Posts About Education
Happy Spring!
It's the first day of spring! (Even though in New York, it kind of already feels like summer.)
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College, Education , Technology
Bully
In the trailer for a new documentary, the filmmakers share a not-so-shocking statistic: "13 Million Kids Will be Bullied the U.S. this Year."Building Green
In today's What Next? story, we surprised Nathan with a visit to the California Academy of Sciences (CAS) remarkable building. Did you know it's also the world's greenest museum? Some really bright architects and engineers worked on the building, including Alasdair McGregor, who designed the building's living roof.
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College, Education , Technology
Education 101
In the 2010 PISA, an international system for evaluating the quality of education that measures 34 countries, the U.S. ranked 14th in reading, 17th in science and 25th in math. But the United States used to be the world leader in education. We were the first nation to offer free, public education to everyone in the country. Education was the great equalizer - the essential tool in obtaining the "American Dream."
After World War II, the GI Bill enabled thousands of returning veterans to pursue higher education. Because of opportunities in education, Americans excelled in innovation and we became the #1 superpower in the world. So what happened? Well we didn't get worse. But other countries caught up. They saw what was going on in the US and decided -- they could do that too. And they did. And now some are doing it better. Education "experts" say it's a "Sputnick moment" in the United States and that we should be observing other countries to see what we can learn from them.
So the question now becomes, who should we look to as a model? There are countries in Asia like South Korea, Singapore and China -- which ranked #1 in all three subjects in the 2010 PISA.
But China's own education leaders admit they focus too much on test preparation and not enough on skills like critical thinking and creativity.
There's our neighbor to the north -- Canada. It has greatly improved its education system in a short amount of time while also successfully resolving issues with teacher unions. As recently as 1997, teachers in Ontario, Canada held some of the biggest strikes in North America. In 2003, Dalton McGunity became Ontario's premiere. He made education his priority and sat down with union leaders.
When I visited Canada earlier this year, I talked with union leaders and Mr. McGuinty. Everyone agreed since 2003, there's been a level of "respect" for each other that never existed before. The two sides may still disagree on issues but they find common ground by putting the needs of students first. Sadly, I'm not sure that's possible in the US given the current political environment.
And then there's Finland. Ever since students in Finland started outperforming other countries in international assessments, people have been trying to figure out why. Education experts have swarmed to the country to analyze its schools, students and teachers.
Finland's education system is the focus of a 2011 documentary called "The Finland Phenomenon." And scores of reporters have flown to this Nordic country of 5 million to compare their native countries to this "Eden of Education." In February, I joined them.
I boarded a flight and headed to what Newsweek named in 2010 the "best country in the world." This Florida native has to disagree with that statement based on the weather alone -- it was cold and as you can see here -- I even donned a cap while filming to preserve the heat that would have otherwise escaped from my head. I do have to say I was happily surprised by the food -- apologies to Rudolph but reindeer is actually quite tasty. Every restaurant where we dined was delicious! O.K., now back to education.
I spent my week in Finland's capital of Helsinki talking to students, parents, teachers and the Education Minister trying to figure out what makes Finland so special. In my opinion, up close, Finland doesn't seem that different from the U.S.
Schools look like any you could find here. Students know they are considered the "world's smartest" but they themselves don't know why. They don't stress about homework, getting into college or test scores. In fact, the students I met seemed to be more concerned about fashion, Facebook and dating. Sound familiar?
The one thing that stood out was how people described the teaching profession. Students LOVED their teachers. Teachers LOVED their jobs. I asked students to rank the following professions from most to least respected: scientist, doctor, politician, teacher, businessman. Teacher was most respected. Businessman was least.
Not just anyone in Finland can become a teacher. Only those with the highest grades apply. Even then, just 1 in 10 applicants are accepted into teaching school. In the US, if I said I wanted to become a doctor, lawyer or businesswoman, I would be lauded for my ambition. If I said I wanted to become a teacher, I would not get the same praise.
