Pedagogue Blog

Matthew Lynch published in Higher Education

What higher ed can learn from healthcare

**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 Edgar Wilson

Healthcare is undergoing reform in order to hold care providers more accountable for the quality of the care they provide. This is the emerging standard to replace volume-based service, whereby hospitals and doctors are compensated for how many tests and treatments they order, without any consideration of the patient outcomes that result from treatment.

Education needs to similarly move toward tracking academic outcomes to prove that it is actually worth the expense. Recent graduates offer a bleak review of the value they feel they are currently getting. Institutions should be held accountable for what academic and professional accomplishments their students are able to achieve. Whether it is proficiency at the next level of education, or employment in a career relevant to the student’s area of study, there needs to be a clearer link between outcomes and educational inputs. This may fall short of holding individual teachers and professors accountable for student performance, but it can certainly serve to better enable students and their families to evaluate prospective schools, programs, and balanced the associated costs against the opportunities.

 

Break Down Legacy Instruction

Doctors and nurses need more leadership training, better preparation to lead and participate in health teams. Technological disruption, breakthrough research, and a tenuous regulatory atmosphere mean clinicians are challenged to be nimble and adaptive.

Teachers, likewise, need better instruction and empowerment to not just cope, but to drive cultural change and innovation in the classroom. The world doesn’t just need more expert individuals in the classroom and ER, it needs collaborative leadership and creativity to ensure the delivery of these critical services continues to advance alongside the rest of society. Continuing Education standards for both classes of professionals emphasize the need to keep up with a dynamic, ever-changing field; leadership training would empower them to be proactive innovators, rather than reacting to the external forces at play around them.

 

Embrace Technology – Join or Die

The legacy systems and individual approaches to records technology in healthcare has made the mandatory shift to digital currently underway a long headache. While patients are enthusiastic and receptive to the new norms, many clinicians are still resistant to the change, and the gap is a significant obstacle to improving engagement. Patient health depends on their engagement with clinicians, and technology can help bridge the divide between clinical expert and patient.

Modern students are similarly more receptive toward emerging technology, from mobile to virtual platforms and tools. Teachers need more than instruction in the latest methods and tools—they need a combination of incentives and some amount of external pressure to become more proactive in integrating technology into the classroom, and leading student engagement with digital tools.

Students require the same sort of engagement to ensure comprehension, retention, and learning are all actually taking place. What is more, both doctors and teachers need to learn to get as comfortable with technology as their patients and students are, and use them to maximize engagement to reach the full population they serve.

This isn’t just a matter of rewarding the individuals who are proactive about learning, understanding, and communicating, but ensuring everyone who is access both education and healthcare is receiving the full value of that exposure. Learning and health maintenance alike continue well after such encounters, and telemedicine and distance learning platforms show a lot of promise to increase exposure, if not engagement.

 

Books are Drugs

Drug companies have too long a history of raising medicine prices without account or controls, and the doctors prescribing them to patients with no alternative are all captive to the choices of their care providers.

In academia, cadres of textbook publishers have a similarly captive market with no recourse and no obvious alternative. Not only should instructors be enabled and rewarded for taking advantage of lower cost digital, open source, or otherwise liberated resources through greater technology integration, but the schools and university systems that guarantee demand for books should exert greater pressure on publishers to stop taking advantage of the system. Students, like patients, are not positioned to be their own best advocates to control prices; the systems they patronize out of necessity must take up the role on their behalf, and challenge the status quo that has gone on unaccountable for far too long.

 

Maintenance is Key

In spite of the pace of change in the 21st century, the standard model for education starts in childhood, climaxes with impossibly-expensive universities, and then is relegated to the individual to acquire “on-the-job” training and mentorship. Resources are limited to the classroom, and after commencement, remain exclusive. That is like a diabetic seeing a doctor once and being counted on to successfully manage the condition indefinitely, and catch up with changes in science and medical technology independently.

In a perfect world, emergency medical interventions would be displaced by the tendency for people to take better care of themselves, prevent the escalation of minor ailments and conditions, and only visit their doctors for routine services, instead of reactive treatment. Instead, patients habitually neglect their health, postpone visits to the doctor as long as possible, and seek emergency care for conditions that started out as casual lifestyle choices.

Education, like health, is cumulative. Eating one healthy meal does not lead to weight loss, until it becomes a regular habit. Lifelong learning—or continuing education—is often relegated to a specific class of professional (doctors and nurses, as well as teachers, are all expected to keep abreast of best practices and emerging knowledge in their fields), rather than embraced across the spectrum of professionals. Given the intrusion of technology, communications networks, and globalization in virtually every field, few can claim that knowledge and skills in their profession has remained static, immune from these disruptive influences. Continuing education deserves the resources and public-private support to become standard for all skilled professions.

__________

Edgar Wilson is an Oregon native with a passion for cooking, trivia, and politics. He studied conflict resolution and international relations and has worked in industries ranging from international marketing to broadcast journalism. He is currently working as an independent analytical consultant. He can be reached via email here or on Twitter @EdgarTwilson.

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in Higher Education

Tips on getting middle schoolers interested in college

**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 Carol Miller

I went into our 7th grade Family and Consumer Science classes both yesterday and today.  The kids had just finished a research project on a career they were interested in.  It was great to be able to go into classes and talk with them as they have just finished their research.

I started by asking them several questions:

  • Who has ever been on a college campus?
  • How many of them have researched a career that requires some sort of training or college?
  • Can everyone attend college?  (Many “No” answers were given.)

I ended my questioning with:

  • What are some reasons you think people don’t go to college?

The answers they gave me included:

  • people can’t afford it
  • maybe they aren’t smart enough
  • they have disabilities
  • they don’t want to go

I then talked to them about how college can be affordable.  Even Cornell University (which is in our backyard) has a program where if your parents make under a certain amount, has a no loan program.  This makes it truly affordable for everyone.We also crossed off the list “not smart enough.”  Community colleges will accept everyone from the counties they serve.  You may not be able to get into a particular major right away, but you can take the classes that will help you to get there.”Disabilities.”  Some colleges have special programs for students with even significant disabilities.  Maybe students won’t earn a degree, but they will learn independent living skills and job training skills to help them find a job.”Don’t want to go.”  Really this is the only reason for people not to attend college.  My hope for them, however, is that they want to, and will help them get there.

