunctional Cultural Currents Stymie School Reform?
Summary: In Yale students and public school students alike, cultural currents surface and raise questions how these patterns influence our children in their studies. News in the Yale Alumni Magazine that 62% of Yale undergraduates earned A or A- in … Continue reading
School Reform: Yup, Some Regular Every Day Schools Are Doing It
Summary: One low income school stages a dramatic turnaround. How it was done maps out a route that other reformed schools have followed, yet poses dilemmas for the choice makers. The Seattle area’s White Center Heights Elementary prior to the … Continue reading
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