schools – Cincy Link

How some students are getting into college without even applying

cincylink — Thu, 15 Jun 2023 04:30:58 +0000

The process of getting into college is changing. More schools are now offering admission to students who never applied.

"We're hearing students say like, 'Is this real?' You know, they get so much marketing and brochures from so many sources. And when I say, actually, 'No on the EAB match platform, the messages you get are real admission offers, they're bona fide admission offers.' And yeah, it's often disbelief followed by elation," said Joe Morrison, who serves as the managing director of Concourse at EAB.

The platform offers reverse admissions. Students get into the system through their school counselor.

The students stay anonymous to the university, which makes an offer based on criteria including grades and interests.

It's up to the students to accept the offer.

A growing number of other organizations are also doing what's known as direct admissions where students also get offers from schools. However, they have to go through an application process still.

The people behind these alternative admission models say it's about making the process more student-centric.

"For a lot of students, they get offers from colleges that they hadn't considered, or sometimes even heard of," Morrison said. "They realized, in many cases, that they're eligible for more in scholarships than they thought. So really, it's enabling a path to college that a lot of students didn't think they were able to access, and probably wouldn't have even applied for."

EAB's platform is free for counselors and students. Universities pay a fee when they get a match with a student.

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How poor air quality can impact a child’s education

cincylink — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 04:27:30 +0000

The air children breathe may have an impact on their upbringing.

A study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health shows certain low-income populations are being exposed to higher levels of dangerous fine particulate air pollution more than other groups.

Victoria Petro-Eschler, a mother of three, lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. They are all too aware of how the air they breathe affects their daily lives.

“We never have just a quick little 48-hour head cold. We have a cough that starts, and we try to like Dimetapp it out, you know, and then it always settles into their lungs,” Petro-Eschler said. “You can't avoid it here. It is part of everything. It determines if my kids get to play inside or outside on certain days. You know, my kids go from one highway that they're in the shadow of for school and another highway that they're in the shadow of that home.”

The air quality also determines how often the children are able to attend school.

“My kids have been late for days out of the past two weeks because we have been dealing with chronic coughs and upper respiratory,” Petro-Eschler said.

They live on the west side of Salt Lake City, a community with a median income of $49,000. An airport, an interstate interchange, a quarry and multiple refineries are their neighbors.

Richard Holman was one of the founding members of the Westside Coalition, an organization that made enough noise about the problem that they gained the attention of the Environmental Protection Agency. While each individual company meets EPA standards, it’s the combination that affects nearby residents.

“And it's not difficult to prove what's happening on the west side. These people are compromised,” Holman said.

A University of Utah study of 174 Salt Lake City County public schools showed schools with predominately minority students were exposed to worse air quality. A separate study showed there were more school absences when the air quality was poor.

Harvard professor Francesca Dominici was part of a study that looked at air quality throughout the United States. The study showed that air quality is not just a problem in Salt Lake City.

“The most polluted area is the one that there is a lower socioeconomic status where they have multiple environmental stressors,” Dominici said.

Environmental stressors forced Holman to eventually move, out of fear for his health. Those same stressors ignited Petro-Eschler to run for city council.

“To fix environmental issues is going to be slow and tedious. To fix the equity issues, the racial, the ethnic, the gender disparities, tt's going to be slow and tedious,” Dominici added.

The EPA is evaluating environmental stressors for the next six months.

Petro-Eschler worries a fix won't come soon enough.

“My doctor, when I told her this last time, when I went to get the steroids, I looked at her and said, 'Am I killing my kids by living where I live?' And she looked at me and said, 'One of these you know,' she doesn't want to tell me that.”

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Schools are adding counselors, but experts say more are needed

cincylink — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 04:17:08 +0000

New information shows the number of counselors in K-12 schools is increasing but it's still nowhere near where industry experts say it needs to be.

In the 2021-22 school year, there were 408 students for each counselor. That's the best it's been since the American School Counselor Association started tracking it in 1986.

