Edutopia: The George Lucas Educational Foundation

For a comprehensive and innovative look at the world of education, check out Edutopia, a leading online resource for educators and parents. Founded by George Lucas, the Edutopia Foundation strives to connect learning with the rapid advancements in technology and society. Their website, www.edutopia.org, is infused with the idea of crafting our children into lifelong learners. Some of the many resources you'll find there include videos, blogs, archives of their bimonthly magazine, and special reports on topics such as autism, financial literacy, and green education. One of their most popular features is what they call Edutopia Groups. These are online communities one can join to network and collaborate with peers all over the globe, ranging from broad subject matter ("Middle School") to groups on specific curriculum programs and best practices. There is even a group called "Stuff my Students Say", for teachers (or anyone!) who wants a little laugh. We think Edutopia is such a great resource here at the SERC Library that we've even added a news feed of their latest headlines to the sidebar of our blog! So be sure to take a look and add them to your own bookmarks. And remember, we must endeavor to make education relevant, ground-breaking and yes, even fun, as we move into this new decade and beyond. Or in the words of George Lucas' beloved character Yoda, "Always in motion is the future".

National Day of Action to Defend Education

With the state of the economy today, it should hardly come as a surprise that tuition and fees are skyrocketing at colleges and universities across the country. Here in Connecticut, the foundation of our higher education system, the Connecticut Community Colleges, are increasing tuition and fees by 6.4 percent as of the Fall 2010 semester. The four smaller public universities, Eastern, Southern, Western, and Central, will see a 6.3 percent increase, while UCONN students are facing a 5.9 percent hike (though an increase as high as 7.5 percent was initially proposed). However just because this news is, unfortunately, expected, does not mean it is willingly accepted. Today, March 4th, has been designated as a National Day of Action. At schools around the nation there are protests scheduled, with both students and school employees exercising their voice in this important matter, which is too often kept buried.

It is not too late to get involved! Local Connecticut events include a panel discussion and march at Yale, a rally by UCONN students at the state capitol, and a referendum at Southern's student center this evening. Also, notable for being one of the only efforts at a non-college level in the country, Hartford Public High School is holding a petition drive today. For contact information and event details, as well as national news about the day, visit www.defendeducation.org and click on Events & Contacts. And keep in mind that even if you can't participate today, there are plenty of other ways to get involved in ensuring that our basic right to education in this country does not become a privilege only the wealthy can obtain. The Defend Education website, as well as their Google group and Facebook group, are a great place to find resources on how to help. To read the articles in which the statistics from this post were pulled, visit:

UCONN Trustees Increase Tuition, Room, Board, Fees (Courant.com)

Connecticut Community College Tuition, Fees to Increase 6.4 Percent (Courant.com)

Students, Professors to Protest Education Cutbacks (CNN.com)

Poverty and Education

This morning The Middletown Eye (http://middletowneyenews.blogspot.com/) posted a story on teen groups from ten Middlesex County churches who spent Saturday night outdoors in frigid temperatures to help them understand and empathize with the plight of the homeless. In Middletown, CT, youth groups set up tents on the corner of Main and Union streets to spend the night in solidarity with those community members who are forced to spend harsh nights without a home. Sue LaTourette, a church director from First Church, explained that the effort is an attempt to keep the plight of the homeless in the public eye after the generosity of the holidays has passed. This event has already motivated donors to drop off food & clothing for distributions to St. Vincent de Paul soup kitchen & the Eddy Shelter in Middletown.

According to the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness (www.cceh.org), 4,154 people were homeless in Connecticut on the night of January 28, 2009. Of these 430 were families and 801 were children in families. It is estimated that in our state over 33,000 people, including 13,000 children, experience homelessness over the course of the year. That equates to a lot of children, families, and schools that must continually cope with this tragic situation.

In the SERC Library we have over 150 resources that address poverty and education. A small sampling includes:

Invisible Children in the Society and its Schools - (2003) edited by Sue Books, this 258-page book offers a series of reports by some of the most passionate and insightful scholars writing in the field of education today on groups of children whose complexity, strengths, and vulnerabilities are largely unseen in society and its schools. Topics include homelessness, domestic violence, gay youth, children with social disabilities, teenage mothers, poverty, and much more.

Increasing Language Skills with Students from Low Income Backgrounds - (2008) by Celeste Roseberry-McKibbin.

Educating the Other America: Top Experts Tackle Poverty, Literacy, and Achievement in Our Schools - (2008) edited by Susan B. Neuman.

America Beyond the Color Line, DVD - (2003) with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. In this 225-minute DVD, Henry Louis Gates travels to 4 very different parts of America to illustrate the splitting of African-American society into 2 distinct communities - the privileged and the disenfranchised. He examines the opportunities and obstacles still being faced and speaks to how a fifth of all black Americans are living below the poverty line and how many feel excluded from mainstream American life.

Keys to Success for Urban School Principals - (2007) by Gwendolyn J. Cooke.

A Framework for Understanding Poverty - (2005) by Ruby K. Payne.

The Kids Left Behind: Catching Up the Underachieving Children of Poverty - (2007) by Robert D. Barr.

Armando & The Blue Tarp School - (2007) by Edith Hope Fine. In this 32-page children's book for ages 4-8, Armando and his father are trash-pickers in Tijuana, Mexico. When Senor David brings his "school" - a blue tarp set down near the garbage dump - to their neighborhood, Armando's father decides that he must attend classes and learn. Based on a true story.

Closing the Poverty and Culture Gap: Strategies to Reach Every Student - (2009) by Donna Walker Tielston & Sandra K. Darling.

Please visit the SERC Library either online or in person to explore more resources on this subject. Stay warm and be safe.

(With thanks to Pablo Picasso for Poverty, 1903.)