general statement on education

• Our Mission

What Is Education For?

Read an excerpt from a new book by Sir Ken Robinson and Kate Robinson, which calls for redesigning education for the future.

What is education for? As it happens, people differ sharply on this question. It is what is known as an “essentially contested concept.” Like “democracy” and “justice,” “education” means different things to different people. Various factors can contribute to a person’s understanding of the purpose of education, including their background and circumstances. It is also inflected by how they view related issues such as ethnicity, gender, and social class. Still, not having an agreed-upon definition of education doesn’t mean we can’t discuss it or do anything about it.

We just need to be clear on terms. There are a few terms that are often confused or used interchangeably—“learning,” “education,” “training,” and “school”—but there are important differences between them. Learning is the process of acquiring new skills and understanding. Education is an organized system of learning. Training is a type of education that is focused on learning specific skills. A school is a community of learners: a group that comes together to learn with and from each other. It is vital that we differentiate these terms: children love to learn, they do it naturally; many have a hard time with education, and some have big problems with school.

There are many assumptions of compulsory education. One is that young people need to know, understand, and be able to do certain things that they most likely would not if they were left to their own devices. What these things are and how best to ensure students learn them are complicated and often controversial issues. Another assumption is that compulsory education is a preparation for what will come afterward, like getting a good job or going on to higher education.

So, what does it mean to be educated now? Well, I believe that education should expand our consciousness, capabilities, sensitivities, and cultural understanding. It should enlarge our worldview. As we all live in two worlds—the world within you that exists only because you do, and the world around you—the core purpose of education is to enable students to understand both worlds. In today’s climate, there is also a new and urgent challenge: to provide forms of education that engage young people with the global-economic issues of environmental well-being.

This core purpose of education can be broken down into four basic purposes.

Education should enable young people to engage with the world within them as well as the world around them. In Western cultures, there is a firm distinction between the two worlds, between thinking and feeling, objectivity and subjectivity. This distinction is misguided. There is a deep correlation between our experience of the world around us and how we feel. As we explored in the previous chapters, all individuals have unique strengths and weaknesses, outlooks and personalities. Students do not come in standard physical shapes, nor do their abilities and personalities. They all have their own aptitudes and dispositions and different ways of understanding things. Education is therefore deeply personal. It is about cultivating the minds and hearts of living people. Engaging them as individuals is at the heart of raising achievement.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights emphasizes that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights,” and that “Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.” Many of the deepest problems in current systems of education result from losing sight of this basic principle.

Schools should enable students to understand their own cultures and to respect the diversity of others. There are various definitions of culture, but in this context the most appropriate is “the values and forms of behavior that characterize different social groups.” To put it more bluntly, it is “the way we do things around here.” Education is one of the ways that communities pass on their values from one generation to the next. For some, education is a way of preserving a culture against outside influences. For others, it is a way of promoting cultural tolerance. As the world becomes more crowded and connected, it is becoming more complex culturally. Living respectfully with diversity is not just an ethical choice, it is a practical imperative.

There should be three cultural priorities for schools: to help students understand their own cultures, to understand other cultures, and to promote a sense of cultural tolerance and coexistence. The lives of all communities can be hugely enriched by celebrating their own cultures and the practices and traditions of other cultures.

Education should enable students to become economically responsible and independent. This is one of the reasons governments take such a keen interest in education: they know that an educated workforce is essential to creating economic prosperity. Leaders of the Industrial Revolution knew that education was critical to creating the types of workforce they required, too. But the world of work has changed so profoundly since then, and continues to do so at an ever-quickening pace. We know that many of the jobs of previous decades are disappearing and being rapidly replaced by contemporary counterparts. It is almost impossible to predict the direction of advancing technologies, and where they will take us.

How can schools prepare students to navigate this ever-changing economic landscape? They must connect students with their unique talents and interests, dissolve the division between academic and vocational programs, and foster practical partnerships between schools and the world of work, so that young people can experience working environments as part of their education, not simply when it is time for them to enter the labor market.

Education should enable young people to become active and compassionate citizens. We live in densely woven social systems. The benefits we derive from them depend on our working together to sustain them. The empowerment of individuals has to be balanced by practicing the values and responsibilities of collective life, and of democracy in particular. Our freedoms in democratic societies are not automatic. They come from centuries of struggle against tyranny and autocracy and those who foment sectarianism, hatred, and fear. Those struggles are far from over. As John Dewey observed, “Democracy has to be born anew every generation, and education is its midwife.”

For a democratic society to function, it depends upon the majority of its people to be active within the democratic process. In many democracies, this is increasingly not the case. Schools should engage students in becoming active, and proactive, democratic participants. An academic civics course will scratch the surface, but to nurture a deeply rooted respect for democracy, it is essential to give young people real-life democratic experiences long before they come of age to vote.

Eight Core Competencies

The conventional curriculum is based on a collection of separate subjects. These are prioritized according to beliefs around the limited understanding of intelligence we discussed in the previous chapter, as well as what is deemed to be important later in life. The idea of “subjects” suggests that each subject, whether mathematics, science, art, or language, stands completely separate from all the other subjects. This is problematic. Mathematics, for example, is not defined only by propositional knowledge; it is a combination of types of knowledge, including concepts, processes, and methods as well as propositional knowledge. This is also true of science, art, and languages, and of all other subjects. It is therefore much more useful to focus on the concept of disciplines rather than subjects.

Disciplines are fluid; they constantly merge and collaborate. In focusing on disciplines rather than subjects we can also explore the concept of interdisciplinary learning. This is a much more holistic approach that mirrors real life more closely—it is rare that activities outside of school are as clearly segregated as conventional curriculums suggest. A journalist writing an article, for example, must be able to call upon skills of conversation, deductive reasoning, literacy, and social sciences. A surgeon must understand the academic concept of the patient’s condition, as well as the practical application of the appropriate procedure. At least, we would certainly hope this is the case should we find ourselves being wheeled into surgery.

The concept of disciplines brings us to a better starting point when planning the curriculum, which is to ask what students should know and be able to do as a result of their education. The four purposes above suggest eight core competencies that, if properly integrated into education, will equip students who leave school to engage in the economic, cultural, social, and personal challenges they will inevitably face in their lives. These competencies are curiosity, creativity, criticism, communication, collaboration, compassion, composure, and citizenship. Rather than be triggered by age, they should be interwoven from the beginning of a student’s educational journey and nurtured throughout.

From Imagine If: Creating a Future for Us All by Sir Ken Robinson, Ph.D and Kate Robinson, published by Penguin Books, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright © 2022 by the Estate of Sir Kenneth Robinson and Kate Robinson.

Every learner matters equally: Celebrating and championing inclusion in education

“UNESCO’s focus moves beyond equality and equity, to recognize diversity not as a barrier, but as a vital asset to education and to society as a whole,” said Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, at the official ceremony held at UNESCO Headquarters with some 700 participants present and another 800 joining online.

Over the past three decades,  commitment to inclusive education has grown . In 2015, the international community adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, guided by the promise to leave no one behind, and with an explicit Goal (SDG 4) for inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning. 

This was reinforced by the  Cali Commitment in 2019 which calls for education policies and practices that ensure every learner is valued and diversity is celebrated. 

In 2022, at the Transforming Education Summit, over 140 countries committed to improving education systems to address inclusion, quality, and relevance in education. Of these, 87% have committed to ensuring more inclusive education systems.

While the world has made significant progress, 250 million children and youth are out of school and far too many within school walls are not learning. Many barriers to education persist, linked to race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, language, disability, language and gender.

“We have seen that 30 years ago, because the world came together and made commitments on inclusion, we have a lot more people who are in school now, that could not be in school before. We, in Sierra Leone are proud of what we are doing with radical inclusion. We will stop at nothing until every child, every learner can access the same level of inclusion in education. When you create solutions for radical inclusion, everyone benefits,” said Chief Minister of Sierra Leone, David Moinina Sengeh.

This call was echoed by Mr José Manuel Bar Cendón State Secretary, Ministry of Education, Spain who stated, “in those 30 years we have seen the appearance of new factors, which bring with them certain large risks but also great opportunities. An inclusive model has to go further than dealing with handicap, it must deal with the whole space of vulnerabilities. But all of this costs a lot, but let’s think of the alternative, if we lose the richness of diversity, we will lose values as societies, we will lose the talents of a great part of our society, we will lose opportunities and progress and in particular, the quality of our own education systems. To return to optimism we can do this, we are doing this, but we need conviction, we need resources, and we need a great deal of courage.”

Global Inclusive Schools’ Forum

With the deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals rapidly approaching, the official ceremony and ensuing two-day Global Inclusive Schools’ Forum, concentrated on the need for transformative, bold, and ambitious system change - reimagining physical spaces, teacher training, curricula, assessments, and beyond.

“Inclusion is not a policy but a principle. It is everybody’s job. If you make inclusion a policy it is just one person’s job,” said Mel Ainscow, Emeritus Professor, Education, University of Manchester, United Kingdom, who reminded participants, “that the most difficult barriers to inclusion are the barriers in our mind.” 

Championing inclusive education, musician, songwriter, and neurodiversity advocate J Grange said, “strength lies in difference and not in similarity. We need to move away from this one size fits all education system.” 

Xueli Abbing, Chairperson for the Open Eyes Foundation and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for the Fight Against Racism and Discrimination, called for the meaningful engagement of young people. “The most important thing we have to do is to involve youth. Young people have to be their own advocate and we, as adults, need to make sure that children get a high level of education no matter what their disability.” 

Teachers also need support, but around 40% of countries do not provide teacher training on inclusion. 

Ignas Gaiziunas, Advisor to the Minister of Education, Science and Sports of the Republic of Lithuania, “We need to have specific measures to support teachers to work with children with particular needs. To help teachers develop a mindset that inclusion is possible, provide possibilities to work collaboratively with education specialists in schools, parents, NGO experts who are present in our institutions. Mindset and teamwork.”

During the celebrations UNESCO also called on all the champions for girls’ and women’s education to be nominated for the 2024  UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education which is now open and accepting nominations until 24 May 2024. 

The official celebrations closed with an inspiring performance by Roxane Butterfly, international tap-dance choreographer and her daughter Zuly who make their artistic expertise accessible to all.

• Inclusion in education
• Every learner matters and matters equally: Making education inclusive
• Q&A: How inclusion in education has evolved
• Salamanca anniversary celebrations at UNESCO on 13 March
• Global Inclusive Schools’ Forum at UNESCO 14 – 15 March
• Photos on Flickr  
• Podcast  “Goal 4: Education For All” hosted by Richard Ingram (views are not those of UNESCO)

Related items

• Inclusive education

More on this subject

Other recent news

4 Teaching Philosophy Statement Examples

Develop Your Own Teaching Philosophy

ThoughtCo / J.R. Bee

• Becoming A Teacher
• Assessments & Tests
• Elementary Education
• Secondary Education
• Special Education
• Homeschooling
• M.S., Education, Buffalo State College
• B.S., Education, Buffalo State College

An educational philosophy statement or teaching philosophy statement is a brief essay that all nearly prospective teachers are required to write. Vanderbilt University explains:

"A teaching (philosophy) statement is a purposeful and reflective essay about the author’s teaching beliefs and practices. It is an individual narrative that includes not only one’s beliefs about the teaching and learning process but also concrete examples of the ways in which he or she enacts these beliefs in the classroom."

A well-crafted teaching statement gives a clear and unique portrait of the author as a teacher. Ohio State University's Center for the Advancement of Teaching further explains that a teaching philosophy statement is important because a clear philosophy of teaching can lead to a change in teaching behavior and foster professional and personal growth.

Examples of Teaching Philosophy Statements

This passage is an example of a strong statement of teaching philosophy because it puts students where they belong in education: at the front and center of a teacher's focus. An author who writes such as a statement is likely to continuously examine and verify this philosophy by always ensuring that student needs are the primary focus of all lessons and schoolwork.

