In-depth education reporting from Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and Louisiana 
Children in foster care often face substantial hurdles long before they’re old enough to apply to college. And the obstacles don’t disappear for the students who make it to campus. In this three-part series, The Southern Education Desk explores the journey from foster care through college in the South.
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Many recent high school graduates are packing away caps and gowns and getting ready for college. But new research shows most kids who grow up in foster care don’t attend college – and those who do are less likely to graduate. In our From Foster Care to College series, Part One, we met Briyana Dunn, who was attending college through a Tennessee Department of Children’s Services program. Southern Education Desk reporter Christine Jessel catches up with Dunn to see how she’s doing nearly a year after starting college.
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When foster care kids turn 18, in many states, they’re basically on their own. They have to find a job – figure out how to get there – pay rent, groceries, utilities and insurance … all the things that come with adult life. And these kids are often unprepared. Another thing they’re not ready for: College. Some states have special programs to support foster care kids who want to go to college. In the first part of our series “From Foster Care To College,” Southern Education Desk reporter Christine Jessel introduces us to a young woman who got a state scholarship to attend college last fall.
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Most people know Birmingham, Alabama was a Civil Rights Movement battleground. But how is that complicated history taught in schools today? And are there differences between white and black districts? The Southern Education Desk’s Dan Carsen went to class in urban Birmingham and a nearby suburb — one of the wealthiest in the nation — to find out.
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State releases list of Alabama schools failing under new accountability law; Georgia Teacher Training Programs Falling Short; Louisiana BESE takes up student transfers to improve school scores and more education news headlines from around the South.
Please help public media stations across the South better understand a very basic question – What is good teaching? Share your knowledge and insights on what you think makes a good teacher here.
School choice, in its broadest sense, is a simple idea: that families should be able to choose what school their children attend. Educational choice takes many forms in school districts around the United States, but two types of educational options currently dominate the political debate over school choice: charter schools and vouchers.
The most exciting part of student teaching so far is seeing my students rise to challenges. I enjoy setting the bar high and watching students fly over it. But this is the area in which my still being a student has also benefited me the most.
Children in foster care often face substantial hurdles long before they’re old enough to apply to college. And the obstacles don’t disappear for the students who make it to campus. In this three-part series, The Southern Education Desk explores the journey from foster care through college in the South.
Many recent high school graduates are packing away caps and gowns and getting ready for college. But new research shows most kids who grow up in foster care don’t attend college – and those who do are less likely to graduate. In our From Foster Care to College series, Part One, we met Briyana Dunn, who was attending college through a Tennessee Department of Children’s Services program. Southern Education Desk reporter Christine Jessel catches up with Dunn to see how she’s doing nearly a year after starting college.
When foster care kids turn 18, in many states, they’re basically on their own. They have to find a job – figure out how to get there – pay rent, groceries, utilities and insurance … all the things that come with adult life. And these kids are often unprepared. Another thing they’re not ready for: College. Some states have special programs to support foster care kids who want to go to college. In the first part of our series “From Foster Care To College,” Southern Education Desk reporter Christine Jessel introduces us to a young woman who got a state scholarship to attend college last fall.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Our Alabama reporter Dan Carsen recently appeared as a guest journalist on Alabama Public Television’s “Capitol Journal,” a highly regarded program analyzing the week’s significant stories. Among other things, Dan discusses the controversial Alabama Accountability Act, which will be a subject of debate in the final session of the state legislature today as lawmakers address Governor Robert Bentley’s call to delay establishing tax credits for families sending students to private schools.
Louisiana’s Supreme Court rules the current funding mechanism for the statewide voucher program is unconstitutional.
Most people know Birmingham, Alabama was a Civil Rights Movement battleground. But how is that complicated history taught in schools today? And are there differences between white and black districts? The Southern Education Desk’s Dan Carsen went to class in urban Birmingham and a nearby suburb — one of the wealthiest in the nation — to find out.
Students across the country can expect to be writing a lot more under Common Core State Standards, which may turn out to be a formidable challenge here in the South. In part three of the Southern Education Desk series on Common Core, reporter Annie Gilbertson reports new writing standards are an especially tall order for Mississippi.
By 2016, students in 45 states and the District of Columbia will be learning the same things – at the same time – under the same set of standards. The nationwide plan is known as the Common Core State Standards Initiative. But in the second part of our Southern Education Desk series on Common Core, Christine Jessel reports some Southern states are struggling to implement it.
There’s been a revolution in American K-12 education: the “Common Core State Standards.” Released in 2010, they’re math and language arts standards meant to raise rigor and establish consistency across the nation. They’ve been adopted in 45 states. But in the first of a three-part series, Alabama reporter Dan Carsen tells us that even in those places, all is not quiet on the Common Core front.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan says Tennessee has been a “font of innovation” when it comes to education reform, praising the state for progress made under a winning Race to the Top bid in 2010.
When Hosanna Christian Academy decided to take on nearly 300 voucher students, they knew many of them would be behind academically. But principal Josh LaSage says he really wasn’t expecting so many of the voucher students to be so far behind.
While President Obama is pushing for universal pre-K, Southern states–who have been ahead of the curve in offering state-run pre-school programs–are now reconsidering their value.
Demand for pre-K programming is growing across the South, but state-level fiscal challenges have limited the number of kids pre-K can serve. Southern Education Foundation President and CEO Kent McGuire examines the challenges pre-K funding faces across the nation, but especially in the deep South.
Most education researchers and even many economists think high-quality Pre-K benefits children and the communities where they live. But the effects are limited when programs just don’t reach many kids. Even in states such as Alabama, which have highly regarded programs, these services reach only a fraction of eligible children.
When it comes to making cuts to pre-K – where is the nation making the deepest cuts? This interactive map shows what pre-K funding looks like across the nation and recaps recent developments in the South.
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