Education
Law shuts out some students
The Arizona Daily Star – August 10, 2008
Changing laws have made life tougher for illegal immigrants in Arizona, including young people giving up dreams of college and better lives because they are unable to pay out-of-state tuition as required by voters. With privately funded grants and scholarships lagging far behind the demand, some would-be students have dropped out, and others are considering a return to homelands they hardly remember in search of opportunity. Proposition 300 requires students to prove they are citizens or legal residents in the United States to qualify for in-state tuition at Arizona community colleges and universities. If they cannot, they must pay the higher out-of-state tuition fees. An in-state, part-time student can expect to pay $297 for six units while an out-of-state student will pay $504 for the same number of course units in college. Voters approved the proposition after backers said the state should not be taking taxpayers resources and giving them to people who broke the law. The estimated 200,000 to 250,000 illegal immigrants living in Arizona at the time were costing the state substantial amounts of money, backers said. Other states, including Colorado, Georgia and Oklahoma, also have laws denying in-state tuition benefits to students who entered the country illegally with their parents but grew up and were schooled in the state.
Changes go in effect this year for upcoming freshman, sophomores
Shreveport Times – August 15, 2008
Two big changes will happen in high school this year. Incoming freshman will be required to obtain 24 class credits for graduation. And sophomores enrolled in English II will be required to pass an end-of-course test to be promoted to English III. The changes are part of the High School ReDesign, an initiative that focuses on making courses more rigorous and cutting in half the number of high school dropouts. The credit requirement change is part of the statewide LA Core 4 program, a part of the redesign. Schools’ implementation of LA Core 4 means students will take four years of English, math, science and social studies. The additional credit added this year is a math class. Another part of the redesign is that incoming freshman will automatically be enrolled in the initiative’s college-preparatory track. Those who do not want to go to college, aren’t successful in the more rigorous classes or have another valid reason will be allowed to enter a vocational-program track after completing their sophomore year.
School test scores rise, but ethnic gaps persist
The Mercury News – August 15, 2008
Annual report cards issued Thursday show California students continuing to perform better and better, yet more than half fall short of proficiency in English and math. Locally, the good news is that nearly all racial and ethnic groups exceeded their peers statewide, according to scores for 2007-08 tests know as STAR. And more Santa Clara County high school students are taking harder math classes than in the past and –surprisingly – more are doing better. Yet a closer look reveals a grimmer picture. A yawning achievement gap persists between whites and Asians toward the top, and blacks and Latinos further down. Roughly 30 percent points separate high-and low-achieving ethnic groups in the state. In Santa Clara County, the gap stretches wider, up to 47 points between Asians and Latinos. The achievement gap points to a crisis in the education of African-American students, state schools chief Jack O’Connell said. Last month, statistics revealed that 41 percent of black students drop out of high school. O’Connell pledged to “redouble efforts” in education low-achieving groups.
When Schools Offer Money As a Motivator
The Wall Street Journal – August 21, 2008
More and more school districts are banking on improving student performance using cash incentives – a $1,000 payout for high test scores, for example. But whether they work is hard to say. In the latest study of student-incentive programs, researchers examining a 12-year-old program in Texas found that rewarding pupils for achieving high scores on tough tests can work. A handful of earlier studies of programs in Ohio, Israel and Canada have had mixed conclusions; results in a New York City initiative are expected in October. Comparing results is further complicated by the fact that districts across the country have implemented programs differently. Still, school administrators and philanthropists have pushed to launch pay-for-performance programs at hundreds of schools in the past two years. Advocates say incentives are an effective way to motivate learning—especially among poor and minority students—and rewarding teaching skills. Critics argue that the programs don’t fix the underlying problems, such as crowded classrooms or subpar schools.
Juvenile Justice
“Juvenile Transfer Laws: An Effective Deterrent to Delinquency?” appears in this month’s Juvenile Justice Bulletin from the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The report examines laws that a number of states have enacted which increase the types of offenders and offenses eligible for transfer from juvenile court to adult criminal court.
