Sunday, September 24, 2006

This Weeks's News: Youth in Transition

Education

In Many Classroom, “Honors” in Name Only
Washington Post
19 September 2006
In an American education system full of plans for better high schools, more and more courses have impressive labels, such as “honors,” “advanced,” “college prep,” and “advanced placement.” But many researchers and educators say the teaching often does not match the title. They call it course-label inflation.


GRPS tries a new approach for dropouts
WOOD-TV, MI
21-September
In an effort to lure high school drop outs back to school, Grand Rapids Public Schools are trying a new approach that uses hip hop and flexible school schedules.


Juvenile Justice

Families Can Open Their Homes to Troubled Teens

Miami Herald
14 September 2006
A new program in West Kendall funded by the state’s juvenile justice system is recruiting families to host troubled youth in their homes. Using a proven behavioral system, host parents and a group of clinical therapist encourage teenagers with serious delinquency or behavioral problems to develop skills and positive habits to become model citizens.


Is Adult Prison Best for Juveniles?
USA Today
21 September 2006

Get-tough laws that have put more teenagers in adult prisons since the early 90’s jibe poorly with new research on how children can be set straight and society protected at the same time. There is firm evidence that teens prosecuted as adults are much more likely to commit crimes when they get out than those tried as juveniles.

Foster Care

The Oldest Foster Kids Risk Falling To Failure
Tennessean
24-September 2006
This is a group of kids who are more likely by a factor of several times to end up homeless, to end up dependent, to experience a youth adulthood or unemployment, underemployment and poverty. The leading predictor of success for a youngster in foster care, especially an older one, is a caring adult.

This Weeks's News: Youth in Transition

Education

In Many Classroom, “Honors” in Name Only
Washington Post
19 September 2006
In an American education system full of plans for better high schools, more and more courses have impressive labels, such as “honors,” “advanced,” “college prep,” and “advanced placement.” But many researchers and educators say the teaching often does not match the title. They call it course-label inflation.


GRPS tries a new approach for dropouts
WOOD-TV, MI
21-September
In an effort to lure high school drop outs back to school, Grand Rapids Public Schools are trying a new approach that uses hip hop and flexible school schedules.


Juvenile Justice

Families Can Open Their Homes to Troubled Teens

Miami Herald
14 September 2006
A new program in West Kendall funded by the state’s juvenile justice system is recruiting families to host troubled youth in their homes. Using a proven behavioral system, host parents and a group of clinical therapist encourage teenagers with serious delinquency or behavioral problems to develop skills and positive habits to become model citizens.


Is Adult Prison Best for Juveniles?
USA Today
21 September 2006

Get-tough laws that have put more teenagers in adult prisons since the early 90’s jibe poorly with new research on how children can be set straight and society protected at the same time. There is firm evidence that teens prosecuted as adults are much more likely to commit crimes when they get out than those tried as juveniles.

Foster Care

The Oldest Foster Kids Risk Falling To Failure
Tennessean
24-September 2006
This is a group of kids who are more likely by a factor of several times to end up homeless, to end up dependent, to experience a youth adulthood or unemployment, underemployment and poverty. The leading predictor of success for a youngster in foster care, especially an older one, is a caring adult.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

More Schools Falling Short
The Boston Globe
13 September 2006
More of the state's public schools are failing to measure up under federal standards, and the number of schools receiving the worst designation has nearly doubled since last year, according to a preliminary report released yesterday.

Harvard Ends Early Admission
New York Times
12 September 2006
University officials argued that early admissions programs put low-income and minority applicants at a distinct disadvantage.

Is Early Admission Unfair? Harvard’s decision to scrap the practice this week has sparked a debate about how colleges should pick students
The Christian Science Monitor
14 September 2006
When Jamie Dusseault applies to college this fall, she'll try what an increasing number of informed students do to better their chances at select institutions: Apply early.

Teacher leaves schools $1.3 million
The Flint Journal
09 September 2006
In her 29 years as a teacher and counselor at Davison High School, Edna Diehl came across as serious, sometimes even strict, to her students. But it was clear to everyone that she cared deeply and wanted them to succeed in life.

States score low marks in higher ed
Stateline.org
07 September 2006A new report flunks 43 states for their efforts to make college affordable and urges states to do more if tomorrow’s students are to successfully compete on a global scale.