From there we played College Prep BINGO.

I also had them fill out the I Have A Plan worksheet, which I have hanging in the hallway outside my office.

Just before it was time to leave I talked to them about this month’s College Spotlight (Marist College) and I asked them to write on a post it note one thing that they learned with me today.  I had them post it on an easel located by the classroom door.

These are my favorite responses:
  • You can go to college even if you don’t have enough $.
  • College is complicated
  • College isn’t a dream, it’s a plan.
  • That it is never too early to think about college.

How do you promote early college awareness?

This post originally appeared on The Middle School Counselor, and was republished with permission.
___________________
Carol has organized School Counseling Conferences for several years in Central New York through TACA and has presented at these conferences on College Admissions, Best School Counseling Programs, and Sharing Counseling Resources. She is a member and past President of the Tompkins Area Counselor Association, and  a member of NYSSCA and NACAC, and NYSACAC. Carol is a mom to three sons, a crafter at heart, and a soccer and basketball coach in her free time.
  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership

K-12 education: The art of the flop

“**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 Bruce Deitrick Price

If you try to find something intelligent going on in the public schools,  you’ll probably end up frustrated. Like Diogenes looking for an honest man.

Is it really so bad?

I think so. Our Education Establishment, which is far more ideology-driven than most people realize, has been tossing out content willy-nilly for decades. That’s the simplest way to advance their Progressive (i.e., collectivist) agenda. Kids who don’t know much will be easier to manipulate. (This first point is impossible to refute. All surveys reveal that American citizens no longer know even the most basic things: how many stars are on the flag, how many quarts are in a gallon, where Texas is on a map—the sort of easy information that children should learn by middle school.)

Just as destructive, our Education Establishment works systematically to undermine those habits of mind which schools, for thousands of years, tried to encourage: precision, promptness, industriousness, attention to detail, concentration, self-discipline, etc.

Our schools are abandoning much of what was once designated by the word “education.” Our K-12 schools prefer social engineering and psychological manipulation. So, we see the education commissars arrogantly scheming at the dark intersection of sabotage, surrender, and thespianism.

In sports, they have the perfect term for what is happening: the flop.

That’s when a player, particularly in basketball or soccer, pretends to be bumped aggressively. Picture perfectly healthy athletes, not hit hard, reeling over backward in order to create the illusion that they have been knocked down.

Typically, a single athlete flops. Occasionally you see two flopping in tandem. But imagine you have what would, in the Olympics, be a new event: synchronized flopping. That’s what we have  in education. Every facet is flopping simultaneously. Content is dismissed. Proven methods are deliberately ignored. Memorization is scorned. Discipline is systematically undercut. Ambition is stigmatized. Ennobling goals are mocked. Everything except grand but empty platitudes is flopped and dropped.

Everybody— from Obama and Arne Duncan down to superintendents and principals and all the way to administrators and teachers—knows how to flop. They lie on the ground, grunting and grimacing, Oh, the pain of a school system that never seems able to stay on its feet. Alas, constant flopping is its destiny. Its chosen destiny.

Realize that virtually all the literacy “experts” in America endorse gimmicks that are known not to work. Consider that the entire Education Establishment cheered for New Math and Reform Math, even though all the scores went down. Reflect that Common Core embraces so many bad ideas it can probably be summed up in four words: “biggest flop in history” (in both senses).

There is a long list of things that kids need to focus on and did focus on, once upon a time. Nowadays, the Education Establishment encourages children to wander pointlessly in their own personal voids. Education is an afterthought. I suggest that flopping is the main activity throughout the public schools and has been for at least a half-century.

John Dewey and all his friends (let’s say the top 500 people) had PhD’s in Education, Psychology or Sociology. Basically, these were new fields without any solid content except the raging desire to tell everybody else what to do and how to think. These nouveau intellectuals viewed themselves as world-changers, much like President Obama with his pretentious notion he’s going to fundamentally transform the country.

John Dewey circa 1900 thought exactly the same thing. He and his gang were going to fundamentally transform America. They would do it by flopping –- that is, pretending to fail –-  in every aspect of  traditional K-12 education. It would be failure by careful design. It would be failure by dramatic acting. We are still living with the wreckage and decline caused by this synchronized flopping.

It’s hard not to think in terms of comedy, Ponzi schemes, bank scandals, absurd frauds. Remember when the Mafia robbed the JFK airport in the 1970s (the robbery depicted in Goodfellas). One night, the bad guys just walked in and took what they wanted. That’s what has happened in our public schools. The people in charge turn their backs and let thieves and shysters sneak in and loot the place.

Apparently, an upper echelon degree in education today is a degree in flopping. You learn how to underperform in all of your duties.

Teach children to read? Oh, of course. You will give this task everything you’ve got and somehow make sure that millions of children are still illiterate in the eighth grade. That’s the art of the flop.

_____________

Bruce Deitrick Price’s ed site is Improve-Education.org. (His new novel is The Man Who Falls In Love With His Wife, romantic drama set in Manhattan. Info and e-book here. )

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in Ask An Expert, First Year Teachers, Matthew Lynch, Teachers

New Teacher Tip: Time Management – Organizing your Cabinet

There is so much paperwork that a teacher needs to do within a few weeks of starting a new school year. In fact, your cabinets may look as if though they have been hit by a tornado. Your cabinets are most likely overflowing with folders, teaching materials, handmade cards from students, wads of paper, pencils and other stationery, all of which seem to be appearing on their own. Remember that the bigger the mess, the more time it will take you to rummage through and find what you are looking for, which may cause you to lose precious minutes. Use these tips to keep your cabinet organized and in order:

  • Create a designated place for your material. All folders should be marked and kept in one place. There should also be a separate place for personal belongings.
  • Highlight all original copies of master sheets with a yellow colored highlighter, to tell you that this is the master, preventing you from giving it away or losing it.
    Label all your files and folders, and mark the worksheets based on the folder that they need to go into. Once you have identified the specific folders that each worksheet goes into, you can ask a student or volunteer to help you with the filing.
  • Many times there are some sessions in a year that require more material than others. If you feel that material from one session is crowding your cabinet, try putting all the relevant teaching material into one box. Remember to label it and store it in a cabinet in the classroom. You can then find all the required material ready for use when the time comes.

