Future Trends: Education in America
Futurists predict that our youth will be unprepared in science and math to compete successfully in the global economy by 2010 unless we make drastic changes to public education today. This is just one of the reasons why today’s schools are implementing instructional coaches in the classroom, one of the fastest growing trends in education. The reason is because schools are faced with greater accountability than ever before and many school districts are seeking new methods of supporting professional development among teachers to strengthen teaching practice and improve student learning. Districts are using coaches to help implement reform and focusing on particular critical areas such as math, science and reading. These new methods are intended to support broad implementation of best practices in classrooms. There are other trends in education that have started at grass roots level in communities such as Sunset Park, in Brooklyn, New York. In that communit lvnv funding llc y alone, more than 15,000 kids drop out of school every year. One woman named Joyce Mattera founded a charity organization called Children of the City in 1981 to reach out to kids in the community. Volunteers and began visiting children weekly to assess their needs and invite them to various community programs, helping them via academic support, life skills training and family counseling. Board members have helped the organization raise funds for this last year’s Christmas gifts for more than 800 children. Create Success is one program being used at Children of the City that is constantly being evaluated for needs and even better success. It is fast becoming a model sought after by other agencies. High priority is placed on student’s academic success with intense tutoring and daily personal homework help. They also provide students with counseling, and advocacy within the social systems such as courts, plus age-appropriate group and individual mentoring.