Solutions to Prevent High School Dropouts Essay Example

Solutions to Prevent High School Dropouts Paper Are you sitting down? Each year, more than a million kids will leave school without earning a high school diploma thats approximately 7,000 students every day of the academic year, Without that diploma, theyll be more likely to head down a path that leads to lower-paying jobs, PC)ere health, and the possible continuation of a cycle of poverty that creates immense challenges for families, neighborhoods, and communities. For some students, dropping out is the culmination of years of academic hurdles, missteps, and wrong turns. For others, the decision to drop out is a response to conflicting elite pressures the deed to help support their family financially or the demands of caring for siblings or their own child. Dropping out is sometimes about students being bored and seeing no connection between academic life and real life. Its about young people feeling disconnected from their peers and from teachers and other adults at school. And its about schools and communities having too few resources to meet the complex emotional and academic needs of their most vulnerable youth. We will write a custom essay sample on Solutions to Prevent High School Dropouts specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Solutions to Prevent High School Dropouts specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Solutions to Prevent High School Dropouts specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Although the reasons for dropping out vary, the consequences Of the decision are remarkably similar. Over a lifetime, dropouts typically earn less, suffer from poorer health as adults, and are more likely to Wind up in jail than their diploma-earning peers. An August 2007 report by the California Dropout Research Project (PDF) detailed the economic and social impacts of failing to finish high school in the Golden State. The numbers cited in the report are sobering: High school graduates earn an average of nearly $290,000 more than dropouts over their lifetime, and they are 68 percent less apt to rely on public assistance. The link between dropout rates and crime is also well documented, ND the reports data indicates that high school graduation reduces violent crime by 20 percent. And nationally, the economic impact is clear: A 2011 analysis by the Alliance for Excellent Education estimates that by halving the 2010 national dropout rate, for example (an estimated 1. Million students that year), new graduates would likely earn a collective 57. 6 billion more in an average year than they would without a high school diploma. Mounting research on the causes and consequences of dropping out, coupled with more accurate reporting on the extent of the crisis, has led to increased public focus on whats been called he silent epidemic And faith that focus comes the possibility of more action at the local, state, and national levels to implement a mix of reforms that will support all students through high school graduation. Such reforms include early identification of and support for struggling students, more relevant and engaging courses, and structural and scheduling changes to the typical school day. Decades of research and pockets of success point to measures that work. Here are ten strategies that can help reduce the dropout rate in your school or community. We begin with steps to connect students and parents to school and hen address structural, programmatic, and funding changes: 1. Engage and Partner with Parents Its an all-too-familiar story: Parent involvement declines as students get older and become more independent. But although the role of parents changes in secondary school, their ongoing engagement from regular communication with school staff to familiarity With their childs schedule, courses, and progress toward graduation remains central to students success. Findings in a March 2006 report, The Silent Epidemic, illustrate the importance Of engaged parents throughout secondary school. Sixty-eight percent of the high school dropouts Who participated in the study said their parents became involved in their education only after realizing their student was contemplating dropping out of school. In Sacramento, California, high school staff members make appointments with parents for voluntary home visits, to keep parents engaged with their childrens progress. This strategy which has so far been replicated nationally in eleven states, plus the District of Columbia includes placing as many visits as possible during summer and fall to parents of teens entering high school a radical transition point for many students to begin building a net of support and to connect parents to the new school. Staffers also conduct summer, tall, and spring home visits between and during the sophomore and junior years to students who are at risk of not graduating because of deficiencies in course credits, the possibility of failing the state high school exit exam (a condition of graduation), or poor grades. Visits in the summer after junior year and fall of senior year are to ensure that students are on track for either career or college. Early evaluations of the program by Paul Thus of Sacramento County Office to Educations Center for Student Assessment and Program Accountability found that students who received a home visit were considerably more likely to be successful in their exit exam intervention and academic-support classes and pass the English portion of the exit exam. A follow-up evaluation of the initial cohort of students at Luther Burbank High School showed that the students both passed the exit exam and graduated high school at significantly higher rates. (Visit the website Of the Parent/Teacher Home Visit Project. )

