Franklin Schargel’s Blog

While parents, K-12 students and educators agree that using computers in schools is essential to learning and student success, parents are dissatisfied with the technology skills their children are learning in schools according to a report released by Project Tomorrow(R), a national education nonprofit organization.

According to the survey, only one-third of parents and 40 percent of students in grades 6 through 12 believe that schools are doing a good job of preparing students for the 21st century. In contrast, more than half of principals surveyed believe they are doing a good job of preparing students.

“The disconnect between educators and parents reveals the need for schools to improve the integration of technology into the learning environment and students’ learning experiences,” said Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow. “Parents do not feel that schools are effectively preparing students for the jobs of the 21st century, and view technology implementation as essential to student success.”

Parents believe that teachers need more training and more access to up to date technology and support school adoption of 21st century technology-infused approaches to teaching and learning, ranging from online textbooks to tools such as interactive white boards, laptops for students, computer projection devices and technology based organizational tools.

“As a parent, I want my son’s school to provide a world class education and prepare him with the skills he needs for the jobs of the future,” said Pam Young, a parent from Mission Viejo, Calif. “Using technology in school is key to achieving both of these objectives. I think it is essential that our schools provide opportunities for students to use a wide range of new technologies in the classroom, and that the teachers are well trained in how to use technology to increase student achievement.”

The findings are included in the report Learning in the 21st Century: Parents’ Perspectives, Parents’ Priorities, which examines parent responses to the aspirations of students for technology enhanced learning environments. The data is from Project Tomorrow’s Speak Up project, an annual survey which has collected and reported on the views of more than 335,000 U.S. K-12 students, parents and educators about online education and 21st century learning.

Many schools have words in the mission statement which indicate that they will prepare students to thrive in the 21st century and yet have teachers on their staff who are not proficient in the use of computers.  Obviously there is a disconnect between the words and the vision.

A new study by researchers at Trinity College found that 34 million adult Americans -about 15 percent of the population – have no religious affiliation.  Less than 20 years ago,just 8 percent of the population claimed no affiliation, These people live predominately in the Northeast or in the Pacific Northwest.  Most of them are younger than the rest of the population – in part explaining that they are the fastest-growing segment of the religious landscape.  A majority of them believe in God and a third say that they pray weekly or daily.  Fewer than 10% say that are atheists.  The National Opinion Research Center says that regular church, synagogue and mosque attendance fell from 41 percent in 1971 to 31 percent in 2002.  Protestant churches saw a decline by as much as 20% in the last few years.

What are the implications?

Non-religious younger people are replacing older religious people.  The non-religious people tend to be more liberal both politically as well as culturally.  They believe in abortions, gay rights, limited school prayer and evolution.  These hot-button issues have been fought over by conservatives and liberals  in recent decades.

Reported in The Week Magazine, November 6, 2009

The recession is causing more people than ever to go to college.  But the cost of college is rising faster than inflation and faster than financial aid which is putting a college degree out of the reach for many.

According to a report from the College Board, tuition and fees at private 4-year schools rose 4.4% in the current school year to $26,273. Costs at public 4-year universities spiked over 6% for both in-state and out-of state students, to $7,020 and $18,548, respectively.

At the same time, the availability of financial aid isn’t keeping up with these climbing costs. Grant funding grew only 4.7% in the 2008-2009 academic year, the most recent for which data is available, which means that undergraduates’ out-of-pocket costs are higher than ever.  Because of higher unemployment and stagnant household incomes, is making it harder than ever to finance a degree.

The good news is that about two thirds of full time students receive financial aid that doesn’t need to be repaid. After taking grants into consideration, coupled with federal tax benefits, the net cost of college is much lower than the sticker price. On average, students at private schools are paying $11,900, while those attending public schools are spending about $1,600 out of pocket each year.  That still leaves a third of students paying full freight, and every undergrad is still contending with room and board costs that are also climbing, up 5.4% at public schools at 4.2% at private schools this year.

A report issued by the Pew Hispanic Center indicates that nine out of ten Hispanics say it is necessary to get a college education – more than any other ethnic or racial group.  However, fewer than half of Hispanic 18 to 25-year-olds plan to get one –well below the 60% of all other young people.

