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Celebrity Degrees Online

Los Angeles Lakers Shaquille O'Neal 12/20/1999

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Many of today’s celebrities are doing something others have not: They are going back to school. While some enroll in programs through local colleges and universities, others are taking to the web to obtain the education necessary to achieve their dreams. For those who have thought about online education before, but never took a step in this direction, the fact that celebrities are doing it may be more encouraging to you.

Which Celebrities Did It?

It is not possible to know all celebrities using online education to further their skills. While there are some who have publicly promoted online education, such as Shaquille O’Neal and Hilary Duff, many others are more quiet on the topic. Here are some less vocal celebrities who completed their education online.

  • Ice Cube: You may know him from his rapping days back in the 1990s or from a variety of other programs. What you may not know, though, is that he has a degree in architectural drafting. That degree is from an online educational program.
  • Jon Guenther: He is the author with more than 30 books under his belt. You may remember his Chaser series of books, and later, Soul Runner. What you may not know is that he obtained a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology recently, a degree he earned from an online program.
  • Hunter Tylo: She is known for his soap opera roles on television programs such as All My Children and The Bold and the Beautiful. You may also know her from her ability to win a significant, $5 million lawsuit against Aaron Spelling. She was a pre-law student, though, and has since obtained her Master of Business Administration from an online educational program.

As you can see, online undergraduate programs and other programs are out there for celebrities, and for you, too. The fact that these celebrities could enroll in any school but went online is motivating for many.

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Committee for Education Funding

Today in the United States, funding is one of the biggest problems related to education. It’s the root cause of teacher shortages and the bad repetition that the teacher profession holds. The Committee for Education Funding (CEF) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that works toward the goal of an achieving adequate federal funding for the country’s education system.

Founded in 1969, the Committee for Education Funding is the oldest and largest associations, comprised of a coalition, which exists for the welfare of education. Its purpose is to provide the public and state and federal government officials with the necessary information to enable them to assess the pressing needs of funding for educational programs. The CEF sides on issues regarding federal education and represents the consensus of its membership, communicating that consensus to political officials and Washington.

As a coalition, the committee is voluntary. Members include a wide variety of representatives from educational institutions and associations to preschool agencies and postgraduate organizations. Both the public and private educational systems are included.

The idea is to promote the social welfare of the nation’s school systems and to broaden the awareness of the funding issue. Lack of funds for education in the United States has become more than a social issue, it has become a civil rights issue. The CEF conducts and coordinates research opportunities to collect information to find solutions to the problem. Members of the CEF are provided with valuable information that will help them make more effective presentations to Congress and other government officials.

CEF holds weekly meetings and provides a forum for open discussion regarding policies and problems. It publishes regular updates and sponsors seminars to educate the public on recent policy issues. Congressional and administration staff are briefed throughout the year, and CEF annually honors advocates of federal education investment. To find out more, visit their website at www.cef.org.

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How to Get a Good Education in Finance

When you want to get involved in the world of finance, there are plenty of job choices. You can’t just jump right in, though. You need to get a degree so that you can show employers that you have the qualifications needed. Getting a degree from an accredited college is the first step. After that, you can start applying to companies based on the career that you’d like to have. There are opportunities all over the place when it comes to people who can crunch numbers, and a finance degree is a good one to have. You can even go on to law school after you get your finance degree, and become a bankruptcy lawyer. Most people don’t take things that far, though.

Instead, a lot of them choose to work with a company in the finance department. Almost all big companies have them, so there are plenty of opportunities depending on what kind of industry you’re interested in. You can also work as a banker or work with a debt consolidation service and assist people who have mismanaged their money and need you to help them so that they don’t end up in a bankruptcy situation. In order to do those things, though, that degree is essential.

Overall, you’ll have more options if you get a bachelor’s degree than you will if you get only an associate’s degree, but it’s still better to have a degree of some kind than not to have one at all. Consider where your degree is coming from, too. Sure, it’s possible to ‘buy’ a degree – but you won’t have the skills to back it up and you’ll soon be found out. Take the time to find a good school that offers a finance degree, and check it out thoroughly. Make sure it’s accredited, so that your degree will be recognized when you get it.

Filed Under: Leadership Skills Tagged With: , ,

Charter Schools

Charter schools are public schools that operate free of many regulations traditional public schools are bound by. Each school establishes a charter that details the school’s mission, goals, program, student information, and assessments. Most charters are granted for a period of three to five years and, at the end of that period, the school may seek to renew the contract.

State or local schools boards sponsor charter schools and hold them accountable. They are accountable for academic achievement, the public funding them, and the parents who enroll their students in them.

