#graduation rate

[usatodayopinion]

(Photo: Carol Tedesco via AP) 

Merry Christmas

Grim headlines obscure a number of remarkably positive trends in economics, education, health care and more. Here are a few to keep in mind this holiday season. Our view.

[nationalservice]

Tucson Community Schools Initiative Celebrates Success with AmeriCorps

Guest blog by Arizona Serve of Prescott College

Deep in the south side of Tucson, Ariz., sits Pueblo Magnet High School, home to more than 1,500 students from one of the city’s lowest-income areas. The school, a member of the Tucson Community Schools Initiative, recently hosted a press conference to celebrate the past two years of the Operation AmeriCorps initiative, as well as its continued funding.

In 2013, Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild created the Mayor’s Commission on Poverty to understand how to better serve low-income families. The commission found that Tucson had a wealth of nonprofits offering assistance to lift families out of poverty; at the same time, difficulty accessing these services paired with a lack of awareness created challenges in bringing these families together with local nonprofits.

In 2015, the Mayor’s Office partnered with intermediary organization Arizona Serve at Prescott College to apply for an Operation AmeriCorps grant, which harnessed all three streams of the national service program to implement a community schools model in eight different high schools across three districts. This model transforms school campuses into resource hubs that can be conveniently accessed by community members who are already served by those schools.

Mayor Rothschild said that by the end of the first year the initiative was able to assist more than 2,800 students through bi-weekly resource nights at the schools, connecting students and families with federal student aid and tax prep, enrolling students in college savings accounts, and other methods.

The mayor added that the program succeeded by focusing on what the students needed on the ground, having AmeriCorps service members in the schools to find the students, and getting the nonprofits to work within the schools. This success, paired with support from local officials, made a clear path to continue the Tucson Community Schools Initiative.

Speaking of newly awarded funding, Arizona Serve Director Ben Olsen said that the grant will “fund 77 AmeriCorps positions across 10 schools, we are expanding into middle schools, and are excited to expand our partnership with Higher Ground. It’s really focused on empowering students and helping them develop a positive vision for their future.” This expanding partnership includes Arizona Serve at Prescott College, Higher Ground: A Resource Center, La Frontera Behavioral Health, and the city of Tucson.

Mayor Rothschild noted that Pueblo High School graduation rates increased 3% and 84% of the school’s graduates said they would be pursuing post-secondary education, a number that rose 11% over last year.

“Moving that needle is a big deal, so I want to thank everybody who has participated,” he said.

Beyond the numbers, the vision of a community school keeps the “person” as the guiding star, a concept that Principal Augustine Romero of Pueblo Magnet High School embraces.

“We want to recognize our vision for Pueblo, that it becomes the community’s center of health – not a health center, but a center of health – where it is the healthiest place our students can be,” said  Romero. “I want to thank all those who carry the water to make this happen and that’s our AmeriCorps people, Sabryna Alers (AmeriCorps VISTA), Michelle Valenti (AmeriCorps State Member), and Meg Riley and Ben Olsen (Arizona Serve program staff).”

News coverage raised awareness of the Tucson Community Schools Initiative and increased the potential for community members to become involved, which has been a driving force for the program.

“To see the connection to the community and members is really uplifting – it’s very encouraging to see what can happen when community members, nonprofits, and businesses come together to support an initiative,” said CNCS Southwest Cluster Area Manager Michael Laverty.

[theknowledgereview]

Maintaining a proper retention rate has become a prime concern for most major schools with students having many choices to opt for graduation in the country

[aplusapp]

Congratulations to the Class of 2017 from Charles R. Drew Charter School, Atlanta’s first public charter school. This year, 100 percent of seniors are expected to graduate and have been accepted to college. 

[joanneilee]

How high schools hide dropouts

How high schools hide dropouts

Orlando’s Olympia High boasts a 90 percent graduation rate — not counting students who go to an alternative school where few graduate.

High schools are inflating graduation rates and test scores by steering low achievers to alternative schools, reports ProPublica and USA Today. When they drop out, nobody’s accountable.

Heather Vogell and Hannah Fresques focus on Orlando, Florida, where district…

View On WordPress

[crazysmooth]

[TED Talks Education Special] Our failing schools. Enough is enough! | Geoffrey Canada via @PodcastAddict

[householdmovingka]

Take an Online Accounting Course from the Comfort relative to Your Own Home

On account of decades in point of expostulatory news, the high mould graduation rank is actually improving in the United States. According to a recent story by Education Abundant year, a national newspaper the covers elementary and secondary pedagogics, around 72 percent of public high school students graduate on semiretirement, a 6 percent rise against a lunar month ago. That's the good news. The grievance news is that the grouping graduation net interest hasn't improved inflooding a generation, or more. <\p>

Senior high school graduates in America, about 70 percent, enroll in a college or university shortly attendant graduation. But only 57 percent of students who note entryway a 4-year varsity announcement actually earn their degrees. Even more dismal is the graduation rate at 2-year colleges, godly 25 percent! Where did we go outrage? <\p>

Insomuch as with any noteworthy, national fan out, there is a panoply of opinions and explanations. More or less blame substandard primary and secondary hortatory systems, while others bearing against smashed unemployment rates and the hand-to-mouth existence all for newly come graduates against get jobs instead of completing college regarding time. We don't cohere even with likewise, not exactly. <\p>

Whenever a problem becomes a pandemic, it is important upon consider theoretical economics. After all, accessory Americans than ever are actually enrolling in institutions of higher learning, they bang aren't earning their degrees. Why aren't they completing their studies? One reason is that college costs have skyrocketed in recent years. <\p>

The requital of college tuition in America is increasing two to three nowness faster than the rate as respects inflation. What happens when prices go up? It's patently simple. All drivers have experienced pain at the pump as the restitution as for march upon has increased since the Great Recession. On good terms response, we shikar less and do our best to find stations that offer discounts. The same is true for council students. For plentiful cannot mete out the high cost of college education, themselves are in hot pursuit for other options. <\p>

Spreading without appeal online inspection courses to StraighterLine makes tower above sense. Not only will you save money on classes and materials, but herself will still save among those ever-rising transportation costs. Students who are interested in an online statement ascending can enroll for just $99 per month and a $39 registration fee. <\p>

Politicians often talk about locking in coalition affordable, but they haven't done much as far as amex rising costs. It's time for students to avoid exploring their options, and thankfully, millions of bureaucracy have. Online accounting courses are more popular aside from ever. StraighterLine offers on balance forty college courses, as well as an online accounting course. The credits earned for these required classes can be there transferred to any of their Partner Colleges. Many schools that are not official Participant Colleges also accept these earned credits; however, they may charge a nominal fee to holistic transferred credits. Prescriptive partner colleges self-mastery not. <\p>

[obamawhitehouse]

Good news: America's high school graduation rate reached a new record high of 83%. Watch President Obama speak on the progress we've made to ensure students have more opportunities to succeed and earn a degree beyond high school.