Archives for August 2012

What causes students to dropout of school?

If we wish to attack the problem of school dropouts, we need to attack the causes. My submission has now been accepted by Answers.com as the reasons why students dropout of school.

There are 5 reasons why students drop out:

1. The student themselves – They make wrong choices. They become pregnant, take drugs or alcohol, commit crimes, use weapons.
2. The family they come from – The family needs their income. The family has dropped out. They speak English as a second language.
3. The community they live in. – The community has gangs, drugs, violence, many people have dropped out of school.
4. The school they go to. – The school culture is toxic to student learning, students, parents and staff.
5. The teacher they have. – Cannot control classroom discipline, creates bored students, doesn’t know subject content, doesn’t know how to teach.

Youth Encouraged To Participate in “Stop Bullying” Video Challenge

From my friend LeRoy Walser:
The Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention invite youth ages 13 to 18 to create 30- to 60-second public service announcements as part of the Stop Bullying Video Challenge. Video submissions should showcase ways the youth are taking action against bullying and promoting kindness and respect within their communities. The grand prize is $2,000 and two runner-ups will each receive $500. The three winning videos will be featured on stopbullying.gov. Entries must be received by 11 p.m. E.T. on October 14, 2012.

WEBSITE UPDATE

Those of you who are regular subscription readers will note that the website has a new look. After a long and major effort from my webmaster, he has developed new things on the website which we are very excited about.

A number of you have attended my workshops and asked about obtaining “I am proud to be a teacher” video that I developed. You will see it listed on the homepage, under “store”. For a limited time. it is available for $24.99. If you are interested in purchasing it, you can then download it to your computer.

Where Mr. Romney Stands on Education

While most of the focus of the upcoming presidential election is on the economy and jobs, it is interesting to note where the candidates stand on education. Mr. Romney has released a 35 page white paper describing his position on education and you can read from it or look at Mr. Romney’s previous statements at

https://2012.republican-candidates.org/Romney/Education-.

Here are a number of things that you can learn from his statements and previous positions:

“Millions of kids are getting a third-world education. And America’s minority children suffer the most.” He has stated that he would let low-income and disabled students use federal money to attend public schools, charter schools and some private schools It is not expected that he were elected that there would be any new federal money for education.
As governor of Massachusetts, he signed into law a bill which cost 14,500 teachers, librarians, and school police officers their jobs.
His education policy advisers include former Education Secretary Rod Paige (the “father” of No Child Left Behind) and other people from President George w. Bush’s administration. Mr. Paige labeled the National Education Association in 2004 a “terrorist organization”.
Mr. Romney’s position on education has changed in recent years. He once supported abolishing the Education Department but reversed that position in 2007. He also changed his position on No Child. As a presidential candidate in 2007 he supported the law but has generally come out against the policies because of its expansion of the federal government’s role in education.

The Educational Impact on the Economy

According to the Inform from Fargo, North Dakota: In the month of August:

Americans spent $7.7 billion at family clothing stores in August 2011. Only in November and December were sales higher.

“¢ Sales at book stores in August 2011 totaled $2.4 billion, the strongest sales month of the year.

“¢ For back-to-school shopping, choices of retail establishments abound: In 2009, there were 28,520 family clothing stores, 7,092 children and infants clothing stores, 26,651 shoe stores, 8,945 office supply and stationery stores, 21,628 sporting goods stores, 9,390 bookstores and 8,663 department stores.

“¢ About 79 million children and adults were enrolled in schools throughout the country in October 2010 ““ from nursery school to college. They comprised 27 percent of the population age 3 and older.

“¢ About 72 percent of children ages 3 to 6 enrolled in kindergarten attend school all day as of October 2010.

“¢ About 24 percent of elementary through high school students had at least one foreign-born parent in October 2010.

“¢ About 27 percent of students ages 12 to 17 were in a gifted class in 2009.

“¢ Among 6- to 17-year-olds, 70 percent report being highly engaged in school ““ children reported as liking school, being interested in school and working hard in school ““ in 2009.

“¢ About 11.8 million school-age children ““ ages 5 to 17 ““ speak a language other than English at home in 2010. Most of these children, 8.5 million, spoke Spanish at home.