The intent of charter schools is the increase opportunities for learning and provide quality education to all students. They create choices for parents sending their kids to public school. Charter schools encourage teachers to be innovative and utilize creative instruction methods. They also encourage community involvement, insisting that parents become active in their child’s education.

Because of the high academic standard of charter schools, parents and teachers are drawn to them and the No Child Left Behind Act supports them. The small class sizes are conducive to learning and the educational philosophies differ from school to school, attracting individuals who share similar philosophies. On average, charter schools serve about 250 students and are noted for their safety.

Communities become classrooms at charter schools and parents and teachers are active in developing education programs. Fieldtrips to local libraries and museums enrich the educational experience. In districts where academic performance is quite low, charter schools help improve academic achievement in the area.

According to No Child Left Behind, children identified as needing special improvement have the choice to enroll in a charter school located in their district, but the wait to enroll may be long. Any parent can contact a charter school for information on how to get their child on a waiting list.

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Educational Funding

Federal funding for education has increased since No Child Left Behind went into effect. Communities with low-income and low-achieving students are especially targeted to receive funding.

According to the United States Constitution, the responsibility of public education rests with the states. The federal government provides assistance to states in order to fund state support. This federal support began in 1965 with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. No Child Left Behind was a reauthorization of the 1965 Act and is meant to close the achievement gap.

Taxpayer money goes into education more than national defense, making it one of the nation’s highest priorities, but states are the primary sources of education funding. For the 2004/2005 school year, 83 cents of every dollar spent on education came from state and local levels. The federal government’s part is only about 8.3%.

After No Child Left Behind was signed, the proposed budget economically disadvantaged students would be 65% of the U.S. Department of Education school funds. The funds would be distributed directly to school districts through their respective states. Major programs in need of this funding include Title I, English Language Learners, and for improving teacher quality.

A state may voluntarily choose to accept funds from the federal level. If a state does not wish to abide by federal requirements, they can choose to not accept federal funds associated with whichever program they do not want to implement. Most states do accept and use these funds, but a few have chosen not to accept them for a variety of reasons.

According to ED.gov, he largest federal education program is Title I, a program that provides over $13 billion to schools in an effort to improve achievement in schools with a high poverty rate. Approximately $675.8 million goes to the states for English language acquisition programs such as ESL. Grants equaling $2.9 billion go toward teacher training and professional development.

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Title I

Title I is a federally funded program that provides financial assistance to public schools that have high percentages of poor children. It is a formula grants program that focuses on “improving the academic achievement of the disadvantaged.” Children that come from a lower-income household are considered educationally at-risk. The program provides extra special instruction to the children who are identified as at risk or failing the state’s performance standards.

Schools utilizing the Title I program will have one Title I Reading Specialist on staff. Depending on the size of the school, several Title I Instructional Assistants will be trained by and work under the Reading Specialist. These specialists and para-professionals go into the classrooms to tutor at-risk children either individually or in small group settings. Providing children with personalized, one-on-one attention is key in improving their academic development.

Public schools receive Title I money based on the funding provided to the state. The State Educational Agencies send money to school districts based on the number of low-income students in the district. Students do not have to be from an economically disadvantaged family to receive Title I services.

The program offers smaller class sizes and special, individualized instruction. There are even extra opportunities for professional staff development within the schools. Classroom assistants typically get to attend an on-site workshop once a month.

Title I also encourages parents to get involved in their child’s learning. No one is more influential in a child’s life than his or her parent, so becoming active in education both at home and by participating in volunteer opportunities at school assures that parents are well aware of their progress. Parents should serve as a role model by reading in front of their children at home or by partner reading with them on a regular basis. Keeping an open line of communication with their child’s Title I Reading Specialist is also encouraged.

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Educational Reform

President George W. Bush signed no Child Left Behind into law on January 8, 2002. It was proposed shortly after the president took office and received incredible bipartisan support in Washington. The House of Representatives passed the bill, voting 384 to 45, on May 23, 2001. The Senate voted 91 to 8, passing it on June 14, 2001. NCLB was intended to support standards-based education reform requiring states to improve basic skills testing. The Act introduced an accountability element in public education that schools hadn’t necessarily seen before.

NCLB requires that schools focus on low-income, disabled, and minority students and support early literacy for all children. The law was designed to increase quality education, requiring schools to improve their academic performance with “scientifically based research practices” in classroom instruction. Parental involvement is also a key factor in the success of a child’s learning both at home and in the form of classroom volunteering.

As for the assessments, students are tested annually from grades 3 to 8. Standardized testing is required at least once in high school. Schools are also required to inform parents if a teacher or instructional assistant who doesn’t meet the “highly qualified” requirements is teaching their child. Parents are also constantly informed as to their child’s progress via detailed report cards.

