Complementary Learning: Guest Post by Bobbie Henderson

Today, in Tulsa and throughout the nation, we hear lots of talk about education reform.  At Camp Fire, we believe we need a parallel discussion of “informal education” reform.  We’re talking about ensuring that all children have the same opportunities for enriching experiences beyond the classroom. Three items in the Sunday, August 2, 2009 New [...]

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Quote of the Day

“The most important ‘post-high school’ education and training reform is a strong early childhood and elementary and secondary education system.” – From the Council of Economic Advisors report “Preparing the Workers of Today for the Jobs of Tomorrow“ By the way, you are owed a substantive post from me and you shall get it. Get [...]

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Education Reform Scholar Coming to Tulsa

Tony Wagner, co-director of the Change Leadership Group at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and author of several books on 21st century teaching, skills, and education, will deliver a public lecture tomorrow at Holland Hall at 7:30 pm. The event will be held in the Branch Theatre of the Walter Arts Center, 5666 E. 81st [...]

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The Politics of Oklahoma Education

David Blatt at the Oklahoma Policy Institute details some odd alliances in the Oklahoma legislature over education reform: But on SB 1111, a bill authored by Sen. Clark Jolley that moves various education reporting and accountability functions from the State Department of Education to the Office of Accountability based with the Regents for Higher Education, [...]

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Positive Focus Boosts Grades

A new study in the journal Science found that a confidence-building exercise in the seventh grade lifted the grade point averages of low-performing black students through the end of eighth grade. The New York Times reports:  The researchers, led by Geoffrey L. Cohen, a social psychologist at the University of Colorado, had seventh graders in [...]

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A Different Kind of Lottery for Education

Chad Aldeman writes for InsideHigherEd that selective colleges and universities ought to scrap their admissions systems and replace it with a lottery: Each year, thousands of qualified applicants bombarded the admissions office, and, even after setting a relatively high standard, the admissions office had far too many qualified applicants to choose from, and very little [...]

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Dept. of Easily Spotted Trends

Pretty stark, eh? Hat tip: Quck and the Ed.

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The Power of Germ-x

Researching the consequences of elementary school absenteeism (or, if you’re an optimist, the benefits of attendance). Came across a study that found that the availability of an  “alcohol gel hand sanitizer” (i.e. Germ-x) in elementary classrooms reduced child absences school wide by 20% and teacher absences by 10%. Specifically, teachers and students used the product [...]

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Education Pick Emphasizes Early Childhood

Arne Duncan, President-elect Obama’s choice for Education Secretary, began his confirmation hearings today, appearing before Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee. Congressional Quarterly reports that Duncan “promised a new emphasis on early childhood education” and called for a commission on the subject as well as improved cooperation between his department and the Department [...]

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Two Types of Low-Skill Jobs

Speaking of the Urban Institute, they have a research brief out called “Entry-Level and Next-Step Jobs in the Low-Skill Job Market” (pdf). The authors look for differences in noncollege jobs between “entry-level” – those that do not require a high school diploma, prior experience, or related skills trainings – and “next-step” – those that require [...]

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