Be-Think [Please visit BeThink.org]

Exit Exams, High School Dropouts; Cause and Effect

copyright © 2007 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org

In California, students are crushed by the weight of exit exams. Some feel defeated. After numerous failures on test after test, pupils presume, rather than make another attempt, it is best to just dropout. In 2006, 24,000 high school seniors dropped out, about 10,000 more than just four years earlier.

Please also peruse Dropout Nation; Communities Can Cure The Silent Student Epidemic. The causes and effects of "dropping out" are explored in greater detail in that treatise.

Less Homework Plus Yoga Equals Greater Stress?

copyright © 2007 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org

In recent years, parents appear to be less able, or available, to assist with their child's education. Moms work outside the home. Dad is away at the office. Either or each, flies off on business trips. Even when the family is together, they run from one activity to another. Few families dine together. Less eat home cooked meals. There is so much pressure and it is not in the cooker.

Stress fills the lives of everyone, young and old. Among teens the problem many be more profound. Depression affects twenty percent of teens. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among adolescents and teenagers. According to the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH), about 8 out of every 100,000 teenagers committed suicide in 2000. Needham High School Principal, Paul Richards yearns to change these statistics. Mister Richards is among many educators that have introduced programs to help reduce the strain, yoga classes among these.

States Satisfy No Child Law; Proficiency Standards Are Lowered

Cafferty on All the children left behind

copyright © 2007 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org

Days ago the news reports were filled with images and icons. Illusions and delusions were delivered to an expectant public. Paris Hilton appeared on every screen. Cable, network, and local stations covered her body and her burgeoning tensions. She is in jail. She is legally out of prison. The hotel heiress is partying at home or piteous in court. America was fixated. People pondered; wresting with facts and figures all pertaining to Paris.

Most, mired in the misery of this young celebrity missed a discussion relating to another false impression, American students are achieving. Uniform standards are in place in our nation's schools. Pupils are performing. States and Districts accountable. Actually, according to The New York Times, "States Found to Vary Widely on Education.

Teachers Work For Salaries or Students

Taylor Mali on what teachers make. YouTube.

© copyright 2007 Betsy L. Angert

You have heard it said, perhaps you uttered the statements. "I want to be a teacher and work only ten months a year." "I want a career that allows me to leave the "office" at 3 in the afternoon." "Those that can do; those that cannot teach." Some think, the job of an educator is a simple task. There are no challenges. The time spent on campus is short and sweet. Yet, studies show that individuals are leaving the profession in mass. According to the Washington Post half of new teachers quit within five years.

It is the Economy [or Education], Stup**! ©

Perhaps, in this election year, it is the economy, stup***. President George Bush declares he knows this well. “I reminded you that I understand that the economy is always a salient issue in campaigns.” For this oilman President, money matters more than scholarship.

You, dear reader might recall, at a Yale graduation ceremony, George W. Bush said to the seniors, “To those of you who received honors, awards and distinctions, I say well done. And to the C students, I say you, too, can be President of the United States.” The implication is a world leader need not be academically “accountable.” There are others means towards success and George W. Bush chased these diligently. He did as generations of his dynasty did before him; he followed the money.

The Baby Bush endows entrepreneurial enterprises. Examples of Bush the business benefactor are ample; he has long sponsored the rise of the wealthy class and the fall of the masses. However, in an attempt to appease the many, this noble “decider” and his Administration is reaching out to the common man, woman, and child. The benevolent Bush in his infinite wisdom is giving money to educators.

In the closing weeks of the fall campaign, the Bush administration is handing out money for teachers who raise student test scores, [this is] the first federal effort to reward classroom performance with bonuses.

Single and Married Parents Spend More Time With Children. Much is Lost. ©

Decades ago on October 16, I was born into a family that admittedly wanted no more children. My mother was not working; nevertheless, before and after my birth she was rarely home. My natural father did not wish to entertain the notion of a newborn. With my birth, he decided to focus on life far from the family house. During my youth it was thought, parents spent time with their progeny. However, mine did not.

On October 16, 2006, a report was released, “Married and Single Parents [are] Spending More Time With Children, Study Finds.” This too, is not as expected. New York Times Journalist, Robert Pears reveals, “Mothers are spending at least as much time with their children today as they did 40 years ago, and the amount of child care and housework performed by fathers has sharply increased.”