Prosecution of 17-year-old offenders decried
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – August 19, 2008
Wisconsin’s tough-on-crime policy of placing 17-year-old criminal offenders in adult court is a failed experiment that only increases the likelihood the teens will commit more crimes, according to a study released Tuesday. The study by the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families also finds racial bias in the policy’s implementation, citing statistics showing that African-American youth are far more likely to be incarcerated than white youths. “It’s becoming increasingly clear that trying youth as adults does not make communities safer,” said Charity Eleson, executive director of WCCF, which describes itself as a nonpartisan child and family advocacy organization. “In fact, it appears to have the opposite effect.” The results of the Wisconsin study are consistent with a report issued this month by the U.S. Department of Justice. That report concluded that “transferring juvenile offenders to the criminal court does not engender community protection by reducing recidivism. On the contrary, transfer substantially increases recidivism.”
Foster Care
Shortage endangers kids’ lives, judge says
IndyStar.com – August 8, 2008
More than 3,000 children in Indiana’s child welfare system, including 1,100 in Marion County, are without a state-mandated advocate looking out for them. “We are failing children, and we are failing them to the point that their lives are in danger,” Marion County juvenile court Judge Marilyn Moores said of the problem, the result of a lack of money to hire professionals who recruit, train and oversee the volunteer advocates. Advocates – required under a state law adopted in 2005 as part of wider reforms of the child welfare system – often are the only constant in the lives of the children who have been removed from their parents. They also are the only independent voice whose focus is strictly on what’s best for a child in cases that typically involve conflicting parties. Indiana – the last state to require an advocate for child victims – is not alone in struggling to provide coverage for all eligible children, said Michael Piraino, chief executive of the National Court – Appointed Special Advocates Association, or CASA. He said few states are able to attain 100 percent coverage, and solutions are hard to find in tough economic times.
Books For Youth Program at Colts pregame
IndyStar.com – August 22, 2008
The Indianapolis Colts and the DCS are asking you for your help in being part of a team to educate our foster youth and young adults by participating in the third annual Books For Youth pre-game drive. On any given day, over thousands of children are in the foster care system and too often they leave their belongings behind when they move. The Colts and DCS want to change that by helping place 25 age appropriate books per child into the hands of foster youth and young adults and are asking for community support to make a smart handoff to Indiana’s youth. The Books For Youth Program is one of many efforts to bring awareness to the growing need for community involvement in caring for Indiana’s children.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
This Week's News: Youth in Transition
Education
Shared data: A new system could provide advance warning on school dropouts
Capitol Weekly – August 7, 2008
The state Department of Education’s recent announcement that one in four students drops out of school was grim news for Californians but a promising step forward in understanding the scope of a crisis. Instead of making an educated guess as they had been forced to do in the past, education officials were able to calculate the dropout rate by using a new system that tracks students as they as they move from district to district. When fully implemented, the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System can do much more than tell us the bad news after students drop out. It can help educators identify strategies likely to help children before they fail. A debate in Sacramento about access to the new data will determine whether the tracking system reaches its potential-to help educators close a wide achievement gap and policymakers ensure that billions of dollars in education funding are spend on programs that work.
Task force holds hearings on keeping pregnant, parenting moms from dropping out
The Chicago Tribune – August 5, 2008
Shanell Stampley desperately wanted to stay in high school after giving birth just before her freshman year. But making it to school on time, or at all, was a constant struggle for the 15-year-old, who lived in a women’s shelter at the time and rode a bus to drop off her baby with a sitter. After too many late arrivals and missed classes, Stampley said, she was expelled from Juarez Community Academy in Chicago. She has told her story to a state task force that is studying how to keep students in school during pregnancy and parenthood, or when facing domestic violence or sexual abuse. Task force members say they hope that the discussions will lead to policy recommendations and legislative support for young parents and those dealing with abuse. “We’re going out in the field to find out from those children who are directly impacted,” said Sonya Whitaker, and educational consultant and co-chairwoman of the state task force with state Rep. Karen Yarbrough (D-Maywood). “We want to give children a second chance at being successful.”