Every three months go through everything in your cabinet and ask these questions

Do I really need this?

  • What specific purpose will I use it for?
  • Should I keep it in my cabinet?
  • Is this a duplicate of something that I already have?
  • Is it outdated or can it come in handy even now?
  • Is it relevant to my current assignment or will I only need it later?

Don’t clutter your cabinet just because you do not have the heart to throw some things away. When you discard items, put them in a carton labeled as ‘free’ and let everyone know that they can dig around to see if they can use anything. Something that you discard may be useful to someone else.

Check out all our posts for First Year Teachers here. 

 

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in Policy & Reform

5 Ways to Prevent K-12 School Violence

By Matthew Lynch

School violence, when it occurs, has a high impact on schools and communities where the incident takes place. Rare but deadly incidents of violence, such as the Columbine High School Massacre of 1999 or the more recent school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut, bring the harsh realities of school violence to light.

These are both extreme examples, of course, but violence in smaller doses still occurs in schools around the country. The Centers for Disease Control report that about 828,000 students each year are victims of non-fatal victimization while on school property, which is about 32 victims per 1,000 students. In schools where violence statistics are even higher, it can be difficult to focus on academics – and keep students, teachers and administrators safe.

As with many problems in K-12 schools, thinking ahead and putting preventative policies in place can make a difference in the amount of violence experienced. Here are five of the most important ways to turn the tide on school violence:

1.  Develop Crisis Prevention Plans. Students who engage in violent behavior tend to be bored, frustrated, angry, alienated, or have low self-esteem.  These feelings abound in their home, school, and in society as a whole.  Schools should have a crisis plan in place as a means for ensuring the safety of students.

Typically, a crisis plan will address a zero-tolerance policy with regards to weapons.  If a student is carrying a weapon into school, that student is automatically expelled.  Some plans may require students to wear uniforms and implement security measures, including metal detectors and visitor sign-in.  More stringent plans require law enforcement officials, such as police, to be present at the school. These plans are important to maintaining a base-level of safety and making students feel comfortable in their school environments.

2.  Develop School-Wide Violence Prevention Policies.  Schools, particularly principals, can ensure that teachers, staff and parents within the school have common goals and that everyone is committed to reaching those goals.  They can also ensure that the school is run in a fair, firm, and consistent manner; and that high expectations for performance and behavior exist for all students.   Implementation of a curriculum that teaches and promotes the values of kindness, honesty, integrity and respect for fellow students, and everyone else would also lend itself to deterring violence.   Schools should also develop security measures that ensure weapons and unwanted individuals are kept out of the school and off school grounds, making the school neutral territory for all who attend.

3.  Educate Teachers on Violence Prevention. Methods include promotion of classrooms that teach and promote respect and kindness, and in which put downs, teasing and sarcasm are not tolerated.   In addition, learning conflict resolution skills so that issues are resolved in win-win outcomes for everyone involved and development of strong classroom management skills is essential.  Teachers should also be provided instruction on constructive methods of communication in order to help prevent violence.

4.  Educate Students on Violence Prevention.  Teach students peer-mediation skills so that they can handle problems before they escalate.  Allow students to be involved in the decision-making process so that they feel that they have a voice in how to handle offenders. Encourage other students to speak up if they see a peer being treated unfairly or in a violent way.

5.  Implement Alternative Schools for Serious Offenders.  Segregation of students who have a history of violence by putting them in alternative schools is one approach.  This allows for remediation efforts to focus on the violent students without putting others at risk. This should never be a first resort, though.

There are no easy answers when it comes to violence in schools.  While this list focuses on the education system alone, community efforts must also help to combat this distressing issue. Giving students a safe place to vent their anger or concerns will go a long way toward keeping everyone safer – and that should start in our K-12 schools.

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Teachers

Building professional learning communities: Social media, ed camps, and meetups

**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 Madison Payton

Teachers sit in front of a sea of papers that must be graded. Curriculum needs to be mapped out and constantly revised to meet the needs of their scholars.  We attend meetings about how to bring rigor, engagement, and how to create Common Core aligned assessments to prepare scholars for state exams which determines our effectiveness as teachers. If the day to day, week to week, month to month tasks do not frustrate you, then we are placed in the role as counselors, social workers, surrogate parents, mediators, coaches, and advocates; and this is not just for a couple of scholars but practically all of them.  The system that was meant create learning communities has actually destroyed all that we have left as educators. Schools can’t possibly create and foster positive learning environments for scholars if the educators in front of them lack their own community to develop as effective and compassionate educators.

If we as communities are supposed to foster a positive culture among our scholars we must do the same for the teachers within these environments.  The answer is sometimes difficult to find within the school because we can turn into the gossip kids in the cafeteria focusing more on the problems then actual solutions. As teachers we have to think outside of the box and seek professional learning communities outside of our schools so that we can be critical of our practices and find solutions that can be applied throughout our schools.  Professional learning communities are essential to development of any educator because they enable the educator to engage and collaborate with a specific community that recurs in cycles of inquiry and actions that are grounded in research in order to better the academic and social development of the scholars they teach.

There are several ways we can build professional learning communities: searching on various social media platforms, professional meet-ups and content specific organizations, and summer PDs. Before you begin to spread your wings to build your network, make a list of specific objectives that incorporate your interests and needs that you wish to address from building and connecting with professional learning communities.  Once objectives are crafted then create strategies and benchmarks that will help you reach those objectives. Having a plan is important when diving into the world of building your professional learning community; it is not about working harder, it is about working smarter.

Below are some ways teachers can effectively build their own professional learning communities.

