Megan Wilson
Bio
Megan Wilson is a teacher, life strategist, successful entrepreneur, inspirational keynote speaker and the Development Manager for https://EbookACE.com.
Stories (49)
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Low Tuition Is in Very Deep Trouble
Equality of higher education opportunity is in very deep trouble in the United States today. Higher education opportunity is moving backward for those from the bottom quartile of family income, for African Americans, and for most Hispanics. Other groups that are in somewhat less but still serious trouble include the two middle family income quartiles, and males, as well students in many regions of the country affected by high prices but lacking adequate financial aid to finance college.
By Megan Wilson5 years ago in Education
How Compatible Is Urban School Reform With The Neighborhood Revitalization?
How compatible is urban school reform with the neighborhood revitalization thrust, and how can revitalization efforts in urban communities support the work of the public school? Three perspectives frame the movement toward coordinated children’s services: a new sense of "ecology" that school, family, and community are vitally interdependent; a recognition of the need to build the "social capital" of families and communities; and a call to end the extensive fragmentation in service delivery. The community revitalization approach focuses on family self-sufficiency and independence through employment, a renewed encouragement of private investment in urban communities, and a locally or grassroots-driven strategy of action.
By Megan Wilson5 years ago in Education
Effective School Based Violence Prevention
In the area of violence prevention, the need for programs in schools and other institutions that work with youth has increased at a faster pace than the availability of solid evaluation research. Causes of school-related violence have been examined in numerous studies and there is evidence that prevention and early intervention efforts can reduce troubling behaviors in schools. Research-based practices can help school communities recognize the warning signs of violence, promote a positive school climate, and foster norms against violence.
By Megan Wilson5 years ago in Education
More Students Can Gain Access To College Education
The amount of time and effort students and parents put into planning, and how early they get started, are important factors in achieving access to postsecondary education. Schools play a key role in making planning resources, information and opportunities available and accessible. Educators believe that students should start post-high school planning in ninth grade or even earlier, but relatively few students report starting earlier than 10th grade.
By Megan Wilson5 years ago in Education
Give Students The Experience Of Making A Difference
The attraction and promise of social and emotional learning (SEL) is that it’s a unifying concept for coordinating school, family, and community partnerships for drug and violence prevention, positive youth development, health promotion, character education, and service-learning. If you think about effective SEL programming, the goal is to make sure that it is integrated explicitly with academic instruction, coordinated with health promotion efforts and also connected to citizenship efforts. The goal of education is to educate knowledgeable, responsible, respectful, healthy, and caring students.
By Megan Wilson5 years ago in Education
All Students Have The Opportunity To Learn And To Achieve High Standards
Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act has provided federal assistance to schools to meet the educational needs of disadvantaged students. The Congress substantially overhauled the program by shifting from a focus on remediation to high standards and accountability for higher achievement. For the first time, the law spelled out requirements for full inclusion of students with limited English proficiency in Title I programs, assessments, and accountability systems. California is an especially important state with respect to Title I reforms because it receives substantially more Title I funding than any other state. Twenty-two percent of California’s children fall below the federal poverty line, and the achievement of its students— especially its poor—African American, and Latino students, has lagged behind the rest of the country.
By Megan Wilson5 years ago in Education
Schools Should Collaborate With After-School Programs
Youth thrive and achieve in programs that foster caring child/adult relationships. These programs allow youth to form bonds with adults they grow to trust and staff who encourage them to succeed. When staff have long-term relationships with after-school program participants, they are able to identify changes in the child’s behavior that signal a need for intervention.
By Megan Wilson5 years ago in Education
Better Prepared For College Or Work
The U.S. has a terrific opportunity to bring dynamic public schools to its neediest children, but it just might blow it. Called charter schools elsewhere, community schools are independent public schools of choice. That's not an oxymoron. They are new kinds of public schools, freed from most bureaucratic hassles, open to any child who chooses to attend and held to account for their results. We've visited dozens around the nation as a part of a new project. Most of those we've seen are terrific. They come in all flavors: progressive institutions with lots of hands-on learning, back-to-basics schools with stern discipline and old-fashioned curriculum, schools for at-risk kids, even a virtual charter school that operates in cyberspace. The intent was to make our students work harder, take more classes, and naturally the students would be better prepared for college or work.
