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The connection initiative
- 1. The Connection Initiative Helpingstudents connect a quality education to their future well-being
- 2. The challenge …Helping students connect education to future finances
- 3. The Data According to an ad placed by the Wall Street Journal, “Information is the new currency,” (December 1, 2011, Wall Street Journal). In this era, information is a marketable commodity, yet many students don’t connect information with money. % Agree % I don’t know % Disagree Money comes from information 35 43 22 I seek out information on my own 44 37 19 I know how to turn information into money 33 41 26 Money comes from information I seek out information on my own I know how to turn information into money Strongly Strongly Strongly Strongly Strongly Strongly Disagree Agree Disagree Agree Agree Disagree 7% 10% 6% 12% 15% 10% Disagree Disagree 13% 15% Disagree Agree Agree 16% 25% Agree 21% Don't Don't 29% Don’t Know Know Know 37% 43% 41%
- 4. Students aren’t aloneis their challenge to connect information with future finances. Is it possible for an English teacher to help a student connect English to money? When the subject of English is viewed as a course, the challenge can be great, but when English is broken down to words and information, those bytes of information can be shown to be of great value. English represents “Conversational and literary Currency,” valuable commodities to anyone seeking advancement. % Agree % I don’t know % Disagree My teachers help me connect information to money 32 43 25 My school environment teaches me how to connect 32 41 27 information to money The adults in my life teach me how to use education 54 26 20 to make money The adults in my life use education to make money 45 34 21 My teachers help me connect My school environment teaches me information to money how to connect information to money Strongly Strongly Strongly Strongly Agree Disagree Agree Disagree 10% 10% 12% 8% Disagree Disagree Agree Agree 17% 17% 22% 20% Don't Don't Know Know 43% 41% The adults in my life teach me how to The adults in my life use education to use education to make money make money Strongly Strongly Strongly Disagree Strongly Disagree Agree 8% Agree 9% 18% Disagree 22% 12% Disagree 12% Don't Know Agree Don't Agree 26% 32% Know 27% 34%
- 5. Despite the enormousamount of positive stimuli students receive verbally about education and their future well-being, ample information to the contrary appears to be making as great or a greater impression on many students. An important amount of students don’t believe they need a quality education to attract money. % Agree % I don’t know % Disagree I don’t need education to make money 23 22 55 I don’t connect school with money, so I don’t see 24 28 48 school work as important I’m not going to use most of the information I learn 28 30 42 in school after I graduate I don’t need education to make money I don’t connect school with money, so I I’m not going to use most of the don’t see school work as important information I learn in school Strongly Strongly after I graduate Agree Agree Strongly 11% Strongly 8% Strongly Agree Disagree Disagree 11% 21% Agree 18% Agree 16% Strongly 12% Agree Disagree 17% 31% Don't Disagree Know Don't Don't Disagree Know Disagree 24% 22% Know 27% 28% 24% 30%
- 6. Many high schoolstudents are still experiencing significant peer pressure related to the subject of being or acting smart. The appearance of being or acting educated is frowned upon in many student/peer circles. Although the subject of “Dumbing down” is widely recognized and frequently discussed in educational forums, an intentional remedy is yet to be implemented. % Agree % I don’t know % Disagree Speaking intelligently is frowned upon amongst 24 38 38 my friends I’m embarrassed to be smart around my friends 24 18 58 I come to school to see my friends 55 25 20 Speaking intelligently is frowned upon I’m embarrassed to be smart around I come to school to see my friends amongst my friends my friends Strongly Strongly Strongly Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Disagree 8% 10% 8% 18% Disagree Agree Strongly Agree Strongly 12% 14% Agree 16% Disagree 27% 36% Don't Don't Don't Know Disagree Know Agree Know Disagree 18% 25% 20% 38% 28% 22% While an overwhelming amount of students agree they go to school to get an education (76%) and that they go to school so they will one day obtain a diploma (73%), many of those same students do not see education as a means to future finances (34%). % Agree % I don’t know % Disagree I come to school so I can get a good education 76 7 17 I come to school so I can one day get a diploma 73 12 15 Graduating from high school will help me attract money 66 18 16 I come to school so I can get a I come to school so I can, one Graduating from high school will good education day, get a diploma help me attract more money Strongly Strongly Strongly Disagree Disagree Disagree 11% 9% Disagree 8% Disagree Disagree 8% 6% 6% Don't Know Don't Strongly Strongly Know Strongly Don't Agree 7% Agree Know Agree 12% Agree 37% Agree 53% 52% 18% 21% 23% Agree 29%
- 7. Proposition The data resultssuggest a significant number of students do not connect education and the acquisition of information to their future financial well-being. The current system of education simply has not caught up with the current era, from which our students function. While education is bundled in courses, and units, the world of the modern day student is comprised of bytes of information. Students recognize how information equals money when shown examples of Facebook billionaire, Mark Zuckerberg, but left to answer the question, “Money comes from information” few, independently, make the connection. Thus, in many instances kids overlook the education process, deeming it a ritual of courses, instead of looking deeper into each unit and recognizing the monetary value inherent in mastering information. The fact so many Americans find themselves in financial disarray may be attributed to an early misunderstanding of how education and the acquisition of information factor into the attraction of wealth. While information is tangible and used in every form of commerce and business, few surveyed understood the connection. True reform should consider the aforementioned disconnect and seek to incorporate strategies that aid students in connecting education and the acquisition of information to future finances. Academic constructs designed to helps students, parents and teachers quantify information should be put in place to counter negative images and advance the true educational idea. Continued research, observation and introduction of information, can assist in determining the positive impact corrective information has on students, and their ability to achieve. By introducing information that impacts critical thinking/problem solving in the area of connecting education and the acquisition of information to future finances, we can then measure its effect on the achievement gap. For more information about the survey or how you and your district can participate, contact Wes Hall at whall8882@aol.com or contact the Institute at 402-612-3944.
- 8. Since 2007 –2012 we partnered with Omaha Public Schools and helped student transform from potential dropouts to high school graduates
- 9. Helping disengaged studentsmake the connection