Future Forces Affecting Education

I found a really cool website called KnowledgeBase, which features a map, if you will, focusing on the the future of education, and in fact covers the years 2006-2016 . This Map of Future Forces Affecting Education, is from a company called KnowledgeWorks Foundation, and it is basically a forecast of what the coming years has in store for us in so far as education.

As you know I am deeply involved in education as reflected in my website http://www.roccobasile.org/.

Plus of course, my work on the Board of Children of the City, who started very successful grass roots localized educational programs years ago.

One of the collaborators of the Map is named Bob Johansen, who is the former president of the Institute for the Local Communities. He focused on experiments in sharing or "gift" economies, sustainable environments, and new civic processes, then wrote a book based on his theory is that local value grows economies of group connectivity, and that this combined with fears of globalism, political gridlock, and concern over dominance of big business will create a revival of localism.

In his book Get There Early: Sensing the Future to Compete in the
Present, Johansen, talks about some of the implications researchers from
the Palo Alto, California-based think tank discovered in working with the foundation to assess the future trends in education.

He said, "One of the dilemmas we identified is the tension between the marketplace for increasingly personalized learning and the social mandate of the public schools to provide foundational education to everyone — regardless of background or income."

Other thoughts covered in the book include economics, urban space expansion and the fact that society is starting to fragment into subcultures with strong belief systems. The map is being used broadly across the country to investigate what these trends could mean for education. It is definitely worth a look.

Why Kids Still Cannot Read

If you want our children to do better in school, then it is important to begin to understand the reasons why they are not. In researching the various trends and strategies in education, everyone, including educators and parents alike, can communicate more effectively about the issues.

One issue I read about is the fact that during the couple of decades new views of reading instruction emerged and morphed in school districts nationwide. The issue now isn't whether phonics or whole language methods are better for beginning readers, but how to blend these reading programs tailored each individual child.

It was known as "the reading wars," waged during the 1980s and '90s. It was around 1987 when apparently, personal journals became one of the latest classroom tactics for teaching kids to read. Defined as whole language, it was an instructional philosophy emphasizing that children focus on meaning, which contrasts with phonics based methods of teaching reading and writing - with an emphasis in instruction for reading and spelling.

At that time, many people believe that children were poor readers because the old skills-based approach that emphasized phonics. The fact that memorization ended up turning reading into a chore, thus alienating them from reading at all.

But ultimately whole language proved to be a disaster when applied to real kids and teachers. Eight years after whole language first appeared in California grade schools, by the mid-90s, fourth-grader reading scores had plummeted to near the bottom nationally, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress(NAEP).

It was in 1997 when Congress formed the National Reading Panel to evaluate the research on teaching practices to determine what really works. Thereafter, the federal No Child Left Behind Act required that school districts use scientifically proven instructional methods as they strive to make all children proficient in math and reading by 2014.

Today there is a trend towards balanced or comprehensive literacy. Most educators agree that there is no one program that fits all children for learning to read.

This makes sense insofar as what I have experienced with our Children of the City programs such as Create Success, an after school and summer program with a high priority on individual students and their academic success with intense tutoring to improve each child's reading and math levels. I think that if more communities in the United States had programs like this, our kids would learn to read much faster.

One student that has been helped tremendously through this program, is a second grade boy named Weixum. His favorite topic is about dinosaurs, and he now reads books that are way above the standard reading level of a second grader, and he does fine interpreting the text. Why? He sounds out the harder Latin based words. You would never guess that Weixum does not speak English at home. His teacher initially referred him to Children of the City’s Create Success for help with his homework and reading.

To learn more about my involvement in this and other charities, please go to my charity website known as http://www.roccobasile.org/ where I continue to list facts, trends and success stories.

Kids and Learning Disabilities CAN Learn

What is important to me, as a parent with two daughters, is that my children grow up healthy. Recently I read an article that talked about learning disabilities, and I found out that there are quite a few different types of disorders that can affect a child’s ability to learn. And, recent research estimates that almost one-half of all children of the ages six to 11 that are identified as having a learning disability also have ADHD.

The following categories of learning disorders have been identified:
-- Language and speech including articulation, difficulty understanding aspects of speech.
-- Academic skill disorders like dyslexia, writing/hand movement difficulties, vocabulary, memory, math disorders; and others not meeting the criteria of the other two categories.

