Community involvement important for portland schools

Public schools need the support of their communities to succeed. They are, after all, public and open to all. It is our responsibility as members of the community to give whatever help and support we can to our neighborhood schools. No one can argue that receiving such support from both individual citizens as well as businesses and corporations are a hindrance. They enable the school communities to feel that they are a part of the neighborhood they serve, and that they are partners in educating tomorrow’s leaders.

In Oregon, Portland Public Schools are benefiting from a great relationship with the surrounding communities. The residents, business owners, school administrators, teachers, students and parents all see the need to work together to ensure the best education possible for Portland Schools students.

For example, Portland Schools have called upon volunteers to come out and work at 65 schools to complete tasks around the grounds. Such tasks include weeding, pruning, mowing, and mulching. The volunteers are needed to do these jobs, since Portland Schools have had to drastically cut its grounds keeping staff. Currently, the district employs only 4 full-time groundskeepers, who must maintain the Portland Schools 750 acres of property. That’s a lot of mowing! Participants of Community Career Day, as the effort has been named, had as many as 1,800 people participating in previous years. After all that hard work, all volunteers can head over to one of the Portland Schools benefiting from this beautification project – Roseway Heights – for a cook-out, music, and the dedication of new playground equipment.

Another example of the community and Portland Schools working together is the Summer Food Service Program being offered to kids aged 1 – 18. In conjunction with the city’s Parks & Recreation department, Portland Schools will offer the free meals at over 60 sites throughout the city. Parks, Portland Schools, pools, community centers and other child-friendly locations are among the different types of locations kids can go to get lunch. Any child can come have lunch on the schools and the city will pick up the tab; economic background is not considered in any way.

The U. S. Department of Agriculture funds the project, for cities that have schools where more than 50% of students are eligible for free or reduced lunches.

Big corporations can also get into programs that support public schools. Recently, Portland Schools partnered with the Nike School Innovation Fund to launch a new Summer Academy. This program is intended to help more than 400 students prepare for first grade. Nine Portland Schools offered the Summer Academy, which are being fiscally supported by a $250,000 grant from Nike.

While 20 Portland Schools have summer school programs in place, the Summer Academy strives to offer its students a bit more. The program offers its services to all Portland Schools students who demonstrate a need for an additional learning “boost”. Another way that this program differs from other summer programs is its target student body; only exiting kindergartners who need help reaching and exceeding achievement standards participate. Also, Nike volunteers visit the schools and volunteer their time by giving individual tutoring, buddy reading, leading arts and crafts projects, as well as organized games.

Online tutoring - a real boon when class gets tough

Extra academic help in the form of tuition is a essential and viable option if your child needs help with classroom assignments, or supplemental work. All kids have some areas that they need help with, and if you feel your child can get advantage from it, it might be just what they need. Check out the different Internet tutoring options available, and decide the best for your child. Online tutoring offers so much that you might not realize.

Retired and substitute teachers use it. In fact, some teachers have left classroom teaching, and now teach full time through online tutoring. Before you sign up your child though check out the credentials of the Internet classroom. Write or call your local state governments to find out if there have been any complaints from the Internet Better Business community.

In today’s busy 24 hour work society, kids often get home before parents, and they can profit by going online, and starting their online lessons. Quality online services offer help everyday of the week, including the weekends. When you’re shopping around for a top rated online tutoring service, make sure to ask about schedules. Also, question if their system is secure, so your child won’t be exposed to just anyone that can hack into their online tutoring.

Any of these services should offer ways for you to be able to check in on your student’s progress. Any service that you pick should also give you the choice of being able to talk with a teacher on what your child is having trouble with, and how you can help them at home to do better. Other services that you should find before you sign up for your child should be a pre-assessment on their abilities, and testing for their style of learning. It won’t do your child or you any good if you don’t know what they can do, and what areas they need help in.

If you can find a program that encourages one on one help and training for your child outside of the classroom or online this is perfect. Success for students means that they’ll find others to interact with that are on their level and that they can feel comfortable talking with them. It might be helpful to speak with your child’s teachers for help in locating not only an online tutoring system of help, but also a local center. They know what works for kids, but with your input about your child they’ll be better able to understand the full picture for online tutoring.

Finally, remember to look at any educational help as a blessing. Only a few years ago, kids that needed help didn’t get a lot of it. The fee of tutoring is affordable, and technology has provided kids the chance to get more assistance when they need it, at home or the library. Online tutoring has come of age in the 21st century.

Texas schools benefit from 9 million math science grant

In July 2006 grants of $9 million were given to Texas Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (T-STEM) academics of the Texas Schools. The grants will go to the creation of 12 new academies and centers in the Texas Schools. T-STEM is a program that provides $71 million to various math and science projects at secondary Texas Schools.

