East Chicago Central High School history teacher Gale Carter was chosen, along with 19 other teachers, to participate in a 21-day study tour in China, administered by the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA) and the Indiana University East Asia Studies Center. The 3-week tour included six cities (Beijing, Xi’an, Kunming, Dali, Lijiang, Shangri-La and Shanghai), three boat cruises, a midnight train ride, a ride in a rickshaw, and an unforgettable ride on a yak in the mountains of Shangri-La.

The group toured traditional sights such as the Great Well, the Terra Cotta Warriors, the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, as well as newer sights like the 2008 Olympic Bird’s Nest stadium and the Water Bubble. They also observed time-honored crafts like calligraphy and silk-, pottery- and noodle-making. Evenings were spent at cultural events like acrobatic performances, the opera and the symphony.

Public schools see decline in enrollment as charter schools grow

Fifth-grader He' Shawn Hicks works on math problems in Laura Charpentier's class at Charter School of the Dunes in Gary. The school and Thea Bowman Leadership Academy are up for renewal this year. (Photography by Heather Eidson.)

Over time, charter schools can perform just as well, if not better, than traditional public schools, proponents of charter schools said. Charter schools operate with more freedom from regulations than their traditional counterparts, and most follow a particular educational vision or charter.

There is high demand for these schools in urban areas where there is a perception that traditional public schools are not as successful. In the state, charter schools are clustered in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and Gary. But Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett said it should not be a question of better or worse.

Teachers can ‘progress monitor’ skills on daily basis

Hand-held devices and a connection to a database are allowing East Porter County kindergarten through second-grade teachers to offer students quicker help in reading and mathematics.

The East Porter County School Corp. board heard a report on mCLASS, a diagnostic assessment program developed by the Wireless Generation company, from Morgan Township Elementary School teachers last Monday. The technology allows teachers to “progress monitor” students with quick assessments on the student Palm Pilots, intervention specialist Jeanne Akins told the board. Teachers can see results instantaneously, and the ongoing data can help target instruction and remediation by indicating what has been working and what hasn’t. The data allows quick groupings of students and even suggests interventions, Akins said.

Mentoring young girls in the underrepresented areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics

A study from the National Council for Research on Women found that although 45 percent of the work force is comprised of females, careers in science and engineering are still held primarily by men, who make up 88 percent of the work force in those areas.

For years it was a common belief that boys excelled in math and science areas and that females didn’t grasp the concepts as easily. However, a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, shows that girls’ performance on standardized tests now matches that of boys at the high school level. It stated that about 20 years ago, the genders were equal in those areas in elementary school, but that girls lagged behind at the high school level. That change is partly attributed to the larger numbers of girls now taking advanced math and science courses in high school.

If you’re throwing around the term “app” a lot but it has nothing to do with iPhones, you must have a high school senior in the family working on a college app.

Application, that is.

And while it’s stressful for teenagers to deal with college applications in addition to their regular school work, volunteering, clubs, sports and jobs, it can also be stressful for parents.

Michelle Moeller is committed to the success of every child’s learning potential at Premier Child Care and Learning Center in Schererville.

Moeller has a bachelor’s degree in education with an endorsement in kindergarten from Purdue University. She’s worked at Premier for five years and is currently the director. She was a teacher and assistant director before accepting the lead administrative role.

Premier Child Care and Learning Center at 1100 Eagle Ridge Drive in Schererville is open 6 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and offers preschool and pre kindergarten programs as well as after school care and holiday camps. The center is licensed for 252 children and has received the highest national accreditation from NAEYC, National Association for the Education of Young Children.

The preschool’s most structured hours are 8 a.m. to noon, when children work on cutting, writing, recognizing letters, colors, shapes and numbers. They work on art projects and basic math and science through science exploration activities and have access to computers in the classroom.

Mobile lab comes to Dolton junior high

Roosevelt Junior High School eight-graders Andre Strickland, left, wears a mask as he inspects a rat while Jesus Hogue, center, also looks in as KiJana Roland points to the diagram with the name of the body part. (Photograph by Jim Bis/The Times.)

Roosevelt Junior High School seventh- and eighth-grade science students were given the chance Wednesday (Nov. 4) to tackle something bigger than the dissection of a worm.

They got to dissect a rat.

The University of Illinois Extension Mobile Science Lab visited their school for two days, and Dr. Olyewole Ajifolokun, a veterinarian educator, conducted four classes a day for 11 students per class for those youngsters who wished to pay the $4 fee. Most of the science classes the mobile lab offers are free but students had to cover the cost of the rodent.

Educators say students in elementary school at ideal age for exposure

Once a week, a dozen first-graders gather at Valparaiso University to learn some German in a race against time.

The kids learn basics of the language—such as animal names, colors and greetings—in the afterschool Kinder lernen Deutsch program taught by VU German majors.

Another dozen second- and third-graders continue their language studies in the program’s upper level.

Across the region, Crown Point High School foreign language teachers head off to two nearby elementary schools after school each Tuesday to introduce fourth- and fifth-graders to their subjects.

Despite parents’ interest for more, the two supplementary programs are just about the only game in town for language instruction at the age that is best suited for learning a foreign language.

The part of the brain that allows language acquisition is at its height from infancy to 10 years of age, said Crown Point High School language department chairman David Rosenbaum, who helped create the new Crown Point program.

Length of exposure to violence not age is key factor

Students prepare to start another day at the Louis Nettelhorst Elementary School in Lakeview. (Photograph by Alison Fox/MEDILL.)

Experts say many children who witness domestic violence at home lack coping mechanisms leading to violence in schools.

October was Domestic Violence Month, highlighting an issue that often results in children with violent streaks and an inability to resolve conflicts, experts say.

“With teenagers, you’re going to have more aggressive behaviors,” said Catherine Malatt, the manager of coordinated school health/crisis intervention with Chicago Public Schools.

Barb Kearns, 75, has been raising her grandson in their Arlington Heights neighborhood for the past eight and a half years. She became his primary caregiver after the sudden death of her daughter.

Raising her 16-year-old grandson, Brian, has presented the retiree with a unique set of challenges but she feels a great sense of accomplishment in watching him grow into a young musician, she said.

“He has special needs, ADHD and sensory problems, [so] it’s been hard,” she said.