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Matthew Lynch published in Diversity, Equity, Matthew Lynch December 7, 2015

Black Boys in Crisis: Is Punishment Too Harsh?

It’s no secret that Black boys are considered the trouble makers of society. In America’s prison systems, black citizens are incarcerated at six times the rates of white ones – and the NAACP predicts that one in three of this generation of Black boys will spend some time locked up. Do these numbers tell the true story though? Are Black boys inherently more dangerous than their white and Hispanic peers – or are they the products of racial profiling and a society that sets them up to fail?

In the first part of this series I looked at the connection between low reading ability and a lifetime of struggle for Black young men in the U.S., but today I want to focus on a non-academic area that impacts this group in childhood: punishment that begins in K-12 classrooms.

Troubling Stats in Schools

Nearly 75 percent of all schools in the U.S. report at least one violent incident in their schools each year, but that number rises to 82 percent for schools with a majority of Black students. Though Hispanic boys are the most likely to be involved with gang activity at school, it is certainly an issue for Black boys too – with 31 percent of students nationwide reporting seeing Black gang activity in their schools. Violence is just one part of the criminal side of K-12 hallways, though. There are also higher numbers of non-violent crimes, like theft, in schools where more students are Black than any other race.

All of that being said, there still IS violence in schools where Black students are the minority, and committed by non-Black students. Yet, over and over again statistics show that punishment for Black boys – even first-time offenders – in schools is harsher than any other demographic. Consider these facts:

• Black students make up just 18 percent of children in U.S. preschools, but make up half of those youngsters who are suspended.
• Black boys receive two-thirds of all school suspensions nationwide – all demographics and both genders considered.
• In Chicago, 75 percent of all students arrested in public schools are Black.

Also troubling is the fact that not all of the Black boys taken from their schools in handcuffs are violent, or even criminals. Increasingly, school-assigned law enforcement officers are leading these students from their schools hallways for minor offenses, including class disruption, tardiness and even non-violent arguments with other students. It seems that it is easier to remove these students from class through the stigma of suspension or arrest than to look for in-school solutions.
Minnesota civil rights attorney Nekima Levy-Pounds writes that “it is a continual affront to the human dignity of black boys to be treated as second class citizens within the public school system and made to feel as though they are not welcome in mainstream classroom settings.”

In Minneapolis, for example, an Office for Black Male Student Achievement has been created within the public schools to address the specific challenges that face young black males face when navigating the public school system. It appears that the effort may just be smoke and mirrors, however, as only $200,000 has been dedicated to it – which amounts to just $28 per African American boy.

School-to-Prison pipeline

School suspension, and certainly arrest, is just the beginning of a life considered on the wrong side of the law for many Black boys. By 18 years of age, 30 percent of Black males have been arrested at least once, compared to just 22 percent of white males. Those numbers rise to 49 percent for Black men by the age of 23, and 38 percent of white males. Researchers from several universities concluded earlier this year that arrests early in life often set the course for more crimes and incarceration throughout the rest of the offender’s lifetime.

Turning our backs on the misbehavior of our K-12 youth doesn’t teach them a lesson, or lead to lives that are changed for the better. It only simplifies the present, paving the way for a future of crime and other misbehavior. In order to change the troubling trends of Black men and crime, we first need to address the way Black boys are disciplined in K-12 schools and look for better solutions to suspensions and arrests.

photo credit: Elliott Fusy-Pudal via photopin cc

Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, Matthew Lynch December 6, 2015

Adopting a Transformational Leadership Style

Transformational leadership is all about perception. It only works if it is able to influence the core—the follower’s feelings. Charismatic and inspiring, transformational leaders are well versed the power of language and imagery. “Transformational characteristics” are included in training courses, but the personal effort of the leader determines whether transformational leadership is achievable.

The positive connection between transformational leadership and job characteristics is so strong, we should almost expect an opposite result in organizations that do not employ it. When switching to a transformational style of leadership, a principal or dean must understand how he or she is to influence task perception. The shaping of daily tasks in a transformational manner helps foster positive perceptions among followers.

Transformational behaviors are a continuous process. A school intending to convert to this style should assess the departments where it is needed. The organization should include transformational components in their yearly assessments, such as 360-degree feedback and managerial surveys. These could replace needs assessments.

Transformation doesn’t happen overnight, but it is worthwhile for any school to build on these principles, since the long-term effects enrich the entire institution. Students learn leadership from the school. Transformational leadership in student affairs would help ensure that students initiate this leadership later in life.

Combating Negativity Through Transformational Leadership

Meta-analytic research has produced evidence of a positive relationship between transformational leadership and work-related results. These findings demonstrate that transformational leaders make work meaningful by providing autonomy. Followers of transformational leaders feel strongly that their work is esteemed and self-congruent.

