education - Pedagogue

Matthew Lynch published in Policy & Reform December 16, 2015

Report: School funding lower than before Great Recession

A new report on public school funding in the U.S. finds that most states now receive less support per K-12 student than prior to the 2007-2009 Great Recession. In addition, some states continue to decrease funding.

Published by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonprofit research and policy institute, the report cites what is says is the most current data available on each state and local funding. After adjusting for inflation, it found:

In at least 31 states, the funding provided was less per student in the year ended in 2014 than in the 2008 school year prior to the recession taking hold. The cuts surpassed 10 percent in at least 15 states.
In at least 18 states, local government funding per student fell over the same period. In at least 27 states, local funding increased. Very few of the states increased funding made up for the initial cuts in support. Total funding nationally declined between 2008 and 2014 in states where comparable data exists.
While comprehensive data on the current (2016) school year is unavailable, it is known that at least 25 states are providing less “general” funding — the primary form of state funding per school — per student than in 2008. The cuts surpassed 10 percent in seven states.
Most states raised the “general” funding per pupil slightly this year. However, 12 states imposed new cuts in funding, despite evidence that the economy has continually improved. The states, including Wisconsin, Oklahoma, and Arizona, experienced the deepest cuts since the recession hit.

The report says that the consequences of K-12 state-level spending include weakening a key funding source for school districts, slowing the economy’s recovery form the recession, and impeding reforms widely acknowledged to boost students achievement, such as improved teacher quality and reduced class sizes.

Matthew Lynch published in Policy & Reform December 11, 2015

Is breakfast in the classroom problematic?

According to Nypost.com, New York Mayor Bill De Blasio’s new “Breakfast in the Classroom” program is causing problems for students and teachers.

The idea behind the program is that by allowing students to eat breakfast in the classroom instead of getting up earlier to eat breakfast at school, it should enhance learning opportunities.

But some parents and the PTA state that teachers are spending too much time cleaning up and passing out food.

“[P]arents and teachers say distributing the food and cleaning up takes as much as 30 minutes — a total of 2¹/₂ hours a week.”

One school’s PTA president believes that education is being stolen because of the new rule. The New York Post quotes Vance Gorke, PTA president of Peck Slip public schools as saying that “It’s stealing education from all of our kids.”

The main complaint from parents is that food isn’t healthy and is processed, so it’s not serving the best interest of the kids.

But De Blasio isn’t budging and the United States Department of Education is standing by the program as “many families couldn’t get their kids to school at an earlier time, and that giving free breakfast to everyone would mean poor kids were no longer ‘stigmatized.'”

More than anything, it seems as if the program is so new that teachers haven’t firmly grasped how to manage the program. As one teacher interviewed by the Post put it, “We have not figured out how to manage it.”

Once that bridge is crossed, and maybe a better partnership is formed, the program will be successful. Until then, the PTA and some parents are likely to continue to complain about the breakfast program.

Matthew Lynch published in Higher Education December 11, 2015

Tips for training your brain to become a faster study

**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

Every student wants to learn faster, but it seems like your brain doesn’t always cooperate. Along with healthy living and brain health supplements, developing smart study habits can really make you a more productive study. Studying effectively and keeping those facts stored and ready to access is a skill not many are privy to. If you want to further define and develop good study and memorization habits, following the four tips below can help.

Regular Exercise
Research from Harvard Medical School shows that regular exercise improves both memory and thinking skills. Researchers have long known that regular exercise has excellent emotional and physical health benefits. However, exercise not only gets the heart pumping, but also temporarily boosts the size of the hippocampus, which is the brain’s memory and learning center. Additionally, intense exercise also stimulates the body to release important chemicals, such as endorphins that fight stress, and other chemicals that stimulate brain cell and blood vessel growth. Exercising also reduces common cognitive impairments, such as stress, anxiety, and poor sleep quality.

Brain Workouts
Weight training involves increasing muscle mass through controlled, repetitive movements. The brain also grows through cognitive exercises and students should practice memorizing new information according to their own personalized system with custom pneumatic techniques. For example, you can practice quickly memorizing other people’s names or things you see in public. In a boring class you could practice memorizing details about students and then trying to recall them. This is important because the brain naturally resists information overload through protectively ignoring random details. Try to systematically train your brain to memorize this unfamiliar information instead.