Between 1997 and 2004, the proportion of children identified by a school official or health professional as having a learning disability varied only slightly, between 7 and 8 percent. The percentage of children who are identified as having a learning disability increases with age from 3 percent of three-to four-year-olds to 11 percent among 12- to 17-year olds percent, and in 2004 was 8 percent.

Boys are more likely than girls to be identified as having a learning disability, and kids living in families that receive welfare payments are much more likely than other children to be identified as having a learning disability. Non-Hispanic black children were more likely than Hispanic children to be identified as having a learning disability.

It isn’t clear what causes learning disorders but evidence indicates a diverse set of causes for difficulties in bringing together information from various parts of the brain. Possible causes include: genetic factors; maternal use of alcohol, drugs and tobacco during pregnancy; complications during pregnancy; and environmental toxins such as cadmium and lead.

As evidenced by some of the kids in our Children of the City program, we see this all the time. Another example is Xaverian High School in New York City, a school that specializes in serving young men with learning disabilities. In fact, about 10 percent of the enrollment includes students with learning difficulties, But, just as one example, 25 percent of the Class of 2005 went to Ivy League schools or the equivalent. This just proves that people that have learning disabilities can learn.

I truly enjoy the charities that I work with in order to support schools like this, which you can find more about on my RoccoBasile.org website. But every year the Joe DiMaggio Award Gala sponsored by Xaverian, raises money for students who otherwise would not get to go to college. In fact, four students recently received scholarships to major New York-Metropolitan area universities. In a very short period of time, the charity has evolved into the preeminent educational gala in the United States, raising more funds every year.

Without the proper help, a learning disability could be a condition that affects a person's education and employment, daily routines and family life in the future.


The source is the Child Trends DataBank.

Mentoring Programs for Kids Work

Did you know there are now about 1.2 million students in the United States who drop out annually? Statewide, more than 10,000 students in grades 7-12 have dropped out of school in the past year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

A network of nonprofit groups and corporations founded by former Secretary of State Colin Powell called America's Promise Alliance, reports that many of the country's largest cities graduate fewer than half of all of their students.

The National Center for Education Statistics defines a dropout as a student who: was enrolled in school at some time during the previous school year and was not enrolled on Oct. 1 of the current school year, or was not enrolled on Oct. 1 of the previous school year although expected to be in membership (i.e., was not reported as a dropout the year before), and has not graduated from high school or completed a state or district-approved educational program.

But there is one bit of good news out of this - and that is some communities have developed mentoring programs that are helping. A hat tip to the writers of this blog story in Fredericksburg, for example, where one program has school employees and community members mentor at-risk students in middle and high school. Out of 11 seniors who participated, eight were accepted to college, and the others plan on attending trade schools.

As you know, I am a big advocate of education to eliminate poverty and crime - as eviodenced on my website www.roccobasile.org which was designed to inspire people to take notice of mentoring organizations and promote help. Being on the board of Children of the City has been a truely rewarding experience, because just like the folks in Frederickburg, we too have seen tremendous successes from the mentorship programs.

A great example is Mathew, who is a tutor in Children of the City’s Create Success After School Program. “I teach kids the skills they need to come up with a strategy for learning.”

Creativity is the key to Mathew’s style of mentoring. He combines games, drama, group presentation and listening skills into the lessons. Last semester he staged a reading of Shakespeare’s “A Mid Summer Night’s Dream” to promote public speaking and foster listening skills. He helps boosting his student’s self esteem, and inspires confidence by coaxing them out of their shells.

A major in communications, Matt said, “I was making a documentary in El Salvador when my heart turned toward helping youth.” He moved back to his old neighborhood in Sunset Park Brooklyn and rearranged his work schedule to free up his afternoon so that he could offer his services to Children of the City.

A Spike in Murders Could be Related to Education

A May 6, 2008 Wall Street Journal article called, "Murder Spike Poses Quandary" by Gary Fields talks about how criminologists are offering a number of explanations for April's increase in the murder rate in some cities. For example in Washington, in April there were 18 murders during a 13-day spurt of violence, 20 percent deadlier than a year ago in April of 2007.

Several cities around the country, including Chicago and Philadelphia had similar murder waves during the same period, which is leading criminologists to worry whether this signifies the beginning of a trend. The people who study crime say that there are no easy explanations for this rise, other than the usual usual reasons -- the economy, poverty, gangs and crews, and the ease of getting firearms.

