Originally aired on KQED Radio as a special broadcast March 29, 2012 from 8-10pm
Did you know that Oakland has one of the highest high school dropout rates in the state of California? As part of the American Graduate initiative, a Teacher Town Hall was recently held at Oakland’s Laney College. Moderated by Snap Judgment host Glynn Washington, its goal was to celebrate best practices and elevate teachers’ voices around the issue, listen now.
Did you know that students with learning differences are twice as likely as their peers to drop out of school? Our colleagues at PBS NewsHour recently explored the challenges facing those students in this report:
Watch Engaging Students With Learning Disabilities Early On on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.
At 11am NewsHour will host a live chat about learning differences with educators, education advocates and students who dropped out. You can follow the conversation and participate in the chat window below.
Education Report Blog
March 28th 2012
Written By Katy Murphy
The Oakland Education Association is holding a rally today to protest the district’s decision to have teachers at Castlemont, Fremont and McClymonds apply for a new, 11-month teaching position if they want to remain on those campuses. (In case I haven’t reminded you enough, the Tribune is holding a forum tomorrow on this very issue.)
Do you agree with the below assessment that the district’s plan is “the latest corporate-inspired flavor of the month,” rather than a real solution?
Forum American Graduate Special
We continue a special live broadcast from Oakland’s Castlemont High School on the dropout crisis in public schools. In this hour, we turn to policymakers and education reformers who have given this issue a lot of thought. Do they think the problem is only about schools? Or does it have more systemic causes? What are some proven, innovative approaches to help alleviate the problem?
Forum: American Graduate Radio Special
Nearly one-quarter of American high school students drop out before they graduate. In Oakland, the problem is even worse: more than 35 percent of high school students in the city don’t reach graduation. Dropouts are exposed to an uncertain future with higher rates of crime, poverty and health problems than their peers with diplomas. In a special live broadcast from Oakland’s Castlemont High School, we discuss the dropout challenge with educators and students. Listen and learn more about this debate.
Storify
March 13, 2012
Written by Ian Hill
That’s a question KQED is asking as part of the American Graduate, an innovative new program designed to combat the dropout crisis. This question was posted at Spotify before the event, follow these responses. Which one of these comments did you most agree with?
Storify
March 13, 2012
Written By Ian Hill
Young people throughout our country are dropping out of school in high numbers. On March 13 KQED hosted a town hall meeting at Laney College in Oakland with teachers, students and others to discuss the dropout crisis. Follow the play by play on Storify.
Several months ago, Perspectives editor Mark Trautwein received a package containing 31 Perspectives, the work of a sixth grade Humanities class at The San Francisco School, an independent, private school. The Perspectives impressed him; many were deeply personal and revealed the struggle of young people starting to form their own opinions of the world. Trautwein worked with the teacher of the class, Ruth Corley, to present the pieces as web-exclusive Perspectives.
EdSpace Blog
March 14, 2012
Written by Matthew Green
On March 13, teachers, education advocates, and a number of students filled the theater at Laney College in Oakland to address the problem, ask important questions, and share thoughts on how best to tackle this ongoing crisis in American education. The forum was part of American Graduate: Let’s Make It Happen, an initiative spearheaded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), in partnership with America’s Promise Alliance and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Moderated by Snap Judgement host Glynn Washington, Tuesday’s event centered around a panel of seasoned Oakland educators who spoke passionately about the extent of the crisis from their unique perspectives. While specific opinions and suggested courses of action varied widely, all participants were united in their insistence that a whole generation of young people are being left behind, and that urgent change is desperately needed.
Learn about the overarching themes discussed that night.