I fear people would think I'm taking an "easy" route. But I know from experience teaching can be one of the hardest professions in the world. My mother has told me stories of her experience teaching chemistry to high school students. Most teachers I've met don't go into the profession for summers and holidays. Instead they're determined to make a difference. And in order to do so, they work 12 hour days and are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Yet for some reason, teachers in the US don't have the same prestige as they do in Finland. But one positive thing I have noticed recently is that ever since the latest PISA scores came out, more people are talking about the "teaching crisis" in America. Teachers are getting the attention they deserve. Communities are taking steps to get rid of the bad teachers and reward the good ones. Teachers should be held accountable for their work. But they also need to be able to earn a good salary without having to take on a second job to make ends meet.
I hope we can keep talking about this and make real changes despite other ongoing crises, like the country's debt or unemployment rate. Education is still the key to the American dream. I do not believe we, as a nation, are average. The greatest innovations still originate from the US. But in order to maintain that and compete globally, we have to keep focusing on ways to improve education -- starting with the status of teachers.
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The State of the Union and You
By now, you know that President Obama gave a big speech last night. Just in case you didn't get to watch it, we thought a highlight post was in order. He spoke a lot about economic issues, something that most Americans say is on the top of their priority lists this election season. But he also made some suggestions that could have a big effect on students. Here's what he proposed that could have a big impact on your future:
- An extension of the mandatory school age. Depending on where you live, you might have option to leave high school without graduating. The President wants every state to keep kids in school until they finish or turn 18.
- More investment in job training. This is in line with the first proposal -- the President wants to make job training beyond high school easier for people. This also includes training for people that have lost their jobs due to technological development or outsourcing, but also includes high school graduates who want to learn about high-tech manufacturing or get a certification to work in health care, which are both growing industries.
- An increase in education funding. Again, this fits in well with the above -- it's hard to get training for a job if you can't afford to pay for school. President Obama would like to make that easier, as well as increase support for students in four-year colleges.
What's up with Wikipedia
So what IS up with Wikipedia?
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Education , Headlines, Technology
Jessica Kumari
Clearwater Beach, Florida native Jessica Kumari cultivated a passion for news at her campus TV station at Georgetown University. She then moved to New York City and joined the prestigious NBC Page Program before serving as a production assistant for Brian Williams.
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Shelby Holliday
Shelby Holliday is passionate about all things Millennial. From politics to prom, her favorite assignments involve talking to students and discussing issues that affect young people.
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Scott Evans
Scott Evans has been working in entertainment and media since the third grade. After studying communications and theatre at Purdue University, he worked as a NBA On-Court Host for the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever. He most recently worked as the West Coast Correspondent at the millennial news organization, One Minute News.
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Jason Witmer
Producer Jason Witmer has worked in just about every type of journalistic medium including writing for magazines and producing pieces for NPR. He fell in love with video as a medium at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism before spending three years at the Houston Chronicle. He is happy to be at Channel One now, a show he grew up watching.
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Kristen Brody
Kristen Brody is a graduate of the University of Missouri's journalism school and a Production Associate at Channel One.
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Gary Hamilton
Gary knows something about that famous Texas pride, he was born and raised in Houston (where he grew up watching Channel One in Middle and High School) and then he graduated from Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas and studied abroad at Oxford University in the U.K.
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Jessica Rojas
Jessica Rojas is a born and bred New Yorker whose love of all types of music, dance and entertainment took her to Los Angeles where she studied at the University of Southern California. Her love of music is what brought Jessica back to New York to share that passion with you at Channel One.
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Sarah Mirza
Producer Sarah Mirza is a graduate of Wellesley College and the Master's journalism program at Boston University. She loves to write and lives for those adrenaline-fueled breaking news situations.
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Kristin Sachau
Producer Kristin grew up in San Diego, California and graduated from San Diego State University. When she got involved with documentary filmmaking, she realized she had a passion for storytelling and she's been doing it every since.
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Evan Groll
Associate Producer Evan Groll started at Channel One as an intern. He enjoys covering international news, human interest pieces and stories centered around social injustices (or even better, a combination of the three).
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