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Diversity in the Classroom: How to Solve the Black Male Teacher Shortage

Tracy Jarrett

January 21, 2015 |

NBC News |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, South Carolina

America's teacher workforce is disproportionately white and female, with black males constituting only 2 percent of instructors. The Call Me MISTER initiative, based out of Clemson University, provides test prep, tuition assistance, academic counseling, and job placements to students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds - "The goal is to create life long career educators." Fifteen years after Call Me MISTER's founding, the number of black males teaching in South Carolina's public schools has doubled.

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Charter school takeovers: As York schools near privatization, lessons from New Orleans and Michigan

Daniel Simmons-Ritchie

January 12, 2015 |

PennLive |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, York, Pennsylvania

York schools are considering changing public schools into charter schools, following the example of New Orleans and Michigan, in order to help their crumbling school system. The privatization of these schools can help the facilities become more financially stable, in turn preventing school closures and instability for their students.

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LA policy shift yields decline in school suspensions

Christine Armario

January 10, 2015 |

LA Daily News |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

Huge numbers of students were getting suspension as punishment - until there was a nationwide push to rollback zero-tolerance policies instituted after the deadly Columbine High School shootings that emphasize harsh discipline for even minor misbehavior in favor of support-focused alternatives. The idea: Cultivate communication between teachers and students by gathering in weekly circles to discuss concerns and form one-on-one “harm circles” between students, parents and counselors when conflicts arise.

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Illinois falls short in $20 million effort to develop 1,000 teachers

Diane Rado

January 09, 2015 |

Chicago Tribune |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Illinois

To address the low diversity in the teacher workforce, in 2005, Illinois committed $20 million to a Grown Your Own Teacher Initiative to develop 1,000 teachers. The program provided a pathway for parents, community leaders, or other school staff to become teachers. However, by 2015, only 80 graduates of the program were hired in local schools - many dropped out after borrowing tuition money with no requirement that they repay loans. Proponents highlight individual success stories and say the program needs more time to create meaningful change, while critics point to the program's discouraging statistics.

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Go Small!

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

January 06, 2015 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Large one-size-fits-all high schools are failing. In New York City, an experiment in small schools seems to be working.

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At Grabiarz School of Excellence in Buffalo, high expectations and rigor breed success

Tiffany Lankes

December 21, 2014 |

The Buffalo News |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Buffalo, New York

Grabiarz School of Excellence has a highly motivated principal and a model of support that squeezes in learning at every opportunity. So far, it’s working as teachers make sure to maximize instruction time.

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Big Ideas in Social Change, 2014

Tina Rosenberg

December 11, 2014 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Charleston, South Carolina

A overview of 2014's Fixes columns - connecting the dots between 60 or so ways that people are trying to change the world.

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Generation Citizen College Volunteers Teach About Political Action

Kathleen O'Brien

December 05, 2014 |

NationSwell |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States

Generation Citizen is a nonprofit that places college students in high school and middle schools to teach students about civic engagement. Each college volunteer, known as a Democracy Coach, teaches a semester-long class and gets students to identify and develop a plan to solve a local issue of their choosing, including topics like bullying, unemployment, and public transit. As of 2014, the nonprofit, which was started by Scott Warren, included around 10,000 students and over 500 college volunteers in New York City, San Francisco, Boston, and Providence.

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Suspending kids doesn't fix bad behavior; schools look for answers

Claudia Rowe

December 05, 2014 |

The Seattle Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Kent, Washington

It stands to reason: Kick troubled students out of school and they often come back even worse. The Kent School District is trying to tackle this national problem by overhauling the way it handles discipline. But its answers spark even more questions.

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How to Fix a Broken High Schooler, in Four Easy Steps

Stephen J. Dubner

December 04, 2014 |

Freakonomics |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: Canada, Toronto, Ontario

Fixing the education system in the country requires addressing the problem of student motivation to endure and succeed in school. Pathways to Education is a Toronto-based program designed to keep at-risk kids in school. It offers four different kinds of support: counseling, academic, social and financial, all of which contribute to a 46 percent decrease in the student drop-out rate.

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