Education issues abound in the news these days, and we'd like to hear what you think about them: The battle over the best course for school reform went into high gear in the black community on May 18th, when the NAACP joined with the United Federation of Teachers to file a lawsuit against the New York City Department of [...]
In Part II of GCP’s interview with Dr. Pedro Noguera, Professor of Teaching and Learning at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, GCP asked Dr. Noguera for suggestions to help parents identify the best educational settings for their sons from pre-school to college. Pre-school Dr. Noguera noted that parents often look for the most [...]
Dr. Pedro Noguera is the Peter Agnew Professor of Teaching and Learning at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development. Dr. Noguera is a nationally recognized expert on the best practices to narrow the achievement gap between African American and Latino students and White and Asian students. He has worked both with high poverty urban [...]
GCP wants to hear from YOU about how teachers and school administrators in public and private schools have successfully handled racial incidents involving children of color, especially our boys. We are looking for 10 great examples of how teachers got it right, i.e., handled a potentially offensive or damaging incident in a thoughtful and productive manner, for an upcoming [...]
Michael G. Thompson, Ph.D. is a psychologist and school consultant who has made the study of boys and their development the focus of his career. He is the author or coauthor of many books on this subject, including, "It's a Boy!: Understanding Your Son's Development from Birth to Eighteen" (with Teresa Barker, Ballantine, 2008), the New York Times bestseller, [...]
Although it’s only the week before Easter, before you know it school will be out for the summer. When we were young many of us spent our summers hanging out with friends on stoops, in the park, at the beach or community pool, or, only if our parents or teachers insisted, in summer school. Today there is a dizzying [...]
Eighty-two percent of children between the ages of 14 and 17 use social networks, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project. A generation ago, parents could monitor their children’s’ social activity much more easily. Today, with the proliferation of social networks such as Facebook, Bebo, Myspace and Formspring and the ubiquity of computers and smartphones, your kids [...]
Here’s an idea for family fun this Spring Break season or on any rainy weekend: board games. Sounds corny, perhaps, but you can have a great time playing board games with your children. It is a golden opportunity to spend time together without any screens, and a good way to build skills, confidence and good sportsmanship (which you must [...]
It’s 9pm, and my middle schooler suddenly remembers that he has a history quiz tomorrow. Where is that study sheet? Crumpled up at the bottom of his backpack, or left in his locker? At 9:30 we find it, buried under one of the many piles of papers on my desk, where it has been for the last two days. [...]
Are Black and Hispanic college educated parents doing all that they should to help their children learn? Ask Dr. Ronald Ferguson, Harvard professor and director of Harvard’s Achievement Gap Initiative, and he will point to Table A8 in his book Towards Excellence With Equity: An Emerging Vision for Closing the Achievement Gap (Harvard Education Press, 2007), which justifies the [...]