"My philosophy of education is that all children are unique and must have a stimulating educational environment where they can grow physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially. It is my desire to create this type of atmosphere where students can meet their full potential. I will provide a safe environment where students are invited to share their ideas and take risks.

"I believe that there are five essential elements that are conducive to learning. (1) The teacher's role is to act as a guide. (2) Students must have access to hands-on activities. (3) Students should be able to have choices and let their curiosity direct their learning. (4) Students need the opportunity to practice skills in a safe environment. (5) Technology must be incorporated into the school day."

The following statement is a good example of a teaching philosophy because the author emphasizes that all classrooms, and indeed all students, are unique and have specific learning needs and styles. A teacher with such a philosophy is likely to ensure that she spends time helping each student achieve her highest potential.

"I believe that all children are unique and have something special that they can bring to their own education. I will assist my students to express themselves and accept themselves for who they are, as well embrace the differences of others.

"Every classroom has its own unique community; my role as the teacher will be to assist each child in developing their own potential and learning styles. I will present a curriculum that will incorporate each different learning style, as well as make the content relevant to the students' lives. I will incorporate hands-on learning, cooperative learning, projects, themes, and individual work that engage and activate students learning." 

This statement provides a solid example because the author emphasizes the moral objective of teaching: that she will hold each student to the highest expectations and ensure that each one is diligent in her studies. Implied in this statement is that the teacher will not give up on even a single recalcitrant student.

"I believe that a teacher is morally obligated to enter the classroom with only the highest of expectations for each and every one of her students. Thus, the teacher maximizes the positive benefits that naturally come along with any self-fulfilling prophecy. With dedication, perseverance, and hard work, her students will rise to the occasion."

"I aim to bring an open mind, a positive attitude, and high expectations to the classroom each day. I believe that I owe it to my students, as well as the community, to bring consistency, diligence, and warmth to my job in the hope that I can ultimately inspire and encourage such traits in the children as well."

The following statement takes a slightly different tack: Classrooms should be warm and caring communities. Unlike the previous statements, this one minimizes the individuality of students and emphasizes that, essentially, it take a village to foster truly community-based learning. All teaching strategies then, such as morning meetings and community problem solving, follow this philosophy.

"I believe that a classroom should be a safe, caring community where children are free to speak their mind and blossom and grow. I will use strategies to ensure our classroom community will flourish, like the morning meeting, positive vs. negative discipline, classroom jobs, and problem-solving skills.

"Teaching is a process of learning from your students, colleagues, parents, and the community. This is a lifelong process where you learn new strategies, new ideas, and new philosophies. Over time, my educational philosophy may change, and that's okay. That just means that I have grown and learned new things."

Components of a Teaching Philosophy Statement

A teaching philosophy statement should include an introduction, body, and conclusion—just as you would expect of your students if they were writing a paper. But there are specific components that you need to include in any such statement:

Introduction: This should be your thesis statement where you discuss your general belief about education (such as: "I believe all students have a right to learn") as well as your ideals in relation to teaching. You should "begin with the end," says James M. Lang in an Aug. 29, 2010, article titled, " 4 Steps to a Memorable Teaching Philosophy " published in "The Chronicle of Higher Education." Lang says you should consider what the students will have learned once they depart your class, after having been guided by your teaching philosophy and strategies.

Body: ​In this part of the statement, discuss what you see as the ideal classroom environment and how it makes you a better teacher, addresses student needs, and facilitates parent/child interactions. Discuss how you would facilitate age-appropriate learning , and how you involve students in the assessment process . Explain how you would put your educational ​​ideals into practice.

Lang says that you should clearly state your goals and objectives for students. Layout specifically what you hope your teaching will help students to accomplish. Be specific by telling a story or offering "a detailed description of an innovative or interesting teaching strategy you have used," says Lang. Doing so, helps your reader understand how your teaching philosophy would play out in the classroom.

Conclusion : In this section, talk about your goals as a teacher, how you have been able to meet them in the past, and how you can build on these to meet future challenges. Focus on your personal approach to pedagogy and classroom management, as well as what makes you unique as an educator, and how you wish to advance your career to further support education.

Lang notes that, while you don't need to use official citation style, you should cite your sources. Explain where your teaching philosophy originated—for example, from your experiences as an undergraduate, from a faculty mentor you worked with during your teacher-training program, or perhaps from books or articles on teaching that had a particular influence on you.

Formatting Your Statement

In addition to considering the type of teaching philosophy to write, Ohio State University offers some general formatting suggestions. The Ohio State University Center for the Advancement of Teaching states:

Statement Format

"There is no required content or set format. There is no right or wrong way to write a philosophy statement, which is why it is so challenging for most people to write one. You may decide to write in prose, use famous quotes, create visuals, use a question/answer format, etc."

There are, however, some general rules to follow when writing a teaching philosophy statement, says the university's teacher-training department:

Keep it brief. The statement should be no more than one to two pages, according to the Ohio State University Center for the Advancement of Teaching.

Use present tense , and write the statement in the first person, as the previous examples illustrate.

Avoid jargon. Use common, everyday language, not "technical terms," the university advises.

Create a "vivid portrait" that includes "strategies and methods ... (to help) your reader take a mental 'peek' into your classroom," adds the Ohio State University Center for the Advancement of Teaching.

Additionally, make sure you talk about " your  experiences and  your  beliefs" and ensure your statement is original and truly describes the methods and philosophy you would employ in teaching, the university adds.

• How to Write a Philosophy of Education for Elementary Teachers
• 10 Questions to Ask Yourself to Design Your Educational Philosophy
• Educational Philosophy Basics
• Top Tips for Acing a Teacher Interview
• How to Write a Homeschooling Philosophy Statement
• Teacher Interview Questions and Suggested Answers
• Strategies for Teachers: The Power of Preparation and Planning
• 5 Keys to Being a Successful Teacher
• The Inclusive Classroom as the Best Placement
• 4 Tips for Effective Classroom Management
• Sample Weak Supplemental Essay for Duke University
• The ABCs of Teaching: Affirmations for Teachers
• Topics for a Lesson Plan Template
• How to Set up Your Classroom for the First Day of School
• Why Teaching is Fun
• How Does Montessori Compare With Waldorf?

Essay on Education for School Students and Children

500+ words essay on education.

Education is an important tool which is very useful in everybody’s life. Education is what differentiates us from other living beings on earth. It makes man the smartest creature on earth. It empowers humans and gets them ready to face challenges of life efficiently. With that being said, education still remains a luxury and not a necessity in our country. Educational awareness needs to be spread through the country to make education accessible. But, this remains incomplete without first analyzing the importance of education. Only when the people realize what significance it holds, can they consider it a necessity for a good life. In this essay on Education, we will see the importance of education and how it is a doorway to success.

Importance of Education

Education is the most significant tool in eliminating poverty and unemployment . Moreover, it enhances the commercial scenario and benefits the country overall. So, the higher the level of education in a country, the better the chances of development are.

In addition, this education also benefits an individual in various ways. It helps a person take a better and informed decision with the use of their knowledge. This increases the success rate of a person in life.

Subsequently, education is also responsible for providing with an enhanced lifestyle. It gives you career opportunities that can increase your quality of life.

Similarly, education also helps in making a person independent. When one is educated enough, they won’t have to depend on anyone else for their livelihood. They will be self-sufficient to earn for themselves and lead a good life.

Above all, education also enhances the self-confidence of a person and makes them certain of things in life. When we talk from the countries viewpoint, even then education plays a significant role. Educated people vote for the better candidate of the country. This ensures the development and growth of a nation.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Doorway to Success

To say that education is your doorway to success would be an understatement. It serves as the key which will unlock numerous doors that will lead to success. This will, in turn, help you build a better life for yourself.

An educated person has a lot of job opportunities waiting for them on the other side of the door. They can choose from a variety of options and not be obligated to do something they dislike. Most importantly, education impacts our perception positively. It helps us choose the right path and look at things from various viewpoints rather than just one.

With education, you can enhance your productivity and complete a task better in comparison to an uneducated person. However, one must always ensure that education solely does not ensure success.

It is a doorway to success which requires hard work, dedication and more after which can you open it successfully. All of these things together will make you successful in life.

In conclusion, education makes you a better person and teaches you various skills. It enhances your intellect and the ability to make rational decisions. It enhances the individual growth of a person.

Education also improves the economic growth of a country . Above all, it aids in building a better society for the citizens of a country. It helps to destroy the darkness of ignorance and bring light to the world.

FAQs on Education

Q.1 Why is Education Important?

A.1 Education is important because it is responsible for the overall development of a person. It helps you acquire skills which are necessary for becoming successful in life.

Q.2 How does Education serve as a Doorway to Success?

A.2 Education is a doorway to success because it offers you job opportunities. Furthermore, it changes our perception of life and makes it better.

Customize your course in 30 seconds

Which class are you in.

• Travelling Essay
• Picnic Essay
• Our Country Essay
• My Parents Essay
• Essay on Favourite Personality
• Essay on Memorable Day of My Life
• Essay on Knowledge is Power
• Essay on Gurpurab
• Essay on My Favourite Season
• Essay on Types of Sports

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Download the App

Center for Teaching

Teaching statements.

Print Version

• What is a teaching statement?
• What purposes does the teaching statement serve?
• What does a teaching statement include?

General Guidelines

• Reflection questions to help get you started
• Exercises to help get you started
• Evaluating your teaching statement
• Further resources

What is a Teaching Statement?

A Teaching Statement is a purposeful and reflective essay about the author’s teaching beliefs and practices. It is an individual narrative that includes not only one’s beliefs about the teaching and learning process, but also concrete examples of the ways in which he or she enacts these beliefs in the classroom. At its best, a Teaching Statement gives a clear and unique portrait of the author as a teacher, avoiding generic or empty philosophical statements about teaching.

What Purposes does the Teaching Statement Serve?

The Teaching Statement can be used for personal, professional, or pedagogical purposes. While Teaching Statements are becoming an increasingly important part of the hiring and tenure processes, they are also effective exercises in helping one clearly and coherently conceptualize his or her approaches to and experiences of teaching and learning. As Nancy Van Note Chism, Professor Emerita of Education at IUPUI observes, “The act of taking time to consider one’s goals, actions, and vision provides an opportunity for development that can be personally and professionally enriching. Reviewing and revising former statements of teaching philosophy can help teachers to reflect on their growth and renew their dedication to the goals and values that they hold.”

What does a Teaching Statement Include?

A Teaching Statement can address any or all of the following:

• Your conception of how learning occurs
• A description of how your teaching facilitates student learning
• A reflection of why you teach the way you do
• The goals you have for yourself and for your students
• How your teaching enacts your beliefs and goals
• What, for you , constitutes evidence of student learning
• The ways in which you create an inclusive learning environment
• Your interests in new techniques, activities, and types of learning

“If at all possible, your statement should enable the reader to imagine you in the classroom, teaching. You want to include sufficient information for picturing not only you in the process of teaching, but also your class in the process of learning.” – Helen G. Grundman, Writing a Teaching Philosophy Statement

• Make your Teaching Statement brief and well written . While Teaching Statements are probably longer at the tenure level (i.e. 3-5 pages or more), for hiring purposes they are typically 1-2 pages in length.
• Use narrative , first-person approach. This allows the Teaching Statement to be both personal and reflective.
• Be sincere and unique. Avoid clichés, especially ones about how much passion you have for teaching.
• Make it specific rather than abstract. Ground your ideas in 1-2 concrete examples , whether experienced or anticipated. This will help the reader to better visualize you in the classroom.
• Be discipline specific . Do not ignore your research. Explain how you advance your field through teaching.
• Avoid jargon and technical terms, as they can be off-putting to some readers. Try not to simply repeat what is in your CV. Teaching Statements are not exhaustive documents and should be used to complement other materials for the hiring or tenure processes.
• Be humble . Mention students in an enthusiastic, not condescending way, and illustrate your willingness to learn from your students and colleagues.
• Revise . Teaching is an evolving, reflective process, and Teaching Statements can be adapted and changed as necessary.

