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Family
Involvement in Middle and High School Our newest brief, Family Involvement in Middle and High School Students' Education, synthesizes research studies that link family involvement in middle and high school to youth’s academic and social outcomes. The brief profiles evaluated programs to show what works to promote family involvement and student achievement during this critical developmental period and highlights how you can use this research to promote effective policies and practices. http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/projects/fine/resources/research/adolescent.html |
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MAKING
WRITING INSTRUCTION A PRIORITY IN AMERICA’S MIDDLE AND HIGH
SCHOOLS The Alliance for Excellent Education has released a new brief which argues that the ability to write well for a variety of audiences and in multiple contexts is as great a predictor of success as is the ability to read proficiently. However, large numbers of American students are graduating from high school unable to write at even the minimal level of ability required by colleges and employers. It is critical that writing proficiency be recognized as an integral skill for success in an increasingly competitive 21st century economy, and that America's secondary schools incorporate more writing instruction into students' coursework. In Writing Next, published in October 2006, the Alliance identified 11 specific teaching techniques that research suggests will help improve the writing abilities of the nation’s middle and high school students. The new brief suggests policy options that would support strategies designed to improve students’ ability to write proficiently and help to ensure that they graduate with the skills necessary to succeed in postsecondary education and in today’s workplace. Funded by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York, "Making Writing Instruction a Priority in America’s Middle and High Schools" is available at: http://www.all4ed.org/publications/WritPrior.pdf |
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INVESTOR
ED 101: BEST CLASSROOM TOOLS |
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"High
School, College Standards Out of Sync, Survey Finds" A study by ACT Inc., the producer of the ACT college-admissions tests, highlights the gap between what high schools are teaching in their college-preparatory courses and what colleges want incoming students to know. The study is based on a national curriculum survey of more than 6,500 middle school, high school and postsecondary teachers. The new survey found that college professors generally want incoming students to have a deeper understanding of a selected number of topics and skills, while high school teachers in all content areas tend to rate a far broader array of content and skills as "important" or "very important." More than half the states are now working to better align high school standards, tests and curricula with college expectations. An equally large number have created so-called "P-16" or "P-20" councils to help coordinate goals and activities across the various levels of education. Nearly two-thirds of professors said their state standards prepare students "poorly" or "very poorly" for college-level work in their respective subject areas. In contrast, a majority of high school teachers said their state standards are preparing students "well" or "very well" for college-level work. The study also highlights significant differences between high school instruction and college expectations in specific curriculum areas. |
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"Study:
Volunteer Work Gives Poor Teenagers a Boost" Volunteer work gives poor teenagers a boost in confidence that can propel them to college, but other teens are more likely volunteers, a federal study finds. Youth from low-income backgrounds have a volunteer rate of 43%, compared with 59% for other youth and are less likely to participate in other service or school civic clubs, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service study. The group said it found that poor youth are more likely to volunteer with religious organizations than with youth civic or leadership groups. Some 48% of youths from disadvantaged backgrounds who volunteered said they did so because of religious or spiritual beliefs. By volunteering, poor youth are 40% more likely to believe they can make a difference in their community and 50% more likely to say they probably will graduate from a four-year college, according to the report. |
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Forces Recruiter Access to Secondary School Students
It's important that parents know that under NCLB the law requires that high schools can have access to their children for recruitment into the military. |
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KEEPING
MIDDLE SCHOOL PARENTS INVOLVED Despite rumors to the contrary, says the Parent Academic Resources organization, "parents can play a central role in helping their adolescent children grow into independent learners." http://academicresources.org/learning.html |
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The Harvard Family Iinvolvement Network of Educators partnered with
the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory to host a symposium
on family, school, and community connection. This is a slide presentation
by Arnold Fege, Director of Public Engagement and Advocacy on high
school parent involvement. http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/content/projects/fine /resources/conference/connections_voices_slides.pdf |
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CICC, the Center for the Improvement of Child Caring, offers a web
site of numerous programs and materials to help parents become more
effective and numerous continuing education programs and materials
for professionals who work with children and families. http://www.ciccparenting.org/ Their monthly newsletter. http://www.ciccparenting.org/cicc_Breaking_News_Articles.aspx?id=14 |
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Created
by the nation's governors and business leaders, Achieve, Inc., is
a bipartisan, non-profit organization that helps states raise academic
