Join KQED Education for a free four-part professional development series designed to support middle and high school STEM educators. Learn to integrate science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education in the classroom while earning up to $250 in educator stipends. Sign up for one workshop or attend all four! Space is limited register today!
To learn more.
September 21, 2012
September 22, 2012 is American Graduate Day, a multi- platform event featuring a live television broadcast, radio playlist with premiere documentaries, and participation from more than 20 national partner organizations, celebrities and athletes to spotlight solutions to the nation’s dropout crisis in which one in four students do not finish high school. Viewers and listeners will be encouraged to become an “American Graduate Champion” by offering their time, donating resources, connecting with the organizations on social media or learning more about the crisis. American Graduate Day is part of the public media initiative, American Graduate: Let’s Make It Happen, made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
With special guests including Michael Powell, representing America’s Promise Alliance, and PBS NewsHour senior correspondent Ray Suarez, the national television broadcast will air live on public television stations from the Tisch WNET Studios at Lincoln Center from 1:00 to 8:00 p.m. EST on Sept. 22 (check their local listings). The event will feature 20 national organizations that are working with local public media stations to help young people stay in school and on track for on-time graduation, segments about local community groups, compelling stories from students themselves, and highlights from PBS national and local content – from PBS NewsHour and Need to Know to Jim Glassman’s Ideas in Action and Tavis Smiley Reports: Too Important To Fail. The broadcast will also include the premiere of a new student film from Reel Works New York and a preview of the upcoming FRONTLINE documentary, Dropout Nation.
September 13, 2012
Written by Barbara Grady
McClymonds High School juniors Starletta Andrews and Astiee Carver remember how tough it was to find a safe place to hang out with friends after school this time last year.
“It’s not safe to hang outside, even outside of the school,” Astiee said about the streets surrounding this West Oakland high school.
But now, thanks to the full service community school strategy of the Oakland Unified School District, McClymonds teenagers have a brightly painted lounge with couches and games and books to hang out in or their choice of a computer room or a dance workout room at the new McClymond’s Youth and Family Center. Moreover, they have access to tutors, counselors and peer mentors all at the place a mere walk across the parking lot from their school.
To read more.
Using audio from the Teacher Town Hall poem written by Arise High School teacher Cesar Cruz and research that the student filmmakers found about the drop out crisis in Oakland they created this thought provoking video.
Sep 11, 2012
Written by Ana Tintocalis
UCLA researchers shocked the education community last spring when they found California public schools issued over 700,000 suspensions last year, mostly to black and Latino students. The study touched off a statewide effort to find out how schools apply discipline.
To hear more.
Sep 13, 2012
Written by Carlyn Bynes
Young. Black. Poor. From Oakland. If someone heard that description, they probably wouldn’t picture someone well-spoken and educated. But I want to change the way the world looks at people like me.
When I was born, according to the U.S. Census, I had a 30 percent chance of being born into poverty because my parents were African-American. And I was poor.
Having no money introduced me to a life of humility. I was constantly borrowing from others and asking for favors. Hunger was no stranger to me, either.
To hear more.
San Francisco Chronicle
September 4, 2012
Written by Jill Tucker
In the first hour of the first day of school Tuesday, the sixth-grade Oakland boy was sure he was in trouble for goofing off.
His teacher, Peter Wilson, had stopped his lesson in mid-sentence and turned his attention to the African American preteen, who now wore an uh-oh expression as he braced for a rebuke.
“Did you eat breakfast this morning?” Wilson asked quietly as the confused boy shook his head no. “Your actions are telling me you’re hungry.”
The teacher, also African American, then promised to bring fruit and granola bars the next day and returned to teaching. The boy’s behavior immediately improved.
That might not have been the result at other Oakland middle schools, where a third of black males were suspended at least once last year.
But at the 100 Black Men Community School, a new all-male public charter school, educators and organizers say they refuse to accept those odds – or any of the other statistics associated with black boys that include higher dropout rates, lower test scores and disproportionate placement in special education programs.
The school, started and financially supported by the Bay Area chapter of the 100 Black Men nonprofit organization, is open to all male students, but it was created specifically for issues facing black boys – including difficult family lives, street culture, community violence and lack of male role models outside professional sports and the music industry.
“We know our children can perform as well as any other children,” said Dr. Mark Alexander, an epidemiologist and chairman of the board for the local 100 Black Men. “We’re going to create a culture that hopefully will be stronger than the streets.”
Oakland Tribune
September 4, 2012
Written By Matt O’Brien and Theresa Harrington
As the fall semester begins, thousands of Bay Area high school students now have another reason to graduate, and thousands of young adults have a reason to return to school.
Proof of being in school or having graduated from high school could be a shield against deportation and the key to jobs for an estimated 1.76 million young, illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children if they qualify for the federal “deferred action for childhood arrivals” program announced in June.
Educators hope the lure of protection against deportation and renewable work permits will kindle the academic aspirations of young immigrants.
That hope seems a reality in East Contra Costa County, where one educator said she saw a spike in July enrollments for GED and English as a Second Language programs.
“It’s just constant all day and evening,” said Debbie Norgaard, an adult education coordinator for the Liberty school district.
“There’s just a steady flow of new students wanting either ESL or GED classes. It’s just real unusual. I’m sure it’s because of this new (deferred action) program. We have had a couple of students who have requested verification letters from our GED teacher.”
Originally aired August 31, 2012
A state bill overhauling teacher evaluations, which was set to be voted on by the Legislature today, has been withdrawn. AB-5 would have made test scores optional in assessing teachers. We’ll discuss the controversy the bill has stirred up in Sacramento, and the broader issue of teacher evaluations.