Reflection Questions To Help You Get You Started:*

• Why do you teach the way you do?
• What should students expect of you as a teacher?
• What is a method of teaching you rely on frequently? Why don’t you use a different method?
• What do you want students to learn? How do you know your goals for students are being met?
• What should your students be able to know or do as a result of taking your class?
• How can your teaching facilitate student learning?
• How do you as a teacher create an engaging or enriching learning environment?
• What specific activities or exercises do you use to engage your students? What do you want your students to learn from these activities?
• How has your thinking about teaching changed over time? Why?

* These questions and exercises are meant to be tools to help you begin reflecting on your beliefs and ideas as a teacher. No single Teaching Statement can contain the answers to all or most of these inquiries and activities.

Exercises to Help You Get You Started:*

• The Teaching Portfolio , including a section on teaching statements, Duquesne University Center for Teaching Excellence. This website includes five effective exercises to help you begin the writing process
• Teaching Goals Inventory , by Thomas A. Angelo and K. Patricia Cross and their book Classroom Assessment Techniques . This “quiz” helps you to identify or create your teaching and learning goals.

Evaluating Your Teaching Statement

Writing A Statement Of Teaching Philosophy For The Academic Job Search (opens as a PDF), The Center for Research on Learning and Teaching at the University of Michigan.

This report includes a useful rubric for evaluating teaching philosophy statements. The design of the rubric was informed by experience with hundreds of teaching philosophies, as well as surveys of search committees on what they considered successful and unsuccessful components of job applicants’ teaching philosophies.

Further Resources:

General information on and guidelines for writing teaching statements.

• Writing a Philosophy of Teaching Statement , Faculty and TA Development at The Ohio State University. This site provides an in-depth guide to teaching statements, including the definition of and purposes for a teaching statement, general formatting suggestions, and a self-reflective guide to writing a teaching statement.
• Writing a Teaching Philosophy Statement , Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Iowa State University. This document looks at four major components of a teaching statement, which have been divided into questions—specifically, to what end? By what means? To what degree? And why? Each question is sufficiently elaborated, offering a sort of scaffolding for preparing one’s own teaching statement.
• Writing a Meaningful Statement of Teaching Philosophy , McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning at Princeton University. This website offers strategies for preparing and formatting your teaching statement.

Articles about Teaching Statements

• Grundman, Helen (2006). Writing a Teaching Philosophy Statement (opens as a PDF), Notices of the AMS , Vol. 53, No. 11, p. 1329.
• Montell, Gabriela (2003). How to Write a Statement of Teaching Philosophy , from the Chronicle Manage Your Career section of the Chronicle of Higher Education .
• Montell, Gabriela (2003). What’s Your Philosophy on Teaching, and Does it Matter? , from the Chronicle Manage Your Career section of the Chronicle of Higher Education .

Teaching Guides

• Online Course Development Resources
• Principles & Frameworks
• Pedagogies & Strategies
• Reflecting & Assessing
• Challenges & Opportunities
• Populations & Contexts

Quick Links

• Services for Departments and Schools
• Examples of Online Instructional Modules

Education transformation needed for ‘inclusive, just and peaceful world’ – UN chief

Facebook Twitter Print Email

Education has been Secretary-General António Guterres’ “guide and touchstone,” he said on Monday, the final day of the Transforming Education Summit , warning that it is in “a deep crisis”.  

“I regard myself as a lifelong student…Without education, where would I be? Where would any of us be?”, he asked those gathered in the iconic Generally Assembly Hall.  

It’s simple: Education systems today simply don’t make the grade.At the #TransformingEducation Summit, I urged world leaders to find & support solutions to ensure everyone can learn, thrive & dream throughout their lives. pic.twitter.com/gv6lMBK5II António Guterres antonioguterres

Because education transforms lives, economies and societies, “we must transform education”.  

Downward spiral 

Instead of being the great enabler, the UN chief pointed out that education is fast becoming “a great divider ”, noting that some 70 per cent of 10-year-olds in poor countries are unable to read and are “barely learning”. 

With access to the best resources, schools and universities, the rich get the best jobs, while the poor – especially girls – displaced people, and students with disabilities, face huge obstacles to getting the qualifications that could change their lives, he continued.  

Meanwhile, COVID-19 has “dealt a hammer blow to progress on SDG4 ”, the Sustainable Development Goal targeting equitable quality education. 

“But the education crisis began long before – and runs much deeper”, Mr Guterres added, citing the International Commission on the Future of Education report card, which clearly stated: “Education systems don’t make the grade”.  

Failing grade

Dependent upon outdated and narrow curricula, under-trained and underpaid teachers, and rote learning, he maintained that “ education is failing students and societies ”.

At the same time, the digital divide penalizes poor students as the education financing gap “yawns wider than ever” .  

“Now is the time to transform education systems”, underscored the UN chief.

21st century vision

With a new 21st century education vision taking shape, he flagged that quality learning must support the development of the individual learner throughout their life .

“It must help people learn how to learn, with a focus on problem-solving and collaboration…provide the foundations for learning, from reading, writing and mathematics to scientific, digital, social and emotional skills…develop students’ capacity to adapt to the rapidly changing world of work…[and] be accessible to all from the earliest stages and throughout their lives”.

At a time of rampant misinformation, climate denial and attacks on human rights, Mr. Guterres stressed the need for education systems that “distinguish fact from conspiracy, instill respect for science, and celebrate humanity in all its diversity”.

From vision to reality

To make the vision a reality, he highlighted five commitment areas beginning with protecting the right to quality education for everyone, everywhere – especially girls and those in crisis hotspots.

Emphasizing that schools must be open to all, without discrimination, he appealed to the Taliban in Afghanistan: “Lift all restrictions on girls’ access to secondary education immediately”.

As “the lifeblood of education systems,” Mr. Guterres next called for a new focus on the roles and skillsets of teachers to facilitate and promote learning rather than merely transmitting answers.

Third, he advocated for schools to become “safe, healthy spaces, with no place for violence, stigma or intimidation”.

To achieve the fourth target, that the digital revolution benefits all learners, he encouraged governments to work with private sector partners to boost digital learning content.

This is what war does to children’s education. At today’s #TransformingEducation Summit, @ UNICEF is calling on governments to scale up support to help every child learn, wherever they are. #LetMeLearn #UNGA pic.twitter.com/a1fAjOk5O1 Catherine Russell unicefchief

Financial solidarity

“None of this will be possible without a surge in education financing and global solidarity”, said the UN chief, introducing his final priority.

He urged countries to protect education budgets and funnel education spending into learning resources.  

“ Education financing must be the number one priority for Governments . It is the single most important investment any country can make in its people and its future,” spelled out the Secretary-General. “Spending and policy advice should be aligned with delivering quality education for all”.

‘Global movement’

In closing, he stated that the Transforming Education Summit will only achieve its global goals by mobilizing “a global movement”.

“Let’s move forward together, so that everyone can learn, thrive and dream throughout their lives. Let’s make sure today’s learners and future generations can access the education they need, to create a more sustainable, inclusive, just and peaceful world for all”.

War, sickness, economic development

Catherine Russell, who heads the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) drew attention to the effect of war on children’s education, calling on governments to “scale up support to help every child learn, wherever they are”.

Winnie Byanyima , Executive Director of UNAIDS , highlighted the devastating impact of HIV on adolescent girls and young women in Africa, informing the participants that in sub-Saharan Africa last year, 4,000 girls had been infected every week .

“This is a crisis!” she said. “Because when a girl is infected at that early age, there’s no cure for HIV, that marks the rest of their lives, their opportunities”.

She told the summit that 12 African countries have now committed to Education Plus , a bold initiative to prevent HIV infections through free universal, quality secondary education for all girls and boys in Africa, reinforced through comprehensive empowerment programmes.

Audrey Azoulay, leader of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO ) reminded that “there can be no economic development and no peace without education,” and underscored that Afghan girls must be able to go back to school. “It is their right”, she upheld. Watch here deliver her address here .

Other luminaries

Other distinguished speakers included UN Messenger of Peace Malala Yousafzai who called on world leaders to make schools safe for girls and protect every child's right to learn, saying that “if you are serious about creating a safe and sustainable future for children, then be serious about education”.

Somaya Faruqi, former Captain of the Afghan Girls Robotics Team avowed that every girl has a right to learn, asserting that “while our cousins and brothers sit in classrooms, me and many other girls are forced to put our dreams on hold. Every girl belongs in school ”.

Newly announced UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Vanessa Nakate, stressed the need to for all children to have access to education, as “their future depends on it”. Watch her address here .

Another highlight was a stirring musical performance by UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Angelique Kidjo, who encouraged everyone to raise their voice for transforming education.

130 countries pledge education reboot

Later in the afternoon, it was announced that more than 130 countries attending the summit, have committed to rebooting their education systems and accelerating action to end the learning crisis 

The commitments came after 115 national consultations that brought together leaders, teachers, students, civil society and other partners to gather collective recommendations on the most urgent asks.

Nearly half of the countries prioritized measures to address ​learning loss, while a third of countries committed to supporting the psycho-social well-being of both students and teachers .​ Two in three countries ​also referenced measures to offset the direct and indirect costs of education for​ economically vulnerable communities, and 75% of countries underlined the importance of ​gender-sensitive education policies in their commitments.

These statements underscored the role of education in achieving all the SDGs and linkages with the climate crises, conflict and poverty. Measures addressed COVID-19 recovery and getting back on track on the SDGs, while emphasizing the need for innovations in education to prepare the learners of today for a rapidly changing world.

• Skip to main content

U.S. Department of Education

Overview and Mission Statement

ED's mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.

ED was created in 1980 by combining offices from several federal agencies. ED's 4,400 employees and $68 billion budget are dedicated to:

• Establishing policies on federal financial aid for education, and distributing as well as monitoring those funds.
• Collecting data on America's schools and disseminating research.
• Focusing national attention on key educational issues.
• Prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal access to education.
• General Contacts
• State Contacts

Organization

• Boards and Commissions
• Privacy Program
• Senior Staff Bios
• Political Appointees

Budget and Performance

• FY 2024 President's Budget Request
• Budget Tables
• Annual Reports
• Strategic Plan
• The Federal Role in Education
• An Overview of the U.S. Department of Education
• ED Initiatives
• ED Programs
• Recursos en español

How Do I Find...

• Student loans, forgiveness
• College accreditation
• Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
• 1098, tax forms

Information About...

• Elevating Teaching
• Early Learning
• Engage Every Student
• Unlocking Career Success
• Cybersecurity

Student Loans

Grants & Programs

Laws & Guidance

Data & Research

• Privacy Policy
• Accessibility
• Information quality
• Inspector General
• Whitehouse.gov
• Benefits.gov
• Regulations.gov

• Secretary-General
• Statements and Messages

Transforming Education Essential to Unlocking Safer, More Equal, Peaceful Future, Secretary-General Says in Message for Paris Summit

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the Transforming Education Pre-Summit, in Paris today:

Education is a fundamental human right, central to the dignity and empowerment of individuals, to driving sustainable development, and to building peace.  Any solution to the world’s problems starts with education, the greatest tool we have to fulfil and grow human potential.

Our world is facing a multitude of crises, from the COVID-19 pandemic to climate catastrophe; from increased conflict to rising debt and unequal access to resources for recovery.  Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals has been derailed.  People’s trust in Governments and institutions is being undermined.

My report on Our Common Agenda set out the choice facing us:  between a breakdown scenario of growing tensions, environmental degradation, climate chaos and instability; and a breakthrough towards a safer, more equal and peaceful future.  The transformation of education is essential to unlock that breakthrough.