Explore Different Skills
Learning new skills or information actually creates new neural pathways. The famous cognitive psychologist Howard Gardner postulated that there are actually different types of intelligence, such as spatial, logical, and kinesthetic intelligence. Therefore, IQ tests inaccurately reflect an individual’s intelligence because they primarily test factual knowledge. However, music expands a students’ ability to translate visual information to physical performance. On the other hand, studying art or architecture increases the students’ spatial comprehension. Therefore, students should explore different skill sets in order to increase the time and quality of their brain’s learning.

Academic Training
One of the most comprehensive ways to become a better learner is to formally study education. A degree in education is a great way to learn the fundamental principles of education through teaching others. In fact, an education degree will lead to greater understanding of the socio-cognitive learning processes. Students will learn the most effective techniques for increasing memory, creativity, and comprehension. For example, education degree programs and education masters degrees online provide students insight into how the learning process is highly individualized and as a result, you will be able to assess and understand your own learning preferences.

Clearly, there are proven ways to increase the brain’s learning effectiveness, such as exercise, memorization, skill expansion, and studying education. Don’t fall behind this year in school. If you take the time to rewire your thinking system, you can find new ways of studying faster.

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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 Equity, Higher Education, Matthew Lynch December 11, 2015

2 States That Made Big Investments in P-20 Education in 2015

In order for education in the U.S. to regain its former preeminence, we must start to fully fund education. Fortunately, many state governors got the memo and decided to do just that. Here is a shortlist of states that made investments in education in 2015.

Michigan governor invested millions in P-20 education. Higher education and public schools received a shot in the arm from the Michigan legislature earlier this year when Governor Rick Snyder approved a new funding bill for the 2015–2016 school year.

According mlive.com, the legislature sent $16 million worth of education funding to the governor’s desk for approval in June. Within the budget was an increase of over $18 million for higher education, $1.53 billion for the state’s public universities, an over-$23 million increase for community colleges, and $50 million “for a possible agreement on Snyder’s plans for Detroit education reform. The reform money will go towards paying down “the debt of Detroit Public Schools.” More antecedents included were money for at-risk funding and a bump in per-pupil funding, from $70 to $140.

Because the education budgets received bipartisan support and votes, Snyder signed off on them. He received the money he requested for education reform, and there seem to be no coming cuts to higher education.

State legislatures across the country have struggled to balance budgets without cutting higher and public education. This money addresses the needs of low-income, or poor, school districts and will pump more money into Michigan’s public universities.

Hopefully Michigan sets a trend nationwide where lawmakers will refrain from freezing or cutting money from higher and public education.

Arizona governor invested $3 billion in K-12 education. In October, Arizona politicians took a small sigh of relief when Governor Doug Ducey signed an education bill that will pump over $3 billion into K-12 schools.

According to azcentral.com, the bill was signed after leaders squabbled over coming to terms on funding due to a five-year-old lawsuit “that sets conditions on when the K-12 formula can be denied inflation funding.” This new plan calls for $3.5 billion to go to Arizona schools in the next decade by raising the base amount of K-12 dollars. That base will then be adjusted annually for inflation, and an extra $625 million will be added from the state’s general fund.

It took several weeks of negotiations between Ducey and school officials. Democrats weren’t fully behind the deal, which was championed by Republicans and signed into law by a Republican governor. But in the end, students seem to be the winner, so there’s no reason to grasp for partisanship.

In the next 10 years, K-12 schools in Arizona will see an uptick in funding due to the deal. That could mean more teachers, better facilities, and better resources for students to utilize. Of course, oversight of these funds is essential, and my vote is always to improve education conditions for minority and underserved students (especially in bilingual Arizona), but we will see how it all falls into place.

The semantics of the deal, or how we arrived here, may be debatable. But in the end, students seem like they will come out ahead with Arizona’s latest education law.

Can you think of any additional states that made big investments in P-20 education in 2015?

Matthew Lynch published in Equity, Higher Education, Matthew Lynch December 7, 2015

3 Biggest Losses for K-12 Education in 2015

All in all, 2015 was a good year for K-12 education. However, for all the great wins we experienced, we also had some major losses. Let’s look back at just a few of these disappointments.

In 23 states, poor students see less school funding. Poverty makes it more difficult for children to succeed in school, and they come to school at a disadvantage. These students tend to have more needs than their middle-class and well-off peers. Children from poor families are behind their counterparts on nearly every measure of academic achievement.

In 23 states, state and local governments together spend less per student in the poorest districts than those that are more affluent, according to 2012 federal data reported in The Washington Post. The differences in funding are severe in some states. Pennsylvania spends 33 percent less on the poorest school districts per pupil than on the wealthiest. In Missouri, the difference is 17 percent.