However, they recommend 250 to 1.

That's because counselors today address a wide variety of things, including academics, discipline and mental health.

”This work is done through classroom instructions, small group work, one on one advisement,” said Jill Cook, assistant director of the American School Counselor Association. “So individual counseling, working with school staff and families, it's really a comprehensive approach to working with all students

She says over time, funding has been an obstacle to getting more counselors in schools.

But more recently, the profession has faced the same problem many others have - not enough people to fill open positions.

”We know from education as a whole, that some individuals have chosen to leave the field and leave the profession because it's been very stressful,” said Cook.

She says to close the gap, it's important states do not see this as an opportunity to cut funding for school counselors.

”Knowing that school counselors do address the whole student, the whole child, and are there to specifically ensure that there are systems in place so that all kids have the opportunity to be successful,” Cook said. “And so why wouldn't you want these professionals in school?”

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96% of K-12 apps share children’s data with third parties

cincylink — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 21:16:02 +0000

Apps are playing an increasingly important role in schools.

“Edtech apps have become incredibly popular. Part of it was the pandemic,” said Kris Astle, an education strategist at SMART Technologies. The company grows technologies that help teachers collaborate with students.

However, with this growing use, there are some security concerns.

A recent study found that 96% of K-12 edtech apps share children's personal data with third parties, according to Internet Safety Labs. The December 2022 report sampled 663 schools in all 50 states.

About 78% of the time this personal information was shared with advertising and monetization entities, the report found.

“When we think about bringing apps into the classroom for kids, it's really understanding what data is being collected, where is this data going, and what is the potential risk that we’re opening our kids up to,” Astle said.

She said there’s a balance between using apps to maximize the learning experience and learning about the apps themselves.

“One of the things we can do to protect this data and protect students is to think about the tools that are being used and make sure we’re not duplicating functionality. Any time we have multiple apps that are doing the same thing, that’s more information out there in more spaces,” said Astle.

Experts say parents and school administrators should consider the following when it comes to data privacy:

What data is being shared
Where is it being stored
Is it encrypted
How long is it stored for

“Can I have my data erased? If I leave the district and my student is no longer using this tool, do I have the ability to do that,” Astle said.

Next time you download an education app, make sure to ask questions about your privacy.

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Disparities persist in traditionally female-dominated fields

cincylink — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 15:48:15 +0000

Great efforts have been made to close the gender pay gap. But not all fields of work are created equally.

Alexandra Light, who has been doing ballet since she was two years old, says even the dance world is dominated by men at the top.

“A lot of people on the outside of the dance world still don’t realize," she said. "In the industry, it’s still very much a boys’ game."

Tracey Rockett, who teaches management practice at Texas Christian University, said she can point to any number of studies that show the wide gulf between women and management. That gulf persists even in fields dominated by women.

“In public schools, for instance, men make up the minority of teachers, but to keep them, very often, they will be offered promotion opportunities much earlier than women are,” Rockett said, “You see that in the restaurant industry, in education, in healthcare, and in dance.”

According to the Dance Data Project, among the largest 150 ballet companies in America, a quarter of works produced last year were choreographed by women.

Light is a principal dancer. She’s at the front of the room, but she knows the hurdles in reaching a position where she’s at the front for good.

“You know, there's a choreographic workshop, and you don't sign up for that because you're like, ‘Well, I need to, I need to dance,’” Light said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, women quit the workforce in larger numbers. They reported larger rates of burnout while taking on the extra burden of child care. At companies where women often take the lead on efforts of diversity and equity, they typically don’t get additional pay or substantial recognition.

But Rockett sees hope in Light’s generation.

"That is one thing we are seeing in particular with Gen Z. They will leave, and they will leave without a backup job. They will leave without a plan. If they're dissatisfied, they're going to take off,” Rockett said.