This Pre-Summit is our chance to build momentum and generate ideas to set out a new path for education at the Transforming Education Summit in September.  A path that delivers new political commitment to action.  A path that places education at the heart of sustainable, inclusive, resilient economies and societies.

Today, in developing and developed countries alike, many education systems are in deep crisis.  First, this is a crisis of equity.  Over 258 million children are out of school, the majority of them girls.  And education experiences and results are profoundly affected by displacement, disability, income, geography, race and gender.  A public good that has long been seen as the great equalizer now risks becoming the great divider.

Second, this is a crisis of quality.  Too many students in school are not learning foundational skills.  Half of all 10-year-old students in low- and middle-income countries are unable to read a basic text.  A damning statistic that is deteriorating further because of the pandemic.

And third, this is a crisis of relevance.  Today’s education systems are often stuck in the past.  Outdated curricula, outdated teacher training, and outdated teaching methods leave students without the skills to navigate today’s fast-changing world; to deal with the digital revolution; to thrive in a rapidly changing labour market; to respond to the climate crisis; to live in harmony with themselves and each other; and to contribute to nation-building and strengthening democratic societies.  Any country that is not actively conducting a root and branch overhaul of their education systems today risks being left behind tomorrow.

The Transforming Education Summit must be a turning point — gathering Heads of State to lay out in crystal clear terms their promise and their plans to fundamentally transform education for the future.  This Pre-Summit is an essential moment on the road to September.  It must identify the key elements of a new learning path; the solidarity and solutions that can make that path a reality; and the work needed over the coming months.

I urge you to focus on six critical areas:  First, achieving the basics for all students, through education systems that are truly inclusive and equitable.  Second, shifting to models and systems that support lifelong learning and skills for the future of work.  Third, learning to live in peace with each other and with our planet.

Fourth, embracing a culture of collaborative problem-solving and learning how to learn.  Fifth, ensuring the digital transformation of education reduces inequalities and protects learning resources as a global public good.  And sixth, boosting both domestic and international investment in education, including through the International Financing Facility for Education.

I thank all our partners for working to make the most of this opportunity, particularly our hosts, UNESCO [United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization].

I urge you to make full use of this meeting, and the very few months ahead, to generate momentum and commitment so that the Transforming Education Summit is a breakthrough for learners and for societies.  Thank you.

Facebook Twitter Email Print LinkedIn

Did John D. Rockefeller Say 'I Don't Want A Nation Of Thinkers, I Want A Nation Of Workers'?

The quote was first attributed to rockefeller by a ufo conspiracy theorist in a 2006 documentary., alex kasprak, published july 7, 2023.

About this rating

A quote attributed to John D. Rockefeller — patriarch of the Rockefeller political dynasty and former richest man on Earth — is often used as an example of how the "elites" view the public education — as a way to create more workers in the furtherance of capitalism and the preservation of their status:

"I don't want a nation of thinkers, I want a nation of workers." — John D. Rockefeller pic.twitter.com/MNFVLQy7Hp — Mike Oxbig (@RobotPolisher) June 8, 2023

Rockefeller donated millions of dollars to further public education in America, and had strong views about how educational charities should function. He created his own charity, the General Education Board (GEB) in 1903. The charity shut down operations in 1964.  As described by the Rockefeller Center:

The General Education Board (GEB) was devoted to the cause of improving education throughout the United States. Its efforts included a number of key initiatives focusing on public education in the South and the improvement of medical education. The GEB was incorporated in 1903 to foster "the promotion of education within the United States of America, without distinction of race, sex, or creed. John D. Rockefeller, Sr., (JDR Sr.) made an initial commitment of $1 million to the organization, but his contributions quickly grew to $43 million by 1907. The total of these donations marked, at the time, the largest gift to a philanthropic organization in the history of the United States.

The GEB had faced persistent allegations that it unfairly pushed poor and minority students toward vocational schooling, limiting their upward mobility, as described in a 1992 history of the organization:

The GEB is known for its expenditures that rescued schools from desperate circumstances. Yet the programs that they recommended time and again advocated vocational offerings for students who would not attend college.  Again, the problem is not with opening doors to poor children, as the philanthropists viewed their donations, but with closing doors to any other area a student might choose to pursue; it is with the belief that a student's lot was known and that there the future lay. The GEB continued their influences beyond their first 20 years. but much of the foundation for vocational education, for training to specific ends, was laid within this very short period of time.

The alleged quote about wanting workers, not thinkers, broadly fits within that characterization of the GEB. There is, however, no evidence Rockefeller or anybody else associated with the GEB said it. 

The earliest reference to quote, as far as Snopes can identify, stems from a 2006 documentary, One Nation Under Siege, whose experts included a wide variety of conspiracy theorists, including the now-famous anti-vaccine activist Sherri Tenpenny . As described on the films' website:

One Nation Under Siege presents disturbing facts never before disclosed to a majority of the sleeping American public.  Through the research of over a dozen internationally distinguished authors, journalists, physicians, and ex-military — you will begin to understand the massive and ceaseless control projected onto an unsuspecting populace by a government that seems to have questionable motives and mendacious answers. 

One of the main experts in the documentary — JFK and UFO conspiracy theorist Jim Marrs —  attributed the quote in question to Rockefeller. That quote also appears on the film's website:

John D. Rockefeller, I think, voiced the beliefs of this ruling elite that wants to try to homogenize our education system when he was quoted as saying 'I don't want a nation of thinkers - I want a nation of workers'.   So I think the education system is not only pushing people into a socialized version of government, but also dumbing the individual down to the point to where he'll be a good worker in the factory or he'll be a good worker in silicon valley - he may know a lot about computers, but he is not gonna' have a classic education that would allow him to take all of the facets of the culture and society and put it together and really form an intelligent opinion as to to what's going on and what might be in the best interest of the individual.

Snopes has not located any earlier formulation of this quote, which Marrs "thinks" Rockefeller said. The alleged statement does, however, sound like a poor paraphrase of statements made by Rockefeller advisor Frederick Taylor Gates. Gates was instrumental in the founding and operation of the of the GEB and described its philosophy this way in his 1916 book "The Country School of Tomorrow":

We shall not try to make these people or any of their children into philosophers or men of learning, or men of science. We have not to raise up from among them authors, editors, poets or men of letters. We shall not search for […] great artists, painters, musicians nor lawyers, doctors, preachers, politicians, statesmen, of whom we have an ample supply… The task we set before ourselves is very simple as well as a very beautiful one, to train these people as we find them to a perfectly ideal life just where they are… So we will organize our children into a little community and teach them to do in a perfect way the things their fathers and mothers are doing in an imperfect way, in the homes, in the shops and on the farm.

While this is in line with the sentiment attributed to Rockefeller and was in line with his own views on education, it was authored by another individual. As such, there is no proof that Rockefeller ever used those words. 

All evidence points to this quote as being poorly paraphrased and misattributed. However, Snopes is unable to definitively debunk the assertion that Rockefeller once said these words. As such, the claim remains Unproven. 

Flemming, Louise, and Rita Saslaw. Rockefeller and General Education Board Influences on Vocationalism in Education, 1880-1925. 1991, https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED349475.pdf.

"F.T. GATES DEAD; ROCKEFELLER AIDE; Was Confidential Adviser and Almoner to John D., Sr., for a Generation. STRICKEN ON ARIZONA VISIT Former Head of General Education Board--"Architect" of the Rockefeller Charities. His Meeting With Rockefeller. Was on Thirteen Boards." The New York Times. TimesMachine, http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp://arch-timesmachine-fe-prd-40741-2-575473780.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com/timesmachine/1929/02/07/95877097.html?pageNumber=22. Accessed 7 July 2023.

Gates, Frederick Taylor. The Country School of To-Morrow. New York, 1916. Internet Archive, http://archive.org/details/countryschoolof00gate.

One Nation Under Siege - A William Lewis Film. https://undersiegemovie.com/moreinfo.html. Accessed 7 July 2023.

Rockefeller, John Davison. Random Reminiscences of Men and Events. Doubleday, Page, 1913.

"Without Distinction of Race, Sex, or Creed': The General Education Board, 1903-1964." Rockarch, https://resource.rockarch.org/story/the-general-education-board-1903-1964/. Accessed 7 July 2023.  

By Alex Kasprak

Alex Kasprak is an investigative journalist and science writer reporting on scientific misinformation, online fraud, and financial crime.

“Without Distinction of Race, Sex, or Creed”: The General Education Board, 1903-1964

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on X (Opens in new window)

The General Education Board

The General Education Board (GEB) was devoted to the cause of improving education throughout the United States. Its efforts included a number of key initiatives focusing on public education in the South and the improvement of medical education.

The GEB was incorporated in 1903 to foster “the promotion of education within the United States of America, without distinction of race, sex, or creed.” “General Education Board: Purpose and Program,” Rockefeller Archive Center (RAC), Family Records, Rockefeller Boards, GEB, III 2 O, Box 15, Folder 145. John D. Rockefeller, Sr., (JDR Sr.) made an initial commitment of $1 million to the organization, but his contributions quickly grew to $43 million by 1907. The total of these donations marked, at the time, the largest gift to a philanthropic organization in the history of the United States.

Early Efforts in Agriculture

Agriculture was one of the earliest concerns of the Rockefeller philanthropies. The General Education Board, established to improve education in the southern United States, quickly realized that better farming practices were the key to better schools. Its strategy was to increase crop yield, thereby raising farm incomes and building a stronger tax base to help fund public education.

From 1906 to 1914, GEB field agents collaborated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to create over 100,000 demonstration farms promoting “scientific agriculture” across the South. They identified each community’s best farmers and persuaded them to dedicate a portion of their land to new types of seed and fertilizer and adopt modern techniques of crop rotation, furrowing, and soil conservation. Higher yields (and profits) then did the rest of the work, as word spread from farmer to farmer.

The GEB’s goals, however, aimed higher than improved farms and schools. The Board sought to modernize the agrarian South. Higher crop yields guaranteed the constant flow of agricultural products that Northern industry demanded. Higher incomes, in turn, meant farm families would buy more goods. And farmers themselves became a new market: they now needed industrially produced fertilizers, better machines, and expert consultation.

A wide range of GEB social and cultural programs remade rural life from top to bottom. Night classes in local school districts used demonstration pamphlets to teach adult literacy and reinforce the benefits of a scientific approach to agriculture. Corn and poultry clubs for young people fostered a future generation of scientifically inclined, business-minded farmers. Their young members then carried the concepts of efficiency and rational management back into family life after attending lessons on household budgeting, modern canning techniques, and domestic science. Summer institutes for farm families at agricultural colleges drew rural people into a regional institutional web. On multiple fronts, GEB programs encouraged farmers to re-conceptualize agriculture as a business enterprise.

The modernizing impulse first evidenced in the GEB’s work reappeared time and again in Rockefeller Foundation (RF) agriculture programs. From rural reconstruction in China in the 1930s to the “Green Revolution” in Latin America and Southeast Asia in the 1960s, RF programs displayed the basic goals and methods of the GEB. Each program, in its own way, sought to integrate impoverished, small-hold farmers into world markets. Each program attempted to transform not only the economy, but also the customs and culture of rural societies. And each employed the basic methods developed in the GEB’s earliest years: demonstration, specialized training, and the introduction of scientific management principles.

