The New York Times
22 January 2015
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Cairo, Egypt
Muslim women in Egypt are expected to marry young and to stay close to home, and if they do not, they can be subjected to abuse or heavy criticism by men in the household. Save the Children’s Choices program offers educational workshop sessions for boys and girls, ages 10 to 14, which help them explore gender identity. Through discussions, the program hopes to change gender norms.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/fighting-bullying-with-babies
David Bornstein
The New York Times
8 November 2010
Text / 1500-3000 Words
The Canadian federal government has identified bullying as a national problem. Roots of Empathy, based in Toronto, encourages empathy in elementary kids by having them interact with babies.
http://seattletimes.com/html/education/2024591420_edlabtulsaxml.html
Claudia Rowe
The Seattle Times
20 September 2014
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Preparing the young for elementary education is a priority to nurture reading and social skills. For 16 years, Tulsa Oklahoma has instituted a state funded preschool, staffed with teachers trained in early education. Tulsa’s Pre-K initiative has shown that their children are more prepared for literacy skills and math; however, maintaining the positive results is a long-term challenge.
http://www.seattletimes.com/education/from-slipping-through-the-cracks-to-the-college-track
Claudia Rowe
The Seattle Times
14 April 2014
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The Rainier Scholars program in Seattle places fifth graders, who are all minorities, in special coursework through middle and high school, finally offering rigorous college coaching. In Oakland, CA, the National College Advising Corps directs recent graduates into schools to be role models and guides for at-risk students.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/03/29/175710393/fruit-not-fries-lunchroom-makeovers-nudge-kids-toward-better-choices
Kevin Charles Redmon
NPR
2 April 2013
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With child obesity on the rise, public school students have lacked the motivation and access to eat healthy food. Different programs around the country aim to improve student diet in public schools, including Real Eats for Academics and Life in Los Angeles and Cornell’s Smarter Lunchrooms Movement, by emailing nutrition report cards to parents, presenting the healthy food with aesthetic pleasure, and the arrangement of the food for access.
https://www.seattletimes.com/education/high-poverty-high-test-scores-auburn-school-is-a-shouting-success
Linda Shaw
The Seattle Times
27 April 2014
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As school poverty rates goes up, learning and test scores fall. At Gildo Ray elementary school in Washington state uses a teaching method called director or explicit instruction, in which children learn from a structured approach to teaching with teacher-guided practice. Gildo Ray’s test scores in math and reading are among the highest in the state.
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.
https://medium.com/bright/how-seattle-got-its-arts-groove-back-883392ada1de
Robyn Jordan
Bright Magazine
29 June 2015
Illustrations / Under 800 Words
Arts education programs in the United States are subjected to cutting for maintaining tight school budgets. Technology sectors in Seattle seek professionals who have been trained in problem solving skills and innovative idea generation. In response, Seattle Public Schools and the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture collaborate to promote equity in students’ access to the arts.
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.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/hard-times-for-recess
David Bornstein
The New York Times
4 April 2011
Text / Over 3000 Words
Despite strong evidence that school-based physical activity improves children’s cognitive skills, concentration, and behavior, schools under pressure to produce quantitative results and decrease bullying have drastically cut back on recess in recent years. An Oakland-based nonprofit organization called Playworks is working to make healthy play accessible for more children and show schools how productive recess can be to the whole academic world.
http://hechingerreport.org/a-low-income-brooklyn-high-school-where-100-percent-of-black-male-students-graduate
Meredith Kolodner
The Hechinger Report
14 July 2015
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The overall graduation rate for black male students in New York City was 58 percent in 2014 - student retention rates are equally poor. But one school achieved a 100% on-time graduation rate last year, motivating their students with a student-founded, student-sustained 'fraternity'.
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