Detroit Schools are offering tips for parents and students taking tests. Tests, regular and standardized, are supposed to accurately measure how well a child has mastered his or her subjects in school. However, Detroit Schools also understand how stressful a test can be on some children and so they’re giving parents and students ideas on how to help prepare for test day. Yes, parents can help. Many parents are under the ridiculously false assumption that they aren’t able to help their child with homework or to prepare for a test. Of course, this couldn’t be more wrong.

Tips for Test Taking from Detroit Schools

There are three distinct stages of test-taking according to Detroit Schools: before the test, day of the test, and after the test. Knowing what to do in each stage can be the most helpful in helping a child prepare for a test.

? Before the Test: In the weeks before a test, parents should be asking to see their child’s homework assignments. Parents should sit down with their children and discuss the reasons why he or she thinks they are getting the questions wrong. Parents should help children not just with answers to the questions but how those answers were arrived at. When a parent is stumped too, call the teacher. Detroit Schools have gone to lengths ensuring that all on their teaching staff are highly qualified. Parents of Detroit students should not hesitate to call and ask questions regarding their child’s progress.

Parents can also make sure that their child has adequate space to do homework in a quiet and well lit area. A rule of thumb for home work, depending upon age is 20 minutes of study for each hour of class 5 days a week through Jr. High. In High School that number increases to 30 minutes. Friday and Saturday nights can be rest nights with Sunday through Thursday nights being study nights. Effort and accountability are key lessons parents can teach their children. Detroit Schools recommend that parents give lots of praise for a job well done. The younger the child, the more he is actively seeking parental approval.

? Day of the Test: On the day of the test, Detroit Schools recommend that parents make sure their child is well rested and well fed with a hearty breakfast. Studies have shown that a student who has eaten breakfast performs better on tests. Also parents should be sure that the student arrives to school on time and is calm and relaxed. Reassure him that everything will go well and that he or she is ready. Also parents should re assure that as long as their child has done their best, everything will turn out alright. Detroit Schools will take it from there!

? After the Test: After the test is graded and sent home, parents should go over it with their children. Detroit Schools wants parents to ask their children questions about the test. If the student marked a question wrong but knows the right answer, there might be an underlying problem. Concerned parents should contact their teacher. Detroit Schools welcomes calls to teachers, principals, or counselors in order to resolve any problems.

Taking an active role in a child’s education is a parental responsibility!

Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. For more information please visit Detroit Public Schools

Charlotte is one of the fastest growing cities in one of the fastest growing regions in the Country. School districts can find the challenge of maintaining educational quality in the face of swelling student bodies and squeezed budgets daunting. Typically, academic standards and results slip when so many children are flooding the school system at one time. But, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools know their weaknesses and have a plan for the future.

What are Charlotte Schools’ Specific Goals for the Future?

? Lowering Ratios: Ratios are a part of life for most school districts and the Charlotte Schools are no different. The teacher student ratios are what are most concerning administrators and faculty alike. As more children move attend the district schools, more and more pressure is placed on existing teachers because their classroom numbers keep growing. Charlotte Schools are responding by hiring more teachers to lower the ratio of teachers to students. After all, the more interaction that a child has with his or her teacher, the better chance for academic success he or she will have.

? High Standards: Charlotte Schools desires to have best schools in the area. They aim to accomplish this goal by remaining uncompromised on their time tested academic standards but ensuring that new teacher hires meet a quality that will be up to the task. The burden of educational accomplishment falls not just at the base of the teachers. It is viewed as a three way contract. Students are expected to be motivated in their education and to learn more as the district expands it’s academic standards instead of contracting them. Administrators will be expected to handle the fiscal responsibility of keeping Charlotte Schools modern while also a desirable place for high quality teachers. Teachers will be expected to develop themselves more professionally, and the entire school will be expected to increase its performance on every level. High standards in Charlotte Schools require that motivated and talented people are putting forth their best effort.

Implementing the Goals of Charlotte Schools

Charlotte Schools need help in implementing their goals. They want parents to provide their children with help he or she needs academically succeed. Such needs include making positive learning environment at home and the encouragement to ask questions about homework or any problem he or she might be facing. In order to achieve high standards, children need their parents. Parents should ensure the child has adequate work space and enough time to finish his or her homework. Most importantly, encourage school attendance. The more he or she attends, the more he or she will learn.

Parents are encouraged to be active within the school district as well. One can see a myriad of volunteer opportunities at their child’s school. Learning is a community event and more should participate in the school system in order to help it run better. Join the PTA. Coach a sport. Get active in children’s education!

Overall, in our Country their seems to be an increasing trend toward placing education further on the back burner in favor of other more interesting things like helping students at home, we’re watching television or surfing the internet with the mentality that learning should only take place at school. This couldn’t be more wrong. Learning in the home begins at birth and into adulthood. If we parents take an active role in their children’s education, efforts like those taking place in the Charlotte Schools will fall well short of their potential.

Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. For more information please visit Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools

Acting Schools

Going to acting schools is definitely not an uplifting or an encouraging experience. A lot of people take children acting classes when they are kids as a way to improve the chances of getting into school plays and to have some fun in a rewarding hobby, but it usually doesn't go any further than that. Acting school is serious business. In an acting class for teens, you will be flooded with praise for the slightest thing you do right. Even if you are a miserable actor with no chance of ever succeeding in anything, it doesn't matter. You could be Keanu Reeves himself, and the teacher would still pretend that you had talent. This is why so many people get involved in theater and film majors later in life ? their childhood drama class coaches tricked them into it.

Acting schools are some of the bleakest places on earth. You see, for actors everything is about appearance ? that is the nature of the trade. Acting schools, for this reason, are truly cutthroat places. Everyone tries to disguise their own imperfections and insecurities, coming across as confident, self-assured, and above the rest. Nonetheless, everyone in acting schools is surrounded by other people like this. This means that, behind the scenes, everyone drowns in there own insecurities. If you are in your early 20s and in acting school, it means that you probably haven't landed any serious roles ? few actors have by this age. Nevertheless, your days as an actor are already numbered. For film acting, you start early or you start never.

I first started taking acting classes in New York a few years ago. I was going through film school at the time, but I was realizing that I didn't want to direct. I simply didn't have it in me. I thought that I would gain more from transferring to a full-time acting school, and I did pretty well in the auditions. I wish I hadn't gotten in in retrospect. Acting schools are the pits. Once you get that first taste of the potential for fame and fortune, it is hard to give up, but this doesn't mean you are going to succeed. Basically, acting schools play with your emotions. There is nothing more glamorous than the famous actor, but there is also nothing more pathetic than a would be actor who has failed. Many fail and few succeed.