A couple weeks ago I was at an Education Innovation panel in DC (w Harlem Children Zone’s Geoffrey Canada, Harvard Education Innovation Lab Economist Roland Fryer, NYT Mag Editor Paul Tough and CAP Senior Fellow/MNSi Board member, Robert Gordon)
Roland raised one of his central questions – in short, and in general (unrelated to Obama), how do we get kids to believe “Yes, I Can?” This CNN piece from a few days ago addresses one approach:
November 07, 2008
WASHINGTON (CNN): Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis knows how important education is for youth, but what feeds their minds and souls, he says, often lies beyond traditional classroom walls.”The most essential thing for the development of kids and their understanding of the world are those things they do that’s not school-related — just any extracurricular activity,” the Pulitzer Prize winner said. “When you have activities you learn at a young age, you can do whatever you put your mind to!” http://m.cnn.com/cnn/archive/archive/detail/194735/full;jsessionid=2DB118D816941BE55F52C0651888FC3E.live5ib