Across the United States, states and localities on average spend 15 percent less per pupil in the poorest districts than in the most affluent, according to The Washington Post.

This news is troubling. We need to find ways to ensure that children from low-income families receive an excellent education and their fair share of federal assistance. Our country needs to work hard to find ways to help homeless students and those in poverty and provide resources such as after-school and summer programs to help our poorer students succeed.

In addition, if we want to narrow the education gap, we have to help our underprivileged students. Poverty doesn’t mean that students cannot succeed; they can.

However, poverty does place additional pressures on children and add some additional challenges. Funding is one big way we can help our students from poorer schools and give them a better chance at success.

The opportunity gap is widening in America. The economic status of the parents of today’s K-12 students determines the long-term economic quality of the children’s lives more today than in previous generations. Children living in poverty conditions today are more likely to stay in them throughout adulthood than in previous generations, according to new information from Robert Putnam, author of “Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis,” which examines how kids experience inequality the most and the devastating long-term effects.

Putnam revealed to Mind/Shift that the opportunity gap is making it impossible for a third of kids to gain access to the right steps to achieve the American Dream. This “opportunity gap” is a result of many factors, including a lack of equality in resources and treatment of students in America’s school systems, starting as young as preschool.

I think that the only way to truly close the opportunity gap is in our K-12 education system. As a society, we cannot go into homes and change what takes place there, at least not on the mass scale that is needed. We can, however, educate our nation’s children and give them the tools to elevate their quality of life. Schools are certainly places where social services, like free and reduced-price lunch programs, are appropriate, but to really facilitate long-term change, we need to give students the educational tools to rise above issues like poverty as they grow. This is only possible with targeted programs in at-risk areas that take specific backgrounds and life situations into account and employ teachers who come from similar backgrounds so students have relatable role models.

2016 USDOE funding is $2 billion less than 2015. Congress went to work on education funding in 2015, and the results aren’t pretty. According to ThinkProgress.org, the Senate Appropriations Committee put forth a bill that included education funding for the next fiscal year. The funding level is about $2 billion less than it was in 2015, which means a potential loss of programs.

The Senate’s version wasn’t as bad as what the House came up with. The appropriations committee in the lower chamber wanted to slash $2.8 billion from the Department of Education.

What’s at stake is the department’s research ability. Think Progress’s article stated that the department “would lose 80 percent of its research budget and all funding for preschool development grants, School Improvement Grants, and the Advanced Placement Test Fee program, which allows low-income high school students to afford tests that provide them with college credits.”

That’s fairly significant.

In December of last year, the department awarded the preschool development grant to 18 states. That totaled almost $300 million that went towards allowing more kids access to preschool programs. If the House and Senate continue cutting the grant, this will hurt thousands of children nationwide.

When we see politicians making drastic and harmful decisions like this, it shows just how empty politics can seem at times. Getting rid of the education department’s research budget and slashing preschool grants may save money, but it will hurt us in the long run.

Hopefully, both sides are able to compromise so that the cuts stop short of hurting kids who are about to start their education.

What were the biggest losses for K-12 education in 2015? What did I miss?

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

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 Higher Education December 4, 2015

Teachers: The 3 fastest master’s degree options

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 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 EdTech & Innovation, Matthew Lynch December 1, 2015

2 Bold Moves Made By Pearson Education in 2015

Depending on your view of Pearson, described as “the world’s largest education company” by the Washington Post, any news about the company may serve as good or bad. Love it or hate it, Pearson is the top education company in the world. During 2015, Pearson made a series of bold moves, which are chronicled below.

Pearson picked education as its sole focus. In July, the Washington Post reported that Pearson was making a move to focus solely on education. “The company is selling its stake in the Financial Times to Nikkei Inc., a leading Japanese media organization, for $1.3 billion, a move that Pearson Chief Executive John Fallon said was precipitated by the changing journalism business model and by Pearson’s desire to focus entirely on education, according to Financial Times.”

Because credit-rating service Moody’s downgraded Pearson’s credit outlook to negative due to instability in the higher education arena, this move gave Pearson “nearly $1.5 billion in net proceeds;” providing the company the potential to improve its standing with Moody’s.

The article further stated that Pearson had lost a few “big testing contracts” in New York, Texas, and Florida. But the news wasn’t all bad for Pearson. The Post also reported that the education giant is the primary vendor for the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. It is also one of only two multi-state consortia charged with designing new Common Core specific exams — a task that comes with nearly $360 million in federal funds.

Many view Pearson as a monopoly because of its size and number of contracts it holds. But because of the recent losses, and news that it wants to reaffirm its standing within the education community, this may either signal the beginning of the end for Pearson or the start of something greater.