GEAR UP Guides Low-Income Students to College
RedOrbit – August 6, 2008
Navigating a smooth course through high school and higher education can be a daunting task for event the highly motivated, but calming the turbulence of career choices for Yuma students is made easier due to a federal program. Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) is intended to boost the number of low-income students (schools with more than 50 percent receiving free or reduced lunch) to succeed in post-secondary education. GEAR UP provides college scholarships funded in part by the U.S. Department of Education and matched dollar for dollar by individuals in the professions and local districts with either time or money. The program advocates for a higher level of achievement, said Alvina Johnson, Yuma’s GEAR UP coordinator. The mission of GEAR UP is to ensure students graduate high school on time, reduce the rate of dropouts and increase the entrance of students into a two- or four-year college, Johnson stressed.
Juvenile Justice
Perry grants $1.7 million for state juvenile justice system; EP gets $180,000
ABC Channel 7 – August 8, 2008
EL PASO – Governor Rick Perry awarded more than $1.7 million in grants to 25 programs dedicated to promoting greater accountability in the juvenile justice system, according to a news release. Three agencies in El Paso that deal with juveniles received more than $180,000. The grants are awarded through the federal Juvenile Accountability Block Grant (JABG) program and distributed by the Governor’s Criminal Justice Division (CJD), the release said. The JABG funding provides restitution, community service, victim-offender mediation and other methods of rehabilitation and reform through the juvenile justice system.
Foster Care
Close the Educational Opportunity Gap for College-Bound Foster Youth
MarketWatch – August 6, 2008
It is back-to-school time and many young people are saying goodbye to their families and heading off to college. Others, however, are making the journey alone: thousands of foster care teens who have “aged out” of the system. For many of these youth, education has been the one promising constant in their lives – and now, at the threshold of adulthood, it is a struggle to find financial and emotional support to sustain their educational and career goals. At any given point, there are more than 500,000 U.S. children in foster care. Every year, more than 25,000 of them age out of the system and face a challenging world without the financial or family support. Only half of them finish high school and only about 13 percent start college. Of those who do go to college, half drop out in the first year. For those involved in OFA’s programs, however, these numbers improve dramatically. More than 65 percent graduate from college within five years, a rate comparable to their peers.
Shared data: A new system could provide advance warning on school dropouts
Capitol Weekly – August 7, 2008
The state Department of Education’s recent announcement that one in four students drops out of school was grim news for Californians but a promising step forward in understanding the scope of a crisis. Instead of making an educated guess as they had been forced to do in the past, education officials were able to calculate the dropout rate by using a new system that tracks students as they as they move from district to district. When fully implemented, the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System can do much more than tell us the bad news after students drop out. It can help educators identify strategies likely to help children before they fail. A debate in Sacramento about access to the new data will determine whether the tracking system reaches its potential-to help educators close a wide achievement gap and policymakers ensure that billions of dollars in education funding are spend on programs that work.
Task force holds hearings on keeping pregnant, parenting moms from dropping out
The Chicago Tribune – August 5, 2008
Shanell Stampley desperately wanted to stay in high school after giving birth just before her freshman year. But making it to school on time, or at all, was a constant struggle for the 15-year-old, who lived in a women’s shelter at the time and rode a bus to drop off her baby with a sitter. After too many late arrivals and missed classes, Stampley said, she was expelled from Juarez Community Academy in Chicago. She has told her story to a state task force that is studying how to keep students in school during pregnancy and parenthood, or when facing domestic violence or sexual abuse. Task force members say they hope that the discussions will lead to policy recommendations and legislative support for young parents and those dealing with abuse. “We’re going out in the field to find out from those children who are directly impacted,” said Sonya Whitaker, and educational consultant and co-chairwoman of the state task force with state Rep. Karen Yarbrough (D-Maywood). “We want to give children a second chance at being successful.”