“I think a lot of dancers sort of face it at some point that, you know, there’s a lot of problems with our career. Like, we love dance so much, but there’s a lot of work to be done,” Light said, “Even when I was a little kid, I loved choreographing. I would go with my best friend. We would go down to the dance studio together and bring my boombox. As I got into my professional career, it completely waned.”

Light took the path she was steered to take, but she has plans to go beyond that path.

“I have goals for where I want to be in the future, but I’m really proud of where I am now,” Light said.

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Black history class revised by College Board after criticism

cincylink — Sat, 03 Jun 2023 12:36:57 +0000

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A revised curriculum for a new Advanced Placement course on African American studies downplays some components that drew criticism from conservatives including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who had threatened to ban the class in his state.

In the official framework made public on Wednesday, topics such as Black Lives Matter, slavery reparations and queer theory are no longer subjects to be taught. They are included only on a list of topics that states and school systems could suggest to students for end-of-the-year projects.

The rejection of the course by DeSantis, a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2024, stirred new political debate over how schools teach about race. Florida officials last month issued a chart that said it promoted the idea that modern American society oppresses Black people, was inappropriate, and uses articles by critics of capitalism.

A spokesperson for DeSantis on Wednesday said the state education department is reviewing the revised curriculum for compliance with Florida law.

The course is currently being tested at 60 schools around the U.S., and the official framework is intended to guide the expansion of the course to hundreds of additional high schools in the next academic year. The College Board, which oversees AP courses, said developers consulted with professors from more than 200 colleges, including several historically Black institutions.

The College Board has been taking input also from teachers running the pilot classes as the draft curriculum has gone through several revisions over the last year.

Critics accused the organization of bending to political pressure.

“To wake up on the first day of Black History Month to news of white men in positions of privilege horse trading essential and inextricably linked parts of Black History, which is American history, is infuriating,” said David Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition. “The lives, contributions, and stories of Black trans, queer, and non-binary/non-conforming people matter and should not be diminished or erased.”

The course has been popular among students in schools where it has been introduced. At Baton Rouge Magnet High School in Louisiana, so many students were interested that Emmitt Glynn is teaching it to two classes, instead of just the one he was originally planning.

Earlier this week, his students read selections of “The Wretched of the Earth” by Frantz Fanon, which deals with the violence inherent in colonial societies. In a lively discussion, students connected the text to what they had learned about the conflict between colonizers and Native Americans, to the war in Ukraine and to police violence in Memphis, Tennessee.

“We’ve been covering the gamut from the shores of Africa to where we are now in the 1930s, and we will continue on through history,” Glynn said. He said he was proud to see the connections his students were making between the past and now.

For Malina Ouyang, 17, taking the class helped fill gaps in what she has been taught. “Taking this class," she said, "I realized how much is not said in other classes.”

Matthew Evans, 16, said the class has educated him on a multitude of perspectives on Black history. He said the political controversy is just “a distraction.”

“Any time you want to try to silence something, you will only make someone want to learn about it even more,” he said.

The College Board offers AP courses across the academic spectrum, including math, science, social studies, foreign languages and fine arts. The courses are optional. Taught at a college level, students who score high enough on the final exam usually earn course credit at their university.

In a written statement Wednesday, College Board CEO David Coleman said the course is “an unflinching encounter with the facts and evidence of African American history and culture.”

“No one is excluded from this course: the Black artists and inventors whose achievements have come to light; the Black women and men, including gay Americans, who played pivotal roles in the Civil Rights movements; and people of faith from all backgrounds who contributed to the antislavery and Civil Rights causes. Everyone is seen,” he said.

In Malcolm Reed's classroom at St. Amant High School in Louisiana, where he teaches the AP class, he tries to be mindful of how the material and discussions can affect students.

“I give them the information and I've seen light bulbs go off. I ask them, ‘How does it affect you? How do you feel about learning this?’ ” he said. “It's also new for me, and I'm just taking it in stride. We're not just learning history, but we're making history.”

