Parenting and Learning Issues

As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, a rising number of public schools are creating innovative foreign exchange programs.

Typically, allowing an exchange student to live abroad with a host family, many public schools offer general credit and scholarships for students interested in pursuing a global learning opportunity.

Public Schools and Foreign Exchange

Although each school, district, and county may offer diverging foreign exchange opportunities, students of nearly any public school affiliation can typically find ways to jet off for a chance to learn in another country.

For example, Chesapeake Public Schools (CPS), located in Virginia, is one of the many public school systems providing students with incredible exploratory venues. As their foreign exchange philosophy states, “Chesapeake Public Schools recognizes that as the nations of the world become more interdependent, it becomes increasingly important that high school students develop a sense of global citizenship.”

To enhance this learning process, CPS encourages students to engage in travel and exchange opportunities to build greater relationships, while simultaneously adding depth to students’ overall development. In addition, while CPS focuses on high school exchange options, a rising number of public schools across the country are now creating more opportunities for elementary and middle school students as well.

Foreign Exchange Support and Assistance

Fostering support for these opportunities are leading non-profit foreign exchange organizations, such as The Council on Standards

Contrary to popular belief, not all prominent, high-demand careers require a college degree. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 10 out of the 28 top fastest-growing careers could be pursued with vocational training available through public schools.

Subsequently, many believe public schools should provide more extensive vocational programs for interested students. While all high schools are required to provide students with general education courses, only a handful provide vocational alternatives.

What Type of Learning Coincides with Vocational Education?

Vocational-technical education programs provide students with practical learning opportunities and hands-on experiences to prepare graduates for a career following high school. As Massachusetts Public Schools explains, vocational programs allow students to develop technical, academic, and professional skills that can be used for either a professional pathway or a continuing education alternative.

While all states have vocational programs at various community colleges, some areas still struggle to establish or maintain functioning programs at the public high school level. Because the cost of these programs can often add an extra burden to a public school’s limited budget, these vocational courses are frequently one of the first venues to be cut during a time of financial struggle.

Despite the balancing, financial planning, and professional accommodations needed to establish these programs, many states have shown tremendous strides in offering vocational opportunities. For example, Massachusetts is one of the leading states

Biology, algebra, English, and history classes may no longer be sufficient for your child to graduate. With today’s trend of increasing standards for graduation, many schools are mandating that students complete community service or stewardship prior to earning their caps and gowns. As a result, many teens are finding unique and engaging ways to become involved in their local areas.

Volunteer Requirements

Maryland, Chicago, and Los Angeles are just some of the locations across the country mandating volunteerism as a requirement for graduation. Specifically, as the Los Angeles Legislative Analyst’s Office reveals, all public school students must engage in at least 40 hours of community service with a nonprofit organization or government entity in order to receive a diploma.

Schools implementing this volunteer mandate are confident that students will benefit for both the short and long term. As students volunteer, they are exposed to different cultures, social settings, personal backgrounds, and new experiences. With these experiences, public students are able to add depth to their learning and development, which helps them both as teenagers and adults.

In contrast to the cities and states that require community service as a graduation requirement, some areas are instead simply requiring that public schools provide students with the option to engage in community service. For example, Mayor Bloomberg of New York City is one of the many city leaders across the country encouraging optional service opportunities for students. As the Daily News reports, Bloomberg is set

With classrooms becoming more diverse, public schools are experimenting with new language programs to enhance ESL student learning.

ESL students, standing for English as a Second Language, typically need additional resources and support to adjust to the various linguistic complications of learning a new language. As a result, ESL students typically require additional funding.

However, as public schools are coping with reduced funding due to the economic recession, educational experts are debating the best approach to balancing school budgets while caring for each child’s language development. In an effort to save costs, some schools and states have created mandatory full inclusion programs, where ESL students are immersed in a regular-paced English class with students who are fluent in English. This strategy will reduce the costs of ESL specialists while still engaging ESL students in an atmosphere for learning.

While this approach certainly helps balance school budgets, many educators and parents argue that the full-inclusion classroom is ineffective for both fluent and ESL children.

Public Schools and ESL Programs

As The Multicultural Education Journal explains, the 2001 national mandate, No Child Left Behind, required that all public schools help ESL students become English proficient, as both fluent and ESL students are mandated to meet State and National achievement standards. While public schools are legally required to provide educational support for ESL kids, many experts assert that the current approach is both ineffective and flawed. As the number of minority students is rising each year in

Whether our economy is growing or declining, high school prom is almost always guaranteed to be a costly event. With the price of tickets, the cost of renting a suit, buying a dress, paying for hair appointments, and even hiring fancy transportation, students often shell out hundreds of dollars for this ultimate high school dancing celebration.

To provide students who are struggling to scrounge up the cash for all of the prom’s accouterments, many schools and leaders are creating programs and groups to stimulate community-wide support. As prom allows soon to be graduates to celebrate their long paths of education, many school leaders assert that the students should be rewarded for their efforts without worrying over how to pay for all of the costs.

This video offers suggestions on how to save money prom expenses.

The Price for Prom

As proms have become increasingly more extravagant over the years, the price for students desiring to attend has similarly soared to often outrageous heights. As USA Today reports in their article, “Prom Costs HOW Much?”, many families are struggling to afford all of prom’s “necessities.” According to USA Today, a single night of prom can cost around $400 to even $3,000 and up! According to the report, students tend to add items to the prom tab that include:

• $90 to $150 for transportation
• $10 to $125 (and up) for prom tickets
• $25 to $100 on cameras and photography
• $70 to $250 on a rental tuxedo
• $150