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The transition to high school from junior high was challenging for Serina. The schoolwork became more demanding, and her teachers weren’t giving her what she needed . “Starting high school changed my perspective. Everything got harder and nobody tried to understand where I needed the help. The teachers just wanted to get through the class,” said Serina, age 17, who continued to struggle at her previous school. When she first came to Learn4Life, she had no idea what she wanted to do with her...

Have you ever eaten green chicken? Taken cold showers with other people and been locked in a cell 16 hours a day? That was just part of the horror for Ali N., 15 years old and serving time in juvenile hall. He had been running with the wrong crowd and got arrested and sentenced to probation at home. Rather than changing his behavior, he cut off his ankle monitor and went back to getting into trouble. He was re-arrested and had to serve several months in juvenile hall. “It was just horrible,...

It's hard to overstate the disruptive impact the pandemic has had on people. Its effect on mental health is a big one, and for teenagers, that hit particularly hard. Kathleen Ethier knows this well. She leads the Division of Adolescent and School Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which this month published a survey that points to some very grim findings. From January to June 2021, CDC researchers collected data on the behaviors and experiences of 7,705 public and...

The Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona says personal finance lessons should be mandatory in our schools, and we certainly agree. Learn4Life has been teaching financial literacy to its high school students for the past seven years. Currently only 21 states mandate financial classes in high schools and only a few more require them available as elective courses. During Financial Literacy Month, it’s important to note that graduates of high schools with financial education are less likely to...

It was a chance meeting that brought Hayley Rico to Learn4Life. She was 17 years old, taking care of herself and her little brother because their parents who suffered from addiction were unable to properly provide for them. She had been kicked out of school for not attending regularly and was turned away from other schools because she had no permanent address to provide. Hayley happened to be at a community services event, and that evening two staff members from Learn4Life were there to talk...

ncreasingly, workplaces and those in education are trying to familiarize themselves with the term “neurodiversity.” So, what exactly is it -- and why is it becoming a hot topic for many? Below are five key questions in regards to neurodiversity, with insight from Dr. Susanne Bruyere, professor of disability studies in the Industrial Labor Relations School at Cornell University. What is neurodiversity? Neurodiversity is a concept all about differences in the brain, that cause people to...

It has been a pleasure meeting with many of you to learn more about your community and work. Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting with Craig and Dana from Learn4Life. Learn4Life gives students control of their learning! Students enjoy personalized learning through one-on-one attention in a safe, secure learning environment. They currently serve over 60,000 students nationally who are primarily in high school. To learn more about this remarkable cooperative member, you can visit...

Two years ago this month, schools closed their doors in 185 countries. According to UNESCO , roughly 9 out of 10 schoolchildren worldwide were out of school. It would soon be the biggest, longest interruption in schooling since formal education became the norm in wealthier countries in the late 19th century. At the time, I spoke with several experts in the field of research known as "education in emergencies." They gave their predictions for the long-term implications of school closures in...

As many of our nation’s young people returned to school campuses to reconnect with teachers, coaches, and classmates this fall we rejoiced in their voices and comradery from the bus stops, classrooms, and playgrounds. These sounds take on a greater meaning as we reflect on the significant learning and relational losses that the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed on students globally. With the recent declaration from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent...

In 2011, two of us, John Kania and Mark Kramer, published an article in Stanford Social Innovation Review entitled “ Collective Impact .” It quickly became the most downloaded article in the magazine’s history. To date, it has garnered more than one million downloads and 2,400 academic citations. More important, it encouraged many thousands of people around the world to apply the collective impact approach to a broad range of social and environmental problems. Independent evaluations have...

Collective efficacy occurs when teachers in a school believe that, as a team, they have the power to help their students learn more effectively—and this belief is based on their own shared experiences of success. A culture of collective efficacy does not simply happen; it is built intentionally. I have learned this in my work at Lead by Learning , a nonprofit connected with the Mills College School of Education that partners with schools and districts to foster collective efficacy. At the...

Shelley Paul and Jill Gough had heard that doodling while taking notes could help improve memory and concept retention, but as instructional coaches they were reluctant to bring the idea to teachers without trying it out themselves first. To give it a fair shot, Paul tried sketching all her notes from a two-day conference. By the end, her drawings had improved and she was convinced the approach could work for kids, too. “It causes you to listen at a different level,” said Jill Gough,...