GEAR UP Guides Low-Income Students to College
RedOrbit – August 6, 2008
Navigating a smooth course through high school and higher education can be a daunting task for event the highly motivated, but calming the turbulence of career choices for Yuma students is made easier due to a federal program. Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) is intended to boost the number of low-income students (schools with more than 50 percent receiving free or reduced lunch) to succeed in post-secondary education. GEAR UP provides college scholarships funded in part by the U.S. Department of Education and matched dollar for dollar by individuals in the professions and local districts with either time or money. The program advocates for a higher level of achievement, said Alvina Johnson, Yuma’s GEAR UP coordinator. The mission of GEAR UP is to ensure students graduate high school on time, reduce the rate of dropouts and increase the entrance of students into a two- or four-year college, Johnson stressed.
Juvenile Justice
Perry grants $1.7 million for state juvenile justice system; EP gets $180,000
ABC Channel 7 – August 8, 2008
EL PASO – Governor Rick Perry awarded more than $1.7 million in grants to 25 programs dedicated to promoting greater accountability in the juvenile justice system, according to a news release. Three agencies in El Paso that deal with juveniles received more than $180,000. The grants are awarded through the federal Juvenile Accountability Block Grant (JABG) program and distributed by the Governor’s Criminal Justice Division (CJD), the release said. The JABG funding provides restitution, community service, victim-offender mediation and other methods of rehabilitation and reform through the juvenile justice system.
Foster Care
Close the Educational Opportunity Gap for College-Bound Foster Youth
MarketWatch – August 6, 2008
It is back-to-school time and many young people are saying goodbye to their families and heading off to college. Others, however, are making the journey alone: thousands of foster care teens who have “aged out” of the system. For many of these youth, education has been the one promising constant in their lives – and now, at the threshold of adulthood, it is a struggle to find financial and emotional support to sustain their educational and career goals. At any given point, there are more than 500,000 U.S. children in foster care. Every year, more than 25,000 of them age out of the system and face a challenging world without the financial or family support. Only half of them finish high school and only about 13 percent start college. Of those who do go to college, half drop out in the first year. For those involved in OFA’s programs, however, these numbers improve dramatically. More than 65 percent graduate from college within five years, a rate comparable to their peers.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
This Week's News: Youth in Transition
Education
Higher Education Bill Draws a Bead on Tuition Costs
The Christian Science Monitor – August 1, 2008
The rapid rise in college has caught the attention of Congress, which is taking steps to at least give the public reason to hope for a break on tuition bills. New legislation, expected to clear the House and Senate after press time on July 31, includes provisions designed to put pressure on colleges, universities, and states to rein in the escalating price of a college education. The best potential for doing so, some experts say, lies in the searchable college data that the US Department of Education will post online to bring transparency to tuition rates and the “net price” students pay after receiving aid. Within a year of the bill’s passage, students and parents should be able to use online calculators to estimate what any given college would cost based on their income level and family situation. Since most students receive financial aid, it’s important for families to see this net price, experts say, rather than simply compare based on the full-charge “sticker price.” There’s little agreement about how effective these new requirements of the Higher Education Opportunity Act will be, but many experts say they can’t hurt.
Higher-ed commission backs community college plan
The Tennessean – July 25, 2008
The Tennessee Higher Education Commission endorsed a proposal Thursday that would make a community college education free in Tennessee’s urban counties. Shelby County Mayor A.C. Wharton, a member of a new group called the Tennessee Urban Mayors Forum that is developing the idea, asked the commission at its quarterly meeting to back the proposal. The commission obliged. Wharton said that “the returns on it will be well worth any investment.” “We think this is a much-needed program, both for the intrinsic worth of its education offering, but also in helping the state recruit business and industry. This is a signature step for a state to say that if you want to go beyond 12th grade, you won’t be able to say I don’t have the money.”
