Cheaters Never Prosper: Take Your Own SAT Test

While we’re on the subject of school, we’re reminded that cheaters never prosper. Business Week/Bloomberg reports: Sept. 28 (Bloomberg) — Seven Long Island, New York, students were charged with taking part in a scheme in which six of them paid the seventh to take the SAT college-admissions test on their behalf, prosecutors said. Six current [...]

Must Read: President Obama’s Speech to School Kids

Today, President Obama gave his annual back to school speech at Benjamin Banneker High School in Washington, DC. Incredibly endearing was the poised young lady who introduced President Obama. I can’t find her full name. But her first name was Donae and she did such a great job. I think she was the student class [...]

More Black Students Need to Study Abroad

In Advice for Young Girls Looking for a Way Out, we encourage young women to move outside if their comfort zone and consider studying abroad. So it was refreshing to see universities and colleges recognizing the importance of minority students traveling abroad.  According to NewsOne and the Associated Press: About 81 percent of study-abroad students [...]

Good News in Baltimore

It can get depressing reading the latest statistics about our black males.  So imagine me refreshed when reading the following article showing how our black males are staying in school: Black male students in Baltimore are staying in school and receiving their diplomas in higher numbers, school officials said on Wednesday, raising hope that future [...]

Grading Teachers Gets An A+

Makes sense to me.  And apparently it is starting to make sense on the West Coast.  In Los Angeles Unified School District, some 6000 teachers were recently graded on their performance.  Most importantly, these performance indicators were made public so that parents understand if the teacher is qualified to teach. The Los Angeles Times writes: [...]

Shouldn’t We Be Able To Fire Bad Teachers?

Most people will answer, “of course” but it’s not that easy. Teachers belong to unions that prevent bad teachers from getting fired. Parents and students in Chicago Public Schools are dealing with this conundrum at the moment. And the Chicago Tribune editorializes on the issue: Bad teachers aren’t so hard to identify. Students know who [...]

Violence Also Killing Educational Future of our Children

As if the body count wasn’t enough, research confirms what many of us already know: kids in violent settings have lower achievement and test scores. Children living in areas where homicides are committed have lower reading and verbal test scores, a study by New York University Sociology Professor Patrick Sharkey shows. The research, which appears [...]

Good News in Chicago

The Chicago Tribune reports a charter school in Chicago gets all its seniors into college: The entire senior class at Chicago’s only public all-male, all-African-American high school has been accepted to four-year colleges. At last count, the 107 seniors had earned spots at 72 schools across the nation. Mayor Richard Daley and Chicago Public Schools [...]

Advice for Young Girls Looking for A Way Out

Life Isn’t Fair: It’s a statement of fact.  And while you should fight for fairness and equality, you’re best served personally by understanding this truth.  Whether because you’re black, Latina, a woman, physically challenged, or poor, there will be reason for people to root against you. Commit Yourself to Excellence: Given life isn’t fair, commit [...]

John Legend’s Waiting for Superman

It is amazing to see perception square up with reality.  I have long appreciated the passion in John Legend’s music.  It is refreshing to see that passion translate into social engagement in the documentary Waiting for Superman.  Waiting for Superman, by documentary director Davis Guggenheim, examines the nation’s public-school system. The film chronicles efforts by [...]

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