Twitter

Twitter is an amazing tool to use when you are trying to connect with educators from across the country. My wife showed me that if you are strategic you are always receiving a steady flow of information specific to your interests and needs.  Some cool features of twitter are specific chats that occur weekly or monthly. Some of the popular ones are: #edchat, #edtechchat,  #satchat, #engchat, #sschat, #digchat, etc. The more active you are in these chats usually means that you develop more connections that can build your professional learning community. You can also create lists specific to your interests and connect with like-minded educators. The benefit of having a list is that it allows you to specifically see what those educators are tweeting and allows better engagement. Again, the more specific you are about what you want and need the better these lists will be.

You can find more detailed information about each of these chats here: http://thejournal.com/articles/2013/09/23/13-twitter-chats-for-educators.aspx

Professional Meetup groups

These are the new rage because they are usually free and they connects educators with similar passions. It is important when building your professional learning community that you are engaging with people who are like you and who are not like you. The common ground is that we are in it to develop as educators and we can learn from different perspectives and methodologies of how to teach our scholars.

For more information go to www.meetup.com and search for groups of your interests. Here are my favorite groups:

Conferences and fellowships

These are great opportunities to be away with a group of professionals for a few days talking about real solutions to the problems that plague education. After these events are over you can stay in touch and reinforce best practices that were learned and maintain connections. These experiences also provide socio-emotional support that helps ensure the success and retention of good teachers like you. Programs are affordable or free depending on your interests and the competitiveness of the program.  A brand new program that I have been recently accepted into is the Stanford University Hollyhock Fellowship.  It was designed to give early career teachers the support needed to stay in the profession of education. The program is unique because it is competitive, free for participants, provides a $1000 stipend per year, and consists of yearlong professional development with mentors. This is a perfect place to grow your professional learning community because the fellowship already filters the applicant pool, which means fellows are passionate educators like you. After the conclusion of a fellowship or conference, your task is to just keep those contacts going and maintain your newfound relationships.

For more information about the program visit the following website: https://cset.stanford.edu/fellowships/hollyhock

Professional learning communities save our profession from dying and can renew educators’ commitment to the field. There is no better investment than diving into the world of self-reflection, challenges and exponential growth to be a better educator. After all, we can only be better educators for our scholars if we are actively engaged and learning just like we expect from those who are learning from us throughout the year.

Read all of our posts about EdTech and Innovation by clicking here.

_____________

Madison Payton is an ELA educator at Eagle Academy For Young Men II located in Brownsville. His passions are professional development, reading and writing. He is establishing his school’s first writing center this fall, which he is really excited about all of the possibilities this resource can provide for his school community.
  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in Equity, Higher Education

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“ shows that there was a 42 percent increase in the number of instructional faculty hired from 1991-2011. During that 20 year period, not many institutions hired minorities to fill their vacant positions.

Outside of ethnicity and growth, the study also found that the wage gender gap between men and women professors was well north of $16,000. Less than half of America’s private and non-private post-secondary institutions had tenure systems, faculty at for-profit colleges and universities make far less than those at non-profit schools, and less than 10 percent of all faculty within higher education are employed at for-profit institutions.

What’s striking is the gross under-representation of minority professors at America’s higher education schools. While many may be concentrated within Historically Black Colleges and Universities or schools who have a high number of black students, that percentage makes barely a dent in the overall number of black, Asian, Hispanic, American indigenous who may teach at America’s best schools of higher learning.

While the government is rightly focused on the rising cost of education, we should slightly turn our attention towards why many colleges and universities fail to hire minorities for faculty and professorship positions.

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Equity

The tech divide: An opportunity gap schools must close

By Robert Baker

Computer programming is growing at twice the average rate of national job growth according to Code.org —and by 2020 there could be nearly a million more IT jobs than U.S. college graduates available to fill them, representing a $500 billion economic opportunity waiting to be realized.

Living in Silicon Valley, I see firsthand the impact that technology skills make on one’s earning potential. Often times a college graduate with an IT degree can find a job with a six-figure salary right out of college.

Growing up with access to technology, and the opportunity to learn key IT skills such as coding and app development, gives students a huge economic advantage over their peers. But these opportunities too often are defined by a student’s family income.

While 90 percent of families with household incomes above $100,000 have broadband access at home, only 64 percent of those with incomes between $20,000 and $29,000 have home broadband, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Schools not only have an opportunity, but an obligation, to be the technology equalizer that levels the playing field for all students—but too often, we see a similar divide between schools in wealthier and poorer neighborhoods.

While virtually all schools have basic hardware and connectivity, there is a sharp contrast between those that have the high-speed wireless connections that can support devices for every student, and those that lack this sophisticated technology infrastructure. There is also a knowledge gap between schools that have savvy instructors who can teach students IT skills such as coding and app development, and schools without this expertise on their staff.

We need to do everything possible to get technology in front of more kids at an earlier age, accompanied by curriculum that teaches them coding and other IT skills. Fortunately, there are movements under way to help bring these skills to more students.

A growing number of states have passed laws allowing computer science to count toward math or science credits needed for graduation. Code.org offers free local and online workshops, curriculum, and instructional videos to help schools teach computer programming. Other nonprofit organizations, such as Yellow Circle, offer free online environments for students to learn IT-related skills.

Of course, none of these resources will do any good if students aren’t connected or don’t have access to devices.

Although 2014 marked the first time that the number of apps in the Google Play store exceeded the volume in Apple’s App Store, many app developers recommend starting with iOS first as their platform of choice. “It’s my contention that iOS development is quite a bit easier,” writes programmer David Bolton.

Add in the fact that Apple currently has a 90-percent share of the tablet market in schools, according to education research firm MDR, it’s clear that Apple’s platform is an important tool for students to gain exposure to.

But Apple devices also are more expensive than devices with similar specifications running on other platforms, which raises a significant question: How can schools in economically disadvantaged communities afford these tools?

That’s where companies like Mac to School help. We enable schools to save on the cost of high-quality Apple equipment by reconditioning and recertifying used iPads, iMacs, and MacBooks and selling them to educational facilities for a fraction of the cost of new machines.

Schools can purchase up to four times the equipment by purchasing recertified devices, which allows them to put that extra money toward wireless infrastructure, teacher training, and other essential ed-tech needs.

