10 Tips for Surviving Summer School

Hawaii Public Schools, one of the largest school districts in the country, is seeing improvements in the number of students who are college bound. The district attributes the positive numbers to various factors, including their ability to better track student progress in recent years. With more students showing readiness for higher education endeavors after high school, the state is confident it can boost the number of college graduates statewide within the next two decades. What is their secret? It appears a number of factors are contributing to the state’s success.

College and Career Readiness Indicators

The Honolulu Civil Beat reports that recent positive numbers from Hawaii Public Schools can be found in the latest College and Career Readiness Indicators report. The new reports were released by Hawaii P-20 Partnerships for Education and the Hawaii Department of Education. The reports use a range of metrics to evaluate college readiness for high school students in the state. According to the most recent numbers, it appears students in the Islands are making strides in nearly every indicator.

According to a press release from the Hawaii Department of Education, the recent report included the following findings:

• College Enrollment – the state saw a slight increase in college enrollment, from 53 percent in 2011 to 54 percent in 2012
• College-Level Courses – the number of students enrolling in college-level English and math courses increased by four percent each between 2011 and 2012
• Remedial Courses – the number of students requiring

It wasn’t that long ago that the state of athletics in Boston Public Schools was downright dismal. Teams did not have a fully equipped field to practice. Some were even left to run practice drills in alleyways because space was not available on school property. There were not enough uniforms to go around, leaving teammates swapping sweaty shirts with one another in the midst of competitions.

But when the sports weren’t available, even in this less than ideal state, high school and middle school students were left with too much empty time on their hands when school got out. Pay-to-play, an option seen in many of the wealthier suburban school districts nearby, simply didn’t cut it in a district where 75 percent of the student population lives below the poverty level. The quandary seemed to be growing deeper and deeper – until two Good Samaritan organizations stepped in.

This video reports on the Boston Scholar Athletes Academic Zone.

Boston Scholar Athletes Focus on Athletics, Academics

In 2009, Boston Globe reporter Bob Hohler did a series on the miserable state of affairs in Boston Public Schools athletic programs across the city. After visiting every school in the district, Hohler found that many of the problems within the system boiled down to a lack of money, according to a report at WBUR. After the reports were published, Boston Schools Superintendent Carol Johnson began

Recess has been a core component of the public education experience for generations. However, pressure from standardized testing, academic recovery efforts, and packed instructional schedules has often made outdoor playtime a casualty in the quest to improve academic performance. Some school districts have limited the amount of outdoor time students receive during the school day, while others have reduced recess in favor of additional classroom instruction. At the same time, many educators and health experts continue to advocate for protecting recess because of its proven benefits for students' physical, mental, and academic well-being.

New Jersey became one of the first states to guarantee daily recess for elementary students, and its legislation has since become a model for other states considering similar policies.

About S-1501

The bill introduced in the New Jersey Legislature as S-1501 eventually became law. Today, New Jersey requires all public elementary schools serving students in kindergarten through fifth grade to provide at least 20 minutes of recess each school day, excluding instructional time needed for physical education. Schools may only withhold recess under limited circumstances involving student safety or other exceptional situations.

State Senator Shirley Turner, who championed the legislation for many years, argued that students perform better academically when they receive regular opportunities to play and recharge during the school day. Since the law took effect, education leaders across the country have increasingly recognized recess as an important part of a well-rounded education rather than simply a break from learning.

Parents interested in learning

Many high school students document their school years on social networks like Facebook, where they fill pages with funny photos and funnier comments regarding their teen antics. However, some experts are now recommending that high school students take a more serious approach to their social networking, by hooking up with the professional network LinkedIn. Why should fun-loving high schoolers take a second look at a stuffed-shirt site like LinkedIn? It turns out there are many potential benefits from tuning into this established network at a younger age.

Job Searching Early

Even teens need to get a leg up on their job searches, whether they are on the hunt for a career right out of high school or a part-time job to help them pay the college bills. Globe and Mail recently reported that the days of the paper CV are out – now it’s all about selling yourself to prospective employers through digital mediums. Employers are now looking up applicants online, through social media, and even a personal website. Some employers even discount an applicant who restricts their resume or application to the paper variety, according to Jaigris Hodson, an instructor of digital literacy at Ryerson University.

This video offers a tutorial on LinkedIn for students.

“I advise my students to build an online portfolio that demonstrates the abilities they have to help employers solve their problems and portrays them as sources