The Racial Divide

The first project undertaken by the GEB sent agents across the South to survey and report on conditions in all schools, for both Black and White students. Agent W.T.B. Williams wrote exceedingly honest narratives of the conditions he encountered. Williams reported on overcrowded and dilapidated schoolhouses and underpaid teachers and commented extensively on the racial divide. Williams wrote from North Carolina, “There is in fact but little interest in negro education among the whites, I am led to believe, save in the cases of the very best elements, who are sadly in the minority.” W.T.B. Williams to Dr. Wallace Buttrick, January 19, 1904, RAC, GEB, Series 1.2, Box 200, Folder 1899. In 1907 Williams lobbied for increased support of Black Colleges, noting that they had received “…little or no assistance from the General Education Board for advancing their college work.” W.T.B. Williams to Dr. Wallace Buttrick, May 22, 1907, RAC, GEB, Series 1.2, Box 200, Folder 1898. In 1916 a GEB Committee on Negro Education recommended increased support for higher education in the African-American community, and a few years later the GEB launched a funding campaign in support of Black Colleges in the South.

Funding Through Farming

The GEB also sought to create publicly funded school systems throughout the South. To persuade local populations that public schools were necessary, the GEB relied on a number of methods, including what came to be known as “circuit riders.” Circuit riders were professors hired as Chairs of Education by state universities but paid for by the GEB. They traveled across the region extolling the benefits of public education and lobbying local governments to raise taxes to pay for it.

Wallace Buttrick, Secretary of the GEB, understood that it was necessary not only to sell the idea of public education, but also to create the economic conditions to support such a system. Large portions of the South were poverty-stricken and rural, and many places had failed to recover from the economic devastation of the Civil War. These rural areas were populated largely by poor white tenant farmers and even poorer African-American farmers. Buttrick believed that the key to funding public education lay in stimulating the agricultural economy in order to create a viable tax base. To aid in agricultural development, Buttrick turned to Seaman Knapp of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Knapp adhered to the idea of “scientific agriculture.” He favored the use of farm demonstrations to teach farmers about new agricultural techniques and products. While Knapp had been using demonstrations to fight the boll weevil on cotton plantations, Buttrick believed demonstrations could also be used to show farmers how to increase their yields and profits. This increase in profits would, in turn, help generate revenues to fund public schools.

In 1906 the GEB made an agreement with the USDA to pay the salaries of agents who could conduct farm demonstrations on behalf of the GEB. The program proved to be enormously successful in stimulating agricultural output and profits.

However, critics of the system abounded. In 1914 the program came under scrutiny from government officials led by Senator William Kenyon of Iowa. Kenyon accused the GEB and JDR Sr. of using their wealth to influence politics. Certainly, the USDA-GEB relationship involved a private philanthropic organization helping to shape public policy. Supporters of the GEB’s work argued that the GEB simply provided much-needed financial support to a region and for a cause the government was unwilling or unable to fund. These supporters denied that the GEB manipulated local politics. As Bruce R. Payne, a GEB Chair of Education, wrote to Senator Thomas Martin of Virginia:

I have been most intimately connected with the work of the General Education Board in the South for the past ten years and I wish to bear testimony that no organization, no individual, has done as much for the building up of our higher education, of our secondary school system; for the improvement of rural education, for the wonderful achievement of improved methods of agriculture in the South as has this organization and its representatives. Many of them are Southern men, and I wish to assert without fear of successful contradiction, that they have worked through our Southern people exclusively, have not even imposed their own suggestions, except when requested to do so, and have left it to the wisdom and good sense of our good people to spend for social uplift any donations made. Bruce Payne, 1914 Bruce R. Payne to Hon. Thomas Martin, May 27, 1914, RAC, Family Records, Rockefeller Boards, GEB, III 2 O, Box 15, File 148.

The controversy ended with the passing of the Smith-Lever Bill in 1914. This bill created the Extension Service in the USDA, a program that mirrored the GEB but relied on federal funding and barred the GEB from participation.

Fixing the Books

Financial responsibility was another tenet of the GEB. At JDR Sr.’s insistence, all institutions wishing to receive GEB funding had to maintain transparent and balanced budgets. Colleges had to raise matching funds. To aid colleges in this requirement, the GEB hired Trevor Arnett to assess the state of university accounting practices and to write a manual to standardize methods of accounting. This research culminated in the 1922 publication of College and University Finance, which became hugely influential in the field of university administration.

Reforming Medicine

One of the GEB’s most impactful accomplishments was the reform of medical education in the United States. The charge was led by Abraham Flexner, Secretary of the GEB, who had completed a comprehensive evaluation of existing medical programs in 1910. The GEB program of medical education existed from 1913 to 1929 and distributed $94 million to 25 medical schools.

The Legacy of General Education Board

In addition to its major programs, the GEB also provided many small grants throughout its existence. The GEB funded fellowships and conferences and provided emergency grants that helped to pay salaries and keep schools in operation during the Great Depression.

In the 1940s the GEB began to struggle with decisions about its future and its legacy. In a 1944 Trustee Report entitled The Future of the General Education Board, Raymond Fosdick wrote,

The job we started out to do forty years ago is far from completed. While in great ferment, the situation is full of hope and opportunity. It does not seem to us that we can wisely stop now. We are a stabilizing influence in the field and we have much in the way of leadership and experience to offer. Raymond Fosdick, 1944 The Future of the General Education Board, Report by Raymond B. Fosdick to Trustees of the General Education Board and The Rockefeller Foundation, March 23, 1944, RAC, Family Records, Rockefeller Boards, GEB, III 2 O, Box 17, Folder 169.

The General Education Board began to wind down its program in 1953, committing the last of its principal funds to such groups as the Council of Southern Universities and the Council for Financial Aid to Education, which it had created with the collaboration of three other foundations to encourage the business community to support colleges and universities. The GEB finally closed its doors in 1964, having expended a total of $324.6 million since 1902. From rural elementary schools to elite graduate and professional programs, the reach of the GEB had been wide. Its final grant, like one of its very first, went to Berea College in Kentucky. The aim was to support impoverished students, both Black and White, from Appalachia.

Watch: One Tenth of Our Nation , 1940

Research This Topic in the Archives

Explore this topic by viewing records, many of which are digitized, through our online archival discovery system.

• “ General Education Board – Organization, Charter, By-Laws ,” 1902-1950. Office of the Messrs. Rockefeller Records, Rockefeller Boards, Series O, Rockefeller Archive Center.
• “ General Education Board – Relations with Department of Agriculture ,” 1914-1919. Office of the Messrs. Rockefeller Records, Rockefeller Boards, Series O, Rockefeller Archive Center.
• “ General Education Board – General ,” 1902-1911. Office of the Messrs. Rockefeller Records, Rockefeller Boards, Series O, Rockefeller Archive Center.
• “ General Education Board – John D. Rockefeller – March 1, 1902 Pledge ,” 1901-1910. Office of the Messrs. Rockefeller Records, Rockefeller Boards, Series O, Rockefeller Archive Center.
• “ General Education Board – Raymond B. Fosdick Report on General Education Board ,” 1944. Office of the Messrs. Rockefeller Records, Rockefeller Boards, Series O, Rockefeller Archive Center.
• “ General Education Board – Letters of Gift from John D. Rockefeller ,” 1902-1921. Office of the Messrs. Rockefeller Records, Rockefeller Boards, Series O, Rockefeller Archive Center.
• “ General Education Board – Bound Acknowledgment Volume Presented to John D. Rockefeller ,” 1907. Office of the Messrs. Rockefeller Records, Rockefeller Boards, Series O, Rockefeller Archive Center.
• “ W. T. B. Williams ,” 1903-1919. General Education Board Records, Appropriations , Series 1, Subseries 1.2, Rockefeller Archive Center.
• “ W. T. B. Williams – Reports ,” 1903-1919. General Education Board Records, Appropriations , Series 1, Subseries 1.2, Rockefeller Archive Center.

The Rockefeller Archive Center originally published this content in 2013 as part of an online exhibit called 100 Years: The Rockefeller Foundation (later retitled The Rockefeller Foundation. A Digital History ). It was migrated to its current home on RE:source in 2022.

• Agriculture
• Demonstration Campaigns
• Economic Inequality
• Financial Sustainability
• General Education Board
• Higher Education
• History of Philanthropy
• Institution Building
• John D. Rockefeller
• Public Education
• Racial Discrimination
• Racial Segregation
• United States
• Wallace Buttrick

Explore Further

“A very small number of men control all the money and the ideas”: Women Revolutionize Population Programs in the 1970s

Women and technocratic elites clashed at the 1974 World Population Conference. At stake was women’s control over their own bodies.

New Research: Prison Plastic Surgery, Indian Fellowships, Thai Nursing Program, and Nam June Paik

The latest RAC New Research series highlights reports from archival research by stipend recipients, covering diverse subjects from prison plastic surgery policies in the Civil Rights era to Indian art fellowship impacts and the roots of Thai nursing education. It includes discussions on the effects of patronage on video art and Thai-Filipino-American healthcare interactions, revealing the historical role of Rockefeller and Ford Foundations in enabling progressive social and cultural studies.

New Research: Nixon’s Latin American Policy, Failed Yellow Fever Eradication, Mexican Fellows, and Nigerian Public Health

Our New Research series offers readers a venue to take a peek at recent archival research at RAC. It presents newly published reports submitted by RAC travel stipends recipients who have pursued their studies using our collections. In this edition of our series, the researchers’ reports showcase how our collections document events and people’s lives…

Position Statements > >

People with IDD continue to face numerous barriers in their education. Lifelong education is essential for all individuals with IDD to achieve the four policy goals of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and to pursue opportunities for rich lives and contribute to the public good. “Disability is a natural part of the human experience and in no way diminishes the right of individuals to participate in or contribute to society. Improving educational results for children with disabilities is an essential element of our national policy of ensuring equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for individuals with disabilities.” (IDEA, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act).

Many students with IDD remain segregated in self-contained classrooms or separate schools, with few or no opportunities for academic achievement or social engagement in inclusive settings. Students with IDD frequently do not have appropriately ambitious 2 and personalized goals, challenging objectives, high quality instruction, individualized transition planning, and related services and supports necessary to engage as full members of their school learning communities. Consequently, many students with IDD leave school unprepared for further education, employment, and independent living in the community.

Many schools have policies and practices that push youth with IDD out of school and into the juvenile justice system (known as the “school to prison pipeline”). Further, many of those in detention facilities with qualifying disabilities are not provided special education and related services.

Many parents, families, and students themselves are excluded from systemic participation as essential partners in the evaluation of the student’s strengths and limitations, as well as the development and implementation of their Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). Administrators, educators, and support staff too often lack sufficient training and knowledge about the legal rights, learning needs, and abilities of these students. School districts struggle to identify, recruit, and retain qualified special education personnel. Paraprofessionals providing support in inclusive classrooms are often poorly paid and do not always receive or seek professional development relevant to students’ learning needs.

Outdated, inaccurate beliefs about students with IDD persist, leading to low expectations, segregated classrooms, inappropriate disciplinary practices, and diminished accountability for these students. In some communities, an unexamined sole focus on student performance has led to an erroneous conclusion that students with IDD are “bringing down” test scores and are to blame when schools and school systems do not achieve adequate progress.

To ensure students with IDD receive the education to which they are legally entitled, all those involved in the education of these students must work to fully implement our nation’s civil rights and education laws and accomplish the following actions.

All Means All: Zero Reject

• Assure timely evaluation, identification, and provision of education and related services to all students with IDD, incorporating all aspects of the students’ diversity, including age, gender, ethnicity, culture, language, socio-economic circumstances, sexual orientation, and family environment.
• Disciplinary actions (suspension, expulsion, segregation) and alternate placements should not exclude the student from access to appropriate education and related services.