A short commentary on Roland Barthes Mother Courage Blind Essays

A short commentary on Roland Barthes Mother Courage Blind Essays A short commentary on Roland Barthes Mother Courage Blind Essay A short commentary on Roland Barthes Mother Courage Blind Essay Essay Topic: Literature There are many men who altered time in creating a different world for everybody else. Some took it for worst, while others changed it for the better. Most of these men were all soldiers of a certain rank or leaders of nations, nonetheless of what they represented or what they done, they all have the same similarities. These men were all leaders. Bertold Brecht was a front-runner of literature, the originator of what we call epic theatre and he was an artistic leader with all of the qualities that was needed to originate this new theatre. Walter Benjamin describes Brechts epic theatre as â€Å"[1]appealing to an interesting group of people who do not think without reason† in his essay [2]â€Å"What is Epic Theatre† in his illuminations. I will use this as the stronghold to my essay on Roland Barthes Mother Courage Blind and how Bertold Brecht influenced him. Brecht sets Mother Courage Blind and Her Children during the thirty years war, a war that went on for thirty years without reason, in many cases without a reason for the people living during the war. A war that the poor and working class lost what they did not see while the higher classes won with their losses. Brecht writes this play during 1939, the time where Fascism and Nazism were on a rise and Nazi occupied Germany had just taken over their neighbors Poland. Brecht being a Marxist himself, I could imagine that he used the setting of this play as a left wing political act against the governments of the time. However one may argue that Brecht was himself a businessman, exploring the environment in his play by targeting the people who would be interested, but I very much doubt this was his intention. Brecht was a man of great culture, creativity and a sense of humor who influenced many of his time and still does now. What Brecht’s implies in this play is how great powers, in this sense the European powers use war as a profit venture. This is one of the main reasons which Mother Courage Blind attracted Roland Barthes. Barthes seemed to love the idea of Brecht displaying this act with his epic theatre and not preaching his thoughts through religion or politics as he states in his essay that Brecht â€Å"unites his crucial intention to a true theatre, so that the proposition’s evidence results not from sermon or argument but from the theatrical act itself† [3]. Barthes suggests that Mother Courage is suffering because she is blind to her own senseless acts, but this is what Bertold Brecht actually wants the audience to think as he later goes on to explain in the essay how â€Å"we are once mother courage and we are those who explain her;†[4]Barthes appreciates how Brecht’s intelligence in his theatre takes a hold of the audience and makes them lost in Mother Courage which then the audience is brought into her blindness without acknowledging the greatness of the theatre which has a enormous impact on the individual in the audience. Even though Brecht’s Mother Courage is an opportunist and a very inspiring character, it does not take much to see that she is simply a product of her environment and that the character is solely playing the part of a victim to make the audience feel for her struggles, which is what I believe Barthes meant by â€Å"we are all once Mother Courage[5]† by Brecht creating this character, it allows the audience to get in and get close with Mother Courage, feeling her emotions and what she is going through. As I have explained before, this play was written in 1939, which means most of the audience had already witnessed the First World War and the Second World War while Brecht was touring Europe. In a way Brecht seems to create this character so the audience could see themselves in Mother Courage and not make the same mistakes as her, because he only allows them to get close enough to judge her and nothing more. I trust if Walter Benjamin was alive to witness Mother Courage Blind and her Children in theatre, and if he were to write a critic’s essay about it, it would be the very similar to Roland Barthes version. The two men had a lot of similarities and I consider that if it was not for the tragic loss of Walter Benjamin, the two would have been very good friends. While reading Barthes Mother Courage I could sense a certain charismatic male. He explains what he see’s as the only way and does not take in account any other opinions and expects for the reader to understand him and only understand his opinion. Barthes seems obsessed with the â€Å"double vision: of the social evil and its remedies[6]† which is seen in Mother Courage Blind and her Children. The social evil the modern day is drugs, alcohol and violence. These are all things that are frowned upon and the remedies to life that change people. The social remedies in Mother Courage Blind are basically the characters blindness. All things could be made better if Mother Courage actually steps back and looks, but what Barthes does not consider while writing his essay is what he would have done if he were himself in Mother Courage’s shoes himself? Throw in the fact that all Mother Courage knows is war, where as the audience obviously knows that there is an end to the thirty years war, she sadly doesn’t. Brecht Mother Courage has a very important quote towards the end of the play â€Å" hope I can pull this wagon by myself. gotta manage. Not much in it, now. Gotta get back in business†[7] this is the scene just after Mother Courage leaves her late daughter to be buried by the peasants. This quote could show that people are in need of psychological and materialistic support as she looses her daughter but her only concern is getting her business back running again which is what I believe Barthes emphasizes on about his social evil. Although it could be argued that this is all she knows and this is all she’s know all her life. Although I see that Brecht is trying to show how the small people, also known as the working class does not have a say in what happens and all they’ve got to do is get on with what ever is thrown at them, Barthes argues this matter and suggest that if people saw their own stupidity, they will realize their mistakes and change for the better. Most of Barthes drama works after this had resemblance to what Bertold Brecht had created with his epic theatre. After the war, Barthes helped establish a magazine called â€Å"theatre populaire† I believe his main intention in this magazine was to assault the commercial drama of his days yet no one had really created theatre that will attack both social and political issues in the same play. But in 1954 Barthes came across Mother Courage Blind and Her Children while Brecht’s Berliner Ensemble was in France. This is where Barthes saw what he had longed to see from his university days after he had founded a theatre group which performed Greek plays. In Brecht he had found a theatre that brings together both Marxism and aesthetics in the same play. This was the start of a critic being unleashed into the world with the influence of a great leader in his own field.

