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COUNSELORS
DEBATE THE NEED TO DECLARE A MAJOR IN HIGH SCHOOL To a growing number of educational advocates, getting students to make an early career decision may be just the ticket to focusing the wandering teen mind and keeping kids involved in school. West Virginia, and now Florida, have decided kids need a major in high school. A dozen other states encourage students to focus their vocational training early by funneling them into special charter schools or providing certificates that allow them to work in certain occupations right out of high school. These moves are designed to help students focus on the skills that industry needs and that, in turn, give them a sense of purpose. This strategy, proponents say, will cut high school dropout rates, raise test scores and, ultimately, increase graduates usefulness to employers. "Studies have shown that if students have a goal or dream, they are more likely to be successful academically," Barbara Blackburn, a counselor at George Washington High School, in Charleston, W.Va. says. To others, it's folly. "Most students will have seven careers before they are through," says Richard Wong, executive director of the American School Counselor Association, in Alexandria, Va. "A majority of college grads don't even work in their major field." He further notes that most high schoolers will just cherry-pick a number of electives. Skeptics say strong career counseling is the most useful approach to help teenagers choose their professional path. "It's good for students to see their future and think about their financial future," says Carolyn Stone, professor of counselor education at the University of North Florida, in Jacksonville. "But I fear the students may be reduced to a quick look at a series of different majors. How informed are they going to be?" |
INSIDE
HIGHER ED |
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Elected
officials are responsible for many important decisions that impact
public education, including decisions about funding and accountability.
Use
these top 10 questions to help you learn where your
elected officials stand on critical issues that impact all public
schools. |
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School-Parent-Community Partnerships Resource Book Download PDF 315 KB This resource guide was developed by the Indiana Department of Education as part of its statewide school improvement plan. The guide provides a comprehensive review of nationally accepted standards on parent involvement, considerations for implementing and evaluating parent involvement programs at the local level, and sample tools such as parent, teacher, and administrator surveys, a team work plan, and compacts for teachers, students, and parents. |
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CASE STUDIES/SCENARIOS OF PARENT INVOLVEMENT These 15 case studies can be used in teacher preparation classes to engage your students in dialogue concerning parent involvement. You can use these as discussion starters or as prompts to determine what your students' current understanding and knowledge is about parent invovlement.  Download
PDF 311KB |
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No
Child Left Behind: What's Really Behind It All? Download PDF 141 KB In this article, Ruby Payne, author of A Framework For Understanding Poverty (1998), offers an historical explanation behind No Child Left Behind and why schools must increase students' intellectual capital in order to enable their academic success in school. |
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New Teacher Welcome
Packet Download PDF 773 KB Developed by Wisconsin's Department of Instruction and the Wisconsin PIRC, this document provides useful parent involvement information for new and "seasoned" teachers. This is also an excellent resource for teacher educators to use when integrating parent involvement in teacher education curriculum. |
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No
Child Left Behind: A Toolkit for Teachers Download PDF 408 KB NCLB was written with teachers in mind. This booklet contains important information on the law, focusing on the teacher quality provisions and how the law supports teachers. |
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Parsing
the Achievement Gap This is an excellent report on working with diversity. Download PDF 516 KB |