(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
See full story at: Rich kid, poor kid: How mixed neighborhoods could save America’s schools
Reprinted with the permission of The Hechinger Report
July 2012 Archives
See full story at: Rich kid, poor kid: How mixed neighborhoods could save America’s schools
Reprinted with the permission of The Hechinger Report
Main entrance at Penn State University. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The N.C.A.A. also imposed a four-year postseason ban though, stopped short of shutting down the football team for more than a season, eliminated scholarships and vacated all of the teams victories between 1998 to 2011.
It is expected that it will take Penn State's football program, formerly one of the strongest in the country, years to return to its top-dog status following these penalties.
A coronavirus that may cause SARS. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
A new study from MIT looks at the role US airports may play in the spread of an epidemic.
Epidemiologists usually study the spread of disease backwards, looking at the locations that end up with the highest rates of infection.
Researchers at MIT’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) took a different approach by examining the first few days of an epidemic and its spreading patterns. This may eventually help with containment of infections.
The study included 40 of the largest US airports. Based on travel patterns, geographic location, airport interactions and waiting times researchers determined which airports would be most likely to quickly spread disease.
New York’s Kennedy airport is ranked first in the model as the most likely to spread contagion followed by airports in Los Angeles, Honolulu, San Francisco, Newark, Chicago (O’Hare) and Washington (Dulles).
Form In Art, an art program for visually impaired adult students, recently celebrated its 40th anniversary at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Form in Art, started in 1971 by the Women's Committee and the Education Department, is the first course for blind adults at an American museum. The program incorporates gallery touch tours, studio time, and more. The anniversary was celebrated with an exhibition opening attended by roughly thirty Form in Art students, as well as museum patrons, guests, employees and educators.
Landmark College in Putney, Vermont, is devoted entirely to teaching college students with learning disabilities including ADHD, dyslexia, 
Asperger's Syndrome, etc. Landmark is a unique school where students who have often failed in traditional academic environments are encouraged to thrive. In May another proud class of Landmark Graduates accepted their degrees and were each asked to make up to a two-minute speech. Below are excerpts from one of the graduate's, Thomas Finkenkeller, inspiring speech.
Landmark College (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
"All of us graduates, we stand here now as victors. Each one of these graduates has a long road behind them- a difficult road of discrimination, mockery, frustration, and disappointment that comes with a learning disability. But despite such mental profiles, we have taken on college-level learning, and emerged as unlikely victors. In this spirit, I would like to recognize those who have supported us and also those who have rooted against us. For both, this is the moment of truth.
...By earning degrees, we reflect the learning capability that we have always had. It is not the diploma that validates the student; it is the capable mind that makes the diploma its own. It is the person that makes the degree, not the degree that makes the person.
I have acquired many understandings during my time at Landmark. Learning isn't linear. You can't plan it perfectly, and sometimes it is only won with great effort... We come to Landmark because it is a school dedicated to transforming learning for everyone- not just those who are naturally suited to academia...
For every graduate here, there are many more who do not make it as far. But with every effort that faculty, staff, and even students take to improve Landmark, we are able to empower more and more minds to succeed.
To all of us, and not least myself, this moment will be seen as a point- when we turned a losing battle into a winning one."
As America's Latino population continues to grow groups such as Excelencia in Education, a non-profit, are focusing on how to improve college completion rates for Latino students. By 2020 it is projected that 25 percent of the nation's 18-29 year-olds will be Latino. Despite growth in size there appear to be low college completion rates among this population. As of 2011, 21 percent of Latinos had an associate degree or higher, compared to 57 percent of Asians, 44 percent of whites and 30 percent of blacks.
Patricia Gandara, co-director of the Civil Rights Project at UCLA, proposes that parents play the most important role in improving Latino students educations.
"Parents have to understand why this is important, how you do it, how you encourage your kids. I think generally speaking, Latino parents want their kids to do well in school and they think its an opportunity, but they have almost no information," said Gandara in a recent interview with Nick Pandolfo of the Hechinger Report. "Schools have got to work with parents."
Award-winning filmmaker Danny Anker received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to create a documentary on the Comic Book Project. This film and multimedia package will highlight the comic book stories and life stories of youths in the Comic Book Project. Some of the student comics will be animated with narrations by the students themselves. We look forward to seeing the Comic Book Project on the big screen!