Transformational leaders motivate by increasing self-efficacy in followers, by facilitating social identification within a group, and by linking organizational values to follower values. This allows followers to feel more determined in their work and augments their perceived empowerment.

While cynicism and intentions to quit are widely considered symptoms of employee negativity, initial research in organizational behaviors has considered them to be generalized traits. Recent studies found cynicism to be a specific construct; a reflection of the followers’ perception of the leader. Cynicism is a product of ineffective leadership and lack of participation and consultation in decision making.

Transformational leadership encourages a feeling of empowerment in all followers. There is an inverse relationship between cynicism and transformational leadership, because persons under a highly transformational leader are usually intellectually stimulated and constantly challenged to be open-minded. Various studies have demonstrated relationships between follower empowerment and job satisfaction, decreased anger and frustration, and a sense of organizational attachment.

Intention to quit (ITQ) is another form of employee’s negative reaction to poor leadership. Factors that have been linked to ITQ include poor pay, and lack of job satisfaction and goal commitment. Employees are unlikely to have ITQ toward an organization where their need for efficacy is met in their respective job responsibilities. Highly resilient followers are more likely to adapt after setbacks at work, rather than leave the organization.

Universality of Transformational Leadership

Is transformational leadership a universal style of leadership, or is it regional or culturally limited? Many sources have attempted to carry out cross-national studies to establish this.

A study by Boehnke, Bontis, Distefano, and Distefano investigated the existence of universally consistent behaviors. They sampled 145 senior executives in two divisions of a global petroleum company and its subsidiaries around the world. One of the major findings of the study was that the basic dimensions of leadership that produce extraordinary performance are universal, with little variation in the six different parts of the world sampled. However, some leadership differences were attributed to the different corporate cultures in the two company divisions.

In the final result, transformational leadership is identified as consistent with a clear majority of sampled behaviors, as provided in the executives’ descriptions of their version of exceptional organizational performance. Terms such as visioning, intellectual stimulation, team building, coaching, and inspiring behavior appeared in 68% or more of the responses. All those attributes refer to a transformational style of leadership.

It is intriguing to note that the only non-transformational characteristic in more than half of the reports was “recognizing and rewarding,” at 62%, which is an element of the transactional style of leadership. It is apparent that transformational leadership is widely accepted as an exceptional leadership technique. It is applicable in all kinds of organizations, including the school setting. Whether you are a practicing leader or someone who aspires to become one, you would be well advised to add transformational leadership to your repertoire.

References

Transformational leadership is a theory of leadership that was developed by James Burns (1978), and has been written about by many other scholars since then. To read more of James Burns’ work on transformational leadership and other topics, click here to visit his Amazon.com page.

Matthew Lynch published in Higher Education, Matthew Lynch December 6, 2015

2 Biggest K-12 Education Wins of 2015

2015 was a good year for K-12 education, and we had some great wins. Let’s look back at a couple of these accomplishments:

Social programs keep child poverty rates from doubling. More children are living in poverty conditions in the U.S. than official numbers present, according to a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The Measuring Access to Opportunity in the United States Report uses the Supplemental Poverty Measure, a standard first implemented by the U.S. Census in 2011 that measures the impact of important social programs like SNAP and the Earned Income Tax Credit on true poverty rates. It also accounts for rising costs and other changes that affect a family’s budget. Unlike the federal “poverty level” standard, the SPM takes geographical costs of living into account.

According to SPM measurements, without social assistance programs, the child poverty rate would almost double from its current 18 percent to 33 percent. Not surprisingly, children of color are more likely to live in poverty than their white peers. The report found that both Latino and African-American children have a 29 percent SPM rate, while white children sit at just 10 percent nationally.

A few other findings from the report:

• California has the highest child poverty rate, using the SPM, followed by Arizona and Nevada.
• States with some of the largest child populations, like Florida, New York, and Texas, have among the highest child poverty rates using the SPM. Poverty rates among southeastern states are also higher than the national average.
• The lowest rates are in the upper Midwest and northern New England.

So what do these findings mean for the children in our K-12 schools? Correlating a child’s poverty rate to success in life (and in school), The Annie E. Casey Foundation suggests the following steps:

• More support of quality early-childhood education opportunities.
• Expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit so families can keep more of their earnings.
• More access to programs like SNAP and child care and housing subsidies.
• Better job training and childcare support for parents.

You can read the full report here.

I’ve long believed that educational assistance is the biggest step towards breaking the cycle of poverty for all children, especially minorities. When we look at our future generations, the key to eradicating poverty lies in the opportunities we provide kids in our K-12 schools and the assistance we give their families to raise their quality of life.

K-12 education news coverage on the rise. Mainstream media drive conversations, so analyzing what is being covered in the news gives a general indication of public perception on issues.