Why is this so?  The report suggests several reasons including language difficulties, financial problems an student’s felt need to support their families(74%).  Thirty-nine percent say they do not need more education.  Twenty -one percent say that their grades are not high enough to get into college.  Some Hispanic students start in 2-year community colleges but only one in 10 get an Associate Degree.

With Hispanics now the largest minority group in the country and the fastest growing ethnic group, this portends to be  major national problem.  Taken with the fact, that the Hispanic population is the largest group to not complete high school, this adds to the national education problem, today and tomorrow.

By Claudine Vainrub, MBA and Principal of EduPlan

Many of us consider that starting to think about a college education is something to be looked at when students are in their senior years of high school. However, this is a myth, and it is most certainly not correct. It’s actually better to start plans and preparations for college much earlier. Actually the right time to being thinking about college is around the sixth or the seventh grade. Why?

This is the time when a student’s skills and abilities start getting shaped up. They are given opportunities to enhance their talents and skills, as this is the time for joining extracurricular activities. This is also the time when students start to discover likes and dislikes for disciplines and areas of study. It is an important time in the life of a student regarding self-discovery and assessment.

When starting to plan about how to get best prepared for college,we become more focused, sharp and develop life skills sooner. Some of us are even able to establish short, mid-term and long-term goals that will help us keep our center and not fall into bad habits. With a goal in our mind, we are more likely to keep on track and not divert to the many dangers high school peer pressure brings. All this helps when the time comes for us not only to begin vigorous preparations for college but also to succeed throughout the process.

Planning early for college needs considerable thought. Here is a look at how you need to prepare yourself throughout your high school years, so that you come out with the best grades and enroll into a college of your choice.

Preparations in the Sixth Grade

Freshman year in middle school is the time to get organized about studies and prepare yourself mentally for what’s ahead for you. Your study time must be well organized, as such habits set in clearly now and become high useful in later years. You also need to:

* Enroll in extracurricular activities that will be helpful for later, and especially when you apply for college. The sixth and the seventh grade is the time to think and get started in this.

* Enroll in school programs that help to enhance academic skills. Some subjects are easy, while some take time to understand. A strong foundation is very important to get good grades throughout high school. So, check out academic programs that enhance your skills and abilities equally in all subjects of study.

* Take a career assessment to learn more about your skills, likes and dislikes. There are many free online assessments, simple enough for students in the sixth and seventh grade, that will also support this goal. One of these can be found in the skills area of O*Net – https://online.onetcenter.org

* Start reviewing career choices with the student, understanding what is available, what careers are in demand and how the interests of the students can apply to the many professional fields and choices. For example, a student that enjoys writing can end up being a fiction novel writer, a journalist or also a screenwriter, or a myriad of professions that fit that interest. We need to research what the options are so as to broaden the perspective of that student.

Preparations in Eighth Grade

In the eighth grade it’s time to think about taking challenging academic courses. At this point it is important to consult with the school counselors so that you can take the right decision. A 4-year plan will make all the difference in the world between achieving admission in a top school or not. If you are aiming to demanding universities and colleges, planning ahead the curriculum of the four years of high school is not only important, it is imperative. Often times, we see students not satisfying minimum curriculum requirements to enter colleges, thus not being able to even apply. Eight grade is the moment to start reviewing all requirements for the type of schools we are aiming for. When having this information, we can team up with our guidance counselor in our high school and ensure that we are doing everything possible to satisfy requirements and meet the needs of the college curriculum through our high school curriculum completion. For example, some students need to by mindful of taking Algebra I as early as in eight grade, to open as many opportunities as possible. When not doing so, they are unknowingly closing some doors.

Eight grade is also the time to start to consider taking AP courses and figuring out when in high school we will want to do so, to enhance college admissions results. AP courses also save us money that we pay at a lower fee for college credit, something to think about when tuition costs are rising.

