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Education Technology

LeBron James Opens STEM-Based School For At-Risk Students In Ohio (sbnation.com) 143

Posted by BeauHD from the first-of-its-kind dept.
NBA superstar LeBron James is opening a new school that many are calling a "game changer." It extends the length of a traditional school day and focuses on teaching a STEM curriculum to students who have a higher probability of failing academically or dropping out of school. An anonymous Slashdot reader shares a report from SB Nation: LeBron James' I Promise School opened Monday to serve low-income and at-risk students in his hometown, and the public school could be an agent of change in the eastern Ohio city. The institution is the intersection of James' philanthropic Family Foundation and the I Promise Network he helped kickstart. I Promise began as an Akron-based non-profit aimed at boosting achievement for younger students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Now the movement has the means to educate these students year-round. I Promise will feature longer school days, a non-traditional school year, and greater access to the school, its facilities, and its teachers during down time for students. That's a formula aimed at replicating some of the at-home support children may be missing when it comes to schoolwork. The school has also anchored its curriculum in math and science-based teaching, dipping into the STEM -- science, technology, engineering, and math -- curriculum that prepares students for the jobs of the future.
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LeBron James Opens STEM-Based School For At-Risk Students In Ohio More

LeBron James Opens STEM-Based School For At-Risk Students In Ohio

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  • What about fixing the student loan risk?

    • Re:What about fixing the student loan risk? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by serviscope_minor ( 664417 ) on Wednesday August 01, 2018 @05:10PM (#57052466) Journal

      oh fuck off

      I dont's think you actually care. All you're doing is shooting off on the internet about how while someone is fixing one problem or doesn't meet your exacting standards because it's not the problem you're currently vaguely thinking about.

      This is what aboutism at it's finest. You contribute absolutely nothing while trying to divert the discussion.

      Pathetic.

      • Wish I had mod points because your post was pretty much what I was thinking. If more people concentrated locally where they can make a difference, then nationally/globally the difference would be seen by everyone. Numb nuts original poster just isn't smart enough to know that.

    • The risk?

      Ok. No more student loans for basket weaving subjects. Not completely fixed, but better, good first step.

      Not what you meant?

      • Ok. No more student loans for basket weaving subjects. Not completely fixed, but better, good first step.

        Does your definition of "basket weaving subjects" include Economics? If not, then you're just being cranky.

        If you really cared about a solution, you'd support free higher education like in civilized countries.

        • Some civilized countries have free education. They also have strict admission and retention standards.

          No nation has both free college and 'college for everyone'.

          Basket weaving subjects are EASY to identify. Find the majors that are (complaining about/defaulting on) student loans the most, defund those.

          • Find the majors that are (complaining about/defaulting on) student loans the most, defund those.

            So, you want to do away with law schools, medical schools, engineering schools and most of the sciences?

            I'm on a college campus practically every single day and deal primarily with graduate students and post-grads. I know very well who is complaining about student loans and who isn't.

            You and I are old, and sometimes forget that when we went to school, it was relatively cheap. I paid for an undergraduate educati

            • Just wrong. Completely backwards. Look at actual stats for loan delinquency, then get back to me.

              • Just wrong. Completely backwards. Look at actual stats for loan delinquency, then get back to me.

                I really don't think you want me to look up those delinquency stats. You've made some assumptions without facts to back them up, old friend.

                First the students most likely to be in default are the ones who borrowed the least

                https://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/0... [cnbc.com]

                Second, the states where there are the highest rates of student indebtedness are South Dakota and West Virginia. Those sound like places where a lot of peopl

    • Your totally right, he should keep his money and do absolutely nothing to help kids who are growing up in a shitty environment.

    • Boy, is this relevant!

      Good job.

      And, while we're at it, let's talk about drug testing all the farmers now that they are on welfare.

      • how many people does your job/skill set feed in a world. US farmers feed the world. What the fuck have you done to contribute to a better living standard across the globe. Nothing, thats what I thought.

        • I was dragging OP by the fucking neck even further down the off-topic dead end street.

          Hopefully, OP got the hint.

          Apparently, you didn't.

          I apologize for my shortcomings.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by coop247 ( 974899 )
      Any student from the school can attend Univ of Akron for free.