Pearson to spend $2.3 billion on education. It was announced in August that, after selling two media outlets for nearly $2 billion, Pearson had plans to spend over $2.3 billion on education across the globe. According NPR.org, Pearson’s chief executive John Fallon and North American CEO Don Kilburn plan to invest a considerable amount of money to strengthen its position as a global education leader.

“In recent years, we’ve developed an increasing focus on our biggest, most exciting opportunity — to help people make progress in their lives through learning … it’s become clear to me and the Pearson board that the scale of the challenge requires our undivided attention,” said Fallon.

The article further articulated the company’s position on education as it highlighted just how much Pearson spends on education annually. Pearson spends $1 trillion “each year on education—most of it public money” globally. That is an astonishing amount of money and an amount that most people are likely not aware of.

But Pearson has faced criticism as of late due to lost contracts and its relationship to Common Core. No matter to Pearson, though, as their plans will not change and they will just continue to roll out educational materials.

Kilburn said that the company plans to invest more into bringing education into underprivileged areas and continuing to develop public-private partnerships so that more students will have the ability to attend college. I sincerely hope that this is true and not just something said to generate good press.

This is, of course, just the start of the company’s strategy. But based on where Fallon and Kilburn want to take the organization, this certainly seems like a giant leap in the right direction.

What do you think of Pearson’s business moves in 2015?

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

Matthew Lynch published in Diversity, HBCU's November 30, 2015

4 ways HBCUs can prepare students for the lack of workplace diversity

Historically Black Colleges and Universities have always been places that encourage greater diversity when it comes to higher education, both on their campuses and in the greater college landscape. From their origins as being the only places people of color could go for a college education to their role today as welcoming all students and instilling cultural awareness, HBCUs stand as models of multicultural learning at its best.

Are HBCUs doing enough to prepare their students for the real workplace, though?

The reason so many college administrators, myself included, stand firmly by the necessity of HBCUs in contemporary college education is this: HBCUs provide a heightened diversity-centric environment that is not able to be duplicated in other settings. This is why these schools are so fantastic. But is all that idealism blindsiding our students later on? Do HBCUS give students a false sense of what to expect in the real workplace? There has to be a blending of what is actually happening in the workplace with what the ideal CAN be with the right people who work for it.

So how can HBCUs promote diversity while still preparing their students for the reality of the American workplace today?

Tell the truth.

Start with the facts of the workplace reality right now, today, this moment. This is so vital to students’ understanding of what they are going to face in the workplace. Yes, diversity is increasing in most fields (thanks in part to better college recruiting and minority programs) but things like the wage gap between minorities (including women) and white men have to be addressed. It’s okay to present these facts and not have a concrete solution in place. It is the responsibility of HBCUs to let their students know what they are up against – and inspire these students to make changes when given the opportunity.

Promote leadership.

Instead of teaching our students how to work for someone else, we should be training them to be leaders. This is true in every field and in every classroom. Have a group of education students? Encourage them to take that next step and become administrators. Students in health care? Set them up to be accepted to medical school. If you have a class of students who are interested in computer science, suggest pairing it with a business or entrepreneurship double major or minor. We should show our students the path to the next level, one step above what they are hoping to achieve, so that they can become the diverse decision-makers of tomorrow’s workplace.

Teach legal rights.

Our students should know what the boundaries are in workplaces when it comes to discrimination and how to recognize unfair treatment. We need to tell them how to report it, file lawsuits and hold their employers (or potential employers) accountable. At the same time, we should be sure our students aren’t wasting too much time in their careers looking for problems. It is important to know when something is unfair, but to put energy into building up careers for their benefit too.

Empower them with knowledge.

As cheesy as it may sound, an education is everything when it comes to breaking through workplace barriers. Minorities and women have to work twice or three times as hard as their peers to earn as much respect and money in the same roles. It’s not fair, but it is a fact – at least at this point in our country’s history as an economic powerhouse. What is learned in classrooms can’t be taken away, or denied. We have to encourage our students to be lifelong learners and love knowledge for the sake of it. That excitement about learning is what will keep them ahead in their fields and help them impart that empowerment to the next generation of students.

There is no way to completely change diversity in the workplace overnight but I truly believe that HBCU graduates have the best shot at improving it significantly. As instructors and administrators, we need to make sure our students are taking the best of diversity practices with them when they leave our campuses, but not entering the American workforce completely blind to its realities. It is our responsibility to teach our students what they can expect, but also how to be the change that they want to see.

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