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More states moving towards virtual classes for K-12 students

According to KPK12.com, more states are implementing measures that require students to take virtual classes. In 2014, “state virtual schools exist in 26 states as of fall 2014-one more than last year.” Many states are moving towards mandating virtual education because students will likely be required to take a virtual course or two should they decide to attend college. For instance, take Florida. KPK12.com notes that as of 2014, “Florida is the first state in the country to legislate that all K-12 students will have full- and part time virtual options, and that funding will follow each student down to …

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Are your looks landing you better grades?

We’ve all heard of studies claiming that attractive people enjoy advantages, such as earning more money and are generally perceived as being smarter. Two economists, Rey Hernandez-Julian and Christina Peters, set out to determine exactly why this is. They hypothesized that perhaps other factors come into play such as confidence, various personality traits or greater effort given, not solely appearance that influences these benefits. They set out to Metropolitan State University of Denver to test their theory, with some interesting results. Overall, attractive students did receive better grades than their less attractive peers. However, when taking online courses, more attractive …

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Are new student amenities boosting the cost of tuition?

As described by insidehighered.com, new student amenities such as lazy rivers are “bad for optics” when talking about the cost of college. The article explores the notion of luxury amenities on college campuses driving up the cost of tuition. Because New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren have criticized these high-priced student enhancements, they may be unfairly correlating these spending projects with the cost of tuition. With student loan debt spiraling out of control and tuition continuing to spike, both lawmakers believe that these types of amenities aren’t needed. But according to insidehighered.com’s article, tuition isn’t rising because of …

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Just how much does child care cost for parents in America?

If you’re a parent, you know how debilitating the cost of child care can be on your wallet. From weekly tuition costs that may rise with little notice to other expenses like gas, food, and doctor visits that add to the weekly expenditure, paying for your child’s care while your working may seem like more trouble than its worth at times. A new study by the Committee for Economic Development underscores the point of how burdensome child care costs are for American families. According to the study, “childcare costs consume an average of 7.2% of household income for those with children in …

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How digital gives literacy a boost

By way of the United States Department of Education and the National Institute of Literacy, nearly 15 percent of the U.S. population cannot read. That is an astonishing number. Delving deeper into the metrics, just 29 percent of adults read at a basic level and nearly 20 percent of high school graduates cannot read. It’s why we celebrate and encourage reading in schools and observe International Literacy Day in September. From the echos of hearing “reading is fundamental” to understanding the basic nature of being able to read street signs or contracts, reading is a basic need of life. That’s …

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Are black girls being pushed out of school?

A study released by law researchers at Columbia University shows evidence that of all groups, black K-12 female students are kicked or pushed out of school more than their peers. Altercations that may just call for a suspension or mediation for other students, for example, turn into expulsion or arrests in the case of black girls at rates that are alarmingly high. The report,  Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced and Underprotected, points to a school culture where young women of color are routinely looked over when it comes to providing a safe, nurturing environment for their learning. Things like …

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Report: 11 states spend more on prisons than higher education

According to a new report by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 11 states spend more money on correctional facilities than public research universities. The report outlines how many states have cut spending on higher education while increasing budgets for jails and prisons. Higher education spending didn’t start to fall once the recession started. Funding for higher education in many states begin toppling back in 1990 from 14.6 percent to just 9.4 percent in 2014. Michigan, Oregon, Arizona, Vermond, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Delaware, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Colorado, and Connecticut all failed to make the cut. Each state has a higher …

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Black students suspended, expelled more than peers

According to a new study published by the University of Pennsylvania, black students make up nearly 40 percent of students suspended in Florida. “The study details how black students in 13 Southern states receive school punishments disproportionate to their enrollments. In Florida, for example, black youngsters make up 23 percent of the public school population but 39 percent of those suspended.” That number, unfortunately, matches with the trend of how many black men and women are sent to prison. Making up just 13 percent of the population, people of color make-up about 60 percent of the nation’s prison population. The school-to-prison …

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Wearing a suit equals success? It just might to these kids

Photo via Timefrozen Photography Work hard, get good grades in school, and you’ll eventually find some semblance of the American dream in life. It’s what all kids are taught as they matriculate through grade school. It’s why we so often hear the saying that one should “dress for success.” It’s also why 100 men of color wearing suits greeted elementary school students on their first day of school last week. An attempt to present a varying image to kids of color of what men of color may actually turn out to be: successful. Statistics state that black male “students in …

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Study: Nearly 90 percent of full-time professors are white

According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, just 16 percent of full-time professors at post-secondary institutions are minorities. That means that 84 percent of those in full-time professorships are white, 60 percent are men and 25 percent are white women. Those numbers decrease slightly with faculty. 79 percent of the “instructional faculty“ within this nation’s colleges and universities are white and just six percent are black. Considering the hiring boom that many schools have experienced since the start of the 1990’s, it’s mildly surprising that not many minorities were included in that growth. “The Condition of Education: Characteristics of Post-secondary Faculty“ …

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