A new report from leading education reform policy strategist Andrew R. Campanella, titled “Leading the News – 25 Years of Education Coverage,” reveals how news media has presented K-12 education stories over the past quarter-century. So what does education news coverage look like?

In short, coverage of K-12 education in the news media is on the rise — up 7.7 percent in 2014 over the average of the 25-year span.

Not surprisingly, local news outlets provide the most education news coverage. In fact, local news outlets commit 6.82 percent of their air time to covering K-12 education or schools. That’s nearly three times higher than the national news coverage average of just 2.3 percent. What’s more is that local education news coverage appears to be on the rise.

From 2010 to 2014, the top education news story topic by far was sports, garnering 13.6 percent. At a distant second was special events (5.1 percent), followed by education funding (5 percent) and academic subjects (4.65 percent). As far as groups of people, students get the most mentions at 62 percent, followed by administrators (42.7 percent), teachers (28.3 percent), and parents (23.5 percent).

Coverage of educational policy is on the decline though — down 36 percent in 2014 over the 25-year average. Within the education policy category, funding and school choice were the most-covered topics. These two topics garnered 2.5 times more coverage than all other educational policy reporting combined (which includes 10 other specific issues).

Looking ahead, the report forecasts that coverage of school choice, school safety, and state education standards will continue to rise while teacher issues, funding, federal programs, and class sizes will continue to decline.

This is just a snapshot of all the report entails. You can read the rest of it by clicking here.

I can’t say I’m very surprised that local outlets provide the most coverage on K-12 education, but I was surprised to see that funding and federal programs are seeing less air time. I’d be interested to see an update of this report in another 5 years to find out if the trends in K-12 educational coverage continue on the same path.

What were the biggest wins for P-20 education in 2015? What did I miss?

Matthew Lynch published in HBCU's, Higher Education, Matthew Lynch December 5, 2015

3 Wins for Higher Education in 2015

2015 was a good year for higher education; we experienced some great wins. Let’s look back at just a few of these accomplishments:

Bernie Sanders released plan to ease student loan debt. According to Forbes.com, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, one of the Democratic candidates in the 2016 presidential race, has plans to work to forgive some student loan debt if elected president.

In a speech he gave to students at the University of Iowa back in February, Sanders said that the federal government has made billions of dollars off student loan interest payments in the last 10 years.

“We must end the practice of the government making billions in profits from student loans taken out by low and moderate income families. That is extremely regressive public policy. It also makes no sense that students and their parents are forced to pay interest rates for higher education loans that are much higher than they pay for car loans or housing mortgages,” Sanders said.

Sanders’s numbers are correct by the CBO’s standards but have been openly challenged. According to the Washington Post, the math is fuzzy, and there is no way of knowing if the federal government is making a true profit off student loan payments.

Either way, numbers show and prove that the federal government has to pivot towards a new process for collecting payments from student loans or risk creating a new set of economic problems.

That, more than anything, seems to be part of the point that Sanders is making. He also acknowledges that if students weren’t forced to pay back so much of the loan, or if the interest rates were lower, they would then have the ability to reinvest into the economy by purchasing a new car or a new home.

Talk of student loan debt and higher education will continue to increase as we head into the 2016 election season. Sanders is an Independent running as a Democrat, and he is a socialist and fiery progressive. His approach to certain issues may turn some off, but the radical views that he has on fixing the financial issues within higher education should turn positive attention to a problem many students struggle with.

FIU to receive federal grant to train autism certified teachers. Florida International University received some good news: the United State Department of Education will bestow the university with a new grant aimed towards training more teachers certified to work with students who have autism.

According to fiu.edu, the grant is worth $1.25 million and will be used to pay for the tuition of students who attend the school to attain their Master’s of Science in Special Education.

As of this fall, “the $1.25 million grant, Project OPERATE, will pay for the tuition of nine students who are accepted into the accelerated master’s program every year through 2020.” The program is just 12 months but is targeted at “educators who already teach students on the autism spectrum.”

Information posted in FIU’s article portends that more students will continue to be identified as autistic, so the need for more educators who work in this discipline will increase as well.

Not only is this great news for FIU, it is a positive for those who work in education. Hopefully, by graduating more students through this program, we will see an increase in attention paid to special education and autism. With the rapid rate at which children are being diagnosed with spectrum issues, this next generation of teachers must know how to help students with autism succeed. I hope it is only a matter of time before more colleges have robust autism-in-education training programs too.

For any students who may want to apply for the program, the deadline to do so is August 3rd. The deadline to receive consideration for Project OPERATE is July 15th, and details may be found by e-mailing [email protected].

Future of higher education upgraded to stable. Higher education might not be in bad shape after all. According to Washingtonpost.com, Moody’s has officially upgraded the higher education industry from negative to stable.