Given the huge demand for IT-related employees, and the technology divide that exists between wealthy and poor communities, there is both an economic need and a moral imperative to expose all students to technology skills at a young age—regardless of their ZIP Code or their parents’ income level.

Technology is a gateway to future success, but students from impoverished areas will need access to the same tools and devices if they are to be given the same opportunities as their peers from wealthier families—and schools have a critical role to play in ensuring these opportunities for all students.

Read all of our posts about EdTech and Innovation by clicking here. 

_____

Robert Baker is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Mac to School, which buys, sells, and recertifies Apple equipment for education.

 

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in Policy & Reform

Buckle Up! Navigating the Legal Issues for Field Trips

A guest post by Candice C. Pinares-Baez

There is no question that field trips are an essential part of strengthening the curriculum and creating an interactive learning experience for today’s students.  In fact, most independent schools pride themselves on the unconventional and unique off-campus learning opportunities provided to their students on both day trips and extended travel.  However, before blindly embarking on these endeavors, it is important for schools to ensure that they are properly safeguarding themselves against liability in case of an unfortunate event. The truth is that these opportunities can come with a multi-million dollar price tag if proper safeguards are not put into place.

This lesson was recently learned by a Connecticut school after a $41.7 million verdict was entered against it when a jury found that it was negligent in not preventing a student from contracting encephalitis during an international trip.  Specifically, the jury found that the school was negligent in not warning the student and her parents that she would be traveling in the mountainous and forested terrain of China, and that these areas posed a high risk for insect-transmitted diseases.  The jury found that the school’s failure to warn the student prevented her from protecting herself from insect bites with repellents, long-sleeved shirts and pants, and by avoiding brushy undergrowth.  In addition, the chaperone allowed the student to hike down a mountain unaccompanied on the day the student likely contracted the disease.

While it is impossible for any school to fully insulate itself from all possible liability  arising from field trips, through proper preparation and the implementation of certain precautions, schools can manage the risk and limit their exposure.

Review and Analysis of Each Trip

First, schools should create and implement a detailed process for reviewing the details of every proposed field trip to ensure that any and all possible risks have been assessed and addressed before the trip takes place, and communicated to the students and parents.  The review process should include a review of the transportation utilized throughout the trip, any risks associated with the destination, the physical requirements of the trip, the manner in which the trip will be supervised, the manner of implementation of contingent emergency procedures, and whether the School’s insurance policy covers the excursion.

A thorough and independent investigation should be conducted with respect to  each facet of the trip and any known dangers associated with same.  The investigation should include checking with the State Department to determine whether there has been a travel advisory posted for the destination and checking with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine whether there are any health advisories for the destination.  The investigative findings should be shared with the students and parents in a timely fashion.  In addition, any and all precautions that could be taken to minimize those risks should be shared as well.  Parents should also be encouraged to conduct their own independent research and share any concerns they may have with the school.

Implement and Enforce Strict Guidelines

It is imperative that every person participating on the trip has a complete understanding of the behavioral expectations and disciplinary procedures and consequences associated with the trip.  In addition to making it clear that all school policies apply on every trip, schools should also make trip participants aware of any trip-specific behavioral expectations (such as a no alcohol policy in countries where alcohol is legal) and the consequences for violating the rules, policies, and expectations (such as being escorted back to campus at the expense of the student).  Each student participating in the trip and his/her parents should provide written acknowledgment of receipt so that they are less likely to challenge the enforcement of those rules in the event they are enforced.

Prepare Proper Documentation

As set forth above, the most important safeguard to limit liability associated with injuries related to field trips is disclosure of all information related to the trip, including any possible safety risks, to parents and students.  This can and should be done in the context of a release.  It is imperative that the parents of every student who participates in a field trip has executed a proper release.  The more detailed and comprehensive the release, the more likely that it will be upheld in the unfortunate event of an injury to a student.  At a minimum, the release should include: 1) the names of the parents and student; 2) the objective of the trip; 3) a detailed itinerary, including every location that the student will visit and any risks associated with same; 4) a list of every activity the student will engage in and the physical demand, if any, of each activity; 5) a list of any supplies the student should bring with him/her, including supplies that may minimize the exposure to any risks; 6) the transportation plan for the duration of the trip; 7) all anticipated costs and expenses; 8) a medical authorization; 9) agreement by the parents and student to adhere to all School policies and specific trip guidelines; and 10) a hold harmless clause.  In most cases, liability release forms will not prevent recovery for cases where gross negligence or willful misconduct is found on behalf of the School or its agents.  That is why it is prudent to train all adults who will serve as chaperones on all field trips.

Require Training

Every adult participant should be trained before participating in a school-sponsored trip.  The training should include a review of all applicable school policies and any trip-specific rules.  It should also include a review of the expectations for adult behavior on the trip, including, the prohibition of smoking and drinking, adult/student boundaries, and the need to act as a role model for the students.  During the training, it is also important to provide a detailed review of the itinerary, discuss any potential problems and how they should be handled, and go through the emergency contingency plans.  Every adult on the trip should be a benefit to the school and not an added risk.  Ensuring that they are properly trained helps the school achieve that goal.

While impossible to eliminate liability completely, managing the risk appropriately will help limit exposure.

 

Candice C. Pinares-Baez is an associate in the Fort Lauderdale office of Fisher & Phillips. She focuses her practice on defending employment related lawsuits and administrative complaints encompassing a variety of issues, including discrimination claims arising under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Florida Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act and other federal and state employment laws, and related tort actions. Candice has successfully litigated matters before state and federal courts and she also advises clients on preventive measures aimed at reducing employment-related claims.

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in Bullying, Teachers

Why don’t kids speak up about bullying?

**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 Jennifer Fraser

We keep telling kids they must not be bystanders, but what really happens when students speak up about bullying? Why are they so afraid?

Not only do they risk becoming the bully’s next target, but it seems that all too often when students report on bullying a reversal occurs and they become the ones who are in trouble. They are seen as a problem. If the bully is a teacher or a coach, these students might even be shamed or humiliated for daring to jeopardize the adult’s reputation.

