How to Prevent your Child from Becoming a Dropout

To end Black dropouts, parents must value education and take it seriously. As a parent you just can’t leave the education of your child to the teachers and administrators no matter what type of school your child attends.

Even if you dropped out of high school or didn’t complete college, it is still important for you to be :

• aware of the school’s curriculum,
• what expectations the school, especially your child's teachers, have for your child,
• the school’s standards,
• the teachers' and the administrators’ qualifications,
• the school’s rankings,
• your child’s safety in the schools,
• whether giving homework is a part of the school’s policy,
• and whether the school welcome and encourage your involvement.

As a parent, you have responsibility to provide for your child’s food, shelter, and his overall development in becoming a functioning adult in society. Your child’s education is an essential piece of the puzzle. Set the right environment in the home.

Organize your home and your child to make sure that he can balance doing chores, completing homework, associating with his friends, having special times with you, and having fun. Set a good example. Let your child see you reading. Watch educational programs with your child. Have conversations about current events and what's being taught in your child’s classrooms.

Again, take the education of your child seriously. You don’t want your child to get discouraged and drop out of high school. Let them know that not only is this unacceptable.

Tell your child that what is acceptable is for him to apply himself, make the required effort, graduate, and go on to realize his full potential. And, most of all encouragement him and give him your full support.

Leave your comments below. And don't forget to Follow.

Three Essential Goals of Education No One Talks About

The focus is on ending Black dropouts. When dropout factories continue to exist, it begs the question, what are the goals of education.

While I firmly believe that the education of our youth is a local issue and not a federal one, each locality should be clear about their educational goals.

Here I am offering a guide for developing specific educational goals.

1. The goal of a good education is to help young people to become both more receptive to and more discriminating about the world: seeing, feeling, and understanding more, yet sorting the pertinent from the irrelevant with a more discerning touch, increasingly able to integrate what they see and to make meaning of it in ways that enhance their ability to keep on growing.

2. The goal of education is to promote significant learning. Significant learning entails development. Development means successively asking broad and deeper questions of the relationship between oneself and the world. This is for first-graders as well as for graduate students, for fledging artists as well as for graying accountants.

3. The final goal of education in the schools should be to create men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done ; men and women who are creative, inventive, and discoverers, who can be critical and verify, and not accept everything they are offered.


What are your thoughts. Do you think these goals are realistic?

Leave your comments below.

Best Way to Keep a Black Youngster in School

The youngster's school setting which recognizes his efforts and potential is the greatest factor in assuring that the youngster will graduate. 

While testing and holding teachers and administers accountable has a role, too much is often made of this to the detriment of the student. 

Teachers become inclined to "teach to the test" to make themselves look good, to get a bonus or both. 

It can even lead teachers and administers to cheat and short-change the student as what happened in Atlanta, Georgia a few years ago by criminal and greedy Black teachers and principals.   

Again, recognizing the youngster's efforts and potential is the greatest factor in assuring that the youngster will graduate. 

Your Thoughts? Leave your comments below. 

11 Signs that Your Child's School Welcomes Parents

Parent involvement is a key factor in dropout prevention. 

Lack of parent involvement should be considered a significant risk factor leading to teenagers dropping out of high school. 

Conscientious teachers and school officials should encourage parent involvement and make the school inviting to all parents.  

Here are 11 characteristics you might see in a school that is serious about parental involvement:

1. Keeps parents up-to-date (via a bulletin board, Web site, hot line, or news­letter) about upcoming school events, personnel changes, volunteer oppor­tunities, etc.
2.  Informs parents about important changes under consideration before putting them into effect.
3.  Encourages parent-staff committees to weigh in on decisions that signifi­cantly effect the school (e.g., budget, curriculum, teacher hiring).
4.  Holds frequent events (such as open-house nights) where parents and teach­ers can meet, talk, and swap information.
5.  Provides phone numbers or e-mail addresses where parents can reach teachers.
6.  Supports an active parent-teacher group (PTA or PTO).
7.  Invites parents to observe children's classes.
8.  Greets mothers and fathers warmly; treats them in a courteous manner when they ask questions.
9.  Invites parents to make suggestions and evaluate the job that the school is doing, through surveys or direct communication with staff.
10.  Provides clear written information about school rules and procedures.
11.  Explains things to parents in everyday English, not jargon you can't under­stand. 