In July, “the firm predicted that higher education will stabilize, for the first time post-recession, allowing more predictability in operating budgets. They upgraded the whole sector to ‘stable.’”

The article lightly detailed why the rating was elevated and whether it is sustainable. Due to rising revenue based on growth in tuition and federal research funding, the industry has experienced stability, which is something higher education hasn’t been accustomed to since the start of Obama’s second term.

But that news isn’t necessarily grand for students. Tuition growth may be great for the industry as a whole because it decreases volatility, but rising college costs due to tuition increases have priced many students out of higher education. Hopefully this will lead to a reduction in how often colleges and universities are forced to raise tuition because of budget cuts and low funding from state legislatures.

But overall, this is good news. Higher education’s former negative outlook was bad for all involved. An uptick in that outlook will surely help this arena in remaining stable and improving its standing in the coming years.

In your estimation, what were the biggest wins for higher education in 2015?

Matthew Lynch published in Matthew Lynch, Policy & Reform December 4, 2015

P-16 and P-20 Initiatives: Critical for Education Reform

If the goal of P-12 education is to prepare students for success in the adult world that follows, there seems to be a bit of a disconnect when a high school diploma is handed over. Students are sent off to college as adults and there is a sharp separation between the support and guidance in all the classrooms they’ve ever visited and the new ones on the horizon. We seem to assume that our well-educated youth will know exactly how to act on their own when it comes to secondary education. That’s a problem. In this article, we will discuss how P-16 and P-20 initiatives are critical for education reform in the U.S.

A study from Harvard University found that only 56 percent of college freshman actually receive a degree within six years, and only 29 percent of students in two-year programs actually finish. If those numbers were applied to a P-12 system words like “outrageous” and “failure” would be tossed around, particularly if these were public schools. Yet, so far, the American public seems content to let these numbers lie. Culturally, there are many “acceptable” reasons why students make a goal to earn a college degree and then change their minds. They are, after all, adults right?

Enter the concept of P-16 education. The term used to describe the goal of creating a seamless education system of public education that spans the years from pre-school through college completion. One of the major themes of P-16 education is to reduce the number of high school graduates that need remedial education at the college level. This, in turn, will reduce college dropout rates and ensure a more qualified workforce.

Taking that concept a step further, P-20 initiatives support collaboration between academics and workforce training. Instead of handing over a college degree with a “good luck,” colleges and universities with P-20 programs strive to guide students in their early careers. Organizations like the P-20 Council of Connecticut offer readiness workshops and help college graduates find and keep jobs.

States and individual colleges that have put P-16 and P-20 programs into place have seen success. Things like achievement gaps narrow when students are given a more streamlined approach to their entire education and how it all amounts to workforce readiness. Education reform through these specific initiatives is the key to cultivating the life success of all students, regardless of their race and socioeconomic status. It seems like there is a lot of talk about supporting P-12 students from disadvantaged backgrounds, but it quiets after high school.

Shouldn’t that be the time when students blazing a new family trail should have the MOST support? Additionally, if these students have always had support on their P-12 journey – how are they supposed to feel when they are suddenly on their own?

Students from disadvantaged backgrounds can certainly benefit from P-16 and P-20 programs, but I believe the value of these initiatives is even more far-reaching. Even young adults with a strong family support system regarding their educations, and successful role models, are coming of age in a time much different than previous generations. Workforce readiness is a whole different ball of wax than even a decade ago. Young adults cannot be expected to know or understand the full ramifications of their roles in the economy without close guidance, particularly in the early years of their careers.

College and the years that follow it should certainly be a time of self-discovery, and not everything should be taught or mandated by the country’s education system. Educators, from preschool through college, should do a better job of preparing students for what life will bring them, though. More focus on the immediate years following P-12 will result in better academic outcomes that translate into a better quality of life for students.

Click here to read all our posts concerning the Achievement Gap.

Matthew Lynch published in Matthew Lynch, Policy & Reform December 4, 2015

Pre-K Learning: How Young is Really Necessary?

In his State of the Union address last week, President Obama brought up the topic of universal Pre-K learning and praised the programs already in place in states like Florida, South Carolina and New Jersey. He connected Pre-K initiatives to his Race to the Top program that has the lofty goal of making the U.S. the worldwide leader in college attendees and graduates. His administration contends that the academic skill sets needed to reach that goal must have their foundation before Kindergarten and that the responsibility for that lies in public funding.

From an educator’s point of view, I’d say the President and his education advisors are right on. It’s no secret that the U.S. lags behind other developed nations when it comes to academics, particularly in areas like science and math. To compete as a nation on a global scale, this generation of K-12 (or P-12) students simply need to know more than their parents did as children. This fact has led to some passionate discourse both for and against more stringent academic standards that start in early childhood and extend into the college years.