  • Noble but misplaced (Score:5, Interesting)

    by TimothyHollins ( 4720957 ) on Wednesday August 01, 2018 @05:09PM (#57052456)

    Honorable, but not quite useful.

    If you want to help, build a school for the unusually gifted. Take those out of regular schools where the pace is low and put them together so they can push each other to greatness.

    Of those that have a higher probability of failing, only a certain percent are failing because of the school itself. Many will be failing due to the situation at home, or simply because they don't have the mental faculties to comprehend. Those that show up will have a wide variety of different needs (some may be physically handicapped, some may be mentally handicapped, some may need therapy or counseling), and trying to put them all in one place is sure to cause further problems. If it's "low-income" students, putting them all together is sure to cause problems with violence, drugs, and bad behavior.

    If you want low-income students to excel, put one or two in classes with mid to high income students so they get inundated with a better culture and attitude instead, that will do far more good.

    • It's his money; he can do what he wants.

      More than a few have lamented the uncounted trillions spent by government trying to make sure every person can handle consumer math before theu drop out, when a fraction of that, spent on schools for the gifted, would yield incalcuable benefit to the nation as a whole -- including the consumer math strugglers.

      But you know, elites and all.

      • Re:Noble but misplaced (Score:4, Interesting)

        by PopeRatzo ( 965947 ) on Wednesday August 01, 2018 @05:37PM (#57052636) Journal

        the uncounted trillions spent by government trying to make sure every person can handle consumer math

        "Uncounted trillions"? Maybe more money should have been spent teaching you numbers and counting.

      • right? I went to magnet schools when I was a kid for science and tech. It's where I learned to program even though my family was generally too poor to own a computer until the early 90s (single mom, nurse, her income went way up around then).

        Those trillions are very well spent. Teaching your most vulnerable math, science and literature means they can think and reason better. You want that, because otherwise they become an easily manipulated and increasingly destitute demographic. Sooner or later they'll

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by h4ck7h3p14n37 ( 926070 )

      Why spend resources on the underachievers when the overachievers can accomplish ten times as much?

      I was in my school district's "gifted" program when I was younger and from what I understand it's pretty common for some people to feel like the gifted kids should fewer resources to help them achieve instead of more. I guess the belief is that you can raise the bottom kids up, but can you?

      I would think it would be better to get poor people to stop having children they can't raise properly than to try to cor

      • I guess the belief is that you can raise the bottom kids up, but can you?

        Yes.

      • Perhaps the extra resources will ensure that those who are underachieving (because of environment rather than a lack of smarts) grow up to be productive members of society rather than burdens. And help their future children to a better future as well. That may be a better way to spend money than focusing on a few gifted kids who will probably do well anyway. I dunno. Maybe we ought to do both. Good education means paying attention to each particular student’s needs and adapting accordingly.

        It

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AHuxley ( 892839 )
          The USA, France and UK have been placing computers and extra funds all over their schools for decades.
          The spending per student would have changed any lack of spending and the "environment" over decades and generations.

          The average test results remained the same after all the changes, computers, funding, books, calculators, internet, laptops, new buildings, more teachers, new teachers.
          If it was "environment" every well funded school would have seen dramatic results and kept great results for decades.
          Lot
          • By “environment” I meant the domestic situation and neighbourhoods these kids are in, rather than the stuff they have at their disposal in the classroom. The kind of factors that make them “at-risk”. These are also factors that are hard to solve just by throwing money at the problem.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by AHuxley ( 892839 )
              Nations have pushed funds into new schools. New ways of teaching.
              The USA has attempted to alter the "neighbourhoods" by moving students to "better" schools.
              The US tried to further education with lunches, music, arts, orchestra and bands.
              Magnet schools, altering school districts. New curriculum ideas and changes to math. Academic tracks.
              The grades stayed the same and all the decades of changes to environment did not seem to work.
      • when they're uneducated. By definition most people are average. They can only do so much. You spend money on those because they're a massive population and when they get desperate an uneducated populace will put a dictator in charge to solve their problems. OTOH if you educate them they'll understand that putting a dictator in charge is not the solution and demand real progress. Or you can ignore them until they turn on you and blame you, the intelligentsia, for their problems.

        TL;DR: Having a large mas

    • Many will be failing due to the situation at home ...