standards, improve assessments and strengthen accountability to prepare
all young people for postsecondary education, work and citizenship. http://www.achieve.org/dstore.nsf/Lookup/pollreport/$file/pollreport.pdf |
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In
many U.S. schools, members of most racial minorities and students from low-income families are much less likely to take college preparatory courses. The Pathways to College Network (PCN) has identified five key ways to improve this situation. http://www.pathwaystocollege.net/collegereadiness/toolbox/index.htm |
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"Bush
Plan Worries the Voc. Ed. Community" The Bush administration's recent unveiling of its plan to extend accountability and other academic measures into the nation's high schools has caused backers of vocational education to worry that the proposal may squeeze their programs out of the federal budget. Advocates for career and technical education in recent weeks have launched a pre-emptive strike to urge members of Congress and other influential parties to help them stave off potential cuts to their funding, even though the administration's fiscal 2006 budget is not expected to be released until next month. http://www.edweek.org/ |
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Strengthening
Parental Involvement in Middle and High Schools: Cultivating Communication
and Connections Direct parent involvement with children's schools often decreases dramatically during the middle and high school years, yet involvement is still very important at this age. This paper offers advice on what educators can do to improve their communication and connections with parents of teenagers. http://www.pleasestoptherollercoaster.com/Strenghtening-Parental-Involvement-HL.pdf |
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CASEL's
mission is to enhance children's success in school and life by promoting
coordinated, evidence-based social, emotional, and academic learning
as an essential part of education from preschool though high school. T hings parents can do to foster middle schools children's emotional well-being. http://www.casel.org/downloads/rescue.pdf things parents can do to foster emotional well-being in HS students. http://www.temple.edu/lss/pdf/partnerships/lss_partnerships111.pdf Things teachers can do: http://www.temple.edu/lss/pdf/partnerships/lss_partnerships112.pdf T he Four L's of Buildling Adolescent Identity http://www.temple.edu/lss/pdf/partnerships/lss_partnerships109.pdf The same article -- but from teachers' perspectives http://www.temple.edu/lss/pdf/partnerships/lss_parnterships110.pdf |
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An
ERIC document on parent involvement at the Middle School level. http://www.middleweb.com/ParntInvl.html |
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The
American Library Association is the oldest and largest library association
in the world, with more than 64,000 members. Its mission is to promote
the highest quality library and information services and public access
to information. ALA offers professional services and publications
to members and nonmembers, including online news stories from American
Libraries and analysis of crucial issues from the Washington Office. Good Reads for Teens http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/teenreading/recreading/recommendedreading.htm |
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As
our young people prepare to become workers and citizens, schools must
prepare them for the new expectations of our economy and society.
Today, all students need to acquire both academic knowledge and technical
skills, and yet, too many are not receiving this type of high-quality
education and development. Here is a link with some facts demonstrating
the need for high school reform. http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/hs/index.html |
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With
dropout rates exceeding 50 percent in some inner-city schools and no shortage of disengaged students in suburban and rural systems, reformers have increased the drumbeat for an overhaul of the traditional high school," says education writer Rick Allen. The search for solutions has spread to nations like Denmark or Singapore, "where high standards and expectations are understood by students across grade levels and mesh with the expectations of university and business leaders." Other reformers are urging school leaders to take more seriously the comments of disaffected students. "In both cases, reform groups encourage educators and policymakers to think outside the current high school box. (Education Update, August 2004) http://www.ascd.org/publications/ed_update/200408/allen.html |
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TeacherVision
is created by teachers for teachers. Millions of teachers rely on
TeacherVision's materials to enhance their curriculum, enrich their
students, and make their professional lives a bit easier. Advice to parents - middle and high school page http://www.teachervision.fen.com/page/3677.html?detoured=1&for_printing=1 |
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A
Little Push: What Teens Want From Their Parents Over the past five years, Public Agenda has conducted nearly a dozen public opinion surveys on education issues, questioning a range of Americans from parents to teenagers, from teachers to college professors and employers. Across all those surveys one theme persists: Americans are deeply doubtful about the character of the next generation. http://www.publicagenda.org/specials/parent/parent8.htm |
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Govs and President Focus on High School After years of reform focusing on elementary schools, a growing number of politicians and policy-makers are concluding that high school education is overdue for an overhaul. Click below to read entire article. http://www.stateline.org/stateline/?pa=story&sa=showStoryInfo&id=398380 |
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Research Digest Adolescence: Are Parents Relevant to Students' High School Achievement and Post-Secondary Attainment? http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/projects/fine/resources/digest/adolescence.html |