Ogden district shuffles students and schools
The Salt Lake Tribune – August 5, 2008
Ninth-graders about to begin classes in the Ogden School District won’t advance on to high school as they have in years past. Instead, they’ll remain in junior high school for one more year as part of the district’s overall grade reconfiguration, but with new science classrooms and a few art media centers. The format change takes effect this fall after the Ogden Board of Education three years ago approved it as part of an effort to bolster student achievement in ninth grade while also crafting smaller learning environments at the high school level in grades 10 through 12. Studies indicate ninth grade is a make-or-break year for many students, the point after which many move on toward academic success or drop out of school. “By keeping ninth-graders in junior high school, the change will increase the ninth grade passing rate and improve curriculum,” Don Belnap, Ogden school board president, said in a statement.
Juvenile Justice
Juveniles Don’t Belong in Adult Prisons
The Huffington Post – August 5, 2008
Jails and prisons are dangerous places for anybody, but especially for children and teens. Many of these institutions house vicious predators who have been locked up for brutal violent crimes. Yet on any given day, approximately 9,500 juveniles under the age of 18 are locked up in adult penal institutions. Children as young as 15 can be prosecuted as adults in many states without review by a judge or court hearing. The Campaign for Youth Justice report, “Jailing Juveniles: The Dangers of Incarcerating Youth in Adult Jails in America, “released in November 2007, outlines the challenges to keeping children safe in adult jails. It catalogs the numerous jurisdictions throughout the United States where teens are placed in great danger because of the variety of flawed policies and laws governing incarceration. The report argues that children and teens should not be held to the same standard of accountability for their actions as grown-ups, citing research that shows the developmental differences between adolescents and adults. These findings indicate that the prefrontal cortex, which governs the “executive functions” of reasoning, advanced thinking and impulse control, is one of the last areas of the brain to mature.
Foster Care
Psychotropic Medications Overused Among Foster Children
PsychCentral – August 2, 2008
New research finds that psychotropic medications are frequently used to treat youth in foster care. The pattern is disturbing because effectiveness and safety of the pharmaceuticals has not been established. In a study of Texas children with Medicaid coverage, the latest in a series of analyses of state Medicaid records, foster care youth received at least three times more psychotropic drugs than comparable children in poor families. The Texas study also indicated that decision to give some children three or more psychotropic drugs may be largely based on behavioral and emotional symptoms rather than conclusive diagnosis of a specific mental condition. Zito says, “There are serious behavioral and emotional problems with many foster children and we want to make sure they are medicated appropriately. These are our troubled children.”
On the board
Pasadena Star-News – August 3, 2008
Pasadena City College has received an $80,000 award from the Foundation for California Community Colleges, which will help PCC assist former foster teens in their transition into self-sufficiency. PCC was one of eight community colleges that received foundation money for that purpose – a total of $630,000 in awards. The money will go to support Youth Empowerment Strategies for Success-California (YESS-California) programs. YESS- California helps current and former foster youth through mentoring, tutoring and life-skills training. Each year, more than 4,000 foster youth in California become independent. Many of them lack life and job skills, such as handling a personal budget, applying for and enrolling in college, and living on their own. Many become homeless within years of emancipation. Participating colleges provide services such as one-on-one mentoring, resource referral, classroom training and employment services.
Higher Education Bill Draws a Bead on Tuition Costs
The Christian Science Monitor – August 1, 2008
The rapid rise in college has caught the attention of Congress, which is taking steps to at least give the public reason to hope for a break on tuition bills. New legislation, expected to clear the House and Senate after press time on July 31, includes provisions designed to put pressure on colleges, universities, and states to rein in the escalating price of a college education. The best potential for doing so, some experts say, lies in the searchable college data that the US Department of Education will post online to bring transparency to tuition rates and the “net price” students pay after receiving aid. Within a year of the bill’s passage, students and parents should be able to use online calculators to estimate what any given college would cost based on their income level and family situation. Since most students receive financial aid, it’s important for families to see this net price, experts say, rather than simply compare based on the full-charge “sticker price.” There’s little agreement about how effective these new requirements of the Higher Education Opportunity Act will be, but many experts say they can’t hurt.
