A Team Approach to Get Students College Ready

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/a-team-approach-to-get-students-college-ready

David Bornstein

The New York Times

15 May 2013

Text / 1500-3000 Words

Blue Engine, which places recent college grads as full-time teaching assistants in New York City public schools, is helping poor students thrive in college. They focus on small teacher-student ratios, frequent feedback for teachers, and a concentration on 'gateway' courses associated with success in college.

Closing the Math Gap for Boys

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/01/opinion/sunday/intense-tutoring-can-close-the-math-gap.html

David L. Kirp

The New York Times

31 January 2015

Text / 800-1500 Words

Inner-city kids, generally, fare worst on measures of academic achievement like standardized tests. An intensive tutoring and mentoring program in Chicago has produced big improvements for young boys, pairing them two-on-one with math tutors that offer homework support and educational guidance.

Dropouts flooding Kent's second-change iGrad school

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/dropouts-flooding-kentrsquos-second-chance-igrad-school

Claudia Rowe

The Seattle Times

12 January 2014

Text / 1500-3000 Words

Cities save money and help kids by connecting them with diploma programs. In Washington, iGrad is helping students do just this – and seeing results.

The American Dream Isn't Dead. This Is How Immigrant Families Are Achieving It

http://nationswell.com/juan-salgado-instituto-latino-american-dream-success

Raisa Bruner

NationSwell

9 November 2015

Text / 800-1500 Words

Instituto del Progreso Latino, a vocational school in Chicago, is comprehensively helping Latino immigrants living in the U.S. educate themselves, find professional work, and rise above poverty.

Where All Work Is Created Equal

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/15/where-all-work-is-created-equal

Tina Rosenberg

The New York Times

15 September 2011

Text / 1500-3000 Words

Countries all over the world are creating community, diversifying relationships, and giving a purpose to people who felt useless through time banks, where people swap their services using time as the currency.

Houston's Learning Curve

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/05/houstons-learning-curve-117959.html#.VYmllPlViko

Patrick Michels

Politico

21 May 2015

Text / Over 3000 Words

When immigrant children come to America, they are faced with culture shock, language barriers, and a system of education different from where their original country. Houston’s Las Americas Newcomer School is designed to ease the adjustment of immigrant and refugee children as they enter the American educational system. Las Americas offers competitive wages for teachers, teaching in several different languages, and preparation for the SAT as the school has the highest rate of minority participation.

How to Fix a Broken High Schooler, in Four Easy Steps

http://freakonomics.com/2014/12/04/how-to-fix-a-broken-high-schooler-in-four-easy-steps-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast

Stephen J. Dubner

Freakonomics

4 December 2014

Podcast / Over 15 Minutes

Fixing the education system in the country requires addressing the problem of student motivation to endure and succeed in school. Pathways to Education is a Toronto-based program designed to keep at-risk kids in school. It offers four different kinds of support: counseling, academic, social and financial, all of which contribute to a 46 percent decrease in the student drop-out rate.

How To Turn Adult Education Into Careers, Quickly

http://www.npr.org/2013/11/02/241897572/how-to-turn-adult-education-into-careers-quickly?sc=tw&cc=share

Kavitha Cardoza

NPR

2 November 2013

Radio / 5-15 Minutes

When adults want to return to school, they face many challenges including the experience of long waitlists for classes, and poor relevance to the job skills they need for future employment. The Washington state community college system has started a program known as Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) that instead teaches in two parts: academic content and basic soft skills.

Program removes barriers to learning English

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/english-536883-program-parents.html

Jordan England-Nelson

Orange County Register

14 November 2013

Text / 800-1500 Words

The Twilight Education Club is a non-profit working to break down the barriers – transportation, child care and cost – that typically prevent the economically disadvantaged from accessing social services such as language classes. While the Twilight program is specifically geared toward the needs of the parents - getting better jobs and securing greater stability - the long-term focus remains on creating future opportunities for their children.

Seeding Dreams with Self-Esteem: Building New Opportunities for Women in Rural Appalachia

http://appvoices.org/2014/08/10/seeding-dreams-with-self-esteem

Kimber Ray

Appalachian Voices

10 August 2014

Text / Over 3000 Words

A girls camp in West Virginia and a residential program in Kentucky help Appalachian women build self esteem and enable them to turn their life around through mentoring, stem classes, and job counseling.