April 8, 2013

As I was researching current opportunities in urban education, I came across the Urban League of Greater Hartford (Connecticut, which is where I live).  According to the League, 94% of seniors in the Hartford Public Schools graduated from high school.  Ninety percent of graduates enrolled in post secondary education.  In fact, the league offers college counseling, assistance in completing financial aid, and assistance with college applications.  They offer workshops and tours of colleges and universities.  As I looked into this organization further, I learned that they encourage self-sufficiency and family economic success.  For 10-17 year olds, they offer a substance abuse program.  Some may believe that 10 years old is too young, but substance abuse is a sad reality for some children this age.
For students, they provide after school tutoring and enrichment.  For parents, they offer literacy training, GED preparation, and career/college transition services. I do wonder how many of these students actually graduate from college, but the number of students who graduate from high school seems like a great success.

April 1st

Today, I read about the Moving to Opportunity (MTO) project.  Congress provided $70 million to 4600 low-income U.S. families with children living in public housing within some of the worst disadvantaged urban neighborhoods.  These families were assigned to one of three groups: a group that was offered a housing voucher to be used in a low-poverty neighborhood, a group that offered a voucher to live in a Section 8 area, and a control group.  In terms of education, the thought was that the neighborhood conditions would have a positive impact on students' education.  The 10-15 year follow up showed that physical and mental health improved in adults.  However, for youth, the program had no effect on physical health, improved mental health for females only, had little impact on arrests, and had no effects  on math or reading achievement.  From what I've read, parents were spending more time commuting to work and were more focused on the fact that these neighborhoods were safe, rather than the benefits of the school system.  What do you think?