Admittedly, universal Pre-K programs tend to benefit disadvantaged and at-risk students the most. Children from middle-to-high class socioeconomic backgrounds do not feel the positive effects of preschool as strongly as their low-income and minority peers. In families where at least one parent can be home with children in the early years, and able to do basic learning activities with them, the impact of Pre-K programs are virtually non-existent by the time the child is in mid-elementary school. Children that participate in play-oriented preschool programs but have attentive parents that expose them to minimal learning fare just as well, or better than, peers who attend regimented Pre-K programs.
Of course academics are not the only benefit to Pre-K programs.

Socialization and an idea of what to expect when the school years come along are also an integral part of the Pre-K process. Kindergarten used to be an adjustment year for children, but now kids who arrive in these classrooms are expected to know much more. Common Core standards exist at the Kindergarten level, with the expectation that these students will know how to read simple sentences competently, do basic addition and subtraction problems and understand basic time concepts. States that already have tax-funded Pre-K programs test Kindergartners and report back to the preschool provider the results. In some cases, future funding rests on whether or not the Pre-K program adequately prepared enough students for the academic rigors of Kindergarten.

So then the question becomes one of impact. Will universal learning at a younger age make a big enough difference long-term to justify the added cost and resources? How much time do children really need to learn what they will need to know to compete globally?

Parents seem to be split on the issue, with one side affirming the need for stronger academic standards and the other side bemoaning the difficulty of material their young children bring home from school. Districts throughout the country have listened to parents’ complaints when it comes to implementation of all-day Kindergarten (versus the traditional half-days) and some parents have even decided to homeschool their children because they so strongly disagree with the academic rigor. Given this cultural climate, I wonder what is to be expected when more states roll out Pre-K programs? Right now it is voluntary for families – but will that always be the case?

Is universal Pre-K a necessity – and if so, are American educators, parents and young students really ready for it?

Matthew Lynch published in Higher Education December 4, 2015

Teachers: The 3 fastest master’s degree options

**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 column by Brooke Chaplan

Most students with a bachelor’s degree aren’t aware there are popular master degree options that can save both time and money. If you’re looking to further your schooling, don’t get stuck in a rut. Below introduces three of the most popular master’s degrees for teachers who have limited time and unlimited dreams.

An MBA Degree
According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the most popular master degree programs are related to business. In fact, almost 200,000 business master’s degrees were granted in 2011-12. A master of business administration (MBA) is a widely popular degree that is offered by almost every online school. MBA degree programs are geared for working business professionals and designed to save a student’s time. MBA degree programs will equip students with the fundamental business concepts needed to move into managerial and upper administrative positions. While most programs take up to two years, accelerated programs can be successfully finished in as little as eighteen months. Most MBA students quickly find employment within a few months of graduation, and enjoy high salaries and career stability.

A Master’s Degree in Education
Students wishing to further their educational career can find a lot of work in schools and higher education. Most allow you to choose from standard specializations, such as early, elementary, secondary, and special education. There are also leadership, administration, and curriculum development specializations available. A master’s degree in education is popular among teachers who are stepping up to fill the high demand for educational leaders with both teaching experience and business acumen. Programs will cover educational research, technology, assessments, and contemporary issues. Most master’s degree programs require the student to complete 36 credit hours, or 12 courses, but can be completed in one to two years if the student attends school full-time.

A Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice
Getting a master’s in criminal justice degree is an excellent academic and career choice. In fact, most schools allow you to choose from earning a master of arts, or a master of science in criminal justice. A master of arts in this study will focus on conceptual fields, such as legal studies, homeland security, public policy, organizational security, and law enforcement administration. The masters of science in criminal justice offers more flexibility and specializations, such as cyber-crime, behavior analysis, and forensic psychology. Regardless of the choice, a master’s degree here will provide students with unique career opportunities. Don’t forget that there are also accelerated programs available for students with good grades.

Those wishing to pursue a master’s degree have excellent academic choices, including business, education, and criminal justice that can get you into a better career. Don’t let a new job pass you by because you don’t have time to go to school. With these options you can save time and money in your future career.

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Brooke Chaplan is a freelance writer and blogger. She lives and works out of her home in Los Lunas, New Mexico. She loves the outdoors and spends most her time hiking, biking and gardening.

Matthew Lynch published in International Education, Uncategorized December 4, 2015

6 things students forget to bring when they study abroad

A guest column by Brooke Chaplan

It’s always tough to prepare yourself for a study abroad trip. In most cases, this will be the first time you’ve left the country, and despite your months of preparation, there are going to be unexpected differences. Until you understand your new living conditions, it’s best to be prepared and bring the basic items you need to survive well in a foreign country. Don’t be like the others who have gone before you and forget these essential items on your study abroad.

