America's High School Graduates Look Like Other Countries' High School Dropouts

America is said to be one of the greatest countries in the world, but in many aspects especially in education, we're falling behind many if not all other industrialized countries. The jist of this article is that in literacy, math, and technology skills America is looking quite bleak as compared to many other countries in terms of simple, basic, functions for every day life or skills that are necessary to be successful human beings. The caveat is for those individuals who attend higher education. However, the bigger question is, how is this happening? Why is our education system failing our youth? I'm not saying that students have to come out of high school knowing as much as someone who has gotten their masters or a PhD, but they should have basic literacy, math, and technology skills in order to function in today's world and be successful. I would say that this is because of the difference in standards between each state and the overall standard in which we are holding our students as compared to other countries. This article provides further explanation and more details about the differences between the states and their standards.

Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools

The Untold Stories of Black Girls

After seeing the viral video of the resource officer flipping the student out of her desk, Monique Morris, (scholar, author and activist) was concerned about what else happened… when the cameras weren’t rolling. The article points to recent research that black girls are punished at school at rates that are even more disproportionate than those experienced by black boys. For example, they are suspended 6 times more often than white girls. Morris calls this "a story untold," and she sets out to tell it in her new book, Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools.

Morris states, "Most teachers do engage in their work with love. [But] we're all impacted by implicit biases. ... If we're not actively monitoring and holding ourselves and institutions accountable, we're missing the mark completely and leaving girls much more vulnerable." I totally agree with her. I feel as social workers we must be aware of personal bias and also the systemic bias within the institutions in which we work. Not only must we have awareness, but we must hold others accountable and advocate for the students who are being treated unfairly. 

Physical Activity Education's Contributions to Public Health

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07303084.2016.1142182

Physical activity educators have to continually justify their existence. Physical education runs the risk of being deemed “nice, but not necessary” within a formal curriculum. Physical education programs and courses are put on the defensive in order to avoid reductions in size and scope, if not complete elimination. One area that has seen progress is the association of cognitive benefits to physical activity participation. Physical activity is good for the brain and enhances learning, and it might amplify learning in other subjects such as mathematics and reading.  some have suggested that “a public image makeover may…be in order” with a greater emphasis placed on how physical activity education contributes to public health. Swimming as One Example of How Skill Acquisition Contributes to Public Health More than 3,500 people die annually in the United States from unintentional Drowning. If more people were taught basic water-safety skills and how to swim, at least some of these accidental deaths or near-deaths and the associated human suffering and financial costs could be prevented. What do you think?

The Language of Special Education...

http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/03/17/469792061/how-the-language-of-special-education-is-evolving


This is a great article because often times in the social work profession and others we "label" people with disorders or syndromes.  What we need to be cognizant of that students with disabilities are still people and still students.  Often times we need to separate the disorder from the child not only in the education field but other fields as well.  This point is also expressed in my other class "Writing for Agency Practice."  Very interesting read.  

Homeless High Schoolers Face Barriers to Education

http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/high-school-notes/2014/09/29/homeless-high-schoolers-face-barriers-to-education

Homelessness, of course, will pose barriers to education for students.  What I found interesting and good information to know for those who will work in schools is that "public schools are required under federal law to ensure that homeless students have access to a free public education.  Homeless youth are allowed to stay in their school, regardless of where they end up, and school must provide students transportation to that school."  Despite this, "young people who experience homelessness were 87 percent more likely to stop going to school according to the 2014 Don't Call Them Dropouts report from the America's Promise Alliance and its Center for Promise at Tufts University".  Homelessness is a challenge for today's students, and it is something school social workers and educators need to be aware of to be informed on why students may be missing school and also to try to help prevent students from dropping out of school.

School Policy Changes For Fights

Consequences For School Fights

    

 The attached article describes a new policy in schools. I was shocked to learn about this in my recent work in Mansfield City Schools; legal repercussions for school fights! At our school students who engage in physical fights with each other are going to get a charge. With schools enlisting the local law enforcement in the form of "Resource Officers" there is usually someone on hand to file and send the reports to the prosecutor's office. This is a policy that is completely different from when I went to school, only 6 years ago. The usual policy was a visit to the principal and some time spent out of school for suspension.  Recently, a fight broke out between students, and the highschool principal was involved in breaking it up. The principal was kicked and injured by one of the girls and the resource officer told me the girl might get charged with felonious assault. I can see both sides of this; school faculty and staff need to be protected but also this policy seems harsh used as a blanket for all situations. This topic shows the interaction between the education system and the criminal justice system.

Keeping Students in School

Currently, I am following two bills in related to school discipline and truancy which is aimed to help keep students in school. HB410 has been introduced and referred to the Education committee. Senator Lehner is also working on a similar bill to HB410. These bills would change Ohio law to align with best practices by moving away from zero tolerance school discipline policies and keeping youth out of the juvenile court system for missing school. Erin Davis, Executive Director of the Juvenile Justice Coalition, created a fact sheet on Ohio school discipline policies and truancy laws.

Research says that decreased school attendance can lead to:

1) diminished academic performance
2) a higher likelihood of out-of-school suspension and expulsion
3) an increased likelihood of juvenile court involvement.

Data shows that non-white students, students with disabilities, and low income students are disproportionately impacted by current policies. They are more likely to be truant, chronically absent, and suspended/expelled from school.

To read in more detail click on "fact sheet" above to access Erin's write up on the issues. Or you can find it through the link here.