Non-Discriminatory and Comprehensive Eligibility Evaluations and Appropriate Assessments

• Assure that the needs of the individual are considered fairly and comprehensively, including cognitive, emotional, functional, and developmental needs, as well as all areas of suspected disability and mental health needs.
• Assure that multiple assessments, including those that identify a student’s strengths and abilities, are used and that IQ is not the sole measure of human functioning, nor does IQ alone determine placement or access to the general curriculum.
• Exercise clinical judgment that is built upon respect for the person and emerges from specialized training and experience in IDD, specific knowledge of the person and his/her environments, extensive data, and use of critical thinking skills.
• Assure that any predictions about a student’s potential learning are evidence-based and founded in high expectations for further education, employment, and independent living.
• Assure that all educators implement appropriately ambitious goals and challenging objectives and use measurements of progress that are aligned to the unique ways that students with IDD learn. Develop adaptations for assessment and grading, when necessary, that accurately capture the strengths and limitations of students with IDD.

High Expectations and Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)

• Develop and implement IEPs with high expectations that include appropriately ambitious personalized goals and challenging objectives and that build on a student’s strengths; meet the student’s learning, employment, and independent living needs; and offer related services and supplementary services necessary and likely, based on evidence, to ensure the student will make progress toward achieving the nation’s four policy goals.
• Ensure that all students have access to the general education curriculum. General education includes the academic curriculum, extracurricular activities, and other school activities.
• Incorporate evidence-based, peer-reviewed instructional strategies and interventions, provided by professionally qualified teachers, related services personnel, and other staff, all of whom receive the training, preparation, and supports they need to be effective professionals.
• Ensure that a range of appropriate technology options are made available in a timely and culturally and linguistically appropriate manner to all students who could benefit from them, and that the necessary training for use of the technology is provided immediately and consistently.

Autonomy, Self-Determination, and Decision-Making Supports

• Incorporate and support the development of autonomy, self-determination, self-advocacy, and leadership skills throughout students’ educational experiences, including meaningful participation in the student’s IEP.
• Assure that school policy and semi-annual in-service training emphasizes autonomy, self-determination, and decision-making supports, and that teachers and other non-lawyers do not give families legal advice related to guardianship.

Inclusion and the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

• To the maximum extent appropriate, every student has a right to be educated in their inclusive neighborhood school and in the general education curriculum in that school. Any exception should be rare and considered only when education in the general education classroom cannot be satisfactorily achieved. Each student has a right to the related services, supplementary aids and services, accommodations, and modifications needed to learn alongside students without disabilities.
• Assure that the student is integrated in academic and social aspects of the general curriculum.
• Include an explicit written plan to achieve more integration in both academic and social aspects of the general curriculum when the student is currently in a restricted setting.
• Foster the development of peer relationships and membership in the school community to create a receptive, welcoming atmosphere, including extracurricular activities and school trips.
• Avoid the long-term costs of segregating students with IDD, including the reduced opportunities for learning, employment, independent living, and social engagement.
• Ensure that all teachers and related services personnel are trained, prepared, and supported to teach and support students effectively in the general education curriculum and in inclusive settings.

Safe and Supportive Education Environments

• Ensure safe school environments that provide mental health supports and protection against bullying.
• Ensure that all students with IDD have effective culturally and linguistically appropriate communication systems and technology that reduces the need to use behavior to communicate and maximize educational engagement.
• Assure development and ongoing use of school-wide and system-wide intervention models, including school-wide positive behavioral supports and using the principles of universal design for learning (UDL) in designing curricula, materials, instruction, and assessments to create maximum access to learning environments for students with diverse abilities and learning styles.
• Avoid harsh policies and procedures, such as “zero tolerance”, that lead to exclusion, injury, loss of education, or involvement with the criminal justice system by implementing school-wide positive behavior support that includes students with disabilities to prevent or eliminate such situations. Assure appropriate evaluations and IEPs, and avoid the criminalization of behaviors that are the manifestation of the student’s disabilities.
• Prohibit the use of mechanical or chemical restraint, isolation, or aversives. Emergency, time-limited, monitored restraint may be used only by trained personnel and only when the student’s behavior presents an imminent danger of serious physical harm to the student or others and less restrictive interventions are insufficient to mitigate the imminent danger of serious physical harm. Physical restraint which restricts airflow, including prone restraint, and mechanical restraint must be prohibited. Ensure that supports and strategies are planned and implemented to successfully reintegrate a student who has been restrained or secluded back into the school or classroom environment.
• Assure that students are not disciplined for the manifestation of their disabilities.
• Assure safe school transportation for all students with disabilities, provided by trained and monitored drivers with background checks, in order to avoid abuse and maltreatment of students. Schools must assure the sufficient allocation of transportation resources such that transportation is not used to justify early departures, late arrivals, or excessive travel times.

School Choice

• Charter schools and private schools that accept public funds through a voucher or voucher-like system must comply with IDEA, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 504). Specifically, they must provide zero reject and free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment, including nondiscriminatory evaluation, individualized appropriate education plan, access to the general curriculum (academic, extracurricular, and other school activities), procedural safeguards, and parent participation.
• Ensure that school choice efforts do not diminish the resources and effectiveness of public school systems in which they operate.

Family and Student Participation

• Ensure the meaningful participation of students, families, and their chosen advisors in the evaluation of students and the design and monitoring of the students’ IEPs.
• Assure that parents with special needs, including those with disabilities or language or cultural differences, receive the information, supports, services, and full ADA/504 rights to effectively exercise their rights to partner in the education of their children.
• Expeditiously connect students and families with information, resources, and training that help them understand and exercise their rights under the IDEA, Section 504, the ADA, Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
• Assure that school personnel provide timely explanations that are understandable and use functional descriptive language for special education and related services being proposed for the student.

Lifelong Education, Transition, and Post-Secondary Education

• Provide early intervention and preschool services to infants, toddlers, and preschool-age children with disabilities alongside their typical peers and provide transition planning for children to ensure access to the general education curriculum and full integration in neighborhood schools as they move to kindergarten or first grade.
• Develop and implement transition plans based on student strengths, preferences, and interests to facilitate each student’s successful movement from school to adult life, including postsecondary and vocational education, competitive integrated employment, independent living, and community participation.
• Develop an individualized postsecondary and/or pre-employment program, including choices and creative career exploration through apprenticeships and internships, in coordination with IDEA and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).
• Ensure that all students receive meaningful evidence of their school achievements including diplomas.

System Capacity Development, Funding, Oversight, and Accountability

• Assure that the training, preparation, compensation, supports, and accountability systems needed to build a cadre of effective professional teachers, other education personnel such as school principals, related services personnel, paraprofessionals, and other staff are evidence-based and effective to meet the child’s specific needs.
• Assure a cadre of effective lay and legal advocates to assist families and individuals to exercise their rights.
• Increase active monitoring and enforcement through local, state, and federal agencies to ensure that the IDEA, ADA, Section 504, and state special education laws and mandates are met.
• Fulfill the federal commitment to fully fund the IDEA.
• Ensure that all students with disabilities, including those with the most significant cognitive disabilities, continue to be included in public school, district, and state level accountability systems. Ensure that states are not allowed to exempt more than 1% of students (that is, exempt only those students that the state determines have the most significant cognitive disabilities up to 1%) from their general accountability data.

Rev’d 2018 Joint statement with the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD).

1 Intellectual Disability (ID) is a lifelong condition where significant limitations in both intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior emerge during the developmental period (before adulthood).

Developmental Disabilities (DD), first defined in 1975 federal legislation now known as “The DD Act”, are a group of lifelong conditions that emerge during the developmental period and result in some level of functional limitation in learning, language, communication, cognition, behavior, socialization, or mobility. The most common DD conditions are intellectual disability, Down syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, fetal alcohol syndrome, and fragile X syndrome.

The acronym “IDD” is used to describe a group that includes either people with both ID and another DD or a group that includes people with ID or another DD. The supports that people with IDD need to meet their goals vary in intensity from intermittent to pervasive.

2 In March 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District RE-1 clarifying the test for determining whether school districts have met their obligation to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to students with disabilities guaranteed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The Court ruled that a child’s educational program must be “appropriately ambitious in light of his circumstances,” a more demanding standard than the “merely more than de minimis” test applied by the Tenth Circuit.

Join The Arc >

Donate >

Take Action >

• Our Mission & Values
• Our History
• Position Statements
• Board and Staff
• Access, Equity, & Inclusion at The Arc
• Press Center
• Financials & Reporting
• Working at The Arc
• Policy & Advocacy
• Civil Rights
• Direct Support Professionals
• Employment, Training, & Wages
• Grassroots Advocacy
• Health Care
• Legal Advocacy
• Long Term Supports & Services
• Public Policy Goals
• Paid Family & Medical Leave
• Social Security & Income Maintenance

Our Initiatives

• OUR INITIATIVES
• Criminal Justice
• Future Planning
• Volunteering
• Get Involved
• Get Resources
• Take Action
• National Conference of Executives
• Chapter Portal
• Find a Chapter

Sign Up for Email Updates

Your Vote has Power

Will you pledge to vote this November?

• First Name *
• Last Name *

Human Capital Management

Student management, business operations, tailored for you.

Frontline empowers strategic K-12 leaders with school administration software to proactively manage your human capital, business operations and special education.

Explore by ROLE

Backed by experience.

For 25 years our team and products have been built as a result of seeing real needs within districts.

frontline resources

Partnering with frontline.

Frontline gives your teachers, staff, and administrators all of the tools they need, all in one place.

MEET FRONTLINE

• Get Started

Tell the Right Story: How Does the Student’s Disability Affect Involvement and Progress in the General Education Curriculum?

Share article.

A well written “how disability affects…” statement describes the nature of the disability and how it will impact the student across school environments. This shared understanding, along with other components of the PLAAFP, helps the team determine the student’s needs, and ultimately, the resources necessary for the student to be involved and progress in the general education curriculum. It helps parents gain a clearer understanding of the challenges their child will encounter in the school setting. Classroom teachers can also better understand their role in providing necessary accommodations and modifications.

To really understand the importance of this section, let’s unpack this statement.

Unpacking the PLAAFP Statement: What It Means

 “how the disability affects…”.

To merely identify the student’s disability category does not do justice to the student or this part of the IEP. To describe the student in these terms is too broad to give the reader meaningful and actionable information. Rather, the IEP should describe the actual characteristics the child demonstrates as a result of the disability. Think about it: Indicating a student has a “health impairment” is not particularly useful unless you describe that Justin’s epilepsy causes him to be disoriented at times; or Rachel’s heart condition causes fatigue; or William’s attention deficit disorder interferes with sustained attention during a lecture.

“Involvement and progress in the general education curriculum.”

First, we know the “general education curriculum” refers to that provided to students without disabilities. Simply put, ALL students’ educations should be designed around an agreed upon set of standards enacted by each state.

Next, “involvement and progress” — think of “involvement” as another word for participation . The criterion is not about proximity to the curriculum; rather, it’s about meaningful participation with curriculum. Meaningful participation requires active interaction, but certain approaches that are pathways to interaction for some students can be barriers for others. The team must identify the requirements or demands for participation in the curriculum in order to assess how an individual student’s disability will affect involvement.

For example, the demands for participation in a science lab might be to follow directions and demonstrate self-regulation for safety — how will a student with poor impulse control fare in this environment? The demand for participation in a high school English class discussion requires the ability to access text — how would a student with a significant reading disability fare in this situation?

A PLAAFP Statement In Practice: Putting It All Together

• Seth is eligible for special education as a result of cerebral palsy. Seth uses a wheelchair to move through the school environment. His right side is stronger than the left; he has limited muscle control and fatigues easily during fine and gross motor activities. Sixth grade requires frequent writing activities across all classes (demonstrating text types and purposes; note-taking to prepare for assessments or keeping track of homework). These demands will present barriers to Seth’s participation without substantial accommodations for all writing activities.
• Jon’s specific learning disability impacts his reading comprehension and math computation. Jon’s working memory is weak, which means he has difficulty holding on to multiple pieces of information in order to perform an academic task. Working memory is required to engage in most 10 th grade academic tasks such as reading comprehension, written expression, and application of math facts and formulas. Jon will have difficulty summarizing text after reading a passage. Taking notes during a quickly paced lecture results in Jon creating incomplete notes. It’s necessary for Jon to acquire multiple strategies to assist in managing his learning, including use of assistive technology, annotation, effective use of graphic organizers, extended practice and chunking new information.

