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Sunday, June 14, 2015
A Child's Take on Common Core
He could have written about the green toy truck he kept hidden in his room, a reminder of Haiti, a place he did not yet fully understand.
He might have mentioned the second-place trophy he had won for reciting a psalm in French at church — “le bonheur et la grâce m’accompagneront tous les jours de ma vie...” — his one and only award.
He could have noted his dream of becoming an engineer or an architect, to one day have a house with a pool and a laboratory where he would turn wild ideas about winged cars and jet packs into reality.
But on a windy April afternoon, as the first real sun of spring fell on Public School 397 in Brooklyn, and empty supermarket bags floated through the sky, Chrispin Alcindor’s mind was elsewhere.
His teacher, Trisha Matthew, had asked the 13 boys and six girls in her fourth-grade class to write self-portrait poems. Some students compared themselves to red foxes and resplendent stars, loud pianos and LeBron James. Chrispin took a different approach.
“I am a 9-year-old,” he began, “who struggles with math.”
Chrispin had reason to worry. New York’s state exams were two days away, and he was having difficulty dividing large numbers and deciphering patterns. He had once been a model student — the fastest counter in the first grade, his teachers said. But last year, in the confusion of a new and more difficult set of academic standards known as the Common Core, he had failed the state tests in English and math, placing him near the bottom of his class.
The Common Core, the most significant change to American public education in a generation, was hailed by the Obama administration as a way of lifting achievement at low-performing schools. After decades of rote learning, children would become nimble thinkers equipped for the modern age, capable of unraveling improper fractions and drawing connections between Lincoln and Pericles.
The standards have recently become a political flash point. Lawmakers in some states have suggested the Common Core undermines local control of education. Parents and teachers have raised questions about whether students are ready for a new wave of standardized tests, after precipitous drops in test scores in New York and Kentucky, the first two states to adopt Common Core exams. Others have argued the new benchmarks are onerous and elitist.
But whether the Common Core achieves its promise will ultimately depend on schools like P.S. 397 and children like Chrispin, and whether they rise to the rigor of the new demands.
At P.S. 397, about 85 percent of the nearly 350 students failed state exams last year, the school’s worst performance on record. New York City gave the school a C on its annual report card, citing its poor test scores; it even lagged behind similar schools serving large numbers of poor children. Parents were distraught, and staff members wept.
On that April day, Chrispin was determined. As one of the smallest children in the fourth grade, he had grown accustomed to being underestimated. With the right luck, he thought, he would earn high marks when test scores came back in August. “If I don’t pass the test,” he said, “I will feel miserable and never come out of my room.”
Maybe, Chrispin thought, he would score so high that he would win a trophy. He imagined the scene: walking across the stage at graduation in sunglasses and white sneakers, claiming his award and basking in the applause of the entire school.
At the very least, Chrispin resolved, he did not want to find out in June that he was so far behind that he would have to go to summer school. In his mind, it was a jail, a grave place devoid of friends, family and his Xbox 360. He returned to his poem:
I take my own path
When I feel like it.
Source: The New York Times, June 14, 2014
Common Core State Standards
What is Common Core?
State education chiefs and governors in 48 states came together to develop the Common Core, a set of college and career-ready standards for K-12 in English language arts/literacy and mathematics. Today, 43 states have voluntarily adopted and are working to implement the standards.
Common core standards are important so that standards are consistent across states and provide teachers, parents, and students with a set of clear expectations ensuring all students have the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, and life after graduation. These standards are aligned to the expectations of colleges, workforce training programs, and employers. Unlike previous state standards, which varied widely from state to state, the Common Core enables collaboration among states on a range of tools and policies, including:
- Development of textbooks and digital media
- Development and implementation of comprehensive assessment systems that replace existing state testing systems in order to measure student performance annually and provide teachers with specific feedback to help ensure students are on the path to success
The reason english language arts and math were the subjects chosen for the Common Core State Standards is because they are areas upon which students build skill sets that are used in other subjects. Students must learn to read, write, speak, listen, and use language effectively in a variety of content areas, so the standards specify the literacy skills and understandings required for college and career readiness in multiple disciplines.
What does Common Core mean for students today?
Today's students are preparing to enter a world in which colleges and businesses are demanding more than ever before. To ensure all students are prepared for success after graduation, the Common Core establishes a set of clear, consistent guidelines for what students should know and be able to do at each grade level in math and English language arts.
How does Common Core impact teachers?