According to the article the overall murder rate has dropped for years, but it has been inching up in the black community in recent years. African-Americans make up only 13 percent of the nation's population, but more are killed in the U.S. than any other racial group, accounting for 49 percent of all murder victims, according to Federal Bureau of Investigation statistics.

Here's the interesting fact. One county medical examiner who has analyzed all the available data on his murder victims thinks that education -- or the lack of it -- is a vital component. O'dell Owens, the Hamilton County medical examiner in Cincinnati, studied the death certificates of his victims and found that over a five-year period, 60 percent of them had quit school.

In my work for charity organizations like Children of the City in Sunset Park, in Brooklyn New York, we already know these facts. You can read more about these kinds of statistics on my website http://www.roccobasile.org/. This group is changing the lives of more children, improving their quality of life by breaking the cyclical effects of poverty and giving them hope for their future.

In this community alone there is a 48 percent high school drop out rate. With 30 thousand children, that means 15,000 are dropping out. One in three families are under the poverty level. A culture of drugs and gang, 1000 deaths annually. Kids are into violent acts like selling drugs. The community was in need of hope and Children of the City is helping.
Check outthe educational video here.

The organization believes that the only way to fix the problems is through educating the kids, their families, and helping them learn. For more than two and a half decades, the organization has been working to make a difference. Its Create Success program is countering the near 50 percent drop out rate, instigating positive change. Almost half of the kids enrolled in the education program believe that it helped deter them from getting involved in drugs.

Redshirting in education and the Joe DiMaggio Awards Gala

According to a U.S. Department of Education report back in 2000 about 9 percent of first and second-graders started kindergarten one year late, and eight years later the experts are saying that this trend is continuing. There is usually an age gap within one class that is 16 months or more, posing challenges for teachers concerned that the older children may become bored.

Delaying a child’s entry to start kindergarten, or to repeat kindergarten, began with the ratcheting up of standards for third graders and above to improve the students’ performance on standardized tests. With greater emphasis on test performance, educators have noted a gradual escalation in academic demands has made its way down the grades – all the way to kindergarten. So that is why some parents opt to give their children a leg up by keeping them out of kindergarten a year beyond when they reach the entry age. It is called "redshirting" and many people and educators are wondering if it is a good idea.

Some people think that it is the students that are being held out that are the ones who need school the most. Another 2002 study by the National Institute for Early Education found that, on average, older children do not academically outperform their younger peers.

I see this often in my work for Xaverian High School, which offers amazing program for students with learning disabilities. The school has a tradition of serving young men from disadvantaged backgrounds, including students whose families are in financial need. In fact, if it were not for the generosity of alumni, parents and friends, many of these students would not be able to afford a quality, college-prep education.

We do a fund raiser every year, and I am on the Joe DiMaggio Committee that raises money at this premiere event known as the Joe DiMaggio Award Gala. He went to the school and supported it always ...

We also rasie funds through straight donations. If you are interested, you can make a gift in honor of the Joe DiMaggio Scholarship Fund, please print out this coupon and return it to: http://www.joedimaggioaward.com/donate/index_donate.htm

The Joe DiMaggio Scholarship Fund Xaverian High School
7100 Shore Road
Brooklyn, NY 11209

To find out more about the Joe DiMaggio Award Gala, please contact Dr. Salvatore Ferrera at 718-836-7100 ext. 112.
Make checks payable to: Xaverian HS / Joe DiMaggioScholarship Fund

What is poverty and how does it hurt our children?

The word "poverty" typically suggests a family with no food, clothing, or shelter. In the year 2005, a Poverty Pulse poll was taken by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). It asked the public this question: "How would you describe being poor in the United States?" A major portion of the responses focused on homelessness, hunger or not being able to eat properly. In addition not being able to meet basic needs was a factor.

The Census Bureau's latest annual report on poverty in the U.S. says that there were 37 million poor individuals living in this country in 2005. That number has not changed much in recent years -- as the report states 12.6 percent of Americans were poor in 2005. This number has been averaging between 11.3 percent to 15.1 percent of during the last 20 years or so.