Do your child's school encourage your involvement. Let me know. 

What You Need to Know About the Failing Chicago Public Schools

In major cities across America, public school students are entering their adult years far behind the curve. But nowhere is the crumbling of a major public school system more evident than in the city of Chicago.

Recently, one school's prom slogan showed in just four words how far Chicago Public Schools has fallen. That Spring, just like high schoolers at schools across America, students at Paul Robeson High School planned their prom festivities. They picked dresses, tuxes, corsages and boutonnieres. 

Signs of a Bad Public School System
But before all of that, they picked a theme: "This Is Are Story." It's an error, and an obvious one -- but it's no laughing matter. It's just the latest sign of how badly Chicago's public schools are failing the city's students. 

Consider this:

• Four out of 10 CPS freshmen don't graduate.
• 91 percent of CPS graduates must take remedial courses in college because they do not know how to do basic math and other schoolwork.
• Only 26 percent of CPS high school students are college-ready, according to results from ACT subject-matter tests.

Youngsters not Prepared for Graduation

In reference to the youngsters that do graduate, the requirements are not rigorous at all. In fact, students can fail one of four core classes (English, mathematics, science, and social sciences) each year and still advance to the next grade level. They also only have to garner just a D in each class they take to earn the 24 credit hours they need to graduate.

It is important to remember what a graduation rate doesn’t tell us -- namely, how prepared the graduating students are for college. On that front the Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union is failing miserably.

According to a recent report, 45 percent of CPS graduates begin their senior year not doing well enough academically to attend a four year college. In the fall after graduation, the most common outcome for these students was to be neither working nor in school. Education should be the great equalizer; but in Chicago, public education is more of a holding cell than a launch pad.

Black Youngsters Used as Pawns
The prom slogan mentioned above is especially sad when you consider which school it comes from: Paul Robeson High School is located in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago -- one of the poorest, most violent neighborhoods in the city. There have been 156 murders in Englewood since 2007. The average per capita income is $12,255, and 23.6 percent of residents are unemployed.

And as things stand, Paul Robeson students have little reason to hope for change. They are some of the same students who, as underclassmen in September 2012, were used as pawns by the Chicago Teachers Union during a week long strike.

During this teacher contract battle, the CTU and it's members walked out on about 400,000 students at 675 schools. For that week, students and their families were left scrambling -- for daycare, for meals, for a safe place to spend the days or trying to get off work so students weren't unattended. Not to mention, they weren't learning.

This fight wasn't waged over students; it was a power struggle about how much grown-ups get paid. Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis and other union leaders waged a war that locked students out of classrooms over pay increases and refusal to implement a more rigorous teacher evaluation processes.

I will talk about this recent CTU strike in my next post.

What do you think about this situation. Leave your thoughts below. 

My Journey from High School Dropout to Becoming a Professional

My high school drop out mistake began at age fifteen. Although legally I could have been forced to continue attending school until age of 16, the big city school that I attended either didn't have a truant
officer or if it did, no one was sent to my house to investigate why a youngster of fifteen all of a sudden wasn't going to school.

The reality was this school just didn't care. In fact, in my opinion neither the administration nor the teachers really cared about the students. And, therein lies the primary reason why most youngsters drop out of big city high schools. They perceive, and accurately so, that no one cares about them. To put it another way^, no one is likely to take the time to understand what they are experiencing in their lives that might be driving them towards dropping out of high school. They just drop out and become another statistic.

