college readiness Archives - Page 2 of 4

Mar 09 2021

How We Help Our K-12 Children Manage Money

It is a new year with opportunities for growth and understanding for all. Many families redefine chore responsibilities with the start of each new year. Families also discuss the relevance of an allowance to help their children learn how to save for treasured purchases. Some families provide a weekly allowance for being a family member while others tie the allowance to a list of household chores. Many families also encourage their children to take on significant household responsibilities that may include weekly grocery shopping, yard work, painting, and housecleaning to earn extra money for specific needs they may include hobbies, sports camps, sporting equipment, school sponsored club trips, and clothing purchases. For example, some students start making crafts for crafts fairs or sell their products on online websites. [Read more…]

Mary Ann Burke, Digital Education Expert

Mary Ann Burke, Ed.D., Digital Education Expert, is a substitute distance learning teacher for Oak Grove School District in San Jose, California and the author of STUDENT-ENGAGED ASSESSMENT: Strategies to Empower All Learners (Rowman & Littlefield: 2020). Dr. Burke creates digital language arts and substitute teaching K – 12 activities for teachers and parents. She is the Cofounder of the Genparenting.com blog. Burke is the former Director II of Categorical & Special Projects for the Santa Clara County Office of Education that supports 31 school districts serving 272,321 students in Santa Clara County. She is also a previous Director – State & Federal Compliance for Oakland Unified School District, the former Director – Grantwriter for the Compton Unified School District, and was the initial VISTA Director for the Community Partnership Coalition in southern California. Much of her work focuses on creating innovative digital trainings and partnership programs for teachers and families to support students’ learning. These programs were featured as a best practice at a National Title I Conference, California’s Title I Conferences, AERA Conferences, an ASCD Conference, the NASSP Conference, and statewide educator conferences.

Jan 12 2021

Student Grading Considerations with COVID-19 School Modifications

COVID-19 pandemic surges continue to keep schools closed or programs modified. How will K-12 teachers support students, when they have limited time to work with them in class or through distance learning programs? What standardized testing programs have been altered or eliminated this year and how will it impact many college acceptances? [Read more…]

Mary Ann Burke, Digital Education Expert

Oct 06 2020

COVID-19 Challenges for High School Seniors

As high school seniors prepare their college applications in these next few weeks, teachers are adapting their online services to effectively support their students at this very stressful time. Our teachers have expanded their services to include the following:

Small group senior seminars provide students with guidance on financial aid, how to select appropriate colleges based on interests and achievement, how to integrate testing data into the college application, and how to integrate community services and leadership into the college application process and essays.
Students continue to participate in early college classes online that are offered directly from the high school campus. Through this process, college professors teach by using the high school’s online platform to better meet the needs of students.
Students are registered to take the SATs and ACTs to add to the rigor for college acceptance considerations. While test scores will be considered by some colleges, others will not use these as part of their college acceptance review.
In addition to meeting with students regularly for college counseling and planning, teachers provide college planning tips online to ensure that students complete each step of the college application process on time.
Students continue to learn effective social-emotional skills through a school club to overcome the social isolation felt by many students forced to learn online due to ongoing COVID-19 health challenges and racism.

[Read more…]

Yvette King-Berg, College Readiness

Yvette King-Berg, is the Executive Director of Youth Policy Institute’s Charter Schools. She was the former California Charter Schools Association Vice-President of School Development and Outreach-Southern California. Ms. King-Berg has over thirty years of experience working with teachers, students, parents, and organizations in a variety of positions including Director, Assistant Director, Curriculum Advisor, Bilingual, and Title 1 Coordinators, classroom teacher (K-12) in Pasadena and LAUSD. She has been married for twenty-three years, and is the proud mother of her son, EJ, who attends UC Berkeley.

Sep 22 2020

Community Services Through Project-Based Distance Learning

COVID-19 Leadership Challenges for College Ready Students: Part 3 of 3

Students’ community service projects and grantwriting can support project-based distance learning activities. Teachers can advise students on how writing a grant for a new project satisfies specific common core standards in language arts and mathematics. For example, high school students must write fluently in fact-based research to meet language arts standards. Students must also master statistical analysis per math standards when justifying program needs statements and a program’s evaluation. And a grant project’s budget development and budget monitoring will satisfy various math standards. The Student-Engaged Assessment book by Laura Greenstein and Mary Ann Burke explains how students and teachers can document learning processes that meet academic standards through student owned assessment portfolios. [Read more…]

Mary Ann Burke, Digital Education Expert

Sep 15 2020

Students Can Partner with Local Nonprofits

COVID-19 Leadership Challenges for College Ready Students: Part 2 of 3

Local nonprofit agencies can help students develop new programs and prepare for college and career goals through community service activities. A GenParenting blog on student grantwriting to develop student initiated community service projects (see https://genparenting.com/grants/#more-1244) provides a grant template and guidance on how students can partner with a local library, the Grantmanship Center, or other funding agencies to learn how to write a grant and research program funding options. Students can also meet with a local SCORE consultant to learn how to partner with another nonprofit or how to start their own nonprofit. And students can vet their completed grant templates with community partners who may be interested in providing students’ proposed services. [Read more…]

Mary Ann Burke, Digital Education Expert