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5 Facts Everyone Needs to Know About the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Our nation’s public schools play an integral role in fostering talents. They also play a role in building our children’s internal worth. It is therefore not surprising that our schools can assist in reducing our nation’s prison population as well. Here are five facts everyone should know about the school-to-prison pipeline, and how to end it: An increased prison population costs us all money. Those of us who fall outside the group of perceived misfits who make our nation’s prison population may wonder why the school-to-prison pipeline should matter. Aside from caring about the quality of life for other individuals, …

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6 Strategies for Creating a Nurturing Classroom for Your LGBT Students

As a teacher, odds are that you will have at least one student who is gay or lesbian in your classroom. Regardless of how you feel about the LGBT community, as a teacher you have an ethical duty to protect and nurture all of your students. One of the easiest ways to do this is to create a nurturing environment for your LGBT students. Here are several strategies that you can use to accomplish this: 1. Let all of your students know that they are protected in your classroom. No bullying or harassment will be allowed, no matter what. This …

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Ask An Expert: What are the Benefits and Drawbacks of Year Round Schools?

Question: I am considering taking an accounting job with a district that has year round schools. Since I am unfamiliar with the concept, I would like to know what the benefits and drawbacks are. Me and my husband have 3 school aged children, and we want to do what’s best for them. Virginia S. Answer: Virginia, first of all, congratulations on the job offer. I know that it must be difficult for you and your husband to consider exposing your children to something that is unfamiliar. In this column, I will explain the benefits and drawbacks of year round schools, …

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Why High School Graduation Is the Key to Improving At-Risk Communities: Part II

A guest post by Frank Britt, CEO of Penn Foster When an at-risk student graduates high school, it creates a significant and positive trickle-down effect: it de-risks a family unit and the power of example encourages friends to also become contributing members as high school finishers, and can be a catalyst for galvanizing a community, and even a single building or street. At scale, it can help build work forces with higher productivity, leading to lower poverty and reduced crime rates. What Drives (and Improves) Crime Rates in a Community? Crime rates are linked to educational attainment, according to a 2013 …

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I’m an Educator, What Should I Tweet about?

**The Edvocate is pleased to publish guest posts as way to fuel important conversations surrounding P-20 education in America. The opinions contained within guest posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of The Edvocate or Dr. Matthew Lynch.** A guest post by Craig Kemp As an educator that is addicted to using social media for professional learning, I wish I had a list of things to tweet about when I first started out. This week I was inspired by @shiftparadigm and his list of Personal Rules for Twitter and a list of what …

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3 People (Besides Teachers) Who Play a Role in Students’ Success

As someone who train educators for a living and have written books about following “the calling” to become a teacher, I do believe in the power of teachers to make an impact, both positive and negative, on their students. But what about “superstar teachers”?  You are probably familiar with the concept, particularly since it is perpetuated in popular culture through movies like the classic Edward James Olmos film “Stand and Deliver” and 2012’s “Won’t Back Down.” The idea is that with the right teacher – a committed, bright, in-tune, talented teacher – P-12 problems like the achievement gap and high …

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5 Keys to an Effective School Mission

Instructional leadership offers administrators the opportunity to create a shared vision of learning for the entire school environment – allowing both educators and support staff to get behind a common goal. That common goal is most often articulated in the form of a school mission statement, which must be built effectively in order to be compelling. What are the characteristics of a good school mission statement? 1.    Academically Focused A school’s mission must be academically focused, as after all that is the primary function of the school environment. While there are other functions that a school serves, other roles that …

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The Benefits of Browsing: Why Teachers Should Indulge in Online Social Networking

The Internet is not just about consuming – it’s also about connecting. Forums and other forms of online social networking provide opportunities for educators to come together and commiserate, encourage, and share information. Online social networking encompasses different online communities of people who share common interests. It allows members of that community to interact in a variety of ways. They can conduct live chats, or they can leave comments in blogs or discussion groups. These communities are shaped by different profiles of individuals who link to each other. Each member of the community creates a personal profile that can include …

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Parental involvement in early childhood learning: A stitch in time saves nine

**The Edvocate is pleased to publish guest posts as way to fuel important conversations surrounding P-20 education in America. The opinions contained within guest posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of The Edvocate or Dr. Matthew Lynch.** By Khaula Mazhar In today’s increasingly busy world, parents have less and less time to spend with their young children and often miss out on this extremely important time in a child’s life. Children are developing more and more behavioral problems. They are stressed out at ages when they should be enjoying their childhood. Research has …

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The Call to Teach: Urban Legends

Each day 8,000 American students drop out of high school. Over the course of a year, that amounts to 3 million total students who give up on the American right to education through 12th grade and decide they will be better off without a high school diploma. Within those numbers are even more telling statistics that show students of color and from low socio-economic brackets are dropping out in much greater numbers than their white middle- and high-class peers. In my new book The Call to Teach: An Introduction to Teaching I explore the “real world” of teaching, particularly how …

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