However after dropping out and wasting nearly three and a half years of my life, having no sense of direction and getting into trouble in the streets, I enlisted into the Army. My goals for going into the Army were to finish high school and to learn a marketable trade. I did not realize either of these two goals, although I did complete cook school and became an army cook. Nevertheless, the two benefits that were really helpful for me were the GI bill providing Educational Benefits and the Veterans' Home Loan benefit. After being honorably discharged, I took advantage of both. One allowed me to enter and complete undergraduate school and the other allowed me to gain ownership of my first home.

Although it took me six years from the time I dropped out after my second year in high school to graduate from high school, the learning experience was invaluable. I then had acquired the inner motivation and discipline to complete undergraduate school, to complete graduate school, and to go on to become licensed in three different professions.

The lesson here is that if just one teacher or administrator would take maybe five to ten minutes after classes are over to engage a youngster in a conversation about how things are going at home; how things are going with his class mates; and, how things are going in his neighborhood. Then after this conversation, to invite the parent to come in for a conversation about how they can work together in behalf of the student.

Just this small act would significantly reduce the number of yearly drop outs.


Do you know any youngsters who had a similar experience as I did? Leave your comments below.

Superb Ways to Prevent Dropouts

We cannot afford to shortchange our youngsters intelligence.  When you, as a teacher, make your
classroom interesting and challenging, you show that you are interested in the child intellectual advancement and the child's effort will reflect that.

And, as a child goes through his elementary grades and advances to high school, that high school must find ways to individualize the education of the youngsters and show the child that their presence in the classroom is important. Indeed, the whole climate in the school must reflect that for all the students.

The school must not only teach basic subjects, but also be flexible enough to have the child pursue personal interests either in or out of the classroom and get credit for doing so. The youngsters who created the app for dealing with police brutality are to be commended just as much or more so than the youngsters who excel in basketball or football..

We must recognize our children not only for their athletic prowess, but also for their intellectual accomplishments.  This gives an equal recognition and consideration to both and when children know that their individual efforts are being appreciated and praised you will get more of that type of effort. Always keep this in mind. It will go along way towards preventing dropouts.



What would you like to add to these ways? Leave them below.

Students Taking Control Of Their Education

It is significant when students take the quality of their education in their own 

hands. Here's what a group of students with the help of Students Matter 
recently did in California to make a difference.  Read this lawsuit and 
follow this case closely.

OVERVIEW

Students  Matter  is  a  national  non profit  organization  dedicated  to  
sponsoring  impact litigation to  promote access to quality  public  education. 
Students  Matter’s  first  case is Vergara  v.  California, a  statewide education 
equality lawsuit filed by nine California public school  students from districts 
around  the  state.

Vergara  v.  California seeks to  strike  down  the  outdated  and  harmful  

state  laws preventing California  from  embracing  a  teacher  career  system  

that elevates teacher  quality,  raises  the prestige of  the  teaching  profession 

and  promotes  equal access  to  quality education  for  all  students

Why  California?

Students  Matter chose  to  sponsor  its  first  case against  the  state  of  

California  because California  public  schools  have  fallen inexcusably far  

behind  the  rest  of  the  nation, both in academic achievement  and in  progress 

toward  embracing  proven  ways  of  raising  student success

Why  focus  on  teachers?

Students  Matter  believes  in  the  power  of  a  good  teacher. Research  

shows  that  quality teachers make the difference not  only  in  students’  

academic performance  but  also  in lifetime  achievement. Quality  teachers  

are  the  foundation  of  a  quality education. Yet,  five state  laws  in  California  

restrict  access  to  quality  teachers, particularly from our most vulnerable  

students who  need  quality  teachers  the  most.    

Why  litigation?    

When  specific  laws violate  the fundamental,  Constitutional  rights of  our 

children, the  judicial system is the  only  way  forward.  The courts offer  

a unique opportunity to put politics and rhetoric aside, focus on the  facts,  

and do what is truly best for students.