If we truly do want students to report on peer bullying and report on abuse by adults in caregiver positions, then we need to change the way in which these complaints are handled in schools and in the law. The first thing a lawyer will ask a bullied child – whether it is by peers or teachers – why didn’t you transfer schools? Expecting the victim to leave suggests that the victim is at fault. If my house is robbed twice, the lawyer will not ask me why I didn’t move. If I’m sexually harassed at work, the lawyer will not ask me why I didn’t find another boss. So why do lawyers ask students bullied at school why they didn’t leave?

In Rod Mickleburgh’s Globe and Mail article, written after Amanda Todd’s suicide as a result of bullying, he consulted with another family whose son, Ashkan Sultani, also committed suicide after being bullied. Sultani’s father pointed out that both his son and Amanda were vulnerable because they had learning disabilities. Rather than be accorded special care, as the Ministry of Education documents state educators and administrators must use, Ashkan’s father found that there was a reversal: bullies were exonerated and victims were held accountable: “Too often, [Ashkan’s father] said, school officials become defensive when approached by parents with concerns their child is being bullied. ‘They don’t want to admit there’s a problem. Or, the first thing they do is try to find out what is wrong with the person getting bullied. How come he doesn’t fit in?’”[1]

This reversal is intensified when students report on teacher or coach conduct.

In the articles I have read about Assistant Coach and Whistleblower Eric Murdock, whose contract was not renewed after he went public with his concerns about basketball coach Mike Rice’s abusive conduct, there is a glaring lack of a proper process in place for reporting on bullying or abuse. Although Mike Rice yelled in apparent fury when coaching games, it was actually his conduct at practices that got him fired. As reported by Steve Eder in the New York Times, there were all kinds of warning signs that abuse was occurring and the administrators were already aware prior to video footage hitting the news:

There was the upperclassman who earlier in the year had come forward to say that he felt bullied. There was an outburst during a game that led to Mr. Rice’s ejection. And there were the months of allegations from a former assistant, who repeatedly claimed that Mr. Rice was abusive.

Tim Pernetti, the athletic director, knew all of that and had repeatedly tried to rein in Mr. Rice, according to a 50-page report that Rutgers commissioned outside lawyers to prepare. He personally reprimanded him, attended Mr. Rice’s practices and even assigned the university’s sports psychologist to work with the team, the report said.[2]

Note that the University commissioned a legal report, but they do not appear to consult Human Resources personnel in terms of the whistleblower’s vulnerable position nor do they consult experts in student health to assess the harm being done to student-athletes.

I acted as Whistleblower once at an independent school. Being Whistleblower is the adult version of not being a bystander and from my experience, I understand why students do not speak up. Just like it seems to do for bully victims, a reversal happened: I was treated as if I was a problem employee. The Headmaster exonerated the teachers about whom 14 students gave testimonies detailing bullying conduct and allowed a toxic environment to emerge around me so that I ultimately resigned.

There wasn’t just one student who came forward to say he was feeling bullied, there were 14. There was a Lawyer/ parent’s report informing the school that “child abuse” was occurring in 2011. There were at least thirty parent complaints in 2012 alone. There were many warning signs. It seems that at best, institutions like Rutgers and my former school lack the necessary processes for handling abuse situations; at worst, they have significant conflict of interest in themselves investigating student concerns. There is clearly work that needs to be done in terms of Human Resources, record keeping, anonymous reporting, proper oversight and so on if we truly do want students to not be bystanders.

In a 2013 article in The Atlantic psychologist, Dr. Joseph Burgo studies the power of reversal whereby the abuser positions himself as the victim and he uses cyclist Lance Armstrong’s conduct as an example. Witnesses who first spoke up about Armstrong’s performance enhancing drug-use were humiliated by the cyclist in the press: “To shore up his winner status, Armstrong wanted to make his detractors appear like contemptible losers; he tried to turn public opinion against them, enlisting the support of his many fans.” In Canada, disgraced Canadian musician, writer, and former CBC radio broadcaster, Jian Ghomeshi presented himself on Facebook as being the victim after being accused of sexual assault: “I’ve been fired from the CBC because of the risk of my private sex life being made public as a result of a campaign of false allegations pursued by a jilted ex girlfriend and a freelance writer.”[3] He has since been charged with multiple counts of sexual assault.

Notably, this dual personality type or charismatic bully appears to be especially attracted to competitive sports because of the win-lose dynamic. Dr. Burgo explains:

It helps to view the bully as a kind of competitor on the social playing field, one who strives not only to win but to triumph over the social losers and destroy their sense of self. As in competitive sport, where winners and losers exist in a binary relation to one another, the bully is yoked in identity to his victims. To a significant degree, his self-image depends upon having those losers to persecute: “I am a winner because you are a loser” [emphasis in the original].

The Headmaster and Board of Governors of my former School responded to students and parent reports of abusive behavior by the adult involved by publicly discrediting them in a report written by a lawyer that said the students were telling manufacturing evidence and lying.

This is why students do not speak up. This is why Whistleblowers are so rare. We can keep encouraging students to report bullying and more importantly abuse, but they won’t do it until they actually know that they will be respected and protected. At present, that is not the case. For further discussion, please see my forthcoming book: Teaching Bullies: Zero Tolerance on the Court or in the Classroom.

[1] Rod Mickleburgh, “Before Amanda Todd, the Sultani family suffered silently,” The Globe and Mail, October 23, 2012 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/before-amanda-todd-the-sultani-family-suffered-silently/article4633468

[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/sports/ncaabasketball/rutgers-officials-long-knew-of-coach-mike-rices-actions.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&smid=tw-nytimes&partner=rss&emc=rss

[3] Staff, “Full Text: Jian Ghomeshi’s Facebook Post Why He Believes CBC Fired Him,” Global News, Oct 2014: http://globalnews.ca/news/1637310/full-text-jian-ghomeshis-post-on-why-he-believes-cbc-fired-him/

____

Jennifer Fraser has a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Toronto and is a published writer. She is presently teaching creative writing and International Bacclaureate literature classes at an independent school in British Columbia.

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in Bullying, Teachers

Why don’t kids speak up about bullying?