Juvenile Justice


Chartering a Course Past Gang Life (editorial)
Los Angeles Times
11 September 2006
The gray vinyl-covered twin beds are similar to the ones that furnish jail cells. But the four young men who just moved into Suite 308 of this Cal State Northridge dormitory couldn't be more aware that their new accommodations mark a milestone on a divergent path.

Federal Report Finds Significant Improvement at Juvenile Hall
The Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.)
12 September 2006
Treatment of young offenders in the Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall has improved significantly since 2003, when allegations of abuse and excessive force prompted a federal investigation.

Saturday, September 09, 2006

This Week's News: 09 September 2006

Juvenile Justice

Families Relocate Gang Members to Save Them
Sept 07, 2006, USA Today, Kevin Johnson
At a time when gang-related violence is boosting crime rates, a few clergy, parents and even police in troubled communities quietly have been helping to relocate youths in last-ditch efforts to extricate them from gang life.

More Kids In Custody
Sept 02, 2006, The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.), Bleys W. Rose
The number of children at Sonoma County's newly built juvenile hall and Valley of the Moon center for abused children has soared beyond expectations, leaving officials puzzled as to why.

Education

Push to Win Back Dropouts
Sept 05, 2006, The Christian Science Monitor, Amanda Paulson
Chris Ahnert left high school because he figured he didn't have the credits to graduate, anyway.
Aziz Animashan left after he got kicked off the basketball team - the only thing keeping him there.

Vying for Students, Catholic Highs Refurbish, Expand
Sept 05, 2006, The Boston Globe, Tracy Jan
Plasma televisions mounted in hallways display the daily bulletin at St. John's Preparatory School, and computerized white boards have replaced chalk boards in every classroom.

College Students Get Help from Coaches
Sept 07, 2006, The Associated Press/The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Justin Pope
New York students are well-prepared for college, compared with their counterparts nationwide. But they are struggling to pay once they get there.

Foster Care

Alamo WorkSource to help former foster kids find jobs
Sept 07, 2006, San Antonio Business Journal
Alamo WorkSource is partnering with the state of Texas to launch a program designed to help young adults transition from foster care to life on their own.

Known as Preparation for Adult Living, or PAL, the program under the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services will use Alamo WorkSource to provide youth with services such as job-hunting assistance, job-readiness training, life-skills coaching, counseling on housing and medical help, and comprehensive case management.

Sunday, September 03, 2006

This Week's News: 03 September 2006

Education

In Schools Across U.S., the Melting Pot Overflows
Sam Dillon, The New York Times - August 25, 2006
Some 55 million youngsters are enrolling for classes in the nation’s schools this fall, making this the largest group of students in America’s history and, in ethnic terms, the most dazzlingly diverse since waves of European immigrants washed through the public schools a century ago.

A bold plan to set black boys up for success
Kate Grossman, Chicago Suntimes - September 3, 2006
One hundred forty black high school boys, sharply dressed in polo shirts and khakis, stood silently in five long lines in an auditorium in West Englewood on a recent Tuesday.

Self-affirmation assignment boosts minority kids' grades
Carl T. Hall, Chronicle Science Writer - September 1, 2006
A simple 15-minute writing task at the start of the school year was enough to significantly improve the grades of African American students and close 40 percent of the "achievement gap" with white students in one suburban school, researchers said Thursday.

Additional News:

Secretary of education praises new GlenOak (Akron Beacon Journal)


Foster Care

Foster Daughter Fights for Herself: Where many such youths fail
Gosia Wozniacka, The (Portland) Oregonian - August 28, 2006
After spending half her life believing her mother’s promises that they would be a family again, a teenage girl faced aging out of foster care and life beyond. Her odds were grim: National statistics show most foster children fail to succeed. But Tabitha Jenner not only finished high school, she finished with a 4.0 grade-point average. She was named a Ford Family Foundation Scholar and was college-bound with 90 percent of her unmet college financial needs covered for four years. But her academic success was dampened by the void her mother left in Tabitha’s life.

Juvenile Justice

Camco man honored by Juvenile Justice Commission Cherry Hill Courier Post, NJ - Aug 24, 2006 A Clementon resident has been named a 2005 Corrections Officer of the Year by the state Juvenile Justice Commission.

Caddo must make its case for juvenile justice sales tax proposal Shreveport Times, LA - Aug 20, 2006 The Caddo Commission's decision to take another shot at a juvenile justice tax increase has a premature feel. Additional dollars ...

Additional:

Authorities Hope Superintendent Can Turn Around Juvenile Center (WRTV Indianapolis)