I know for a fact that in Brooklyn, New York, there is a poverty problem, and one of the reasons why I am so involved in charitable organizations like Children of the City. But to understand poverty in this country, I believe that it is critical to take a look behind these kinds of numbers that are lingering in the Census Bureau's reports —to look at the actual living conditions of the individuals that our government claims are poor. You can find other statistics and informaiotn at my own website http://www.roccobasile.org/.

The real truth is that the poor are generally well nourished, but some poor families do experience temporary food shortages. 89 percent of the poor report their families have enough food, while only 2 percent say they often don't have enough to eat. Forty-three percent of what the government calls "poor" households actually own their own homes, and a car.

Perhaps what is even more important, according to Author Robert E. Rector, in his article entitled, "How Poor Are America's Poor? Examining the Plague of Poverty in America," is that poverty in the U.S. can be reduced further, particularly poverty among children. There are two main reasons that American children are poor: Their parents don't work much, and fathers are absent from the home.

He sites that the typical poor family with children is supported by only 800 hours of work during a year, which is only 16 hours of work per week. If work in each family were raised to 2,000 hours per year—the equivalent of one adult working 40 hours per week throughout the year— nearly 75 percent of poor children would be lifted out of official poverty.

This makes sense. Children of the City's website features an audio presentation that sites the fact that there are 17 thousand cases of child abuse or neglect every year, a 48 percent high school drop out rate and the fact that one in three families is living below the poverty line. It is all happening in our own back yard. These individuals needed hope and help to keep their kids off of drugs, and out of crime.

This is why Children of the City's prevention outreach services have evolved to include trauma intervention, counseling, after-school programs, social work, courtroom and legal advocacy, financial counseling, youth mentoring, and other services that are helping families and their children achieve success socially, at school and at home. Parents can get help financially and with their careers.

One of the charity's programs is called Future Safe -- a monthly event attended by about 500 children with a preventative element designed to deter children from drug abuse, delinquency, gang involvement and teen pregnancy. It is often a first step for children from poor families with no place to turn, and the program helps them engage in structured after school activities.

In the end I believe that with more programs like Children of the City, our communities could beat what our government continues to call "poverty in America."

Reading First Program for Low Income Children Did Not Work

News just out yesterday from the Department of Education on the latest report issued by its Institute of Education Sciences -- President Bush’s $1 billion a year initiative to teach reading to low-income children has not helped improve their reading comprehension. The report entitled, "Reading First Impact Study: Interim Report" was mandated by Congress.

Bush's "Reading First" program was reportedly based on some of his educational experiences as Texas governor. But the report states that so far this program did not improve the students' reading comprehension. President Bush and Secretary Margaret Spellings have continued to tout the program's success, however last year the Congressional Democrats did reduce the financing of this project from $1 billion down to $400 million for this year of 2008.

This news is not good. And all the more reason to take a look at non-profit organizations that can assist our youth with their educational concerns. As you know, my own education website has information about education at http://www.roccobasile.org/, and specifically about the Children of the City programs that are helping kids by personally fostering strong relationships. The group teaches, informs and counsels on various life issues and skills through programs such as: Strong Minds and Strong Homes: a volunteer effort that meets children and families in Southwest Brooklyn and connects them with the services they may not know about. Plus the Create Success After School and Summer Program places a high priority on intense tutoring and daily personal homework help. We have already seen dramatic increases in student’s reading and math levels, healthy study habits, communications, improved peer relationships, and more. Click here to learn more about this program.

Meanwhile, the Reading First study analyzed the student's performance from 12 states in the first to third grades during the 2004-5 and 2005-6 school years. The final report will follow early in 2009 and will analyze additional follow-up data.The report is available at: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/opepd/ppss/index.html

Directly from the report: "The ability to read and comprehend text well is at the heart of educational attainment and, as such, is central to all children’s elementary school success. Unfortunately, success in elementary school (and beyond) disproportionately eludes many minority and economically disadvantaged children. Large numbers of minority children, often in high-poverty schools, are not developing the reading skills needed for success in school. Results from the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Reading Assessment indicate that 54 percent of fourth-grade students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches read at a Below Basic level compared to only 23 percent of fourth-graders not eligible for free or reduced-price lunches who perform at that level.8 Although these results are disappointing, these findings are an improvement over the 2000 NAEP results where 62 percent of students eligible free or reduced price lunches scored at the Below Basic level (U.S. Department of Education, 2005)."