Georgia State: College of Education to promote service learning in schools and communities

 Faculty from all six departments in Georgia State University’s College of Education will be working together over the next three years to increase service learning throughout metro Atlanta.

The college received a $654,000 grant last month from a non-profit organization, Learn and Serve America. GSU’s education faculty will use the grant to integrate service learning activities into teacher preparation courses. They will also increase students’ civic engagement and academic learning through service learning activities in metro Atlanta schools.

“I see this grant as a catalyst for increasing community engagement across the College of Education and throughout K-12 schools in the metro-Atlanta area,” said Caitlin McMunn Dooley, assistant professor in the Department of Early Childhood Education who wrote the grant.

“Each department in the College of Education has at least one faculty member who will participate in a professional learning community as we incorporate service learning into educator preparation courses,” she added.

The college will collaborate with Georgia State University’s Center for Teaching and Learning and Office of Community and Civic Engagement, K-12 school districts, Hands on Atlanta and the Children’s Restoration Network.

“We’re trying to build the capacity for service learning in education,” Dooley said. “If we teach something on campus and the resources for it aren’t present in the schools or communities, then the service learning breaks down. I’m hoping that this grant will prevent that breakdown by building strong ties.”

Learn and Serve America is an organization that “offers support to K-12 schools, community groups and higher education institutions to facilitate service-learning projects,” according to the organization’s website. For more information on the grant, visit www.learnandserve.gov. 

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What the College Rankings Won't Tell You

/PRNewswire/ -- How much will it cost? How is it ranked? And how hard is it to get in? Many college guides and rankings answer these questions. But there is one question that none of them even ask: What will students learn?

A new, free website for parents and students, WhatWillTheyLearn.com, does just that.

Launched today by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, WhatWillTheyLearn.com will be featured in a full-page ad in U.S. News & World Report's 2010 college rankings, which are released tomorrow. The website evaluates colleges and universities based on their general education curricula: the core courses aimed at providing a strong foundation of knowledge.

WhatWillTheyLearn.com assigns each institution a grade from "A" to "F" based on how many of the following seven core subjects it requires: Composition, Mathematics, Science, Economics, Foreign Language, Literature, and American Government or History. Only a handful get A's.

"Employers are increasingly dissatisfied with college graduates who lack the basic knowledge and skills expected of any educated person," said ACTA president Anne D. Neal. "If our students are to compete successfully in the global marketplace, we simply can't leave their learning up to chance. As it is, thousands are paying dearly for a thin and patchy education."

Mel Elfin, founding editor of U.S. News & World Report's college rankings, praised the website as "an invaluable and unique additional resource for parents." "By focusing on what students are getting in the classroom, this new resource highlights what in the long run is far more important than the name of the institution on a graduate's diploma," said Elfin.

ACTA simultaneously released a printed report on general education, also entitled What Will They Learn?, which grades 100 leading colleges and universities in the same manner as the website. The low marks received by many institutions show students are graduating without math, science, and other fundamentals and underscore the urgent need for parents, students, and policymakers to focus on what colleges expect of their students.

How do the 100 colleges and universities fare?

-- 42 institutions receive a "D" or an "F" for requiring two or fewer
subjects.
-- 5 institutions receive an "A" for requiring six subjects: Brooklyn
College, Texas A&M, UT-Austin, University of Arkansas, and West Point.
No institution requires all seven.
-- Paying a lot doesn't necessarily get you a lot: Average tuition at the
11 schools that require no subjects is $37,700. At the 5 schools that
get an "A", it's $5,400.
-- "Flagship" state universities do a markedly better job with general
education (average grade of "C") than the top liberal arts colleges
and national universities (with an "F" average) while charging much
lower tuition and fees.

Which important subjects are not being required?

-- Only 2 out of 100 require economics (University of Alaska-Fairbanks &
West Point)
-- Only 11 out of 100 require American government or history
-- Barely half -- 53 out of 100 -- require mathematics

"This study demonstrates that our colleges and universities have abdicated their responsibility to direct their students to the most important subjects," said Neal. "No eighteen-year-old, even the brightest, should have to determine which combination of courses comprises a comprehensive education. But most colleges are offering nothing more than a 'do-it-yourself' education."