Higher-ed commission backs community college plan
The Tennessean – July 25, 2008
The Tennessee Higher Education Commission endorsed a proposal Thursday that would make a community college education free in Tennessee’s urban counties. Shelby County Mayor A.C. Wharton, a member of a new group called the Tennessee Urban Mayors Forum that is developing the idea, asked the commission at its quarterly meeting to back the proposal. The commission obliged. Wharton said that “the returns on it will be well worth any investment.” “We think this is a much-needed program, both for the intrinsic worth of its education offering, but also in helping the state recruit business and industry. This is a signature step for a state to say that if you want to go beyond 12th grade, you won’t be able to say I don’t have the money.”
Ogden district shuffles students and schools
The Salt Lake Tribune – August 5, 2008
Ninth-graders about to begin classes in the Ogden School District won’t advance on to high school as they have in years past. Instead, they’ll remain in junior high school for one more year as part of the district’s overall grade reconfiguration, but with new science classrooms and a few art media centers. The format change takes effect this fall after the Ogden Board of Education three years ago approved it as part of an effort to bolster student achievement in ninth grade while also crafting smaller learning environments at the high school level in grades 10 through 12. Studies indicate ninth grade is a make-or-break year for many students, the point after which many move on toward academic success or drop out of school. “By keeping ninth-graders in junior high school, the change will increase the ninth grade passing rate and improve curriculum,” Don Belnap, Ogden school board president, said in a statement.
Juvenile Justice
Juveniles Don’t Belong in Adult Prisons
The Huffington Post – August 5, 2008
Jails and prisons are dangerous places for anybody, but especially for children and teens. Many of these institutions house vicious predators who have been locked up for brutal violent crimes. Yet on any given day, approximately 9,500 juveniles under the age of 18 are locked up in adult penal institutions. Children as young as 15 can be prosecuted as adults in many states without review by a judge or court hearing. The Campaign for Youth Justice report, “Jailing Juveniles: The Dangers of Incarcerating Youth in Adult Jails in America, “released in November 2007, outlines the challenges to keeping children safe in adult jails. It catalogs the numerous jurisdictions throughout the United States where teens are placed in great danger because of the variety of flawed policies and laws governing incarceration. The report argues that children and teens should not be held to the same standard of accountability for their actions as grown-ups, citing research that shows the developmental differences between adolescents and adults. These findings indicate that the prefrontal cortex, which governs the “executive functions” of reasoning, advanced thinking and impulse control, is one of the last areas of the brain to mature.
Foster Care
Psychotropic Medications Overused Among Foster Children
PsychCentral – August 2, 2008
New research finds that psychotropic medications are frequently used to treat youth in foster care. The pattern is disturbing because effectiveness and safety of the pharmaceuticals has not been established. In a study of Texas children with Medicaid coverage, the latest in a series of analyses of state Medicaid records, foster care youth received at least three times more psychotropic drugs than comparable children in poor families. The Texas study also indicated that decision to give some children three or more psychotropic drugs may be largely based on behavioral and emotional symptoms rather than conclusive diagnosis of a specific mental condition. Zito says, “There are serious behavioral and emotional problems with many foster children and we want to make sure they are medicated appropriately. These are our troubled children.”
On the board
Pasadena Star-News – August 3, 2008
Pasadena City College has received an $80,000 award from the Foundation for California Community Colleges, which will help PCC assist former foster teens in their transition into self-sufficiency. PCC was one of eight community colleges that received foundation money for that purpose – a total of $630,000 in awards. The money will go to support Youth Empowerment Strategies for Success-California (YESS-California) programs. YESS- California helps current and former foster youth through mentoring, tutoring and life-skills training. Each year, more than 4,000 foster youth in California become independent. Many of them lack life and job skills, such as handling a personal budget, applying for and enrolling in college, and living on their own. Many become homeless within years of emancipation. Participating colleges provide services such as one-on-one mentoring, resource referral, classroom training and employment services.
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