Blog 12: Bachelor's Degree Is Still Best Path to Middle-Class Jobs and Earnings, Report Says

A Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce Earning has come out with a new report entitled "Career Clusters: Forecasting Demand for High School Through College Jobs, 2008-18" saying that “a bachelor's degree is still the best path to middle-class employment and wages in the United States, and while those with only a high-school diploma can achieve the same status, it will become harder for them to find and secure such jobs.” The report says that although there are jobs available to those whose highest level of education is high school, those jobs are mostly in the four male-dominated career clusters. This includes jobs in manufacturing, architecture and construction, distribution and logistics, and hospitality. The study goes on the say that a woman need education beyond high school to be able to earn the same wages as a man with only a high-school diploma. They say that a person with only a high school diploma will have to work much harder to reach a middle-class status versus a person with only a few college credits. The opportunities for people with a bachelor’s degree or higher are even greater. The careers available to individuals with college degree are those in growing fields and have better salaries. This report shows that a college education is still important and valuable, even in a bad economy. It is the economy that is putting a high value on college degrees.

This article shows how important a degree still is. The United States is already following this trend by putting students on a track to reach the college or university level and emphasizing how important a degree is. Other countries, such as China, are unable to do this because of the high number of students wanting to attend universities. They have to turn students away and they are only accepting the best of the best. Some countries that do not offer public education are not able to offer university as an option for any of their children. Higher education is very important because it opens so many doors for its graduates. It teaches students things that they wouldn’t be able to learn without the experience, both inside and outside the classroom. Our students need a degree in order to compete in today’s advanced world, so it is very important to stress further education, whether university or trade school, to students.

http://chronicle.com/article/Bachelors-Degree-Is-Still/129784/

Blog 11: American Council on Education Will Expand Efforts in International Education

The American Council of Education (ACE) has announced in a new report that they plan to increase their efforts as an advocate for international education and to help colleges and universities internationalize. The report in titled "Strength Through Global Leadership and Engagement: U.S. Higher Education in the 21st Century." It recognizes that although the United States has historically been international leaders in attracting foreign students and producing research, the world is changing, so American institutions have to collaborate more with institutions abroad and find new ways of operating overseas to remain competitive. The council also wants to help colleges forge global strategies. Molly Corbett Broad, the president of ACE, says that “while different types of institutions will approach internationalization differently, there are a number of issues that most will have to contend with.” A major issue the institutions will have to deal with is understanding how these new international efforts will benefit the home campus and explaining the value to students, alumni, lawmakers, and others. Ms. Broad also said ACE expects to speak out more on international issues that affect higher education, like immigration policy and federal spending for foreign-language and area studies.

I think that this effort to increase international education is something that has been needed for a long time. All of the countries need to work together within the education department so that we can have more successful communication in the future. Colleges need to give added support to study abroad programs so students have the opportunity to be enriched with various cultures. This new effort will also benefit students at the elementary level because they will be more internationally enriched at a younger age. We can add more culture education to the curriculum so that students understand various cultures better. This will also help with discrimination and prejudice because the youth with have been exposed to people who are different from themselves.

http://chronicle.com/article/American-Council-on-Education/129668/

Blog #10 Fulbright Student from Afghanistan Resolves to Apply Skills Back Home

Ahmad Shoaib is a 27 year old from Afghanistan who received his master's degree in engineering management at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. He got the opportunity to study in the United States along with 47 other Afghans through the Fulbright Program. The U.S. State Department is rebuilding academic ties with Afghanistan after being absent for almost a quarter-century. When the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan in 1979, the Fulbright Program in the country was suspended. It was reinstated in 2003 and has been steadily growing and sending more students to study abroad each year. While at Duke University, Shoaib sought to clear up misperceptions about life in Afghanistan. He emphasized that despite the insurgency and the violence, there's a burgeoning private sector, and that most Afghans are not so different from Americans. "People understand the security situation is complicated," he says, "but people also know that behind the noise which is shown in the media there are millions of people living their lives on a daily basis. They are continuing to work and earn a living." When Shoaib gets home, he plans to work to improve the country's infrastructure and electrical grid and helping to cut down on blackouts. "If I'm not doing that, I'm not doing this program justice," he says. "And I don't think I'd be doing myself justice."

