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Can a ‘No Excuses' Charter Teach Students to Think for Themselves?

Kate Taylor

January 11, 2018 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Several charter school networks have found that a strict and structured approach to instruction, while it may be improving test scores, is not resulting in the anticipated increase in timely college completion rates for its alumni. One network is piloting a new model that aims to develop more adaptable, "independent thinkers" by encouraging "self-directed learning." Can the introduction of online learning tools, immersive career discovery trips, and increased parent involvement into the current charter school environment help students down the road?

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Why some young professionals settle in small-town Montana

Eric Dietrich

January 09, 2018 |

High Country News |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Libby, Montana

Despite the brain drain struggle that some Montana small towns face, young professionals are finding reasons to move back to the state and towns they call home. Some towns have tried specific strategies, such as promoting good public schools and reaching out to alumni when good job opportunities become available. For others, professionals are drawn to the community and more relaxed pace of life. Still, towns are continuing to fight in creative ways for talent to come back home.

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What happens when you put toddlers in a forest to climb trees and use knives?

Jack Graham

January 02, 2018 |

Apolitical |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Denmark

In Denmark, one in ten preschools are held outdoors. First started in the 1950s, "forest kindergartens" improve students' concentration, social skills, and creativity, according to advocates. Skeptics have voiced safety concerns and worries that such an approach doesn't prepare students for today's tech-centric world.

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A digital solution when children can't find books in their mother tongue

Gretel Kauffman

December 26, 2017 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Rwanda

Research says that bilingual kids reap significant benefits from reading in their primary language. One nonprofit working in Rwanda, Congo, Haiti, Cambodia, and Mongolia provides digital books in students' strongest language and recruits local writers to create age-level books with local context: "It's not just a matter of translating materials," a professor at Columbia's Teachers College notes. "It's a matter of valorizing the home culture and language of the learners."

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Meet The School Educating Homeless Kids

Kristi Eaton

December 13, 2017 |

Bright Magazine |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

A private school in Oklahoma City that exclusively educates homeless children also provides medical services, clothing, school supplies, and parent counseling. Proponents point to increased stability for families and academic improvements for children, while dissenters say the approach is flawed, costly, and difficult to scale.

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How a struggling school for Native Americans doubled its graduation rate

Emrys Eller

November 28, 2017 |

The Hechinger Report |

Video |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Since opening its doors in 2006, the Native American Community Academy has built up a school led by native leaders and centered around curricula informed by tribal cultures in New Mexico. The charter school has had remarkable success educating a population that has traditionally sat at the bottom of math and reading test score rankings and is now exporting its model to other tribes around the country.

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On the Move With the Donkey-Powered Mobile Libraries of Zimbabwe

Christine Ro

October 02, 2017 |

Literary Hub |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Zimbabwe, Tsholotsho

An organization in Zimbabwe has taken a creative approach to libraries; the Rural Libraries and Resources Development Programme sponsors donkey-powered mobile libraries that travel around the country to brink books and Internet access to rural communities. Using donkeys to carry over 1,000 books across the country, the program has increased country-wide access to English learning resources and the Internet.

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Switching The Script: Kansas City Public Schools Operates Charter Of Its Own

Tammy Worth

September 12, 2017 |

KCPT |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Kansas City, Kansas

With support from Kansas City Public Schools, a group has built an innovative new charter school that incorporates family services and social services into the fabric of the school. Kansas City Neighborhood Academy follows in the successful footsteps of a charter in Georgia and serves as a pilot project and important learning experience for the rest of Kansas City's schools.

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The Social Wall: How one Berlin school integrated by segregating

Kevin McCorry

August 29, 2017 |

Keystone Crossroads |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Germany, Berlin, Berlin

A progressive funding model has been a boon to schools in Berlin’s poorer neighborhoods, which receive a baseline of staff and resources. But schools in poorer neighborhoods face a myriad of struggles that additional resources haven’t been able to quell, due to the deep socioeconomic disparities between the home neighborhoods of wealthy and poor students. However, one elementary school seems to have succeeded in desegregating students by offering a choice of academic tracks.

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Teaching Teachers About Trauma Helps Kids Learn

Kara Leigh Lofton

August 24, 2017 |

West Virginia Public Broadcasting |

Multi-Media |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, West Virginia

A new initiative in West Virginia is training elementary school teachers to identify signs of intergenerational trauma in their students and adjust their teaching methods accordingly.

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