Saturday, August 16, 2008 It's the teachers, stupid! POST A COMMENT As a survivor the public school system -- including a bout at one of the most dangerous High Schools in the Bronx - (NYC)... 'I can testify that the biggest problem at inner-city schools -- (aside from threat-to-life issues) is what you don't see -- all the dropouts.... but, for those that stick it out, it does become so much about the quality of the teachers; which is why I think "Teach for America" might have something. Let's face it, there is no easy band-aid fix; as this Newsweek article points out: "the American system of education is broken..." -- poor kids without money are basically screwed. Repairing it, begins with better teachers: "The single most important factor in student achievement is the quality of the teacher. And yet, we have no effective system to attract, train, retain and promote high-caliber candidates for our schools. Today's teachers score in the lowest quartile of college grads and too many of the schools that train them are diploma mills." - Teach for America basics: The two-year program "recruits high-performing college grads to teach in low-performing public schools." And while the teachers are paid the same as other new teachers, Teach for America actually helps to pay off the participants student loans. More than that is how this program has raised the stakes by sparking a join-the-cool-club-mentality among recent grads: "Among the candidates: 11 percent of seniors at Yale, 10 percent at Georgetown and 9 percent at Harvard. This summer, 3,700 corps members who were carefully culled for their leadership skills through TFA's data-driven, envy-of-Wall Street selection model underwent an intensive, five-week crash course in teaching." I know for myself, the difference between ending up locked up in jail or finishing college -- came down to a few memorable teachers showing me some of life's possibilities. Source: Newsweek Labels: College Students, economy, Education, Poverty Divide, race relations, Teach for America posted by Henry Cruz at 4:34 PM Sunday, August 03, 2008 Energy-101: Here Comes the Sun! POST A COMMENT Storing solar-energy inside batteries right now is way too costly to be used in everyday usage. But, a new breakthrough is about to change all that... Basically, scientists have now figured out a Cheaper way of storing electricity from the sun-rays...'and as one expert offered, this means "you've answered everything." "The breakthrough uses a relatively simple way to use electricity to produce oxygen and hydrogen from water...When the two gases later are recombined in a fuel cell they cause a chemical reaction that spins off electrons that are forced through a circuit, reproducing the electricity." "The discovery shatters the biggest barrier to widespread use of solar power, namely that it's unavailable after dark, said Daniel Nocera, an MIT energy professor. Similar to the way plants store energy from the sun -- "The process uses nontoxic natural materials to convert sunlight into gases..." Researchers also say this could make solar power "in homes a mainstream energy option and might even make power companies obsolete, at least for residential needs." "This is the nirvana of what we've been talking about for years," Nocera told the MIT News Service. "Solar power has always been a limited, far-off solution. Now we can seriously think about solar power as unlimited and soon." "This is a major discovery with enormous implications for the future," offered another MIT expert. ''It opens up the door for developing new technologies for energy production." Ultimately, this breakthrough would aid us in getting off of our dependence of Foreign Oil. So...I'm sure we'll all be watching this story carefully. Here's a great primer video --(with MIT's Nocera) -- offering a break down of how this actually works: Source: ABC News Labels: Business-101, economy, Education, emissions, Energy-101, environment, fuel economy, hybrid, ideas, MIT Research, News Trends, Oil Prices, science 101, smaller carbon footprint, Solar Power, Trends posted by Henry Cruz at 4:30 PM Monday, July 28, 2008 Teens who Kill POST A COMMENT "It's a sad thing that the story isn't about how our society could create such a diabolical, cold-blooded, 15-year-old-child killer," writes one Newsweek reader - (this in response to the cover story of a teen murder case). For a moment, put aside the fact that the male victim King (15) wore makeup, dashed around in high heels, and often hit on boys because he thought he was Gay. Was King even really gay -- (since as pointed out in the story he had never even been kissed)-- or maybe he was just acting out? The most troubling points of the Newsweek story is -- aside from that hot button topic of the shrinking closet -- (with kids today coming out as young 10 years old because it gets them some attention)... How did King's assailant, a medicated and troubled teen, Brandon McInerney get his hands on a gun?...and could King's murder have been prevented by those around him? I mean, where are Brandon's parents? I have to wonder how killing King solved anything here...'this wasn't a case of self defense; It was indeed a cold blooded murder of a defenseless child that looks like it could have been prevented. Source: Newsweek Labels: Education, medicated nation, teen sex, Teens who Kill posted by Henry Cruz at 12:38 PM Thursday, September 27, 2007 Education: going the extra mile! POST A COMMENT Merit Pay for Teachers is an idea that seems reasonable: "Recognize better workers with extra pay." -- like a job bonus! A recent Newsweek article talked about a math teacher at an inner-city public school -- running a program for failing ninth graders...with an extra push, (most students passed) -- that Teacher got an extra $300 bonus tacked on to her salary and said, "It's not much but the money helps give me the incentive to go the extra mile." Seems pretty fair, since teachers are way underpaid to offer bonuses for those that deliver! Labels: Culture, Education posted by Henry Cruz at 4:08 AM     ARCHIVES October 2005 . November 2005 . December 2005 . August 2007 . September 2007 . October 2007 . November 2007 . December 2007 . March 2008 . April 2008 . May 2008 . June 2008 . July 2008 . August 2008 . September 2008 .