Preparations in Middle/Junior High School

Junior high is the time to study and prepare for PSAT and sometimes even the SAT and ACT admissions exams. We will need to start thinking about extracurricular work, community work, specialization areas and leadership opportunities. It is of the essence to prepare ourselves to achieve top grades, and focus on working hard at school. Challenging ourselves with tough courses and getting the best possible GPA. Taking easy courses and getting all A’s might not favor us – what helps in entering top schools is to take tough courses and get A’s. But as we know, this is easier said than done. However, it is the moment to engage help if needed and take your education to the next level, gaining solid study skills and habits. Here what you also need to look into:

* If you are a member in a club, consider taking on leadership roles here. This will help to bring out your personality and help you to understand how to plan and be well-organized. Junior high school is the time to take on such roles and responsibilities.

* Junior high is the time to concentrate more in academics and personality development. Doing voluntary work is a good thing at this time, as this gets you across to different social situations and people.
When beginning the college admissions process early, we take care of one essential part of the whole process – the stress factor. We feel stress for the unknown, as we drive through the unchartered territory of what it is like to apply for college. When starting early, we give time to ourselves to research and learn about all details of the process, and the stress factor should shrink. We also start preparing ourselves financially for going to college, thinking ahead of ways to save ourselves from ending up with too many loans and too little scholarship money. In our sophomore and junior years, we can already begin applying for merit scholarships. Starting early is not only important for our mind, it is also beneficial for our pocket!

If children plan to attend college, it is never too early to investigate.  Parents should be encouraged to take their children, while they are on vacation, to look at colleges, order college catalogues, and speak to people who have attended college.

There are so many marvelous websites out there that when I discover a new one I like to share it with my readers.  This one is called Connecting Learning to Life and it is from the West Fargo High School Career Center Blog

Where should educators direct students in light of the current recession/depression?  Unemployment rates are at a 14-year high and predictions are that it will last at least to 2010.

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Part II —

By Christina Couch

Print journalism

A great job if you don’t need a paycheck. With physical newspapers quickly becoming a thing of the past and magazines dropping like flies, even established journalists with impressive credentials are struggling to survive.

Payscale.com reports that the median salary for veteran journalists with 20 or more years of experience hovers at $49,000 — more than $10,000 less than the salary that the average computer science major starts with.

Experts predict that 2009 will see more print and television media closures than did 2008, with rumored layoffs planned by media giants including NBC Universal, Viacom Inc., the Tribune Co., the New York Times Co., and Knight Ridder.

Advertising

As media outlets sink and retail markets contract, they’re taking advertisers with them. The global communications strategy firm Zenith Optimedia estimates that ad spending in North America will fall 5.7 percent in 2009, meaning more unpaid internships and fewer entry-level positions.

With layoffs expected in three of the largest ad holding companies — Interpublic, Omnicom and WPP — 2009 grads will have to fight for their first jobs.

Architecture
No budget for new construction means no budget for those designing new buildings. Requiring hefty tuition investment (usually four years of undergrad education plus one to two of grad school) for a starting salary that begins in the upper 30s, architecture was one of the riskier degrees even before the recession.

The recent housing market decline has taken new architect jobs with it. According to the American Institute of Architects, billings for architectural projects nationwide reached an all-time low in December 2008 for the second consecutive month, suggesting that industrywide hiring freezes won’t let up anytime soon.

Real estate

With one in seven homeowners losing equity on their homes (per the most recent report from Zillow.com), the 2009 housing market will revolve more around trying to hang on to current homes rather than selling new ones. Those graduating with associate degrees in real estate may want to come up with a backup career plan.

Even before the housing collapse, starting salaries for new realtors has always been relatively low ($24,630 per year, according to Payscale.com). Since the majority of those in the field have commissioned salaries, new grads may be lucky to scrape by in 2009.

Film studies

Kiss the era of multimillion-dollar blockbusters goodbye, at least for a few years. With consumers cutting back on their entertainment budgets, production studios are scaling back on large-scale projects and many independent firms are cutting projects entirely.

In addition to economic woes, experts predict a second strike by the Screen Actor’s Guild, which would shut down projects on both the large and small screen. The LA Times reports that the 2008 screenwriters’ strike cost Los Angeles alone at least $380 million and possibly as much as $2.5 billion.

Recent layoffs at Viacom Inc., NBC Universal, Sony and Walt Disney spell out a bleak job market for 2009 film grads.

Having posted the best and the worst jobs, it is important to remind readers that predictions have a way of being off target.  Students should choose fields that they are happy with and hopefully, the money will follow.