Rural school districts offering computer science education encounter challenges that many urban districts don’t. A 2013 survey by Science Foundation Arizona reported that less than half of students in Arizona’s 13 rural counties have internet access at home. Other obstacles include:
How can we improve teacher effectiveness and attitudes to increase student achievement in Arizona’s high-needs K-12 public schools?
Arizona ranks near the bottom nationally in student achievement and teacher satisfaction. In the 2007 Arizona Teacher Working Conditions Survey, Arizona teachers reported feeling frustrated with a lack of professional development, absence of a mentoring system, low pay and few opportunities for professional growth.
A nation’s universities can play a central role in confronting challenges of social and economic development. But global progress can outpace the capacity of some universities to adequately prepare their graduates to meet those challenges. This disadvantage can hinder a country’s ability to compete internationally and provide opportunities for its citizens.
A growing body of scholarship investigates the experiences of spiritually and religiously minoritized populations, such as black Muslim men. Findings from these studies highlight the ways students engage with campus support services, and their decisions concerning religious stylings and representations. A second line of inquiry examines students who occupy multiple marginalized social locations. With a few notable exceptions, much of empirical research on college students focuses on the realities of Muslim women.
Attracting 40,000 teacher applicants each year, West Bank’s Ministry of Education and Higher Education reports that few of those candidates are competent in the delivery of student-centered teaching and learning approaches. Recognizing that qualified teachers are essential to the continued growth of its education system, the Palestinian Authority directed MOEHE to aggressively pursue new, innovative avenues to develop a high-quality teacher workforce ensuring that all students receive a world-class education.
In Arizona, 43 percent of children under the age of 5 are Hispanic. Many of those live in homes where Spanish is the primary language. Yet when they begin to attend school they’re expected to read, write and learn in English, and meet performance goals alongside other children for whom English is the first language.