Star Ledger--N.J. school making kids turn off their phones all day, lock them up in pricey pouches
There’s no Snapchatting, texting or checking Instagram during classes at Maxson Middle School in Plainfield.
That’s because students at the Union County school this week started locking their phones in neoprene pouches from the first to the last bell in a school-wide program initiated by their principal, Kevin Stansbury.
Allison Pries | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com| Updated Mar 29, 2019; Posted Mar 29, 2019
Hechinger Report--Test prep to get into vocational education? Yup, it’s a thing
New Jersey’s county-run career and technical high schools are helping to revive vocational education — but critics say some cherry-pick the best and the brightest
https://hechingerreport.org/test-prep-to-get-into-vocational-education-yup-its-a-thing/
Sarah Gonser| April 2, 2019
Chalkbeat--The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has made over $100 million in education grants since 2018, new disclosure shows
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has issued $110 million in grants to education causes since January 2018, according to new details posted to the organization’s website.
The list of grants represents CZI’s first thorough accounting of its own education giving, and the total indicates that the organization remains one of the largest players in education philanthropy.
The information, which also includes a list of investments in for-profit companies, sheds new light on the strategy of CZI, which is funded by Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook fortune and led by his wife, pediatrician Priscilla Chan. CZI says it donated to more than 80 organizations over the last 15 months, but other gifts were dwarfed by grants to the Summit charter network and New Schools Venture Fund, which together took in more than $40 million.
Matt Barnum| April 1, 2019
Hechinger Report--OPINION: We must close college counseling’s equity gap
Four topics of concern about advising and inequity in the wake of 'Operation Varsity Blues'
Ask people of color if they are surprised by the alleged college admissions bribery case in the news, and they will likely laugh out loud.
For years, the refrain has been that rich white students can buy their ways into the college of their choice — and, given the recent scandal, it looks like the chorus was right.
Often unaware of the strategies employed by their more privileged counterparts and trusting those in positions of power, many parents mistakenly assume that their children are being provided the same level of support that other American students receive when navigating postsecondary paths.
https://hechingerreport.org/opinion-college-counselings-equity-gap/
Laura Owen and Marina Koestler Ruben| April 2, 2019