A newly released report highlights the growing "achievement gap," where low-income children are falling behind their counterparts when it comes to meeting standards in reading and math. The report, called Education Indicators for Maine, shows progress in some key areas, such as increased access to early education and better high school graduation rates.
Educate Maine presented its 2015 Education Indicators for Maine, a report that examines the state’s education pipeline from pre-kindergarten through college, during an event in Portland. This is the third consecutive year Educate Maine has shared its findings.
Today’s Common Core Standards require students to comprehend complex text across the curriculum. The standards focus on the need for students to develop a deeper understanding of content knowledge. Likewise, the Common Core Standards demand a heavier emphasis on informational and argument writing.
It all started with my senior English teacher who, in my last year of high school, took a victim of tracking, stuck in the C and D levels, invited me into his honors English class with all the smart kids, and convinced me to ignore the labels that had been given me.
Intelligence isn’t all about smarts. Without an aptitude to manage time, persevere, prioritize, plan, remember, handle emotions and reflect, learning is a challenge. Intelligence is largely irrelevant.
Maine was designated as a TechHire Community by the White House as part of an initiative launched by President Obama in March 2015. This recognition, awarded in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 4, was given because ten influential Maine-based employers have committed to recruiting and hiring qualified candidates, regardless of where they obtained their digital knowledge and technical experience.
Remember when we were younger, playing in a sandbox? We weren’t concerned with whether or not our castles were perfect; we learned what worked and what didn’t by experimentation. How much water? How much sand? How tall can we build before it collapses? Yet somehow that sense of play and creativity fades over time as we age.
When it comes to education, there is no lack of public opinion. Since virtually everyone has had some significant experience in the classroom, we have also formed our own opinions on education. These opinions are built from our own unique vantage point and often vary widely.
Teachers would like to think we send our students off for a happy vacation of fun, sleeping late and socializing with friends. Sadly, however, that’s not always the case.