IT in US healthcare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

IT in US healthcare - Essay Example A potential answer to this question is the slow pace of adoption of IT in the healthcare industry. In the last few decades, the benefits of IT in the manufacturing and service industries have been well demonstrated. These benefits can just as easily be implemented in the healthcare area. For example, much of current record keeping is paper based, disorganized, and often illegible. Thus, records can be easily lost or scattered, and are poorly linked together. This disorganization can cause up to 80% of errors in healthcare administration. Clearly, the information needs to be organized architecturally according to a designed framework while keeping in mind the privacy of health records. Automation and streamlining of information storage would enable the seamless flow of information and would contribute to overall cost reduction. Cost containment is one of the key drivers of this kind of change, particularly in light of the growing elderly population combined with a shortage of physicia ns and nurses. The rising proportion of healthcare costs with respect to the gross domestic product (GDP) is an important indicator of the significance of this issue. In 1960, healthcare costs amounted to 7.2% of the GDP. By 2005 they have escalated to 16% of GDP and are predicted to continue to grow to 20% by 2015. The increase in the average human lifespan has been made possible by the advancement in medical science and technologies. Despite the high cost, the availability of healthcare in America is dismal compared to other developed nations where the average healthcare cost is typically around 8% of the GDP [13]. Today, forty-four million Americans cannot afford health insurance because health-care costs have risen four times faster than wages [14]. Many hospitals and vital health care services are out of reach for needy Americans. The United States will spend 10 trillion dollars in health-care in next 10 years, which will have a significant negative impact on the economy. Worse, government programs such as Medicare do not cover the hospital costs. These unpaid expenses add to the cost private insurance for individuals and employers. To be sure, the cost of health-care must be addressed on a top priority. The inherent efficiency of the system is perhaps the leading culprit in producing these consequences. Condition of Current Practices is Critical Utilization of information technology in the healthcare industry has been minimal, and its adoption slow. Although health insurance is among the leading industries, 90% of the transactions within this $30 billion industry are performed by phone, fax or mail. Fewer than 5% of prescriptions from U.S. physicians are managed electronically. Most healthcare organizations spend only 1% to 4 % of their revenues on IT. This is half the amount that organizations in other leading industries spend on their IT infrastructures [3]. Clearly, more effort must be directed toward facilitating the implementation of IT in the healthcare field by addressing the barriers to its adoption. Some hospitals have already started to capitalize on this opportunity by using electronic medical record keeping technologies, and hospital information systems (HISs). For example, Kaiser Permanante allows its users to book and cancel appointments on-line. Such initiatives must be expanded in order to fully realize the benefits of IT for reducing the cost of healthcare. Indeed, they hold great promise for making