5 education reads found in the last 7 days
Education reading from the last seven days.
The lead story is a beautifully written and heartbreaking piece about the precarious situation an Afghani school firmly rooted in humanism finds itself in as U.S. military forces leave.
Then, there is an insightful piece about how Pell Grants, counselors and good intentioned, but misguided counseling actually encourages students to say in college for five years, or more.
Read on.
What America Leaves When It Leaves Afghanistan via The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Stern.
His trick was using reverence for a holy book to teach irreverence in general. Given the battles and massacres he had lived through—some barely—he wanted students incapable of participating in such things. If they believed that humans had value because they were humans, not because of money or religion or family name, it would be harder for them to kill. They would be less easily swayed by the war cries of powerful men. He didn’t want students who could recite passages of the Quran. He wanted students who—the next time a tribal leader, or a cleric, or a warlord, said: “Fight”—asked: “Why?”
The Elusive Goal of On-Time Graduation via The Hechinger Report’s Jon Marcus.
From the time you select in your first semester to take 12 credits, you are already on a five-year plan,” said Blake Johnson, a spokesman for Complete College America, which works to increase the proportion of people nationwide with college and university degrees.
Will more money for schools really help kids? New study may have long-term answer via The Seattle Times’ John Higgins
In short, the researchers found that students in districts with bigger windfalls did better, on average, than students from other districts in the same state that got less. They spent more time in school, for example, and had higher wages as adults.
White House wants to pair 1 million students with mentors to reduce absenteeism via the Washington Post’s Emma Brown.
The White House announced Friday that it plans to tackle the problem of poor school attendance by connecting 1 million at-risk students with mentors over the next five years.
Lawsuit Alleges Principal Was Fired for Support of Hispanic Students via the Education Writers Association’s Natalie Gross.
An Alabama principal who was fired from her Catholic school post for allegedly embezzling funds claims in a new federal lawsuit that she was instead retaliated against for defending Hispanic students.