**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 Jennifer Fraser

We keep telling kids they must not be bystanders, but what really happens when students speak up about bullying? Why are they so afraid?

Not only do they risk becoming the bully’s next target, but it seems that all too often when students report on bullying a reversal occurs and they become the ones who are in trouble. They are seen as a problem. If the bully is a teacher or a coach, these students might even be shamed or humiliated for daring to jeopardize the adult’s reputation.

If we truly do want students to report on peer bullying and report on abuse by adults in caregiver positions, then we need to change the way in which these complaints are handled in schools and in the law. The first thing a lawyer will ask a bullied child – whether it is by peers or teachers – why didn’t you transfer schools? Expecting the victim to leave suggests that the victim is at fault. If my house is robbed twice, the lawyer will not ask me why I didn’t move. If I’m sexually harassed at work, the lawyer will not ask me why I didn’t find another boss. So why do lawyers ask students bullied at school why they didn’t leave?

In Rod Mickleburgh’s Globe and Mail article, written after Amanda Todd’s suicide as a result of bullying, he consulted with another family whose son, Ashkan Sultani, also committed suicide after being bullied. Sultani’s father pointed out that both his son and Amanda were vulnerable because they had learning disabilities. Rather than be accorded special care, as the Ministry of Education documents state educators and administrators must use, Ashkan’s father found that there was a reversal: bullies were exonerated and victims were held accountable: “Too often, [Ashkan’s father] said, school officials become defensive when approached by parents with concerns their child is being bullied. ‘They don’t want to admit there’s a problem. Or, the first thing they do is try to find out what is wrong with the person getting bullied. How come he doesn’t fit in?’”[1]

This reversal is intensified when students report on teacher or coach conduct.

In the articles I have read about Assistant Coach and Whistleblower Eric Murdock, whose contract was not renewed after he went public with his concerns about basketball coach Mike Rice’s abusive conduct, there is a glaring lack of a proper process in place for reporting on bullying or abuse. Although Mike Rice yelled in apparent fury when coaching games, it was actually his conduct at practices that got him fired. As reported by Steve Eder in the New York Times, there were all kinds of warning signs that abuse was occurring and the administrators were already aware prior to video footage hitting the news:

There was the upperclassman who earlier in the year had come forward to say that he felt bullied. There was an outburst during a game that led to Mr. Rice’s ejection. And there were the months of allegations from a former assistant, who repeatedly claimed that Mr. Rice was abusive.

Tim Pernetti, the athletic director, knew all of that and had repeatedly tried to rein in Mr. Rice, according to a 50-page report that Rutgers commissioned outside lawyers to prepare. He personally reprimanded him, attended Mr. Rice’s practices and even assigned the university’s sports psychologist to work with the team, the report said.[2]

Note that the University commissioned a legal report, but they do not appear to consult Human Resources personnel in terms of the whistleblower’s vulnerable position nor do they consult experts in student health to assess the harm being done to student-athletes.

I acted as Whistleblower once at an independent school. Being Whistleblower is the adult version of not being a bystander and from my experience, I understand why students do not speak up. Just like it seems to do for bully victims, a reversal happened: I was treated as if I was a problem employee. The Headmaster exonerated the teachers about whom 14 students gave testimonies detailing bullying conduct and allowed a toxic environment to emerge around me so that I ultimately resigned.

There wasn’t just one student who came forward to say he was feeling bullied, there were 14. There was a Lawyer/ parent’s report informing the school that “child abuse” was occurring in 2011. There were at least thirty parent complaints in 2012 alone. There were many warning signs. It seems that at best, institutions like Rutgers and my former school lack the necessary processes for handling abuse situations; at worst, they have significant conflict of interest in themselves investigating student concerns. There is clearly work that needs to be done in terms of Human Resources, record keeping, anonymous reporting, proper oversight and so on if we truly do want students to not be bystanders.

In a 2013 article in The Atlantic psychologist, Dr. Joseph Burgo studies the power of reversal whereby the abuser positions himself as the victim and he uses cyclist Lance Armstrong’s conduct as an example. Witnesses who first spoke up about Armstrong’s performance enhancing drug-use were humiliated by the cyclist in the press: “To shore up his winner status, Armstrong wanted to make his detractors appear like contemptible losers; he tried to turn public opinion against them, enlisting the support of his many fans.” In Canada, disgraced Canadian musician, writer, and former CBC radio broadcaster, Jian Ghomeshi presented himself on Facebook as being the victim after being accused of sexual assault: “I’ve been fired from the CBC because of the risk of my private sex life being made public as a result of a campaign of false allegations pursued by a jilted ex girlfriend and a freelance writer.”[3] He has since been charged with multiple counts of sexual assault.

Notably, this dual personality type or charismatic bully appears to be especially attracted to competitive sports because of the win-lose dynamic. Dr. Burgo explains:

It helps to view the bully as a kind of competitor on the social playing field, one who strives not only to win but to triumph over the social losers and destroy their sense of self. As in competitive sport, where winners and losers exist in a binary relation to one another, the bully is yoked in identity to his victims. To a significant degree, his self-image depends upon having those losers to persecute: “I am a winner because you are a loser” [emphasis in the original].

The Headmaster and Board of Governors of my former School responded to students and parent reports of abusive behavior by the adult involved by publicly discrediting them in a report written by a lawyer that said the students were telling manufacturing evidence and lying.

This is why students do not speak up. This is why Whistleblowers are so rare. We can keep encouraging students to report bullying and more importantly abuse, but they won’t do it until they actually know that they will be respected and protected. At present, that is not the case. For further discussion, please see my forthcoming book: Teaching Bullies: Zero Tolerance on the Court or in the Classroom.