Here’s some hand-picked content you may enjoy:

“Writing High-Quality IEPs” — a video series from Carol Kosnitsky  

Here are sentence frames to help the team think more strategically about constructing these statements.

The student’s ___ (disability) __ _ manifests itself in the following ways:       (specific characteristics manifested by disability) __ . The ___ grade level___ curriculum requires students to participate/engage/complete __ (generic skill/activity/demand)__ . Given the student’s learning characteristics, he/she will be challenged with tasks/activities that require __ (examples of specific skill/activity/demand)__ . However, this challenge is minimized and participation is increased when the student is provided the following: __(appropriate supports and services)__ .

So where do you get this information?

Each student’s IEP  should be based on multiple sources of information . Be sure to consider the following:

• Formal assessment — contributes to describing the disability and the characteristics demonstrated by the student.
• Observations — provides “real-time” information on the student’s response to the demands of the curriculum, as well as their response when the environment is adapted to meet their needs.
• Curriculum — provides team members the opportunity to connect the dots between characteristics and demands.

Remember, involvement is not the end game. Rather, involvement is the pathway to progress. Once the student’s unique characteristics and needs are identified, the team can determine what specially designed instruction, related services and/or supplemental aids and services are necessary to ensure the student makes appropriate progress in light of their circumstances.

Related Articles

Engaging Special Education Students Over the Holiday Season: Strategies for Success

4 Survival Strategies for Special Education Teachers

5 Tips for Successful Collaboration Between General & Special Education Teachers

4 Steps for Navigating Dyslexia Across Departments

Academic Catalog

General education statement, competencies, and learning outcomes, general education statement.

Broward College values and supports a well-rounded learning experience that empowers students to thrive personally and professionally in diverse communities. Through our general education framework, students acquire and apply knowledge across a wide range of disciplines, thereby expanding their capacity to appreciate, think critically about, and respond to a variety of perspectives and situations.

Broward College has established six competencies that form the foundation of the learning outcomes in our courses. Upon successful completion of the General Education program, students will be able to demonstrate:

Critical Thinking

Effective communication, ethical reasoning, information literacy, mathematical and scientific reasoning, global awareness, general education competencies, descriptions, & learning outcomes.

Critical thinking is the ability to evaluate information by examining and questioning assumptions, accepting or rejecting claims, or applying logical reasoning.

Learning Outcomes

• Explain questions, problems and/or issues.
• Analyze and interpret relevant information.
• Evaluate information to determine potential conclusions.
• Generate a well-reasoned conclusion.

Effective communication is the ability to process and exchange ideas and information through verbal, nonverbal, and written means in a clear and understandable manner.

• Communicate with clear language, tone, and voice.
• Provide clear main ideas with organized support.
• Demonstrate audience awareness and engagement.
• Apply non-verbal communication techniques.
• Demonstrate usage of appropriate notation and contextual translation.

Ethical reasoning is the ability to analyze and evaluate moral issues involving how people should treat themselves, others, and their environment.

• Explain an ethical issue and the extent of its human or environmental impact.
• Evaluate different moral perspectives or concepts.

Information literacy is the ability to find, retrieve, analyze, and use information.

• Locate and select appropriate resources.
• Use and integrate sources that match research need.
• Incorporate sources with proper formatting and attribution.

Mathematical and scientific reasoning is the ability to apply scientific or mathematical processes to explore natural phenomena, determine and evaluate relationships, solve problems, and make effective decisions.

• Apply a deductive or inductive approach to inquiry.
• Develop solutions or reach conclusions by applying appropriate problem-solving methods.
• Generate or interpret graphs or charts to model data and understand relationships.
• Construct answers to applied problems using quantitative or qualitative reasoning skills.

Global awareness is the ability to understand diverse cultures, traditions, and worldviews.

• Demonstrate appreciation for individual and cultural differences, and reasons for inclusion.
• Explain how people, as individuals and in society, may affect other persons, cultures, animals, or the environment.
• Explain two or more different ideologies or perspectives.

Each General Education course should align to at least one learning outcome of each competency to which that course maps on the General Education Assessment Map.

Pursuant to Florida Statute 1007.25(4) , all students initially entering a public postsecondary institution in the 2022-23 academic year (fall 2022) and thereafter and enroll in general education core courses are eligible for the awarding of a digital badge.  For information on the general education badges, visit Broward College Digital badges .

The College offers four different types of degrees. These are Associate in Arts (AA), Associate of Science (AS), Associate of Applied Science (AAS), and Baccalaureate degrees (BAS, BS, and BSN). Different degrees have different General Education requirements based upon:

• Florida Statutes, Chapters 1001.02 , 1007.23 , 1007.25
• State Board of Education Rules 6A-14.030 and 6A-10.024
• Southern Association of Colleges and Schools – Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) Principles of Accreditation 8.2.b and 9.3
• Broward College’s Policy 6Hx2-4.22

For AA degrees, Broward College requires a total of 36 credits of General Education coursework in five areas – Communication, Humanities, Social/Behavioral Sciences, Biological/Physical Sciences, and Mathematics. Specific information follows in the next section.

For AS degrees, Broward College requires 18 credits of General Education coursework in the five areas - Communication, Humanities, Social/Behavioral Sciences, Biological/Physical Sciences, and Mathematics. Specific information follows in the next section and on the individual program of study pages .

For AAS degrees, Broward College requires 18 credits of General Education coursework in four areas – Communication, Humanities, Social/Behavioral Sciences, Mathematics, and Science. Specific information follows in the next section and on the individual program of study pages .

For Baccalaureate degrees, Broward College requires a total of 36 credits of General Education coursework in five areas – Communication, Humanities, Social/Behavioral Sciences, Biological/Physical Sciences, and Mathematics. Specific information follows in the next section and on individual program of study pages .

Assessment is central to the success of all students at Broward College. Our degree programs are assessed on a consistent basis. The data generated from our assessment process guides college-wide efforts to continually improve the learning experience of all of our students. For more information on Assessment at Broward College, please contact the District Director of Teaching, Learning, and Assessment. The requirements shown here are valid beginning Fall 2021 and may not reflect degree requirements for current students. Current students should visit My BC and, under Advising, refer to the Interactive Degree Audit to see specific degree requirements for their effective term.

associate in arts General Education requirements  

Associate of science general education requirements, associate of applied science general education requirements, baccalaureate general education requirements, print options.

Send Page to Printer

Print this page.

Download PDF of this page

The PDF will include all information unique to this page.

Full Academic Catalog

PDF of the entire 2023-2024 Academic Catalog.

79 Examples of School Vision and Mission Statements

School vision statements outline a school’s values and objectives. They provide parents and the community a brief but clear overview of the overall ethos of the school. On the other hand, school mission statements explain what the school is currently doing to achieve its vision. Schools need both vision and mission statements to show their community what their values and beliefs are.

Importance of Vision and Mission Statements in Schools

Statements of a school’s vision and mission are important for keeping a school focused on its core purpose. The statements can act as a guiding north star for school administrators who aim to make decisions that live up to the statements. They are also important because they are documents that parents use to see whether the school meets their family’s values.

Common Words in Vision Statements

The most common words in school vision and mission statements are:

Read below for our full list of the best school statements from around the web.

Related Post: A List of Education Slogans and Mottoes

Best Preschool Mission & Vision Statements

• We foster our students’ love for learning, encourage them to try new and exciting things, and give them a solid foundation to build on.
• Our vision is to develop well rounded, confident and responsible individuals who aspire to achieve their full potential. We will do this by providing a welcoming, happy, safe, and supportive learning environment in which everyone is equal and all achievements are celebrated.
• We believe that a happy child is a successful one. We are committed to providing a positive, safe and stimulating environment for children to learn, where all are valued. We intend that all children should enjoy their learning, achieve their potential and become independent life-long learners.
• Our early learning center exists to provide a safe, developmentally, inclusive environment for toddlers, preschool, kindergarten and school age children.

Our focus is to provide a stimulating early learning and child care experience which promotes each child’s social/emotional, physical and cognitive development.

• Our goal is to support and nurture the children’s and our own natural desire to be life-long learners. We are committed to the families we serve, providing support and encouragement.
• Our Vision is a community where all children feel loved, respected and encouraged to develop to their fullest potential.
• Our Mission is to provide high quality education and childcare in a safe, respectful and inclusive environment that builds a foundation for life-long learning.
• We aim to provide a safe learning environment with a welcoming atmosphere which creates a sense of belonging amongst the families. We maintain an inclusive environment which acknowledges and respects children from diverse family and cultural backgrounds.

Our Kindergarten provides a safe, developmentally appropriate, nurturing environment that promotes social, emotional, cognitive and physical growth, as well as a positive self-image and a love of learning. T

• Our goal is to build skills that set children up for success in kindergarten and beyond.
• Our vision is for each child to develop a curiosity of learning, discover their interests and grow in their love of learning. We also desire to have strong families through parent support/fellowship and skills training.
• We aim to offer a safe, happy place where everyone is known and valued, and where differing needs are acknowledged, accepted and met
• We aim to encourage each child to be independent and develop a sense of responsibility for themselves and respect for others in the environment

Our mission is to lead and support the early learning community in building the best foundation for children birth to five.

• Our Kindergarten aims to provide a meaningful child centered, play based curriculum that builds life skills, independence, confidence and resilience to support each child in achieving their potential and to make a smooth transition to school and society itself.
• Our mission is to work together to build a safe, respectful and nurturing environment focused on maximizing each child’s sense of wellbeing and acquisition of skills for life and learning.
• Our mission is to provide exceptional care to children while fostering each child’s intellectual, social, physical and moral development in an academic-rich environment.

Related Post: 5 Early Childhood Philosophies Compared

Best Primary and Elementary School Vision & Mission Statements

• Our goal as a school is to equip our young people with the skills and mindset to thrive and then take on the world.
• We foster an enthusiastic, creative community of learners prepared to continue their intellectual, emotional, and physical development.
• To educate all students to the highest levels of academic achievement , to enable them to reach and expand their potential, and to prepare them to become productive, responsible, ethical, creative and compassionate members of society.

Our vision is to prepare young women to pursue their aspirations and contribute to the world.

• We strive to consciously create an environment of respect and inclusion and to support ethnic, racial, religious and socio-economic diversity among all the constituencies of the school.
• We strive to support this environment by building a more inclusive curriculum, addressing a range of learning styles, offering a wide array of diversity efforts and programs, and by participating in the wider community.
• Our school empowers all students to embrace learning, achieve their personal best and build their emotional, social and physical well-being.

Our vision is to empower students to acquire, demonstrate, articulate and value knowledge and skills that will support them, as life-long learners, to participate in and contribute to the global world and practise the core values of the school : respect, tolerance & inclusion, and excellence.

• We believe that education should take place in a fully inclusive environment with equal opportunities for all and that all children should learn to value religious and cultural differences. Our school strives to be at the centre of the local community with positive and effective links to the wider and global communities.
• Our statement “DREAM, BELIEVE, ACHIEVE” reflects our understanding and beliefs. We aim to ensure that the children at our school are provided with high-quality learning experiences based on a broad and balanced curriculum.

Related Post: Childcare Mission Statement Examples

Best High School Mission & Vision Statements

• Our vision is to forge strong, positive connections with students so they can achieve independence, build confidence, and gain academic knowledge.
• We aim to develop well-rounded and thoughtful students prepared to cope with a changing post-modern and globalized world.

We strive to provide our graduates with an academic foundation that will enable them to gain admission to the colleges or universities of their choice as well as to succeed in those institutions.

