教育

I took the time to watch the documentary Ready to Rise this past week. This documentary followed the life of three young adults (Ryan, Summer and Michael) who are just like millions of Americans who are unemployed, not in school, and struggling with challenges like homelessness. I recommend watching this film as it depicts the real life struggles of those who suffer from the disparities in our society and education system.  The documentary itself follows them as they cross the country interviewing many people who inspire them along the way to fight against there plights and turn their hardships into success.

Tijuan Holmes, right, focuses on his work in Gualter Moura’s AP Calculus class at Mission Bay High School in San Diego. The district aims to enroll more low-income students and students of color in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses.—Sandy Huffaker for Education Week

This article by Denisa R. Superville talks about education problems facing many minority students in San Diego school districts. The author focuses on how the city plans acclimate more minority students into its public schools AP curriculum. Many students are sometimes unaware that they have the opportunity to sign up for these advanced classes. The author uses the term “Missing Students” to state that there is a large number of gifted students who go unnoticed by programs such AP or IB.

Across the country, there are approximately 640,000 high school students who are capable of taking AP and IB classes but are not enrolled in them, and fewer than 1 percent of schools have AP and IB enrollments that reflect their schools' diversity, said Reid Saaris, the executive director and founder of Equal Opportunity Schools.

The organization has teamed up with dozens of school systems in recent years to expand access to AP and IB classes at the same time that many districts are working to strip away barriers for students, including by picking up the cost of AP exams.It the contributors hopes that this shift will create more opportunities for individuals that may have not have had they same chances as other students.

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In the heat of a important presidential campaign season. We as electors should take note of the possible presidential candidates stances on on education.

In terms of democratic and republic front-runners, their are a variety of stances on our current education system

Trump- Limit federal intervention and disband national standardizes test.

Clinton- Focus more support on public schooling and let charter schools act as a supplement to them.

The Quality Education in Developing Countries initiative (“QEDC”) was an eight-year effort to help ensure that all children have the chance to go to school and to learn, unfortunately this effort came to a end late 2014. However the QEDC made great strides in the 8 years of its work.  The QEDC set out to tackle the challenge that many children in school are not actually learning.   In addition to drawing attention to the learning crisis, the QEDC initiative also supported those attempting to demonstrate how to overcome the crisis. In particular, the Foundation funded organizations that were providing teachers with methods and materials for teaching reading and math better and organizations focused on engaging parents and communities in their children’s learning.

This photo, taken at a school outside Accra, Ghana, illustrates some of the barriers that get in the way of learning: there are over 60 children and not a single textbook in sight.  (Photo Credit: Dana Schmidt/ Hewlett Foundation)

This photo shows a teacher testing a young boy outside of Lucknow, India, in preparation for their annual assessment. These assessments have made the learning crisis visible in a way that has inspired both donors and governments to act. (Photo Credit: Dana Schmidt/ Hewlett Foundation)

In this photo, hundreds of children in Northern Uganda make their way to school in the morning. In Uganda, it’s clear to parents and policymakers alike that most children are now going to school. The issues of access in Uganda were much more visible than issues of learning. So the the QEDC sought to bring more attention and visibility to the issue of learning outcomes. (Photo Credit: Dana Schmidt/ Hewlett Foundation) ______________________________________________________________

The Future Selfie campaign (#FutureSelfie) was an initiative created by those at Bankrate. Those at Bankrate saw the difficulties of paying for college and decided to  “invest in the futures of some truly creative and inspiring students by creating a unique scholarship opportunity.” The campaign consisted of students taking a photo and writing a caption showcasing their career ambitions, dreams and goals for a chance to win $5,000 for school. Their mission was to promote financial literacy by investing into our students futures.

This campaign stressed the importance of education and exhibited the uniqueness of a persons goals and ambitions. Available on twitter, it is an effective way to broaden the horizons of many students. The advent of social media has brought on new ways people share themselves with the world. The picture shown above depicts a young woman smiling while gesturing the peace sign. It is presented in a gray-scale with a personal quote stretching across it.

For a viewer this is both striking and pleasing. It has the potential to draw people in and possible post a few selfies of their own.  People tend to be drawn to images that they can relate to. Each of these post may potential represent a common dream shared by more than one person. When education campaigns use images of an ambitious child or a hopeful teen, people relate to it, Overall, this campaign was successful because it targeted a wide audience and encouraged young people to strive for an education.

Students were given the opportunity to express their #FutureSelfie. This scholarship was a very  successful social media campaign, sparking an authentic conversation across Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tumblr. This multi-platform experience was a greet way to generate a good deal of social media presence. This campaign consisted almost entirely of user-generated selfies and quotes while simple, this campaign needs not much improvement less run the risks of losing its effect. The students thoughts and energy are what fueled this campaign and made it successful.

http://www.bankrate.com/scholarships/future-selfie-scholarship/

In today's entertainment industry certain aspects of our culture, that for the most would be considered negative, seem to to have many niche markets in which they sell. However, these aspects are often portrayed through African Americans. When looking at the music industry specifically we see a clear distinctions of this portrayal when the record labels and studios sign certain artist who can convey an image that they feel will sell to the masses. For the last 30 years or so, this image has been of what most Americans call a Thug. Now historical, African Americans began using the music industry as a way to convey their plight and struggle. However, in a modern sense, we see less of this struggle and more glorification of negative characteristics that sell to the masses. 

Here’s another clip from the acclaimed documentary “Waiting for Superman”. In this clip we are presented with the reality of some families wanting to provide a better chance at education for their children. The statistics in the Los Angeles school districts are shocking to say the least.