      Hence the longer hours. Low income students often don't learn much outside school, so keeping them in school longer may help.

      If you want low-income students to excel, put one or two in classes with mid to high income students so they get inundated with a better culture and attitude instead, that will do far more good.

      ... until the high income parents realize that their kids are being used by the system in dumbed down classes, and not being appropriately educated for their own sake, and then they will pack up and move to the suburbs.

      • until the high income parents realize that their kids are being used by the system in dumbed down classes, and not being appropriately educated for their own sake, and then they will pack up and move to the suburbs.

        You have that backwards. Things have changed since the '80s, Bill. Now it's poor people who move to the suburbs and the rich people move back into the city.

        • Re:Noble but misplaced (Score:4, Informative)

          by ShanghaiBill ( 739463 ) on Wednesday August 01, 2018 @06:04PM (#57052810)

          When the rich move out of the city, it is called "White flight", which is bad.
          When the rich move into the city, it is called "Gentrification", which is bad.

          • Re: (Score:1, Troll)

            by PopeRatzo ( 965947 )

            When the rich move out of the city, it is called "White flight", which is bad.
            When the rich move into the city, it is called "Gentrification", which is bad.

            I think you may be close to a breakthrough, buddy. You should consider the possibility that rich people are just bad.

            • When the rich move out of the city, it is called "White flight", which is bad.
              When the rich move into the city, it is called "Gentrification", which is bad.

              I think you may be close to a breakthrough, buddy. You should consider the possibility that rich people are just bad.

              -5, Moron.

            • So LeBron James is bad then?

              Bernie Sanders is even in the 1% now. How bad is he in your estimation?

          • When the rich move out of the city, it is called "White flight", which is bad.
            When the rich move into the city, it is called "Gentrification", which is bad.

            +5, Insightful.

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

            When the rich move out of the city, it is called "White flight", which is bad.

            Doesn't this sort of suggest that there is a very strong correlation between being rich and being white? Maybe that's both the reason they leave and the reason it's considered bad.

          • When the rich move out of the city, it is called "White flight", which is bad.

            If you don't think it's bad, look at Detroit and tell me how the city benefited from it.

            When the rich move into the city, it is called "Gentrification", which is bad.

            That's not entirely accurate. Gentrification is when new development raises existing rents such that the people already living there are unable to remain. There are ways for cities to redevelop in such a way that this doesn't happen (for example, by requiring any new developments to have a certain percentage of units that will rent for similar amounts as existing housing), but that does require us to admit that a purel

          • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re: Noble but misplaced (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 01, 2018 @05:38PM (#57052648)

      Sir,

      The schools for rich, well-educated students are already plentiful. James' efforts are more than just noble. The under-privilged by definition normally lack opportunity and access to attend a school like this one. Some may fail but there will be successful students as well. And of those, each one who graduates will be a testiment to the need for a public school like this.

      Everyone who wants it should have access to a good education. It benefits society as well as the student.

      James should be commended.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        The schools for rich, well-educated students are already plentiful.

        Except a lot of gifted kids aren't rich (the vast majority of them in fact). Growing up, I was a gifted poor/working-class kid, My parents couldn't afford to send me to private school and there were no programs for lower-income gifted students. Cruelly, I was actually punished for my academic interest and success. If I had been failing at school, I would have had all kinds of programs and money available to help me. I watched as everyone else got help but me.

        It did have an upside, though. It taught me to le

        • I feel for you, and I've also come to witness the problem from a teacher's perspective. Incidentally, a colleague of mine recently wrote about this problem in the local paper. Besides the usual problem of losing talent, he also worries about gifted students getting frustrated and causing trouble for others. In the extreme, you'll have geniuses turned mass murderers.

          I can understand that level of anger towards the society, as it first asks you to study and work hard, but then punishes you for being too sm

          • ... as it first asks you to study and work hard, but then punishes you for being too smart.

            Well, working hard is not the same thing as being smart. The powers that be want people who work hard but aren't smart. Those are the people who will be happy to do whatever you ask for however little you will pay. People who are smart threaten that paradigm.

      • Also, even if what he is doing is a colossally stupid idea, at least he tried something and failed so that others will be able to learn from this example.