Personal Hygiene
Depending on where you go, you may find the personal hygiene products available don’t work quite the same way as your favorites back home. To tide you over while you find replacements, it’s a good idea to bring a three-month supply of any cosmetics, bath products, and deodorant that you use regularly. This includes a brush, shampoo, toothbrush, soap, contact lenses and solution, and razors.

Getting Money
In most instances, you’re going to do better exchanging your money when you get to the country in question. In the U.S., Forex fees are charged in addition to the fee charged by the establishment. If you go to a country like Japan, you will pay very close to the exchange rate. The best places to get money in a foreign country are usually at the local post offices, or by withdrawing money from your bank account at an ATM. However, you should bring at least $300 in local currency to help you get started

Portable Charger
Purchasing a portable charger in your home country is a great way to make sure your electronics work when you arrive. A portable charger can keep your cell phone alive, and then you won’t get lost without some way to communicate. Even if you don’t have a cell phone contract in your new country, you can typically find a Wi-Fi network you can use to communicate online.

Hair Dryer
Look for a hair dryer that uses dual-voltage. This is much better than plugging your dryer into a converter. You may think the country you’re visiting will have the same electronics as your home country, but this isn’t always true.

Favorite Snacks
You’re likely excited about trying out new foods, but it’s important to bring a cache of your favorites for emergencies. You’ll thank yourself when culture shock begins to set in, or when you find yourself alone in a foreign country and your stomach is upset from new water, living conditions, and foods.

Bottle with Filter
Bring a bottle that contains a built-in filter. You may find yourself stuck in the airport with little to no money. If you fill up your bottle with water, you can at least stave off dehydration and avoid much of the jet lag associated with long flights.

Many of the items you need can be found at your local stores like Target or Kohl’s. Use coupons from site like discountrue to save even more money, and make sure you purchase the lightest luggage possible. This will ensure you’re able to take as much with you as possible, without exceeding airline baggage limits.

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Brooke Chaplan is a freelance writer and blogger. She lives and works out of her home in Los Lunas, New Mexico. She loves the outdoors and spends most her time hiking, biking and gardening.

Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Matthew Lynch December 3, 2015

The 4 Biggest Ed Tech Stories of 2015

As expected, ed tech continued to be a hot topic of discussion in 2015. Because of its increased coverage, The Edvocate decided to create a list of the top 4 ed tech stories of 2015.

Are MOOCs the biggest ed tech story of 2015? With a steady stream of reporting that the price of college is quickly becoming too high for many Americans to afford, an alternative form of higher education seemed to be how some future students would learn. MOOCs, or massive open online classes, offer free lectures and web-based courses by some of the world’s best universities.

But according to NPR.com, MOOCs’ popularity never really took off. But because the courses are free and open to anyone with an internet connection, many believed that this type of offering would soon be the death of college.

Not so, or at least not yet.

According to a paper produced by Harvard and MIT on MOOC courses that both institutions offer, more than one million participants entered a HarvardX or MITx course between 2012 and 2014. While those numbers may seem high, it is important to remember that each course is free, though participants may choose to purchase a certificate of completion at the end.

The paper also found that nearly 40 percent of those surveyed who took one of the MOOC courses had a teaching background.

Overall, the study showed that MOOCs are growing at a steady pace but not enough to pose a serious or significant threat to brick and mortar institutions.
That doesn’t mean that these free courses will soon be de-funded or go away; this simply shows that more time is needed to figure out and cultivate their appeal.

MOOCs may still represent a new wave of how students will digest education in the future. Free may be good, but quality has to be attached to it. As long as institutions offering MOOCs continue to give valued information through these courses, our future workforce and economy may be better because of it.

Is online education affordable? According to U.S. News and World Report, online higher education options aren’t necessarily cheaper than the traditional brick-and-mortar schools.

The report attempted to “debunk” the myths surrounding the theory that online education may be a cheaper option for some students.
According to usnews.com, tuition costs for online courses, or degrees in some cases, are more expensive due to technology and faculty costs.

“Even if tuition for an online program looks appealingly low, students should be sure to look into whether they will be paying any additional fees, says Vickie Cook, director of the Center for Online Learning, Research and Service at the University of Illinois—Springfield.”

Depending on the type of school the student chooses, the cost of attending varies. Selecting a private higher education institution that offers online programs will certainly trend higher than a public university with controlled costs.

It’s also worth mentioning that many for-profit schools offer online programs. The costs associated with these programs and schools will sometimes rival that of some of the country’s best schools.

The importance of researching the type of school a student wants to attend and what costs may come with attaining one’s degree will be paramount.
The U.S. News and World Report’s article also suggested that students qualify for student loans and Pell Grants even for an online education—a myth that needs to be busted.

Is course customization the future of instructional tech? In an ever-changing online environment, course customization may soon reign supreme. As online education continues to grow and evolve, so will demands on the industry and one area in which this is especially true is course design — or specifically, the creating of courses that fit each classroom just right and move away from the “one size fits all” approach to curriculum.