[1] Rod Mickleburgh, “Before Amanda Todd, the Sultani family suffered silently,” The Globe and Mail, October 23, 2012 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/before-amanda-todd-the-sultani-family-suffered-silently/article4633468

[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/sports/ncaabasketball/rutgers-officials-long-knew-of-coach-mike-rices-actions.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&smid=tw-nytimes&partner=rss&emc=rss

[3] Staff, “Full Text: Jian Ghomeshi’s Facebook Post Why He Believes CBC Fired Him,” Global News, Oct 2014: http://globalnews.ca/news/1637310/full-text-jian-ghomeshis-post-on-why-he-believes-cbc-fired-him/

____

Jennifer Fraser has a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Toronto and is a published writer. She is presently teaching creative writing and International Bacclaureate literature classes at an independent school in British Columbia.

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in Equity, HBCU's, Higher Education

Diverse Conversations: The Crucial Role of Student Life

In this installment of “Diverse Conversations,” I sat down with Dr. Marcus Chanay, Vice President of the Division of Student Life at Jackson State University. Dr. Chanay is a expert in the area of student life, having spent a decade helping to shape and mold his department. In this interview, he discusses the crucial role that student life plays within the modern university. Without further ado, let’s begin.

Q: What role does student life play at a medium-sized urban HBCU?

A: Student Life plays a vital role in the holistic development of students especially at HBCU’s. At Jackson State University we meet the students where they are and ensure they are competitive in this global world and are successful citizens. We believe in developing their mind, body and spirit as they are engaging in their academic pursuant. We work with our students in becoming civic minded professionals. All students are required to have a minimum of 120 hours of community service and or service learning hours to graduate from Jackson State University. For our student engaging in the community the University has received the Carnegie Foundation Award for the Advancement of Teaching for our Community Engagement Classification through 2014 and the 2010 President’s High Honor Roll for Commitment to service. As a medium sized HBCU we are engage our students in leadership through our Center for Student Leadership and Inclusion which our 120 Student Organizations are housed and our Student Leadership Institute. As a medium sized HBCU we are preparing our students for graduate and professional school and careers through our Career Services Center. Our students participate in our Tigers2Work which alerts them of employees on campus, graduate professional day, Military Day, Federal Works Forum, Internships and Career Fair. Our goal is to ensure we provide as many opportunities to ensure students success.

Q: What is the relationship between student life and the academic program?

A: The relationship between student life and academics is seamless. Our Service Learning offering is a great example for the past 10 years Student Life and Academic Affairs have had a great relationship in developing service learning courses and ensuring all students enrolled in these courses have off-campus sites to ensure their success. We established a Service Learning Fellows program which Deans and Chairs make faculty recommendations. Through this year long process faculty were coached in learning how to develop their courses to involve a service learning component. We now have course offerings for all five academic colleges.

Q: Please talk more about student life in the context of Jackson State University’s Strategic Plan. What excites you and what possibilities do you see?

A: The Division of Student Life was very much a part of the University’s Strategic Plan. The University believes every student has an opportunity to be a leader and every student should be engaged in the community through civic engagement. This is a very exciting time at the University where we believe there is only “One JSU.” From the moment our students step on campus to when they walk across the stage at commencement, we as a University believe students are our priority. Engaging our students in community service gives them an opportunity to give back. These students are our future so we want to ensure our preparation ensures their success. We want our students to believe they are future leaders of tomorrow in their perspective disciplines. Our President Dr. Carolyn Meyers fully understands this and fully believes in the “One”. In her vision it’s all about the students, without our students, where would we be.

Q: How do you, as Vice President for the Division of Student Life, interact with students?

A: As Vice President I totally enjoy the interaction with students. I make myself assessable and support students and student organizations in their endeavors. I believe in walking the campus, hanging out with students in the Student Center. Involvement with students keeps the pulse going. I have an open door policy for all students and will go all the way with students to help them achieve their goals. I am a mentor to many current and former students, something that I do not take lightly.

Q: What do you think are the biggest challenges facing college students today?

A: There are many challenges I thing that students are facing today, trying for find the ability to afford college tuition. Many of our students struggle each semester with trying to pay for school. The sad part about many students is they have debt from undergraduate and they have not even stepped into a graduate program and they are unsure of what they want to do. Students come to college with dreams of what they want to do or what mom, dad, grandparents want them to do but are underprepared. Students are also faced with trying to find themselves. They are not sure who they are or really what they really want out of life. Social media has taken over our students. They tend to be more engaged in twitter, instagram, facebook, etc., instead of books

Q: What are some of the biggest changes you’ve witnessed during your time at Jackson State University?

A: The biggest changes at Jackson State are the combination of facilities, academic offerings and support services being offered. I have been at the University since 2001. In that time I have seen the construction of our Walter Payton Recreational & Wellness Center, Student Center, College of Liberal Arts, College of Business, Campbell College Suites, Engineering Building, Johnson Hall, One Jackson Place and the renovation of Dixon Residence Hall and the Reddix Office Complex. I have seen and experienced academic offerings increase which includes our engineering program, Ph.D. in Urban Higher Education and the establishment of the School of Lifelong Learning, to name a few. These past 12 years I have seen the development of many support services for our students which include Center for Service and Community Engaged Learning, Center for Student Leadership and Inclusion, JSU Veteran Center, University Commuter Program, Parents Program and the Latasha Norman Center for Counseling and Disability Services.

Q: What’s your proudest accomplishment in your time here?

A: I have many proud accomplishments at the University. The one that rally stands out is when this student from New Orleans, LA came to the University as a freshman in the Fall Semester of 2005, the same fall that Hurricane Katrina hit. The hurricane hit during the first week of the semester beginning. This student was one that was hanging with the wrong crowd and found himself getting into trouble during freshmen orientation. When the Hurricane hit his family was displaced. This actually increased his acting out. In his first semester, he was in trouble at least three times and was on the verge of being suspended from school, at that time I was the Dean of Students. I and two other co-workers decided to take this student under our wings. As we begin to learn more about him, he begins to trust us and slowly began to pull away from his crew that he was hanging with. The trust led him to improve in grades which lead to a summer intern, which led to him graduating with honors participating in several student organizations and going on to pursue a M.B.A and is now successful and working for a fortune 500 company.

Well, that concludes my interview with Dr. Marcus Chanay. I would like to thank him for consenting to this interview and for his contributions to the field of higher education.

 

Read all of our posts about HBCUs by clicking here.

  • no reactions
0
Share
Latest Posts