        If the problems of society were so easy to fix that the solutions were obvious, we would not have these problems. Even if this fails, it will provide insights into the next set of solutions.

        Besides, James is using his own money for this. Would anyone complain if he had instead spent it on a huge yacht?

    • Nice Troll (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      "better culture and attitude instead" and racist to boot

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        Lay off, buddy. He dindu nuffin.

        Your virtue signaling won't win you any prizes here. Professor Dr. Ruth Naomi Finklesteinowitz-Cohen doesn't hang out here.

    • lobby Congress and your local state legislatures to stop cutting funding every chance they get. Fight against privatization and protect teachers Unions so good teachers don't get laid off just because their older and their pay's a bit higher. Demand equal funding for public schools. We spend a lot per student if you look at the average but that funding is incredibly disproportionately allocated thanks to how we use property taxes to fund schools.

      Education, like heathcare, is a right.

    • Yo, dude or dudette as may apply.

      Yer plane is inverted.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      As someone who was labeled at-risk and then grew up to get a CS degree and my worst social transgression was a pub intox. I can tell you that nobody is going to give a fair break to these kids just by transplanting them into honors classes across town. I was in gifted programs a few times but each time something would come by to knock me back down.

      In middle school I argued my way into the accelerated algebra program and did good but then in high school they put me back into 7th grade algebra one under th

    • Honorable, but not quite useful.

      It's useful for the kids it helps.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by DRJlaw ( 946416 )

      Honorable, but not quite useful.

      [blah blah blah]

      LeBron James lacks the experience to correctly design and operate school, whereas I myself lack both the experience and the resources to correctly design and operate a school, and am very certain that Mr. James did not hire anyone with the experience to correctly design and operate a school.

      We'll get back to you after due consideration...

  • Sad news. (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    A strong back is a terrible thing to waste.

  • Every town needs one of these (Score:3)

    by Aero77 ( 1242364 ) on Wednesday August 01, 2018 @06:17PM (#57052870)

    From the article:

    How does the I Promise School differ from any other school?

    The school will operate with a longer-than-normal school year, with a focus on accelerated learning to bring kids up to speed who otherwise might be lagging. In addition, there is a focus on combating factors outside of the classroom that could cause children to struggle.

    Services are available to help students deal from stress related to parents who are struggling to make ends meet. In addition there are activities to prevent the kids from having too much idle time and potentially getting into trouble.

    The school also provides services to families, which include job placement assistance for parents and an on-site food bank that will allow parents to pick out foods they can prepare at home.

  • Noble gesture on his part (Score:5, Insightful)

    by erp_consultant ( 2614861 ) on Wednesday August 01, 2018 @06:25PM (#57052918)

    I suppose we could debate how successful it will be but at least he's stepping up and trying to help. Interestingly he opened the school in his home town, not his new digs in LA. In contrast, I don't recall Michael Jordan doing a damn thing for the underprivileged in Brooklyn (his hometown). Magic Johnson? Well, he opened a bunch of restaurants in East LA but this is a for profit venture.

    For the record, I'm not a huge LeBron fan but in this case I think he deserves some credit. He didn't go to college because he was blessed with exceptional sports talent but for the vast, vast majority of these kids there is no sports scholarship in their future. The only way they are getting out of poverty is through education.

    • Good post, better than most of the drivel posted so far.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      There's no reason why you should compare what he's doing against Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson, because certainly he's not there in the same category basketball-achievement-wise, nor in terms of skill. What he's doing here is honorable, but your comment is another textbook example of what-about-ism.

  • Don't they mean 'thanks to all the money give to Lebron James' charity? I believe in giving him plenty of credit, but the 'all thanks to' is a bit much.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      No, because if the money had come from some non-athletic white guy or a corporation or government entity, it would have little chance of really impacting the target demographic. Many at-risk kids aren't going to be too interested in being mocked for going to a special nerd school.

      But when one of the greatest sports heroes the kids know of has his name on it, there is little worry about being mocked for going there to get an education. The potential impact to change lives really is because of him, not just h

  • "...a report from SB Nation" (Score:3)

    by It's the tripnaut! ( 687402 ) on Thursday August 02, 2018 @03:29AM (#57055032) Homepage
    I never would have imagined a post from SB Nation be featured on the front page of Slashdot.

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