“¢ Sixteen percent of all college students were age 35 or older in October 2010. They made up 34 percent of those attending school part time.

“¢ About 41 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds were enrolled in college in 2010.

“¢ The census said 56 percent of college students were women in 2010. This includes undergraduate and graduate students.

The rewards for staying in school show up on payday, according to a 2009 report on educational attainment in the United States.

“¢ The median earnings of full-time, year-round workers with an advanced degree were $74,000 in 2009.

“¢ Workers whose highest degree was a bachelor’s had median earnings of $56,000.

“¢ Median earnings for full-time, year-round workers with a high school diploma were $33,000.

“¢ Workers with less than high school diploma had $25,000 median earnings.

The Increasing Burden on America’s Public Schools

Jamie Vollmer developed what follows. He has printed it on a high gloss, plasticized sheet. He has given me permission to publish this copyrighted (2003) material. He can be reached @ 641/472-1558 or by email at [email protected]. I am indebted to him for his research as well as his generosity.

America’s public schools can be traced back to the year 1640. The Massachusetts Puritans established schools to:

Teach basic reading, some writing and arithmetic skills, and
Cultivate values that serve a democratic society (some history and civics implied).

The founders of these schools assumed that families and churches bore the major responsibility for raising a child. At the beginning of the 20th century, society began to assign additional responsibilities to the schools. Politicians and business leaders saw the schools as a logical site for both the assimilation of immigrants and the social engineering of citizens of the “Industrial Age.” The trend of increasing the responsibilities of the public schools has accelerated ever since.

FROM 1900 TO 1910, WE ADDED

Nutrition
immunization, and
Health to the list of school responsibilities.

FROM 1910 TO 1930, WE ADDED

Physical Education, including organized sports
The practical arts,
Vocational education, including home economics and agricultural education, and
School transportation began to be mandated

IN THE 1940’s, WE ADDED

Business education
Art and music
Speech and drama
Half day kindergarten, and
School lunch programs appeared.

IN THE 1950’s, WE ADDED

Expanded science and math education
Driver’s education
Foreign language requirements were strengthened, and
Sex education was introduced

IN THE 1960’s, WE ADDED

Advanced Placement programs
Head Start
Title I
Adult education
Consumer education
Career education
Peace, leisure and recreation education

IN THE 1970’s, THE BREAKUP OF THE AMERICAN FAMILY ACCELERATED. AND WE ADDED

Special education (mandated by The Federal government)
Title IX programs (greatly expanded athletic programs for females)
Drug and alcohol abuse education
Parent education
Behavior adjustment classes
Character education
Environmental education
Women’s studies
African-American heritage education, and
School breakfast programs appeared. (Some schools are now feeding children 2/3 of their daily meals.)

IN THE 1980S, THE FLOOD GATES OPENED AND WE ADDED

Keyboarding and computer education
Global education
Ethnic education
Multicultural/non-sexist education
English-as-a-second-language, and bilingual education
Teen pregnancy awareness
Hispanic heritage education
Early childhood education
Jump Start, Early Start, Even Start, and Prime Start
Full day kindergarten
Pre-school programs for children at-risk
After school programs for children of working parents
Alternative education
Danger education
Anti-smoking education
Sexual abuse prevention education
Health and psychological services were expanded, and
Child abuse monitoring became a legal requirement for all teachers

In the 1990s,the school reform movement shifted into high gear and collided with the spread of technology. The World Wide Web was born, and we added:

Computer Labs and Internet Instruction
Tech Prep
School To Work Programs
Distance Learning
Homeless Education and its effects on children,
HIV/AIDS Education
Death Education
America 2000 Initiatives (Republican)
Goals 2000 Initiatives (Democratic)
Bicycle Safety, Gun Safety, and Water Safety Instruction
Conflict Resolution Classes
Service Learning Programs
Annual CPR Training
Technical Adequacy Assessment
Dropout Prevention Programs
Anti-Gang Initiatives
Inclusion and Mainstreaming Requirements
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act greatly expanded the scope of Special Education
And, in response to horrific acts of violence, we saw unprecedented efforts to ensure school security.