- the standards impacts teachers by providing them with consistent goals and benchmarks to ensure students are progressing on a path for success in college, career, and life
- providing them with consistent expectations for students who move into their districts and classrooms from other states
- Helping colleges and professional development programs better prepare teachers
Source: www.corestandards.org
Monday, June 1, 2015
Unicef in Education Today
Every child has the right to learn
About UNICEF
UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere
UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere
Education transforms lives and breaks the cycle of poverty that traps so many children. Education for girls is particularly important — an educated mother will make sure her own children go to, and stay in, school.
Whether it means building child-friendly schools, making classrooms mobile, training teachers or even rebuilding an entire educational system—UNICEF will do whatever it takes to support a child's right to education.
Source: www.unicef.org
Source: www.unicef.org
The Unicef Tap Project
The UNICEF Tap Project challenges you to put down your phone and help save children’s lives. This year’s initiative aims to unlock 14 million days of clean, safe water for children around the world by encouraging you to stop texting, calling, emailing, tweeting and posting -- and challenge your friends to do the same. Millions of children around the globe do not have safe, clean water to drink, and the lack of this basic necessity is not merely inconvenient — it can be lethal. Take the challenge on your cell phone at UNICEFTapProject.org beginning March 1st. The longer you go without touching your smartphone, the more clean water will be unlocked for children in need.
Put down your phone, save lives.
15 minutes = 1 day of water. For every 15 minutes users don’t touch their smartphone, they unlock a donation from our sponsors that could provide a day of clean water for a child in need.
Every day, nearly 1,000 children under five die from diseases directly linked to unsafe water or a lack of basic sanitation facilities. With just $1, UNICEF can help provide a child with access to clean, safe water for 40 days.
- Visit uniceftapproject.org on your phone to take the challenge.
- Challenge your friends to beat your time.
- Maximize your impact by making a donation. With just $1, UNICEF can help provide a child with access to clean, safe water for 40 days.
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Back to School in Nepal
KATHMANDU, 31 May 2015 – Almost 14,000 children whose schools were destroyed or heavily damaged in the two earthquakes are having classes for the first time in five weeks in temporary learning centres.
On this first day of school, these children from the most heavily-affected districts in Nepal are using learning materials from UNICEF and other partners’ school, early childhood and recreational kits.
This is an initial step forward for children given the level of destruction to schools and education facilities the most affected districts suffered. Further efforts are underway to urgently bring many more children back to school.
“Evidence shows that children who are out of school for prolonged periods of time after a disaster are increasingly less likely to ever return to the classroom,” explains Tomoo Hozumi, UNICEF Nepal Representative.
UNICEF is working closely with the Ministry of Education and partners to get all children back to school as soon as possible, while also assuring safe learning environments and emotional support for children:
• More than 100 teams of structural engineers are working across the affected districts to gather data on level of damage and identify safe and unsafe classrooms. More than 1,230 school blocks have already been structurally assessed.
• 137 Temporary Learning Centers (TLC) have been set up, benefitting about 14,000 children in 16 districts most affected by the two earthquakes.
• 1,142 teachers received training on psychosocial support to children and key lifesaving messages on disaster preparedness, health, hygiene and protection.
• 58 per cent of $8 million worth of planned emergency education supplies are already in the UNICEF pipeline.
• As part of the mass media campaign, key messages on “Back-to-School” have been aired, focusing on the importance of education in emergencies, such as safety, access for all, and the roles of parents and communities.
However, much remains to be done to address the 985,000 children who couldn’t return to classes today, thus facing a great risk of dropping out of school. Altogether, 32,000 classrooms were destroyed and 15,352 classrooms were damaged after the two major earthquakes.
“We are committed to continuing to set up temporary learning spaces as fast as we can so that no child is left out of school. Simultaneously, we are encouraging families to send their children back to schools which have been designated safe, and urging communities to render their support to the Back-to-School campaign,” informs Mr. Hozumi.
The Education Cluster, which consists of the Government, UNICEF and all other humanitarian actors working in this sector, estimates that $24.1 million is urgently needed to conclude structural assessments of 7,800 schools; set up a total of 4,668 temporary learning centres; provide teaching, learning and recreational supplies for 1 million children; and, train 19,568 teachers and facilitators on psychosocial support and life-saving messages.
“Education cannot wait– especially in the immediate aftermath of natural disasters like the Nepal earthquakes”, said Mr. Hozumi. “While reconstruction of thousands of schools will no doubt be a priority in the recovery phase, if we are not able to provide at least a temporary solution immediately, we run the risk of losing many children who otherwise could benefit from our efforts to build back better the education system”.
sourced from: unicef.org
UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.
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