I think that this is a great program for everyone involved. The students Ahmad went to school with at Duke learned about the realities of Afghanistan instead of only what the media covers. Ahmad’s community is benefiting from his knowledge and his commitment to help improve the conditions people live with. Ahmad got an experience of a lifetime and feels pride in himself that he is able to honor his country and the Fulbright Program because of his hard work. I believe the US government needs to offer more programs like this to foreign students so that more countries and students can get these lifelong lessons.

http://chronicle.com/article/Fulbright-Student-From/129492/

Blog 9: Critics See ‘Chilling Effect’ in Alabama Immigration Law

Alabama’s new immigration law is intended to drive illegal immigrants from the state by making every aspect of their life difficult. To them, this does not include education, though. During a court filing, Luther Strange, the state attorney general argued “no child will be denied an education based on unlawful status.” This law is a step in the state’s strategy to topple the ruling that all children in the United States, regardless of their immigration status, are guaranteed a public education. A provision written in the law requires all primary and secondary schools to record the immigration status of incoming students and their parents and pass that data on to the state. This is a tactic to scare immigrants away from schools. In appeals court, the provision did not pass because it violated the Constitution’s equal protection clause, saying that the statute “imposes a lifetime hardship on a discrete class of children not accountable” for their immigration status. The court also said that the state had not presented evidence showing it was substantially harmed by giving these children a free public education.

I think that this law has good intentions, but the provisions and policies within it are unreasonable. It is a positive to know how many illegal immigrants are in the state for census and government purposes. But, by purposely making these immigrants’ life harder than it already is seems unnecessary, especially when it comes to a child’s education. If a state wants to make a plan to lessen the illegal immigrants in the state, that is one topic. To take a free education away from a child, who has no say in whether they live in the United States or their country of origin, is unlawful and disgusting. American’s who think this is a reasonable solution are supporting illegal immigrants working low wage jobs. If the child does not have a chance to become educated, they will only be able to obtain a job that American’s complain about them working. They then create a viscous cycle of discrimination.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/28/us/alabama-immigration-laws-critics-question-target.html?ref=education

Blog 8: Maybe Teach Them Math, Science and Chess

On Columbus Day, 120 Chicago students sat quietly and intently while participating in a chess tournament. School leaders are hoping that the lessons the children learn playing chess will assist them in the classroom. Susan Polgar, a chess prodigy who led the tournament, believes that chess should be mandatory in school. She says that her “dream is to get in front of education decision makers and convince them to make chess part of the curriculum for K through second grade. That’s when thinking patterns and habits are formed. It should be mandatory, like physical education.” She set up the Susan Polgar Foundation that supports chess playing for boys and girls and sponsors nationwide events. Ms. Polgar believes that “chess teaches discipline, analytical thinking, time management, focus and patience.” These skills are useful throughout life, and in the classroom. Ms. Polgar cites countries like Armenia, where chess is either a mandatory part of school curriculum or strongly encouraged. She also mentions that chess diminishes socioeconomic divides, using the high-poverty students in Brownsville, Texas as an example. After a boost in self-confidence from their chess playing skills, those students beat out their privileged Manhattan rivals.

This is a very interesting idea to enhance student’s education capabilities. Chess is a game of patience, critical thinking, discipline, focus, and time management, all skills needs needed for success in school. Maybe instead of shoving Adderall and Ritalin down young children’s throats, we should try to teach them chess to help their concentration. This method could then pick out the children who do have AD/HD versus those who just get bored in class. Many children who play chess are of an Asian descent, and of those children, many of them also excel in school. This could be a breakthrough in schools all over the world to improve our children’s success in school through lessons they can take with them all through life and into the real world.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/us/chess-tournament-in-chicago-teaches-discipline.html?_r=1&ref=education

Blog #7: Bill Would Overhaul No Child Left Behind

Senior Senate Democrat Tom Harkin released a draft for revisions to the No Child Left Behind education law on Tuesday that would dismantle the provisions of the law that used standardized test scores in reading and math to label tens of thousands of public schools as failing. This is the first piece of legislation overhauling the law to reach either Congressional chamber since President George W. Bush signed it in 2002. The Harkin bill would give back some powers to states that were taken over by Washington under the Bush-era law. This includes the leeway to devise their own systems for holding schools accountable for student progress. Mr. Harkin’s bill would keep the law’s requirements that states test students in reading and math every year in grades three through eight, but it wouldn’t hold schools responsible to raise the proportion of students showing proficiency on the tests each year. Critics of the bills are saying that “Congress, parents and taxpayers would have no meaningful mechanism by which to hold schools, districts, or states accountable for improving student outcomes.”

I think that a revision of the No Child Left Behind law is vital for our children’s future education. Although a good idea in theory, the law has no helped students the way it was meant to when it was created. Children are still falling behind, and instead of it only being the low socioeconomic students, it is all ranges of students who are suffering. I think that we need to look outside our own country and our own past, and see what other countries are doing to improve their education systems. If this bill or a bill similar to it is passed, this will bring America’s education rankings up to those of Japan and other successful countries. Our children will be able to better interact with these people in the future and be more competitive in the workforce.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/12/education/12educ.html?_r=1&ref=education