In the 21st century, driven by the pressures of a rapidly changing society and the emergence of an increasingly literate global workforce, we added:
No Child Left Behind (Republican)
Internet Safety
Bullying Prevention Programs
Texting and Social Media Etiquette
Elevator and Escalator Safety Instruction
Body Mass Index Evaluation (Obesity Monitoring)
Eating Disorder Counseling
Suicide Awareness Programs
Organ Donor Awareness Classes
Steroid Abuse Prevention Programs
Media Literacy Training
Expanded Early Childhood Wrap Around Programs
Financial Literacy Development
Intruder Lockdown Training
Health and Wellness Programs
Leadership Training
Contextual Learning and Skill Development
Entrepreneurial/Innovation Skill Development
Credit Retrieval Programs
On-Line Learning Requirements
Race To The Top (Democratic)
Common Core Standards, and
S.T.E.M ProgramsAnd we have not a single minute to the school calendar in six decades!The contract between our communities and our schools has changed. It’s no longer “Help us teach our children.” It’s “raise our kids.” No generation of teachers and administrators in history has had to fulfill this mandate. And each year, the pressure grows.
Social and economic conditions demand that we unfold the full potential of every child. Our futures are tied to their success a never before. But this is a job for all of us. Our schools cannot do it alone. We must all come together and help our schools remove the obstacles to student success both in and out of schools.

Copyright 2012, Jamie Vollmer

To order copies of this poster or Jamie’s book Schools Cannot Do It Alone please visit www.jamievollmer.com

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Franklin Interview on line

Franklin was interviewed on Eye on New Mexico on Sunday discussing a number of topics dealing with bullying, dropout prevention and connection with increasing graduation rates. They have posted the 1/2 hour interview on
https://www.kob.com/article/stories/S2726022.shtml?cat=500

Franklin Schargel
Schargel Consulting Group
www.schargel.com
505/823-2339

Russian Teen Suicide

Russian teen suicide rates are the third highest in the world drawing comments from the Russian president, Mr. Medvedev.

The spike in teenage suicides began in February, when two 14-year-old girls jumped hand in hand from the 16th-floor roof of an apartment building in suburban Moscow. Afterward, a series of apartment jumps attracted national attention.

Over 24 hours starting on April 9, there were at least six deaths. A girl, 16, jumped from an unfinished hospital in Siberia, while five others hanged themselves: a boy, 15, who died in the city of Perm two days after his mother found him hanging; another 15-year-old, who killed himself on his birthday, in Nizhny Novgorod, a city on the Volga River; teenagers in the northern city of Lomonosov and in Samara; and a 16-year-old murder suspect who used his prison bed sheet to kill himself in Krasnoyarsk.

There have been at least 10 more cases, including a boy, 11, found hanging under the roof of his house in Krasnodar.

Though growing prosperity has tamed Russia’s high rate of adult suicides, the rate of teenage suicides remains three times the world average. Experts blame alcoholism, family dysfunction and other kinds of fallout from the Soviet Union’s collapse, as well as the absence of a mental health structure and social support networks to help troubled young people.

A report by the United Nations Children’s Fund released late last year said Russia, with 143 million people, ranked third in the world in per capita teenage suicides, trailing two other former Soviet republics, Kazakhstan and Belarus. Around the world, an average of 7 out of every 100,000 teenagers commit suicide every year. In Russia, that number is 22 per 100,000, and in two regions, Tuva and Chukotka, more than 100 per 100,000. Yearly, more than 1,700 Russians between 15 and 19 take their lives, according to the report.Under Russian law, every school must have at least one psychologist on staff, and there is a national telephone hot line for people to call if they are having suicidal thoughts. But beyond those measures, little effort has been made to address the problem at the federal level.

In February, Pavel Astakhov, Russia’s children’s rights ombudsman, called the situation “catastrophic.”

Mr. Khlomov said Russian parents and teachers all too often dismiss teenagers when they express suicidal thoughts, treating such talk not as a cry for help, but as an attempt at manipulation. This further isolates young people, he said, reinforcing the conviction that no one will ever understand the way they feel.

The death of one person by suicide is tragic. It is worse when young people commit suicide, especially when they have most of their lives ahead of them. Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of teenage death in the states. I have written an article dealing with how schools can prevent suicide which you will find in the “Resources” section of this website. If suicide is a problem or potential problem in your school/district, search this website for an article that I have written on preventing suicide.