It’s why Blackboard Inc., the once-popular company that provides software solutions and tools for learning for higher education, high school, and k-12 classrooms, is up for sale.

According to Reuters.com, the company’s growth and revenue have slowed due to upstarts and changes in higher education.

Those “changes” are coming mainly in the way of customization options.

Recently, Odysseyware, an up-and-coming software company that provides curriculum for online institutions, announced alterations to its system that will make teaching and learning much more personal.

The company’s software will now allow educators to completely customize standard courses, giving them the ability to “rearrange, add, and delete content, including assignments…and search curriculum by topic and standard.”

There are more changes, like the creation of search engines that give educators the unique ability to search and save content as well. More than anything, this shows how nimble and proactive Odysseyware is being in the face of a rapidly evolving education environment. For students to reach their full academic potentials, teachers must tap resources that best fit each individual class structure and customization options facilitate this.

I believe the way teachers create lesson plans will look much different in 5 years than it does today, thanks in part to the upsurge of customization technology.

Obama to invest $3 billion in ed tech. President Obama announced nearly $3 billion in education technology commitments from various private technology companies and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), according to U.S. News & World Report. The resounding goal is to “close the technology gap in our schools.”

The Department of Agriculture will provide more than $10 million in distance-learning grants for rural schools, according to documents shared by the White House. The FCC committed $2 billion that will act as a down payment for providing high-speed broadband Internet access to 15,000 schools, fulfilling part of the President’s promise to expand broadband access and wireless Internet.

Among the donations is an investment of $1 billion’s worth of Microsoft products, according to the software company. Microsoft also pledged to deeply discount several of its digital devices for all K-12 public schools. In addition, the company has offered more than 12 million free copies of Microsoft Office to students at low-income schools.

Teachers will also receive professional development to guarantee they know how to properly use the technology in their classrooms. Verizon pledged to provide increased professional development opportunities for teachers, says Rose Stuckey Kirk, president of the Verizon Foundation.

In a statement, she told U.S. News, “One key result we found from training teachers on mobile technology in the classroom is that their students learn better problem-solving skills. These skills are essential for 21st-century-education and an ability to compete internationally.”

During the announcement, President Obama stated that the commitments would help “put the world and outer space at every child’s fingertips, whether they live in a big city or a quiet suburb or rural America.”

Can you think of any ed tech stories that we missed?

Matthew Lynch published in Higher Education December 3, 2015

Seattle University Students Stand Behind Their Faculty

Note: The following guest post comes to us courtesy of Jacob Bell, a junior at the University of Maryland pursuing a dual degree in journalism and general biology. He currently works as the staff writer and web content manager for Student Voice and is a general assignment reporter for the University of Maryland’s student newspaper, The Diamondback. Jacob is also the features chair of “Stories Beneath the Shell,” which is an online multimedia publication. You can learn more about Jacob by connecting with him through LinkedIn or following him on Twitter, @realjacobbell.

In late May and early June, instructors at Seattle University casted ballots on whether they wanted to unionize. Since then, not a single ballot has been counted. Instead, administrative efforts have impounded the vote and put the faculty’s unionization status in limbo.

Seattle University employs nearly 350 adjunct faculty members. Adjuncts, along with graduate student and full-time, non-tenured instructors, are referred to as contingent faculty, and make up more than 75 percent of instructors at U.S. higher education institutions, according to a 2014 report by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce Democrats

The same report states that adjuncts earn an estimated annual median salary of $22,041, meaning many of them “often live on the edge of poverty,” and make less than half the amount of full-time faculty members.

“[On] most campuses … the majority of the teaching is now done by adjunct and contingent faculty, rather than tenured-track or tenured faculty,” adjunct communications instructor Dr. Louisa Edgerly said.

Contingent faculty also lack many of the benefits offered to tenured instructors, such as job security, career growth and smaller, less varied course loads.

When Seattle University faculty attempted to address these issues with university administrators, the response was less than proactive, according to Edgerly.

The faculty then turned to unionization as a way for contingent instructors to get the same benefits and securities as tenured instructors, and filed a petition for an official vote among campus instructors on the matter to the National Labor Relations Board, a governing body for all things related to unions.

Though the NLRB approved the faculty’s initiative, university administrators appealed the decision. The administrators reasoned that the university did not fall under the state’s, and by extension the board’s, jurisdiction because of its religious affiliation. Due to the appeal, the ballots from the vote will remain impounded until a final decision is made.

“As a student, my big concern about this is that it really makes sense to support the faculty because a union would create far more longevity for faculty on this campus,” junior public affairs major Izzy Gardon said. “Odds are good that probably none of the [adjuncts] will be at this institution come the decision for this case. It’s probably gonna be 4 to 5 years away, millions of dollars in lawyer fees, and many of them won’t be here to see that.”

