Developing World Class Schools and Graduates
Franklin will be delivering two workshops at the 23rd Annual At-Risk Youth National Forum to be held in Myrtle Beach, SC at the Embassy Suites Hotel.
It’s Time to End the Plague of School Dropouts Once and For All – Monday, Feb 21, from 8-9 am
From At-Risk to Academic Excellence: What Successful Leaders do to Increase Graduation Rates and Improve School Culture – Tuesday, Feb 22 from 10:15-11:45 am
For additional information and registration material go to www.dropoutprevention.org/conferences
As a result of the recession a number of students are going to graduate school. According to CareerBuilder.com in its annual Survey of Graduate Enrollment and Degrees conducted by the Council of Graduate Schools, the number of applications to grad school has increased by an average of 4.8 percent per year between 1999 and 2009, and shot up 8.3 percent between 2008 and 2009 alone.
Some degree programs had a larger increase than others. The study found a combined 51 percent of the total number of master’s degrees awarded in 2009 were in either business or education. By contrast, 7.2 percent of master’s degrees were granted in engineering, 8.6 percent were in health sciences and 4.1 percent were in either mathematics or computer science.
Despite the fact that only 4 percent of master’s degrees were awarded in math or computer science in 2009, for example, many of today’s fastest growing professions are in these disciplines.
To illustrate, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the following jobs will experience the fastest growth from 2008-2018 (based on percentage change in number of jobs). Most are in health care, computer science and engineering:
1. Biomedical engineers
2. Network systems and data communications analysts
3. Home health aides
4. Personal and home care aides
5. Financial examiners
6. Medical scientists, except epidemiologists
7. Physician assistants
8. Skin care specialists
9. Biochemists and biophysicists
10. Athletic trainers
11. Physical therapist aides
12. Dental hygienists
13. Veterinary technologists and technicians
14. Dental assistants
15. Computer software engineers
The occupations expected to have the largest number of job openings through 2018 (measured by anticipated number of jobs added from 2008-2018), both post-secondary and elementary school teachers break the top 15. Job openings for post-secondary teachers are expected to jump by 257,000 through 2018, while jobs for elementary school teachers will grow by 244,000.
As the economy improves, jobs which have better salaries and working conditions will have more applicants than education. Where will the new educators come from unless societies recognize the value that education and educators have with future engineers, scientists and health professionals?
Educators have long suspected that better parents will result in having students who academically perform better. Well now we have proof.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, also known as O.E.C.D., conducts exams as part of the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, which tests 15-year-olds in the world’s leading industrialized nations on their reading comprehension and ability to use what they’ve learned in math and science to solve real problems “” the most important skills for succeeding in college and life. America’s 15-year-olds have not been distinguishing themselves in the PISA exams compared with students in Singapore, Finland and Shanghai.
To better understand why some students thrive taking the PISA tests and others do not, Andreas Schleicher, who oversees the exams for the O.E.C.D., decided to look beyond the classrooms. So starting with four countries in 2006, and then adding 14 more in 2009, the PISA team went to the parents of 5,000 students and interviewed them “about how they raised their kids and then compared that with the test results” for each of those years. Two weeks ago, the PISA team published the three main findings of its study:
“Fifteen-year-old students whose parents often read books with them during their first year of primary school show markedly higher scores in PISA 2009 than students whose parents read with them infrequently or not at all. The performance advantage among students whose parents read to them in their early school years is evident regardless of the family’s socioeconomic background. Parents’ engagement with their 15-year-olds is strongly associated with better performance in PISA.”
Schleicher explained that “just asking your child how was their school day and showing genuine interest in the learning that they are doing can have the same impact as hours of private tutoring. It is something every parent can do, no matter what their education level or social background.”
For instance, the PISA study revealed that “students whose parents reported that they had read a book with their child “˜every day or almost every day’ or “˜once or twice a week’ during the first year of primary school have markedly higher scores in PISA 2009 than students whose parents reported that they had read a book with their child “˜never or almost never’ or only “˜once or twice a month.’ On average, the score difference is 25 points, the equivalent of well over half a school year.”
Yes, students from more well-to-do households are more likely to have more involved parents. “However,” the PISA team found, “even when comparing students of similar socioeconomic backgrounds, those students whose parents regularly read books to them when they were in the first year of primary school score 14 points higher, on average, than students whose parents did not.”
The kind of parental involvement matters, as well. “For example,” the PISA study noted, “on average, the score point difference in reading that is associated with parental involvement is largest when parents read a book with their child, when they talk about things they have done during the day, and when they tell stories to their children.” The score point difference is smallest when parental involvement takes the form of simply playing with their children.