The T-STEM project is under the umbrella of the larger Texas High School Project (THSP), which has the goal of increasing graduation and enrollment rates in public Texas Schools. The THSP is funded by both public and private funds in the amount of $261 million. Its partners include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundations, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, the Office of the Governor and others.

Why Fund Math & Science in the Texas Schools?

Concerns that both Texas Schools and American students in general are falling behind in the areas of math and science have increased greatly with recent technology. Federal mandates from the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act have also added to pressure for Texas Schools to increase academic performance of its students in these areas. Finally, awareness of an increasing achievement gap between races and economic levels has prompted Texas Schools to make these changes.

According to Texas Governor Rick Perry, “The T-STEM initiative focuses our efforts where they are needed most - in areas where there are a high number of disadvantaged students who are too often left in the shadows of opportunity. This initiative will help us close the science and math gap that exists in our schools today before it becomes a salary gap for tomorrow’s workers, and an opportunity gap for Texas families.”

Methods For Support and Instruction in the Texas Schools

Funds from both the THSP and T-STEM will provide resources, instructional methods, and innovative approaches to better educate students at Texas Schools in math and science related areas. THSP funds are devoted to creating new and redesigned Texas high schools, training teachers, and preparing students for college. The development of five new T-Stem centers will give instructional materials to the schools, offer training to school educators, and evaluate best practices that can be recreated in other Texas Schools.

Charter schools, small schools, and a YES College Preparatory Academy will be funded with the three implementation grants awarded to Texas Schools to open T-STEM academies. Four start-up grants have been provided that will give $480,000 to four new academies that will open in fall of 2007. Educators and Administrators of Texas Schools are hopeful that the launch of the T-STEM programs in 2007 will reverse the trend of the growing achievement gap.

Health care degrees online cover medical billing

Health care degrees online can be earned in several different disciplines, but one of the most often overlooked is actually one of the most essential to today’s medical practitioners. A degree in medical billing or health care reimbursement is essential for anyone working in the office of any medical facility that accepts health care insurance of any kind.

Today’s hospitals, clinics and private practice medical offices have to accept insurance payments in order to survive. Health insurance is what allows medical practices to provide expensive procedures to patients who need them by paying for most or all of the expenses. The problem for medical offices, hospitals and clinics is universal – the health insurance companies use complex, confusing coding and procedures for all billing and reimbursement.

Physicians Don’t Have Time to Learn Billing Codes

Ask any doctor and he’ll tell you that he or she doesn’t have enough hours in the day. If you also demanded that a doctor fill out all of the paperwork for his or her patient’s health insurance payments, you would be told in no uncertain terms that the patients would suffer as a result. That’s why medical insurance and health care reimbursement experts are in such demand. Doctors and nurses have to focus on the care of their patients. They need someone professional they can rely on to handle the paperwork.

If you get a health care degree online that focuses on this area, you will be one of the most essential members of the staff. Their are thousands of health insurance providers in the United States, thousands of different variations on coverage provided by these companies and unique and complicated billing codes, procedures and regulations for each company and type of policy.

It is essential that a medical provider hire someone who is good with numbers, pleasant on the phone (medical billing experts spend a lot of time talking to health insurance companies) and familiar with the many rules, regulations and codes used for health care reimbursement.

Understanding Health Care Reimbursement

When you earn a health care degree online that focuses on health care reimbursement, you’ll learn:

What the major types of health care coverage are, including HMO’s, PPO’s, FFS’s, etc. and how they differ.

The rules and regulations of managed care, Medicare and Medicaid.

Billing codes, federal regulations and how to process the paperwork.

The intricacies of co-insurance and third party payers

Ways to work with patients and insurers to provide the best health care possible at the most reasonable cost.

Lots of people looking for a health care degree online overlook health care reimbursement at first, which is a shame. The fact is, medical billing specialists earn excellent salaries and keep their medical practices running smoothly by insuring that there is money coming in and that patients’ health insurance issues are resolved.

If you are interested in a health care career and are good with numbers, look into health care reimbursement or billing specialist health care degrees online. There are several reasons this might be the right career choice for you:

You can obtain an associate’s degree with less time and money invested than you would need for some other specialties.

Health care reimbursement is one of the fastest growing fields in the medical profession.

You can transfer your skills to many different environments – from small private practices to major hospitals.

With medical costs increasing every year and Medicare, Medicaid and health insurance companies revising their procedures and paperwork on a regular basis, the need for qualified reimbursement specialists will only grow. If you want to establish yourself in this vital field, consider a health care degree online while you work and soon you’ll have the medical career you’ve always wanted.