I’ve been the Pastor of Olivet Baptist Church, located in the Fifth Ward since 2004. Approximately 10 years ago, our church formed a nonprofit, Olevia Community Development Corporation, to take an active role in our community by developing people, property and resources within the Fifth Ward, a consistently under-resourced minority community since its beginning in …
Continue reading “Fifth Ward Builds a New Library to Fight Illiteracy”
It matters that 60,000+ Houston-area students change schools each year. Here’s what we can do about it. Each school year in the Houston area, more than 60,000 children leave the school they were attending to enter another school. Given that more than 700,000 students are served by Houston-area schools1, the number of children moving may …
Continue reading “Guest Blog: Ending the inertia of student mobility in Houston”
A data-driven look into how the pandemic has affected students in Greater Houston Since March 2020, the world has been coping with the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. For many students, the classroom suddenly became the kitchen table. Their teachers were now little squares on a screen. The learning experience that most students were …
Continue reading “COVID-19’s ongoing effect on students in Greater Houston”
After a year of teaching and living through a pandemic, educator mental health is at risk and yet, at the same time, we desperately need to avoid further school disruptions. Teacher burnout and turnover — already cause for concern long before pandemic life — have increased. An additional 11 percent of teachers say they may …
Continue reading “Caring for Teachers is Caring for Students”
In Houston, Black and Hispanic students on average lag between 3.0 and 3.6 years behind white students, as if they were absent for a quarter of their K-12 schooling.1 Pause here, re-read the previous sentence, and let that sink in for a moment. This problem is compounded by the fact that the groups that lag …
This time of year is typically filled with back-to-school excitement. Students dust off backpacks, pencils and binders from closets. Families flock to retailers to spend hours wandering around the “Back-to-School” sections, all to make sure students are prepared for their first day and beyond. However, this year feels a little strange. “Back-to-school” has had a …
Continue reading “Houston’s Pulse: COVID-19’s Impact on Education”
How research reinforces the importance of high-quality early childhood education. The vitality of Houston depends, in part, on the aptitude of the next generation to achieve success. Houston needs a capable workforce that can handle the challenges of an ever-changing global economy, and the factors that shape the capacity of our future workforce depend on …
Continue reading “Using science and evidence to drive investments in early childhood”
As the keeper of Houston’s citywide education vision, Good Reason Houston is committed to making sure that happens. Good Reason Houston exists for a very simple purpose — to ensure that every child, in every Houston neighborhood, excels in a world-class public school and thrives in the Houston of tomorrow. That means that we must …
Continue reading “Parents Must Shape Public Education in Houston”
Blessy George: Advocate — Early Childhood Educator As a kindergarten teacher in Harris County, Blessy George has had a first-hand view of the impact early childhood education can have on a child’s academic future. “At the end of kindergarten, there are high expectations from the students,” George said. “A lot of times, my struggling students …
Continue reading “Kindergarten teacher, advocate for early childhood education”