Data indicate that great teachers make a huge difference in student performance. And that we need to recruit, train and reward such teachers. But here’s what some new studies are also showing: We need better parents. Parents who are more focused on their children’s education can also make a huge difference in a student’s achievement.To be sure, there is no substitute for a good teacher. There is nothing more valuable than great classroom instruction. But let’s stop putting the whole burden on teachers. We also need better parents. Better parents can make every teacher more effective.
Welcome back, common-standards addicts. The news is that Alabama has become the 42nd state to adopt the new learning goals.
With Alabama’s move, only Virgina, Texas, Massachusetts, Maine, North & South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana and Idaho have not accepted the standards.
If we were to look at the highest scoring nations in the world as determined by the TIMMS and PISA tests given by the Organization of Economic Development and Cooperation (OEDC) we would see that the countries have a common set of standards unlike the United States which has a patchwork of state standards.
According to an Office Max advertisement in USA Today (10/6/2010) “Every year teachers spend nearly $4,000,000,000 of their own money to buy supplies for their classrooms.”
Imagine if employers asked businesspeople, lawyers, doctors and politicians to pay for their office supplies.
Every holiday season I look for a story which tells the story of the season. Recently the Story of Rose was sent to me. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and that your have a joyous holiday and a glorious New Year.
The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn’t already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder.
I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being..
She said, ‘Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I’m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?’
I laughed and enthusiastically responded, ‘Of course you may!’ and she gave me a giant squeeze..
‘Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?’ I asked.
She jokingly replied, ‘I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids…’
‘No seriously,’ I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.
‘I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!’ she told me.
After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake.
We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this ‘time machine’ as she shared her wisdom and experience with me..
Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up.
At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I’ll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor.
Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, ‘I’m sorry I’m so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I’ll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know.’
As we laughed she cleared her throat and began, ‘ We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing.
There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humour every day. You’ve got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die.
We have so many people walking around who are dead and don’t even know it!
There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up.
If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight.
Anybody! Can grow older. That doesn’t take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets.
The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets..’
She concluded her speech by courageously singing ‘The Rose.’
She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives. At the year’s end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those months ago.
One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep.
Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it’s never too late to be all you can possibly be.
When you finish reading this, please send this peaceful word of advice to your friends and family, they’ll really enjoy it!
These words have been passed along in loving memory of ROSE.
REMEMBER, GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL. We make a Living by what we get. We make a Life by what we give.
God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage. If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.
Three years ago, today, this website went live. As of today, 240,464 “hits” have been registered. On average, over 70% are “unique” – people who come to the site for the first time.
What is to me the most amazing part is that while 2/3 are from the US, many come from foreign lands, showing the global nature of the dropout problem. Canada is the country that follows America followed by Morocco, the Philippines, Spain, India,the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Maylaysia, Korea, Brazil, Ireland, Singapore, the Netherlands, Indonesia, France, South Africa and Sweden rounds out the top 20. Russia is a close #21.
As you would have guessed, the 15 Effective Strategies is the topic which attracts the most people.
Thanks to people who have visited the website, I have delivered workshops in 49 states (not in Alaska) and 9 countries. I have now written 10 books (#10 will be published in February, 2011).
the 15 strategies have been translated into Hebrew, Spanish, French, Arabic, Russian and Portugesse.
We are losing too many children who are dropping out.
I post three times a week so you can register to receive regular updates.
Thank you again for your kind words and thoughts. If there is any topic you wish me to comment on or you wish me to deliver a workshop, send your request to [email protected]
Eleven winning states and the District of Columbia will split the 3.4 billion dollars dispensed by the U.S. Department of Education as part of “The Race for the Top”educational reform grant. But what happens to the remaining 18 states that submitted applications but didn’t win any funding? They went out on a limb
and agreed to increase the number charter schools, agreed to have new evaluations for teachers, adopted new procedures to turning around low-performing schools. (Before the Race for the Top was announced, five states changed their teacher evaluation laws. In the last two years, eighteen more states changed their teacher evaluation laws.) Do the non-winning states continue to accept the proposals they submitted without any federal funding to implement them? Or do they abandon their reform plans? Some states have already said they will continue to try to implement their plans as best they can. Some have pushed back the deadlines for implementation. But many states are already making severe educational cutbacks because of shortfalls in state revenues. It seems that while some states were winners in this race, as happens in most races, there are far more losers.