Sharing Web Resources.

This week we discussed children from low SES, ESL, and other differences that may create a barrier for children to enter quality care programs, which will aid in success academically later in life. I noticed a few barriers in the professional contact website I have been following:

While continuing my journey through the; National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP). I came across a link that followed a few Articles in the New York Times.

The first article talked about the reasons other countries teach better, “The American work force has some of the weakest mathematical and problem-solving skills in the developed world, adults in the United States scored far below average and better than only two of 12 other developed comparison countries, Italy and Spain. Worse still, the United States is losing ground in worker training to countries in Europe and Asia whose schools are not just superior to ours but getting steadily better” http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/18/opinion/why-students-do-better-overseas.html?smid=pl-share&_r=0.

America’s stature as an economic power is being threatened by societies above us and below us on the achievement scale. Wealthy nations with high-performing schools are consolidating their advantages and working hard to improve. At the same time, less-wealthy countries like Chile, Brazil, Indonesia and Peru, have made what the O.E.C.D. describes as “impressive gains catching up from very low levels of performance.” In other words, if things remain as they are, countries that lag behind us will one day overtake us http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/18/opinion/why-students-do-better-overseas.html?smid=pl-share&_r=0.

Another important article linked to the success of children and adults in countries beyond the U.S, discussed how there were too few girls and minorities attending math and science studies.

“Women make up nearly half the work force but have just 26 percent of science, technology, engineering or math jobs, Blacks make up 11 percent of the workforce but just 6 percent of such jobs and Hispanics make up nearly 15 percent of the work force but hold 7 percent of those positions. There is no question that women and minorities have made progress in science and math in the last several decades, but their gains have been slow and halting. And in the fast-growing field of computer science, women’s representation has actually declined in the last 20 years, while minorities have made relatively small gains” http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/11/opinion/too-few-girls-and-minorities-study-tech-subjects.html.

References:

Why Other Countries Teach Better: Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/18/opinion/why-students-do-better-overseas.html.

Missing From Science Class : Too Few Girls and Minorities Study Tech Subjects. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/11/opinion/too-few-girls-and-minorities-study-tech-subjects.html.