By Megan Wilson5 years ago in Education
A Complete Rethinking Of The Very Concept Of Education
Never before has American education been in as precarious a situation as it seems to be at present. For over ten years now we have seen many governors' summits, and a host of commissions, committees, panels, unions, boards and business executives trying to warn citizens that American schools have become dysfunctional and are in dire need of repairs. And for over ten years the results of student performance have worsened despite the billions being spent to stop the downward trend. Perhaps the time has come to stop and try to examine the problem rationally. It is not the first time that American education has reached a threshold at which only radical solutions seem to be called for. This time, however, reformers are calling for a systemic reform, a complete rethinking of the very concept of education. As politicians, educators, academicians, psychologists, sociologists, and CEOs entered the fray, the well-intentioned movement became murky and increasingly chaotic. It soon became clear that the reformers truly intended a clean sweep of what education had meant to Americans.
By Megan Wilson5 years ago in Education
Why a Truly Liberating Education Is Imperative
This entire journal is dedicated to the theme of democracy. Exhibited are many teachers’ and students’ answers to "what is democracy"? I ask further questions: Why has democracy disappeared in our country? And can democracy exist in our schools? This nation is ours to shape, to create, to criticize, and to democratically raise our voices. As I stand in front of my class, the definition of democracy that was taught to me in my youth rings through my ears: a nation of, by, and for the people. This was a main principle upon which this nation was built. Unfortunately, those same forefathers were slave owning, misogynist, white men. Their idea of democracy was never to include all of the people. But they were onto something remarkable. I think the true potential of democracy, one where the people have an informed, legitimate, and constant say in the shaping of this nation, is something we should strive for. To that end, I have chosen to struggle to make my school more democratic. Indeed, my struggle begins within my very own classroom where I try to make my curriculum and my class environment democratic. I can’t say this is an easy task. Our schools are over-crowded and under-funded. Add to that, a conservative need for artificial and superficial "accountability" causing congress people, district big wigs, and administrators to scramble for higher test scores, and my workplace often seems the antithesis of democratic. Nevertheless, when I close my classroom door, what goes on is up to my students and me.
By Megan Wilson5 years ago in Education
New School Reform and Community Development
Parents and community members now sit on site-based decision-making committees that determine curricular materials, budgetary expenditures, staffing, building usage and scheduling, discipline procedures, professional development for staff, school programs, and technology utilization. This public involvement has led to fundamental changes within the school community. As leaders for change, we have learned that revamping systems, policies, and structures invigorates the community and encourages change in practice at the school level. In addition, our responsive learning culture attracts and develops new parent and community leaders who can carry on the work of articulating and leading change processes. Our hope for continuing improvement in student achievement rests in the belief that engaging the voices of parents, community members, teachers, and students will ensure that this generation of learners meets the high standards that will carry them successfully into the twenty-first century.
By Megan Wilson5 years ago in Education
What Are The Most Important Long-Term Benefits of Preschool Programs?
Rising enrollments in preschool programs and increasing use of nonparental child care are surely among the most significant worldwide trends of the past two decades. Demand for preschool services has also been fueled by an increased understanding of the importance of the early years of life, as well as by concern over the high proportions of children who are doing poorly in school. It is generally agreed that the nations comprising the European Union have some of the world’s most highly developed early care and education (ECE) systems and some of the best empirical evidence on the effects of preschool experiences on children’s development and welfare. During the 1980s and 1990s, there was a tremendous expansion of preschool programs for children from the age of three to the age of compulsory schooling (ranging from five to seven), and approximately half of E.U. countries now have publicly funded preschool places available for 79% or more of the children in this age group. Of course, as a result of the increased dominance of free market economics, many countries are feeling pressure to reduce social benefits to become more “efficient”—in this context, continued support for quality preschool programs may depend on compelling evidence of their cost-effectiveness and not on their popular support. The information presented here may prove helpful to U.S. policymakers, researchers, early childhood educators, and advocates seeking evidence of ECE program effectiveness and results.
By Megan Wilson5 years ago in Education
