A company called Ultrinsic is making it possible for students to win money by betting on their grades at 36 colleges. Students can be rewarded for earning A’s or take out grade insurance if they think they will not do well in a class. Is it wise to motivate students with monetary rewards? Is betting on grades even legal?
In her recent American Prospect article, Sara Mead argues that, in terms of educational reform, we should shift our focus toward early literacy rather than older students.
“Why focus on early literacy? Because whether children can read well by the end of third grade is a strong predictor of how they are likely to do in the future — in school, at work, and as parents and citizens. The facts are sobering. Children who do not learn to read proficiently by the end of third grade are unlikely ever to read at grade level. These youngsters are at high risk for later school failure and behavioral problems, for dropping out of high school, and for a host of negative life outcomes once they reach adulthood. For example, poor reading skills in the early elementary grades are highly correlated with later delinquency. According to the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 38 percent of all youth in juvenile detention read below the fourth-grade level.”
Students who do not learn to read by the end of third grade are at a severe disadvantage, as this is the age when students stop “learning to read” and start “reading to learn.” These same students may be act out and create behavioral problems within the classroom precisely because they lack the literacy skills necessary to succeed at higher levels of education. The article is a good reminder of the importance of developing early literacy skills and making reading a primary focus within the curriculum.
From U.S. News and World Report, here are ten recommendations for parents to help their college-bound kids.
The New York Times has compiled a searchable collection of demographics and student performance on standardized tests over the past ten years for every school district in New York, “to help put the numbers in context.”
According to a recent MDRC study, small non-selective high schools are graduating more students than their larger counterparts. From the study’s overview, here is a brief rundown of the findings:
However, Clara Hempbell of the New School’s blah blah blah wonders whether the “collateral damage” caused by opening these small schools outweighs the possible benefits. “As the large dysfunctional schools were closed, thousands of students were diverted to remaining large schools.” With the increase in enrollment came a decrease in attendance and graduation rates.
Follow this story in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the Houston Chronicle.
In her recent Salon.com article, Laura Miller discusses several studies that suggest just owning books has a tremendous effect on a child’s education. One recent study found that having as few as 25 books in the house meant two extra years of schooling, as compared to children growing up in homes devoid of books. She cites another study that found giving twelve books of their own choosing to low-income children helped to maintain their academic skills over the summer, preventing them from being surpassed academically by their higher-income peers. It seems as simple as keeping more books in the house, but Miller points out how difficult this can be for parents who are not familiar with bookstores:
“I’ve never even set foot in a gun shop, but it’s equally hard for me to imagine venturing into one. The people who work and shop in such stores may not mean to be unwelcoming, but the same thing that makes these places so inviting to the initiated — the innate clubbishness of human nature — can scare away novices. As homey as a bookstore or local library branch might feel to you or me, they can make other people feel insecure, out-of-place and clueless.”
Keep reading here.
According to a recent New York Times article, public documents reveal that many charter schools are engaging in questionable financial practices, opening them up to greater scrutiny.
“During its first years of operation, the Niagara Charter School in Niagara Falls spent thousands of dollars on plane tickets, restaurant meals and alcohol, and more than $100,000 on no-bid consulting contracts. Yet the school’s teachers resorted to organizing a fund-raiser to buy playground equipment.
When the Roosevelt Children’s Academy, a charter school on Long Island, fired its management company after paying it more than $1 million a year, it hired two of the school’s board members as new managers — and paid them hundreds of thousands of dollars.
And in the Bronx, the Family Life Charter School pays $400,000 annually to rent classroom space from the Latino Pastoral Action Center, a “Christ-centered holistic ministry” led by the Rev. Raymond Rivera. Mr. Rivera also happens to be the school’s founder.”
Continue reading here.
Jane J. Kim of the Wall Street Journal offers some short- and long-term strategies for even upper middle class families seeking financial aid.
For financial-aid purposes, the most crucial year is the one that begins on Jan. 1 while your child is a junior in high school—the “base income year.” During that time, and throughout college, income earned or received is counted more heavily than assets in the financial-aid formulas. Try to avoid taking retirement distributions or realizing large capital gains during that period. Load up on contributions to retirement plans before the base and college years, because assets in those accounts aren’t counted in the aid formulas.
Some families may want to defer converting an IRA to a Roth IRA, even though new laws now make it possible for wealthier taxpayers to take advantage of the conversion. Many financial-aid offices may use the income generated from the conversion to reduce the students’ eligibility for need-based aid—unless parents appeal the offer through professional judgment.
For more advice, continue reading here.
The results of the NAEP national reading test are in, and while fourth graders showed significant improvement on reading tests, eighth graders did not. Despite the fourth graders gains, the scores are still strikingly low, on city-, state-, and nationwide levels.
Nationally, only 31 percent of fourth- grade public school students are at or above the “proficient” level in reading, a standard defined by the test as “competency over challenging subject matter.” Sixty-five percent are at or above the “basic” level, with partial mastery of knowledge and skills that are considered fundamental.
Among fourth graders in New York State public schools, 36 percent are at or above the proficient level in reading, and 71 percent are at or above the basic level — both better than the national results for public school students. In the city, 29 percent of fourth graders are at or above proficiency, and 62 percent are at or above the basic level — both figures that are below the national percentages, but better than those of many other urban school systems.
To read more, follow this link to the New York Times article discussing the test results.
From the New York Times, here is a sampling of free lecture videos from some of the world’s most renowned professors on topics such as finance, anatomy, and physics.
