Connect with us

Education

Education Reading Academy Teaches Kids To Think Critically

(Vanderbilt University models program off of successful Saturday University)

By Vicky Travis, The Tennessean

NATIONAL-REPORT-CARD-NAGB_Math_&_Reading_Infographic

For most middle-schoolers, the thought of Saturday school would earn a loud “yuck.”

But a group of 20 Nashville fifth- and sixth-graders wrapped up six weeks of it Saturday, waking up to mind-expanding ideas about books and relating them to film. These high-achieving kids already love to read, but through a program with Metro Nashville Public Schools and Vanderbilt University, they’re thinking critically and talking about books in a way they haven’t before.

The Reading Academy at Vanderbilt pairs students who tested in the top 20 percent for reading proficiency at IT Creswell Middle Arts Academy with faculty from Vanderbilt’s Programs for Talented Youth.

Advertisement

“After being in school all week and having activities all week, Terrance wakes up ready to go on Saturday,” says Vienitta Jobe, grandmother to Terrance Otis, 10. “He gets out telling me all he’s learned, and he’s interacting with kids who challenge him.”

The Reading Academy is one of two Vanderbilt programs that stimulates reading among middle-schoolers. They’re funded by best-selling author and Vanderbilt alumnus James Patterson.

Photo provided by The Black Star Project/Mass Black Male Graduation

 

Suit to protect kids’ privacy

Advertisement

A group of New York City parents filed suit Wednesday to block the state Education Department from sharing their kids’ data — including test scores and discipline records — with private companies.

Textbooks recommended by Dept. of Education…

It’s a bungled effort to boost standards.Teachers across the city are reporting problems with the new reading and writing textbooks recommended by the Department of Education. Not only were books deli…

 

Bill de Blasio faces big test in picking next schools chancellor…

Advertisement

Among the most critical decisions for Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio is selecting the right person to lead the school system and its 1.1 million students.

 

NYC students can’t get ‘0’grade even if they deser…

E-mails provided to the Daily News show that it has become “common practice” for New York City high schools to abandon the traditional 0 to 100 grading scale — for one that gives kids no lower than a 5…

 

Advertisement

NY kids’ statewide reading, math scores middling

New York state’s kids barely boosted their performance on national reading and math assessments this year, testing data published Thursday shows.

Colin Powell to give $5M to City College …

The gift will support the Colin L. Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership. The school was named after Powell in April.

 

Advertisement
Continue Reading