Bringing the Best and Brightest Back to Our Rural Communities
As early as the second grade, I can remember the teacher asking my classmates and me what we wanted to be when we grew up. We had been studying space, so one of my friends said he would be an...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The forgotten middle—students with promise but no direction
This post is a contribution to the SCORE Sheet from Mary Hall and Stephanie Kolitsch.Every school has them—those students who have the talent to succeed or even excel, but who, for one reason or...
View ArticlePlanning for college before going to college
“When you grow up, you can be whatever you want to be.” These words have been spoken by countless friends, educators, and family members to students the world over. I was fortunate to grow up in an...
View ArticleExhibit A in a culture of low expectations
Much of the education-reform community is buzzing about an opinion piece that appeared in yesterday’s New York Times. The piece, Is Algebra Necessary?, can be summed up in the first paragraph:A typical...
View ArticleCoaching toward college
In my work as a mentor with mostly low-income, first-generation, aspiring college students the phrase, “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a...
View ArticleStatement from SCORE on Tennessee’s ACT results
The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) released the following statement today from Jamie Woodson, President and CEO, on the release of the 2012 ACT test results for Tennessee:“Over the...
View ArticleI am the man who had support to get where I am today
I am the child who, when I told my parents that I was thinking of NOT going to college, wasn’t given an option, just support. I am a former first-generation, Pell grant, SEOG grant, every other grant...
View ArticleStatement from SCORE on the report card on the effectiveness of teacher...
(Nashville) – The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) released the following statement from Jamie Woodson, president and CEO, on the 2012 Report Card on the Effectiveness of Teacher...
View ArticleThe road to teaching
I have met some amazing teachers in Tennessee. Whether serving elementary or high school students in rural or urban areas across the state, they are all dedicated to their profession and most...
View ArticleInforming rural communities about college
More often than not I am faced with a student that says, “I’m poor. I can’t go to college.” I always smile and say, “This is the best time in your life to be poor.” A large number of rural students...
View ArticleOnline Tool Allows Students to Explore Career, College Options
As a GEAR UP TN Site Coordinator, I have the benefit of working closely with the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) to help students in Anderson County become college and career ready. One of...
View ArticleTeachers Get Schooled in Common Core State Standards
They parked on curbs and grass islands. SUVs and minivans clogged bus lanes. They were teachers, administrators, librarians, and professors, and they had come to Freedom Middle School in Franklin on a...
View ArticleThe Common Core State Standards for ELA Will Match College Rigor
74. That was the grade on my first college essay. I expected high standards from my Humanities professor (a.k.a., the infamous philosophy professor with a PhD from Harvard), but I graduated high school...
View ArticleDr. Bob Kronick: Don’t Throw Away Progress Made via Common Core
Knoxville News Sentinel, September 7, 2013. Reprinted by permission. I am passionate about education, particularly breaking the cycle of poverty and low education rates of at-risk students and their...
View Article