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Carnegie Learning Sells $5 Million in Custom Math Curricula in Georgia

BUSINESS WIRE --Sales of Carnegie Learning, Inc.’s new Georgia Mathematics 1 and 2 curricula have reached $5 million since publication of the program earlier this year, according to the company. Carnegie Learning, a leading provider of research based math curricula for middle schools, high schools, and the higher education market, reports that over 130 Georgia middle and high schools have adopted the education publisher’s customized Georgia Mathematics 1 and 2 designed, specifically, to meet new, more rigorous high school math requirements being implemented by the Georgia Department of Education this fall.

The purchasing districts receive Carnegie Learning textbooks and Professional Development services, and some districts have purchased Carnegie Learning’s Cognitive Tutor® software for Math Support which is an intelligent software program that provides differentiated instruction by adapting the learning path to each student’s understanding of mathematical concepts. Among the 55 districts implementing Carnegie Learning’s Georgia Mathematics program are Bartow, Clayton, Douglas, Forsyth, and Hall County Schools.

“Reports of declining U.S. competitiveness in mathematics and science at the post-secondary level have prompted measures in statehouses across the country to raise standards and achievement in science and math at the high school level,” said Trace A. Urdan, Managing Director at Signal Hill. “In many cases, this is reinforced by new high school graduation testing requirements. The dramatic curriculum changes in Georgia are one example of this phenomenon, but by no means the only one. Results-oriented curriculum providers that can rapidly and flexibly respond to this evolving dynamic with research-based content should be well-positioned to help educators as they respond to the public’s desire to raise the bar for math education.”

Carnegie Learning’s Cognitive Tutor research is well supported in the Learning Processes subcommittee report of the recent National Math Advisory Panel report to the President and U.S. Secretary of Education, and is cited as an example of a curriculum that has strong evidence of effectiveness and is a model for applying basic research in the classroom. Carnegie Learning is also recognized by the What Works Clearinghouse as showing evidence of effectiveness, and last year the U.S. Department of Education awarded the RAND Corporation a $6 million grant to conduct a five-year study of the effectiveness of Carnegie Learning’s Algebra I curricula in seven districts across the country.

"The higher performance standards in Georgia present an exceptional opportunity for our company,” said Dennis Ciccone, Chief Executive Officer of Carnegie Learning, Inc. “In addition to having one of the few legitimately research-based math curricula, we are committed to partnering with administrators and teachers to ensure that they receive the support and Professional Development to be successful for the long-term.”

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Don’t Let Summertime Stop Learning

(ARA) – Perhaps it’s an idea carried from elementary school that leads us to believe that summer is a time when school and learning should be put on the back burner. The excitement of being outside, of course, can squash the desire to pursue educational activities, but do we have to choose physical exercise over exercising our brains?

Summer education offers the opportunity to keep the brain as active as the rest of our body, but it doesn’t have to mean sitting inside watching the world go by. There are many options available to students of all ages that allow for the combination of fun and learning.

“Summer learning should be fun. It’s a great time to check out the neighborhood library and help your child make a Read and Watch program,” says Ronald Kar, Ph.D., program chair of Instructional Leadership for Argosy University, Sarasota Campus.

Neighborhood libraries are filled with books children love and movies based on those books. Children can go to the library, check out the book and then, when they have read the book, watch the movie version. Librarians are parents’ best friends and will help children and parents identify age appropriate books and movies. Parents can then talk to the child about the surprises and differences from book to movie and spend quality time reading, watching and talking with their child.

“It’s important to understand the relationship between reading and talking. And the best way to get children talking is to begin a conversation with ‘Tell me about...’” says Kar.

Dr. Kar emphasizes the importance of physical activity during the day, with long breaks for reading. He encourages children and parents to watch the book-based movie together in the evening.

He also recommends visiting museums and talking with children about the exhibits. “It is important for parents to encourage their children to talk about what they see and experience. One of my favorite suggestions to parents is turn off the car radio and engage their children in conversation about the world around them.”

For older students or professionals seeking to expand their knowledge, online and blended learning offers students the option of spending less time in the classroom while still gaining a quality education.

“Those taking courses online have the option of completing coursework anywhere, any time -- even while sitting on the beach in the summer sun,” says Marcy Trew, Department of Education chair at Brown Mackie College -- Akron.

During the summer, many schools offer traditional courses in more condensed versions, giving students the opportunity to complete a full course in half the time.

No matter what your age, learning can, and should, be fun any time of the year. Many opportunities for learning that summer provides -- both formal and informal -- could be missed if people save education for the fall.

Courtesy of ARAcontent