Gardon is the social media director for the university’s Student Coalition for Faculty Rights, an organization devoted to students supporting their faculty. In the last year, the coalition held a rally, took photos, wrote newspaper editorials and hosted “project engage,” an event where students wrote letters to the university’s president, in an effort to educate students about the pertinent issues their instructors are facing.

Gardon is also the external chief of staff for the Student Government of Seattle University, which has lent its support to the faculty and requested the withdrawal of the administration’s appeal of the NLRB decision.

“We hold forums, we publish polls, and so if you ask your average student here, we really do reflect the climate here on campus and really try to act as a barometer of student voice,” Gardon said.

According to a recent SGSU poll, 74 percent of university students support their faculty having the choice to unionize.

While their opinions may differ from those of students and faculty, Gardon added that administrators have been flexible and supportive of the coalition’s initiatives.

Seattle University has taken steps in recent years to try to improve faculty wages and benefits, including securing $5.6 million that will go towards keeping faculty and staff salaries competitive, increasing the minimum full-time annual salary from $24,600 to $42,000, and offering modified full-time faculty appointments to part-time instructors teaching more than four classes per year.

Many people at the university are looking to these measures as a starting point for more benefits and increased negotiations between faculty and administrators. Moreover, countless students are using issues like faculty unionization as a platform to improve dialogue between them and the administration and solve many of the ingrained problems in higher education.

Matthew Lynch published in Ask An Expert, Matthew Lynch, Teachers December 3, 2015

Why You Should Join an Educational Association

Most new teachers will at some point consider joining an educational association. Educational associations not only provide support; they also provide continuing education for teachers. New teachers will soon find that most fellow teachers belong to the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), or the National Education Association (NEA), or both. The decision as to which one to join is usually guided by the school location and fellow teachers’ involvement. Two of the main benefits of membership are professional collaboration and mutual support. Dozens of professional organizations provide continuing support for teachers, from further training to collective bargaining for better working conditions. These organizations tend to create communities where teachers can get help and protection regarding teachers’ rights, expand teaching knowledge, receive teaching materials, and even relieve stress by connecting with other teachers.

The Internet is a wonderful resource for training materials and teaching resources as well. Check out the following links for information on:

Training materials:
– Education Week (www.edweek.org)
– Teacher Magazine (www.teachermagazine.org)

Activity ideas:
– Inspiring Teachers (www.inspiringteachers.com)

Connecting with other teachers:
– Education World (www.education-world.com)

Teaching organizations:
– The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (www.ascd.org)
– National Middle School Association (www.nmsa.org)
– National Association for the Education of Young Children (www.naeyc.org)
– National Association for Gifted Children (www.nagc.org)
– The Council for Exceptional Children (www.cec.sped.org)

Remember, with education, the more you know, the better you do! Don’t miss out on the opportunities to expand your knowledge and connection base that teaching associations provide!

Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation December 2, 2015

Coolcher launches virtual classroom platform

The new online creativity platform delivers live, online courses in the areas of language, arts, music, and STEM
(ATLANTA, GA) December 2, 2015 — Coolcher today launched its virtual classroom platform offering online classes taught by teachers from around the world. The classes can be scheduled to fit with any school’s calendar. For a one-time fee, schools and after-school centers get access to all courses for an unlimited number of classes for one year, giving students the opportunity to enjoy unique courses, and interact live with not just the teacher, but also with their peers from around the country.

“We created Coolcher as parents who were looking for courses that help our daughter learn more about her heritage, but were unsuccessful in finding anything,” said Jatin Grover, the founder of Coolcher. “With this new platform, we hope to bring the whole world to kids around the U.S.—a whole world of new and unique subjects, and a whole world of new cultures.”

The platform also connects homeschoolers with other students and homeschoolers who are taking the classes at the same time. The virtual classroom environment gives homeschoolers a connection with more students, bringing with it enhanced collective knowledge and creativity.

“More and more, every high-paying job requires not just skills but creativity, and to boost creativity the development of the right brain should begin at an early age,” said Grover. “Our unique courses in creative areas and multi-linguistics speed up the development of students’ right brain as well as giving them tools for college preparedness by teaching world cultures.”

Coolcher courses are community-led, and the company is always looking for teachers who bring a creative approach to their lessons. Teachers who would like to be added to the Coolcher portfolio to work with kids around the country and the world can share information about themselves and their courses at coolcher.com.

About Coolcher

Based in Atlanta, GA, Coolcher is a virtual classroom platform that connects kids at school and at home with teachers from around the world. Our teachers bring courses in subject areas like language, arts, crafts, and STEM for live, online classes. These teachers bring not just their knowledge, but also their cultural background to help expand kids’ worldview.

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