For more information on go to: Students Matter 

info@studentsmatter.org

@Students_Matter

FIRST CASE

With  the  help  of  Students  Matter,  n

ine  California  public  school  students

from  districts  around  

the  state

filed  

Vergara  v.  California

against  the  State  of  California

in  May  2012.

In  May  2013,  

the  stat

e’s  two  largest  teachers  unions,  

the  Califor

nia  Teachers  Association  and  the  California  

Federation  of  Teachers,  

intervened  in  the  case  to  defend  the  statutes

.  

The  

California  Superior  Court  for  Los  Angeles  County  has  allocated  

four  full  weeks  for  the  

Vergara  v.  California

trial,

beginning  on  January  27,  2014.  

By  removing  outdated  barriers  to  progress,  

Vergara  v.  California

will  create  an  opportunity  for  

all  integral  education  stakeholders

to  come  together  to  create  a  modern,  fair  and  empowering  

teacher  career  system.

The  case  

challenges  five  statutes  of  the  Education  Code

that,  separately  and  together,  

push

some  of  our  best  teachers  out  

of  the  classroom  and  entrench

grossly

ineffective  teachers  in  our  

schools,  

creating  

an  arbitrary,  unjustifiable  and  unconstitutional  inequality

among  students:

•

Permanent  Employment  Statut

e,

which  effectively  guarantee

s

all  teachers  

permanent  employment  after  only  18  months  on  the  job  a

nd  meaningless  evaluations

;

•

Dismissal  Statute

s,

which  create  a  nearly  insurmountable  set  of  obstacles  for  school  

administrators  to  dismiss  a  single  ineffective  teacher;  and

•

Last

-­‐

in,  First  Out  Statute,

which  forces  school  districts  to  make  decisions  about  

district

-­‐

wide  layoffs  and  subsequent  reassignments  based  solely  on  teacher  seniority,  

with  no  consideration  for  performance  in  the  classroom.  

TEAM

Founder

:

S

tudents  Matter  founder  

David  F.  Welch  currently  serves  as  

the  President

of

a  high

-­‐

tech  company  in  Silicon  Valley

.  

Dave  is

a  parent  of  three  children

and  

has  been  engaged  with  

bringing  positive  change  to  

public  education  for  more  than  a  decade

.

Legal

:

Theodore  B.  Olson

,

Theodore  J.  Boutrous,  

and  Marcellus  McRae,  

partners  at  Gibson,  

Dunn  &  Crutcher,  head  the  legal  team  for  Students  Matter.  A  former  U.S.  Solicitor  General,  Mr.  

Olson  has  twice  received  the  U.S.  Department  of  Justice’s  highest  award  for  public  service  and  

le

adership.  Mr.  Boutrous  has  been  named  one  of  the  100  best  lawyers  in  California  for  

eight

consecutive  years.  

Prior  to  joining  Gibson,  Dunn  &  Crutcher,  Mr.  McRae  served  as  an  Assistant  

U.S.  Attorney  in  Los  Angeles.  

Combined,  Mr.  Olson  and  Mr.  Boutrous  have  

argued  

over  

60  cases  

before  the  U.S.  Supreme  Court

,  most  recently

,  

the  federal  challenge  invalidating  California’s  

prohibition  on  same

-­‐

sex  marriage,  Proposition  8

.  

Communications

:

The  issue  advocacy  firm  G

riffin|Schein  manages  all  communications,  

coaliti

on

building  and  strategy  for  Students  Matter.

Griffin|Schein

develops  and  manages

issue  

advocacy  campaigns

for  

leading  foundations,  

nonprofit

organizations  and  philanthropists

and  

specializes  in  communications  around  impact  litigation.  Most  prominently,  

Griffin|Schein  

developed  and  executed  

the  communications  

s

trategy  supporting  the  marriage  equality  lawsuit  

that  struck  down  California’s  

Proposition  8  

and  

the  advocacy  campaign  

for  gun  violence  

reduction  

employed  by  Sandy  Hook  Promise  in  the  wake  of  the  Newtow

n  school  sh