Posts Tagged ‘College’

American College of Education Sponsors Conference for Indiana Reading Teachers

Friday, November 18th, 2011

Literacy Expert Louisa Moats Draws Over 200 Teachers From Across the State

American College of Education announces that more than 200 Indiana reading and literacy teachers attended a professional development conference at the Indianapolis Convention Center on Oct. 24 featuring literacy expert Louisa Moats, Ed.D. The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) and Wilson Education Center collaborated with the online college in sponsoring the day-long program, “Teaching Reading Is Rocket Science.”

Dr. Moats, founder of the LETRS(R) (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) Louisa Moats Literacy Academy, discussed code-based instruction, spelling phonology and teaching vocabulary, basing her presentation on Scientifically Based Reading Research (SBRR) and real-world experience.

Support for improved teaching methods includes statistics showing that 11 to 17 percent of children are affected by dyslexia, nearly 40 percent of fourth graders are at the national “below basic” reading level, and up to 80 percent of high poverty students are at risk of failing.

Recent data from the College Board further stresses the need for advances in teaching reading, reporting that scores on the critical reading portion of the 2011 SAT college entrance exam resulted in the lowest level on record. The cohort of test takers was the largest and most diverse in history. (more…)

Education must adjust to meet needs of every student group

Tuesday, July 5th, 2011

A new law in Tennessee allows public school systems to create “virtual schools.” This is not a silver bullet that improves public education across the board. But it is a step toward a public education system that must be reconfigured to meet the needs of every student, regardless of need, location or family circumstances. The future of successful public education lies in being flexible enough to meet every student’s needs.

Virtual schools allow students to obtain or complete their education using modern technology such as the Internet. They are not for everyone but are another tool educators now have available to achieve the goal of an educated population. Virtual schools recognize the need to focus on learning outcomes regardless of how education is delivered.

Traditional one-size-fits-all teacher/classroom public education is as antiquated as the one-room schoolhouse. Modern public education has been evolving for a number of years, though it isn’t recognized as such by many people who are not educators.

In Jackson-Madison County, the public education system already is comprised of a number of specialized magnet schools that offer unique education opportunities. High schools offer dual-credit college courses that can give students a head start on higher education. A new Bridge Academy was established to accommodate non-traditional students. Pre-kindergarten classes are available throughout the school system to help prepare at-risk children for learning. Special programs exist to help special-needs students and students with advanced learning capabilities. The school system has an alternative school for students with discipline problems, though it still does not fully meet their needs.

Another development is a proposal to reconfigure the school system’s middle schools to address the special needs of those students. Research has shown that this age group is where many students begin to lag behind. Addressing their specific needs is a hallmark of modern, flexible, public education.

While not exactly public education, home-schooling programs exist to allow parents another alternative to educate their children. These programs meet state public education requirements and often are partly integrated with local public school activities. (more…)

New study: Why the ability to multitask wanes with age

Tuesday, April 12th, 2011

A new university study shows that as we age, it gets tougher to successfully “multitask,” or remembering to complete one task while distracted by another.

Using brain scans, a team of UC San Francisco researchers have discovered that people over age 60 are less agile in switching from one neural network to another — which means that brief attention-grabbing interruptions can undermine their ability to recall the original task.

“A lot of us feel the need to respond really rapidly to an email or text message,” said Dr. Adam Gazzaley, director of the UCSF Neuroscience Imaging Center and senior author of the study, which was published in Monday’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

If we stop what we’re doing to send a reply, Gazzaley says, “there may be a price to be paid.”

While others have observed that aging adults experience difficulty completing a task after a distraction, no one had explored neurological science to learn why.

The problem is central to daily life as increasing numbers of digital distractions — such as electronic messages, alerts and feeds — demand our attention, interrupting the process of retaining information from deep learning.

The topic has growing relevance “especially as older adults stay in the workplace later “… and the societal expectations increase about how quickly we should respond” to interruptions, Gazzaley said. (more…)

University of Michigan won’t tap endowment to recoup state aid cuts

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011

The University of Michigan will not tap its $6-billion endowment to help make up an estimated $47-million cut it is expected to receive in state aid next year, U-M President Mary Sue Coleman said today.

However, Coleman, speaking outside a state House subcommittee hearing on public university budgets, declined to say whether the university will raise tuition to make up for the cuts. She said that decision was still under consideration.

Coleman was one of four university presidents who spent today before House and state Senate appropriations committees explaining the impact the cuts proposed by Gov. Rick Snyder would have on their institutions.

Oakland University President Gary Russi told a Senate subcommittee that previous budget cuts resulted in higher tuition hikes than he would have liked. “We’ve done a lot with what resources we have,” he said. “It is getting harder to address financial aid.”

The presidents argued against further cuts. “You’re going to make heart-wrenching decisions,” Ferris State University President David Eisler said. The state has made a “decade-long disinvestment in students,” he said.

The governor’s proposed budget would cut 15% from each university’s state appropriation. It would also shift funding from the general fund to the school aid fund. (more…)

New health-care regulations to extend students’ coverage

Monday, February 21st, 2011

Recent additions to the U.S. health-care reform law will provide college students with some minor benefits.

Effective Jan. 1, 2012, new regulations will establish more accountability on the behalf of insurance providers. Because University-sponsored insurance is mandatory for students, these new regulations will not affect students’ ability to obtain health insurance coverage.