While both political parties supported the NCLB Act, neither the Senate nor Executive Branch has sought sufficient funding for programs like Title I. There has been recent talk of improving education reform beyond No Child Left Behind. On March 13, 2010, the Obama administration released a blueprint calling for an Elementary and Secondary Education Act revision. A revised ESEA would encourage children to think about global leadership and it would provide incentives for states adopting academic standards that would prepare students for life after school, both in college and in the workplace.

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Onlineeducation.com: Improved Teaching Techniques for Today’s Workforce

"Online Degree Worked for Me!" Palme...
Image by DrJohnBullas via Flickr

There are many aspects of obtaining a degree online that dramatically differentiates the experience from traditional college environments. While many consider an online format to be less personal, there are actually many factors that would suggest the opposite. After utilizing a resource such as onlineeducation.com to determine the types of online institutions available, look into how each school is structured to ensure you are entering an environment that works best for you.

Take, for example, a traditional state university setting. General education courses can consist of literally hundreds of students in amphitheater style settings, making it very difficult, if not impossible, to get the personal attention they need from the professor or instructor. Students might organically create study groups with other individuals they know or meet in the class, but they are largely left to their own devices in obtaining help outside of the lecture. Conversely, online courses, such as those found on onlineeducation.com, are frequently structured with small groups that are designed to facilitate collaboration between students and to foster a sense of community that might not be achieved otherwise. Also, because of the nature of shared online communication techniques such as forums and blogs, it is actually more probable to get a specific answer from an instructor and benefit the entire group from the question as a result.

Also, considering that the workplace and business in general is becoming more and more diversified, the methods learned for online collaboration and communication are well suited to today’s business environment. More recent college graduates are finding themselves interacting in cross-state, and even cross-country situations, where online networking and connecting are both critical and essential for success. These abilities will be more comfortable for the elearner who has already utilized similar techniques for collaborating with fellow students and interacting with instructors while obtaining their online degree.

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Should School Be Therapy?

No Child Left Behind was meant to address a growing problem in our education system: children, especially those in impoverished areas, simply were not getting the education they needed and deserved. This problem was often compounded by children that were struggling emotionally, physically or mentally. These children, who seemingly have two strikes against them, simply couldn’t compete with other children. While NCLB did help children who were struggling educationally, these other ‘two strike’ kids were still left out in the cold. It was for these children that the idea of therapeutic schooling was developed.

While today therapeutic schooling takes place in special institutions or schools, the idea behind them may very well translate to a more traditional school. In theory, these special schools are designed to address some of the special emotional or physical needs of students. For example, students who struggle with stress may need additional help. If we just stop and think for a moment about the number of children who could use additional help with stress alone, it becomes apparent that some sort of therapeutic schooling may be called for in more traditional classrooms.

While it is unclear which tactics could be used in a traditional setting, it is apparent we need to make a change. The pressure to fit it, to succeed and to simply be better is overwhelming. More children are diagnosed each year with forms of depression, body dismorphic disease, autism and other emotional or mental disorders. If NCLB was really meant to teach the most repressed of our children, shouldn’t we also be making allowances for children who struggle with these disorders?

Or maybe, just maybe, what would be truly therapeutic for our students is to begin teaching them utilizing real life techniques instead teaching to the lowest denominator and developing specialized teaching skills for every set of disadvantaged students.

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The Education Revolution

It seems that everyone has an idea about how to better our education system. Unfortunately, many of the ideas about how to amount to little more than administrative shuffling. When you consider the variety of factors currently affecting the education system from funding and class sizes to standardized tests and drop out rates, it becomes obvious that the answer is we need an education revolution.

Maybe that amounts to nothing more than taking a little bit from everyone’s reform ideas and creating a cohesive package that will work for the majority of our students. In other words, we need to develop plans, curriculum and strategies that are designed to affect the greatest number of students. Currently we utilize plans that seem to be aimed solely at the lowest common denominator – we are teaching to our least gifted students and leaving the rest behind.

Some parents and administrators argue that the most talented students have access to other education programs such as private educate or magnet programs, but we must ask ourselves one question: do we want our students to be common or do we want them to be exceptional?

The education revolution is coming and it will involve a lot of changes. The last attempt at revolutionizing the system resulted in the NCLB act of 2002. The act was ambitious in its goals, but fell short in its execution. By hoping to create a system in which every child would have access to a quality education, we somehow neglected our more advanced students. It seems that the key isn’t finding a way to equally educate our students at all – the key is finding the best way to educate our students, be they from impoverished areas or be they advanced students.

The time has come to make big changes to the way we educate our children. The time has come for a revolution.

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