Can Flint be reborn through its public schools?

Through effective leadership and blended traditional and online learning, a struggling school in Rhode Island improved student achievement, teacher satisfaction, technology upgrades, and parent involvement.

Bogotá's Manzanas del Cuidado (Caregiving Blocks) provides free services like education, counseling, and skills training at 25 neighborhood locations to reduce the burden on women caregivers, successfully empowering participants to complete high school, gain new skills, and find employment opportunities. It's become a pioneering model in Latin America for recognizing unrenumerating labors. Read this article in Spanish here: https://solu.news/zfxr

Despite the evidence of early interventions when children are failing academic, a now-defunct Israeli remedial high school program had long lasting effects on the participants. The teens that participated in the program attended college at higher rates, rose on the income ladder and even had higher marriage rates as adults. “I don’t think that we have evidence to give up on students who are older.”

In Baltimore, a non-profit known as the Next One Up program is helping young men who are struggling in school by supporting and advancing their academic, athletic, and social development through small group activities. Although small, the highly-individualized program – which "focuses on students who have attendance issues, have experienced trauma, or need food, clothing, or parental support" – meets every Sunday for class and homework help, followed by a sport of their choice. All who have participated so far have graduated high school on time.

There is a certain population of youth aged 16-24 that are neither in school nor working because of some derailment (oftentimes burdensome responsibilities) along the way. A national organization called Nxt Level helps people get back on track with their goals through a specialized team that helps an individual with things like getting a GED, mental health or legal resources, job training, and food programs. They even work with local businesses to give the kids a chance and hire them upon their completion of the program. Nxt Level now has centers in Baltimore, San Francisco, Washington, DC, and more.

As American schools have become increasingly focused on preparing students for higher education and careers, life skills classes like home economics, financial literacy, and wood shop classes have fallen to the wayside. Libraries and other institutions are stepping up to fill this gap by offering free "adulting" classes.

An organization in New Jersey called Hopeworks combines trauma-informed practices with career and life-readiness skill-learning. Teens who enter the program are equipped with a team of mentors (academic and life) to help guide them along the way, and they have a range of classes teaching tech skills such as web design or data management. Students testify to the importance of the community and the self-confidence it builds.

In collaboration with Notre Dame University, graduates of madrasas in India are receiving additional education about Islam’s role in scientific development as well as a grounding in current scientific thought. In this manner, traditional education is being ‘refreshed’ from within by people who were educated by and are a part of the traditional madras education.

Enrolling in school can help former girl soldiers reintegrate into society. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Child Soldiers International interviewed community members and former soldiers, and then shared this finding with local organizations to guide programming.

Two schools in New York and Washington state are breaking the traditional high school mold by combining college preparation with career and technical education. Amadou Diallo writes, "Debating whether kids need hands-on training or academic rigor misses the point."