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How Black Americans view the path to overcoming inequality

cincylink — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 19:14:55 +0000

Black Americans have long articulated a clear vision for the kind of social change that would improve their lives.

The Pew Research Center recently explored Black Americans’ views about how to overcome racial inequality. The 2022 report found Black Americans “have a clear vision for reducing racism but little hope it will happen.”

“Most African Americans know their history,” said Spelman College professor Cynthia Neil Spence. “We know that from the stories that our grandparents have told us, our great-grandparents have told us. And those stories have always, in fact, been centered around the disenfranchisement of us based on who we are and based on how we were born.”

That same Pew report stated nearly 70% of Black adults see racial discrimination today as the primary obstacle to success.

“We still have the highest maternal mortality rates. We still have the highest rates of poverty,” Spence said.

“The systems that we currently have in place are not developed in a way that would meet the needs of most Black business owners and entrepreneurs in this country," said Alex Camardelle, vice president of policy and research at the Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative.

The Pew report stated that after George Floyd’s death in 2020, more than half of Black adults said the increased attention on racial equality would lead to meaningful change. In a survey one year later, nearly two-thirds said it hadn’t led to change.

“America is having to really just take an inventory of itself and look in the mirror and decide how are we going to be equitable and equal moving forward," said
Kyle Walcott, president of the Emerging 100 of Atlanta.

“I’m really a bit tired of hearing what the problems are. We have a George Floyd bill that yet has not been approved. We have a John Lewis Voting Rights Act that has not been approved. We have individuals who are serving at the federal government and the state governmental level, who have demonstrated behaviors that suggest that they don’t really care," Spence adds.

According to the Pew report, just 13% of Black adults say equality for Black people in the U.S. is very likely.

“It’s difficult, you know, as a Black person to think about, ‘When is that change going to come?’” Walcott said. “Things don’t happen overnight, and so how long are we going to wait, you know, on the government, the structures, the leaders who are in charge? We need the people that are in charge of the changing, the regulatory frameworks and the policies to be on the front lines.”

“I’m born and raised in the South. So, I’m in a community that’s hard-wired to believe that things won’t change or that the pace is just going to outlive me," Camardelle said.

“It’s time now for us to sit around tables and to build out sustainable strategies for addressing inequalities in our society,” Spence added. “This is what works, and let’s do it. Let’s make a difference.”

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Visible police presence at St. Bernard schools after threats made

cincylink — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 08:44:12 +0000

Visible police presence at St. Bernard schools after threats made

schools – Cincy Link

How some students are getting into college without even applying

How poor air quality can impact a child’s education

Schools are adding counselors, but experts say more are needed

96% of K-12 apps share children’s data with third parties

Disparities persist in traditionally female-dominated fields

Black history class revised by College Board after criticism

How Black Americans view the path to overcoming inequality

Visible police presence at St. Bernard schools after threats made

Los Angeles schools, union leaders reach contract deal

Arizona sues Biden to keep school anti-mask rules

More Cincinnati-area schools close, going remote amid COVID-19 surge

Pandemic learning loss may cost children $17 trillion in lifetime income

NY mandating masks in all businesses without vax requirements

Schools continue to join lawsuit against JUUL vape products

Questions remain as Cincinnati Public Schools unveils list of options for fall learning

Pediatric groups call for science-based decisions for reopening schools, more federal funding

Beshear reports 700 COVID-19 cases, 7 deaths as Ky. numbers begin to level off

Texas school leader suggests balancing Holocaust with ‘opposing’ views

Republican lawmakers flex muscle in setting COVID policies

Billions of federal COVID-19 relief money still available to schools

How much money are schools receiving?

How are schools allowed to spend the money?

Spending plans: tutoring, mental health counselors, renovations

15 Miami-Dade educators die from COVID-19 in 10 days

Cincinnati Public Schools will begin vaccinating some employees Thursday

Judge strikes down Florida governor’s executive order banning mask mandates

Lebanon City Schools board members table vote on masks, seek guidance on quarantine rules