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Blogs on Achievement Gap

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Bridging the Gap: College Tuition for Every High School Graduate

Anne OBrienJune 17, 2011

Tags Achievement Gap, Teacher Development, All Grades, New York

Few would disagree with the notion that low-income children face enormous challenges outside the traditional school system in achieving academic success. Research has confirmed the role of everything from health to summer learning opportunities, along with school-based factors including teacher and principal quality, in student achievement.

But tough budgets mean tough choices when it comes to serving children, and many communities are focusing the little money they have on in-school factors related to student performance, at the expense of the other components we know to be crucial to student success.

A Formula for Creating Successful Student-Run Service Learning Projects

Rosemary OwensMay 19, 2011

Tags Achievement Gap, Digital Divide, Dropout Prevention, Free School Supplies, Literacy, Mentoring, Primary (K-2), Project-Based Learning, Service Learning, Student Engagement, Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8), High (9-12), English Language Arts, Florida

Editor's Note: Today's guest blogger is Rosemary Owens, assistant principal for curriculum at Freedom High School and Tampa FL.

Tampa's Freedom High School was transformed by a student-led initiative beginning in the summer of 2009. A rising senior, Blake O'Connor, and I had the privilege of attending the Aspen Ideas Festival (AIF) on a scholarship from the Bezos Family Foundation. The AIF is an annual gathering of big thinkers from all areas of society, from the arts to science to religion, culture, economics, and politics. Each year, the festival challenges participants to tackle some of the more pressing issues of our times, and figure out ways to replicate solutions.

The High Cost of Sites that Mock Student Vernacular

Belia Mayeno SaavedraMay 18, 2011

Tags Achievement Gap, Diversity, Literacy, , Teacher Development, All Grades

Editor's Note: Today's guest blogger is Belia Mayeno Saavedra, a Community Action Program Coordinator for Youth Radio in Oakland CA.

Please also note that this post examines both student and Internet vernacular. If you are uncomfortable with this type of language, you may wish to read something else. This post first appeared as Sh*t My Students Write and Its Flaws on Turnstyle.

Sh*t My Students Write and Dumb $#!% My Students Say are new meme-sites poking fun at the fumbles and goofs of students. Classroom quotes and essay excerpts are posted by teachers and take the basic meme formula from Sh*t My Dad Says and other quick-and-dirty quotables. But at a time when schools across the country are suffering severe budget cuts, and students enter institutions with increasingly limited resources, what are these sites bringing to the conversation about education?

The Ratzel Room Daily: Encouraging Kids to Think About Science in the Real World

Eric BrunsellMay 17, 2011

Tags Achievement Gap, Classroom Technology, Digital Divide, Environmental Education, Media Literacy, Project-Based Learning, , Student Engagement, Teacher Development, Middle (6-8), High (9-12), Science

The other day, I found a fascinating video and blog post about a mass of plastic debris encountered by a diver in Belize. Today, I found stunning images of an active volcano in Ecuador and a fascinating story by Mika McKinnon, about her experiences as a science consultant for the Stargate: Atlantis television series. I can't wait to see what science stories I find tomorrow.

Intervention for Failing Students: What Matters Most?

Rebecca AlberApril 8, 2011

Tags Achievement Gap, Curriculum, Dropout Prevention, Education Reform, Primary (K-2), Teacher Development, Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8), High (9-12)

A recent survey found that a good number of teachers are concerned about resources -- or a lack of -- for struggling students and those with diverse learning needs. The survey got me thinking about a popular model being used in schools today

Middle School Students Find Their Voice with Digital Cameras

Elena AguilarMarch 8, 2011

Tags Achievement Gap, Curriculum, Expeditionary Learning, Media Literacy, Student Engagement, Teacher Development, Urban Schools, Middle (6-8), High (9-12), California, Visual Arts

Some years ago I taught a life skills class to a group of eighth grade boys. The curriculum I offered wasn't working. They were disengaged -- they wouldn't read, write, or talk about what I wanted them to talk about -- and they were mounting a rebellion.

We Must Change the Narrative About Public Education: Guest Blog by Diane Ravitch

Betty RayMarch 4, 2011

Tags Achievement Gap, Arts Education, Teacher Development, All Grades

Editor's Note: Today's guest blogger is Diane Ravitch, an historian of education, an educational policy analyst, and former United States Assistant Secretary of Education. She is now a research professor at New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.

How School-Based Health Care Can Contribute to Closing the Achievement Gap

Anne OBrienFebruary 3, 2011

Tags Achievement Gap, Teacher Development, All Grades, Colorado

Some strategies to close the achievement gap are widely discussed -- lowering class sizes and paying educators a bonus to work in a low-income environment, for example. Others are not. For instance, you rarely hear about efforts to close the gap by providing school-based healthcare. But in Colorado's Montrose County School District RE-1J, that's what they're trying.

The Power of Comprehensive Assessment

Bob LenzJanuary 26, 2011

Tags Achievement Gap, Comprehensive Assessment, Curriculum, Education Reform, Performance Assessment, Student Engagement, High (9-12), California

What if we had a tool that assured us as educators that we had prepared students for college success? At Envision Schools, we believe that our Deeper Learning Assessment System is preparing our students for success in college and the data is backing up our belief.

National Educational Technology Plan: Your Questions Answered

Audrey WattersJanuary 25, 2011

Tags Achievement Gap, Classroom Technology, Digital Divide, Education Reform, Game-Based Learning, Media Literacy, Mobile Learning, Technology Integration, All Grades

Editor's Note: Today's guest blogger is Audrey Watters, is a technology journalist specializing in education technology news. She has read all 100+ pages of the National Education Technology Plan released by the U. S. Department of Education last November, and she has summarized it below.