In smaller ways, students may experience some benefits.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, insurance companies will not be allowed to levy lifetime coverage limits on student health plans, drop students’ coverage when a student becomes ill but has an error on an application, or deny coverage to students who are younger than 19 and have pre-existing conditions.

Before the health care law was enacted, many students were covered only under their parents’ plans until they were 21 years old, but the new act allows them to stay on until age 26. This means Washington University students will be able to use their parents’ insurance as secondary coverage in addition to the University-sponsored plan.

Virginia Wells, director of the health center at the College of William & Mary, a public university in Williamsburg, Va., attested to the health care law’s measurable benefits. (more…)

Education group to push for funding

Wednesday, January 26th, 2011

Higher-education supporters have formed another new group that aims to pressure the Legislature to be more generous with education funding.

Earlier this year, University of Washington alumni formed a group, UW Impact, to push for more funding for the university. Both Washington State University and Western Washington University are following suit with groups of their own.

The newest group, the College Promise Coalition, was announced Tuesday. It’s an umbrella group that includes public colleges and universities, faculty and student groups, business leaders and education organizations. “This is a broader statewide coalition that will help play a coordinating role” among all the different groups, said spokesman Sandeep Kaushik.

The coalition plans to hold events and rallies in Olympia during the legislative session, Kaushik said, and “make some noise about higher education” and the cutbacks the state’s institutions face.

The coalition is concerned that Gov. Chris Gregoire is downplaying the size of the cuts to higher education proposed in her budget, Kaushik said. Gregoire has said her cuts would trim higher education by 4.2 percent, when tuition increases are taken into consideration.

The coalition says the cutbacks are closer to 8 to 12 percent. The higher number includes a proposed 3 percent salary reduction for state employees, and a proposal that would shift the burden of funding faculty and staff retirement plans to the colleges and universities.

University of Maryland College Park

Wednesday, October 13th, 2010

The University of Maryland, College Park (often referred to as The University of Maryland, UM, UMD, UMCP, or Maryland) is a public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George’s County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C. Founded in 1856, the University of Maryland is the flagship institution of the University System of Maryland. With a fall 2009 enrollment of 37,000 students, Maryland is the largest university in the state and the largest in the Washington Metropolitan Area. It is a member of the Association of American Universities and a founding member of the Atlantic Coast Conference athletic league.

The University of Maryland’s proximity to the nation’s capital has resulted in strong research partnerships with the Federal government. Many members of the faculty receive research funding and institutional support from agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Department of Homeland Security.

As of fiscal year 2009, the University of Maryland, College Park’s operating budget was projected to be approximately $1.531 billion. For the same fiscal year, the University of Maryland received a total of $518 million in research funding, surpassing its 2008 mark by $117 million. As of June 30, 2010, the university’s “Great Expectations” campaign had exceeded $750 million in private donations.

The university has been recognized as a “Public Ivy” and is currently ranked among the top national universities in the 2010 U.S. News & World Report rankings. It has been consistently ranked one of the world’s top 50 universities by the Academic Ranking of World Universities report (ARWU). (more…)

Research Paper

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

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A research paper presents the results of your investigations on a selected topic. Based on your own thoughts and the facts and ideas you have gathered from a variety of sources, a research paper is a creation that is uniquely yours. The experience of gathering, interpreting, and documenting information, developing and organizing ideas and conclusions, and communicating them clearly will prove to be an important and satisfying part of your education.

There are many approaches to research — an essential part of every business and profession — and many ways to document findings. The library has books which will help you, and most English composition textbooks contain chapters on research techniques and style. It is important to follow consistently and accurately a recommended format that is clear and concise and that has been approved by your teacher. (more…)

Term Papers Service

Monday, August 16th, 2010

You go to college to learn and writing term papers is a part of the learning process. Most college students understand that they can purchase term papers instead of writing them yourself. Purchasing a term papers is just using someone else’s work for a fee.

A school essay is one that a student has to write as part of a school assignment. Many people write essays in their daily lives, as essays are very common and easy-to-write formats. For example, movie critics write essays for their audiences. Musicians may write essays for their blogs. As such, students should have many examples of essays to refer to when they go about writing their school essays.

Students who need writing help are always looking for cheap essays. Countless, cheap essay sites deliver essays that are not worth a handful of pennies, let alone the $10-$17 per page that students pay for the essays. But, cheap essays do not have to be bad essays. (more…)

University of Toronto

Sunday, January 24th, 2010

The University of Toronto (U of T, or simply Toronto) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated north of the city’s Financial District on the grounds that surround Queen’s Park. It was founded by Royal Charter in 1827 as King’s College, the first institution of higher learning in the colony of Upper Canada. Originally controlled by the Church of England, the university assumed the present name in 1850 upon becoming a secular institution. As a collegiate university, it comprises twelve colleges that differ in character and history, each retaining substantial autonomy on financial and institutional affairs.

Academically, the University of Toronto is noted for influential movements and curricula in literary criticism and communication theory, known collectively as the Toronto School. The university was the birthplace of insulin and stem cell research, and was the site of the first practical electron microscope, the development of multi-touch technology, the identification of Cygnus X-1 as a black hole, and the theory of NP completeness. By a significant margin, it receives the most annual research funding of any Canadian university. (more…)