• We are committed to recognizing the importance of communication and to encouraging dialogue among all constituencies; to promoting intellectual and social growth and development within the school community; to providing a safe, supportive setting so that students have the opportunity to explore and to clarify their own beliefs and values, to take risks, and to think and speak for themselves; and to recognizing and responding to individual and institutional prejudices, both overt and subtle, based on gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, and physical and mental ability.
• Our vision is to prepare and motivate our students for a rapidly changing world by instilling in them critical thinking skills , a global perspective, and a respect for core values of honesty, loyalty, perseverance, and compassion. Students will have success for today and be prepared for tomorrow.
• Our mission is to provide a safe haven where everyone is valued and respected. All staff members, in partnership with parents and families are fully committed to students’ college and career readiness. Students are empowered to meet current and future challenges to develop social awareness, civic responsibility, and personal growth.

We are dedicated to a continuing tradition of excellence in an ever-changing world. Within a safe and supportive environment, we provide a relevant, high-quality education and prepare our diverse student body for future endeavors. We honor achievement and promote pride in ourselves, in our school, and in our community.

• We strive to prepare all students to become lifelong learners and responsible citizens ready to meet the challenges of the future. In partnership with families and community, our goal is to create relevant learning opportunities for students — both inside and outside the classroom — that help them develop the knowledge, critical thinking skills, and character necessary to succeed in a technologically advanced world.
• Our High School is a student-centered organization delivering excellence in education. Our team is committed to our students, our communities, and each other. We believe that our cohesion and morale help us to achieve excellence in our school. Our commitment to our students and our dedication to impacting their education through innovative methods makes us unique.
• Graduates will be motivated life-long learners and productive global citizens.

Cultivating excellence in every student.

• Our school’s vision is to provide student-centered educational programs that challenge all students to perform at their highest potential.
• Our school prepares students for success in the 21st century by engaging them in rigorous and relevant learning opportunities that promote academic, physical, and emotional growth.
• Our school creates a pathway to assist students in achieving their educational and personal goals leading to a fulfilling future within the greater community.

Our school will continue to create a safe, effective learning environment that enables each individual to reach his or her greatest potential through ample opportunities to excel.

• Our school will foster an environment to nurture individuals academically, socially, and emotionally so that they are equipped to tackle academic challenges and become productive members of society.

Related Post: Library Mission Statement Examples

Best Christian School Vision & Mission Statements

• Our Christian School believes that each child is a treasure, bearing God’s image. We seek to partner with Christian families who are committed to our vision and mission.
• Vision is the insight God provides to instruct and direct the path of an organization. Our Vision Statement is as follows: Our school will be known as a diverse Christian community which, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, provides families with Christ-centred education through dynamic programming, dedicated professional staff, in facilities most conducive to learning, in order to develop responsible servants in God’s world.
• Our Mission is as follows: To provide a Christ-centered, high quality education and to work in unison with the home and local church to nurture our students’ intellectual, spiritual, social, emotional, and physical growth to prepare them for responsible service in the kingdom of God.

It is the vision of Our Christian Academy to engage students in a quality Christ-centered education that equips and challenges them to reach their unique potential spiritually, academically, socially, and physically.

• We endeavor to foster a nurturing, mutually supportive school community of students who enthusiastically pursue learning and Christian character, parents who wholeheartedly support the school’s mission, Bible believing churches who actively reinforce a biblical worldview, and qualified, caring Christian faculty and staff who sacrificially invest in the lives of students.
• To engage and educate young people to know Christ and be equipped to impact the world for God’s Kingdom.
• To capture and equip the hearts, minds and energies of young people for the sake of knowing Christ, and unleash them to engage the world they live in and make an impact in it according to God’s principles and power.

The mission of our Christian School is to transform this generation through sound academic education with a distinct Christian worldview. We are committed to transferring our passion for serving Christ to our students for their benefit and for the glory of God.

• The vision of our Christian School is to provide a comprehensive educational facility that will accommodate a life-developing curriculum and graduate students who express a passionate faith, a biblical world view philosophy and are practitioners of true Christianity.
• Our Christian School seeks to provide an excellent educational experience from a biblical worldview in order to produce the next generation of well-rounded servant leaders.
• Our Christian School will be a compassionate community where knowledge is pursued with excellence, where faith is rooted in Christ, and where character is exemplified through service. We are dedicated to creating a caring and nurturing environment, producing life-long learners, creating disciples of Christ, and enriching students’ lives.

Our Christian School is a loving community that spiritually and academically equips, challenges, and inspires students to impact their world for Christ.

• Our Christian School will be grounded in God’s Word and challenged to achieve academic excellence as they prepare to use their gifts and abilities effectively to follow God’s plan for their lives.
• Our Christian Academy works together with parents and their local church to provide a Christ-centered spiritual, academic, and physical foundation. Our goal is a nurturing environment that produces godly citizens who will be a transforming influence in the world.
• To form a partnership with believing parents in order to establish their children with a total biblical worldview.

To help train up a generation of godly leaders who love learning and are sought after for their wisdom.

• To prepare students spiritually, academically, and in accordance with their God-given potential, enabling them to handle the rigors of life with courage.
• Our mission is to build a Christ-centered school to equip students to be Christ-honoring critical thinkers, clear communicators, and compassionate leaders, through the pursuit of academic excellence, in the tradition of classical Christian education.
• Our vision is be recognized as the leading Christian School in the Kansas City area, preparing students for a love of learning and service, to the glory of God.

Related Post: Classroom Vision and Mission Statements

Best College and University Vision & Mission Statements

• Our university aspires to be a national leader in developing educated contributors, career-ready learners, and global citizens, and in generating meaningful, high-impact scholarship.
• Pursuing enlightenment and creativity.
• To create a transformative educational experience for students focused on deep disciplinary knowledge; problem solving; leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills; and personal health and well-being.

Learning. Discovery. Engagement.

• The university aspires to be known for its excellence in teaching, intensive research, effective public service and community engagement. The university prepares diverse and competitive graduates for success in a global, interdependent society.
• We aspire to be the exemplary comprehensive research university for the 21st century.
• To impact society in a transformative way — regionally, nationally, and globally — by engaging with partners outside the traditional borders of the university campus.

To contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence.

• To educate the citizens and citizen-leaders for our society. We do this through our commitment to the transformative power of a liberal arts and sciences education.
• We will have a transformative impact on society through continual innovation in education, research, creativity, and entrepreneurship
• Educating students to the benefit of all.
• To recruit and develop the world’s most promising students and most outstanding staff and be a truly global university benefiting society as a whole.

The University will become a national leader in collaborative career-focused liberal arts education and will equip its graduates to visualize and achieve excellence in a dynamic global community.

• To be dedicated to the advancement of learning and ennoblement of life.
• To promote learning by engaging with students in advancing scholarly inquiry, cultivating critical and creative thought, and generating knowledge. Our active partnerships with local and global communities contribute to a sustainable common good .
• We will continue to frame and solve the greatest challenges of the future.

Read More University Mission Statement Examples Here.

Vision and mission statements tend to explore themes that are important to a school’s community. They also focus on the age of students. Preschool vision statements tend to explore themes of safety, development and love. High School vision statements are about preparing students for the world. Universities tend to focus on inspiring future leaders.

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 5 Top Tips for Succeeding at University
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 50 Durable Goods Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 100 Consumer Goods Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 30 Globalization Pros and Cons

3 thoughts on “79 Examples of School Vision and Mission Statements”

Wow, Very interesting and achievable visions and missions.

I am highlighting a few statements and citing your website in my book, The Technology-ready School Administrator, for publication in January, 2024. Thanks for wonderful information.

Thank you for your insightful words.

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Transforming Education Summit United Nations, New York, 16, 17 & 19 September 2022

View webcast archive

Logistics note

Transforming Education, Building our Future

The Transforming Education Summit was convened in response to a global crisis in education – one of equity and inclusion, quality and relevance. Often slow and unseen, this crisis is having a devastating impact on the futures of children and youth worldwide. The Summit provided a unique opportunity to elevate education to the top of the global political agenda and to mobilize action, ambition, solidarity and solutions to recover pandemic-related learning losses and sow the seeds to transform education in a rapidly changing world.

Secretary-General's Vision Statement for Tranforming Education

A message from Leonardo Garnier, Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Transforming Education Summit, on the occasion of the International Day of Education

Report on the 2022 Transforming Education Summit

Prepared by the Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Transforming Education Summit and the UNESCO Transforming Education Summit Secretariat

Read the report

Guidance note

From commitment to action: A guidance note for translating national commitments into action in follow-up to the Transforming Education Summit

Read the guidance note

Info-Letter #10

The Summit follow up, new initiatives and calls to action, plus more exhibits and highlights

Read the info-letter

Videos from the summit

Transforming Education Hub

Key Documents

See the most relevant documents

Summit Programme

See the programme outline for the summit

Trello Assets

Share messsages from the summit

See the most frequently asked questions

Sign up for our Info-Letter

Subscribe to get updates on the Summit

Transforming Education Knowledge Hub

Visit the Transforming Education Knowledge Hub to find out more about the follow-up to the Summit.

Pillars of the Summit

Five Thematic Action Tracks highlight the priority issues for education

Commitments

Consultations in more than 100 countries have taken place. See the map

Mobilization

Public engagement will build a movement on education. See how youth are involved.

Info-Letter  

Sign up for updates on the Transforming Education summit and read Info-Letter #10

Join the Twitter conversation

Follow @TransformingEdu for updates on the Transforming Education Summit

Knowledge Hub Discussions

Join the many on-going conversations on the Knowledge Hub

Follow us on LinkedIn

Follow #TransformingEducation on LinkedIn for updates on the Transforming Education Summit

The Transforming Education Summit will seek to renew our collective commitment to education and lifelong learning as a pre-eminent public good .” ANTÓNIO GUTERRES , United Nations Secretary-General

• Grantees and Applicants

OESE » Section 427 of the Gener...

Section 427 of the General Education Provision Act

Section 427 of the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA) requires U.S. Department of Education (Department) grantees, such as the Small, Rural School Achievement program (SRSA) grantees, to describe the steps the grantee will take to ensure equitable access to, and participation in, the Federally-assisted program by addressing the special needs of students, teachers, and other program beneficiaries. This provision allows applicants discretion in developing the required description. The statute highlights six types of barriers that can impede equitable access or participation: gender, race, national origin, color, disability, or age. Based on local circumstances, a local educational agency (LEA) should determine whether these or other barriers may prevent students, teachers, or other program beneficiaries from such access or participation in the Federally-funded project or activity.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How does an SRSA grantee submit a GEPA statement to the Department?

• A GEPA statement is submitted to the Department by an eligible LEA as part of the annual SRSA grant application. Each LEA eligible for SRSA funding will receive an email, directed to the LEA’s Authorized Representative each year containing a link to the LEA’s SRSA application.
• The Authorized Representative can complete the online application for the LEA by clicking the unique link included in the email. The application requires the Authorized Representative to submit the LEA’s GEPA statement. If an LEA submitted a GEPA statement as part of the prior fiscal year’s SRSA application, the GEPA statement will auto-populate into the current fiscal year’s SRSA application and the Authorized Representative can update the language if the statement is no longer consistent with the LEA’s planned activities under the SRSA program. However, if a GEPA statement was not submitted as part of the prior year’s SRSA application, or if the LEA is applying for the first time, the applicant will be required to provide a GEPA statement.

How often does an LEA need to update its GEPA statement on file with the Department?

• An LEA must only submit a GEPA statement once per year – this is done as part of the annual SRSA grant application process. It is not necessary for an LEA to inform the Department of changes made to its GEPA statement throughout the year. Further, if the information in the GEPA statement has not changed from one year to the next, the LEA is not required to make any changes to the previously submitted GEPA statement.

How can an LEA access its previous SRSA GEPA statement?

• If an LEA submitted a GEPA statement on its SRSA application during the previous fiscal year, that previous GEPA statement will be provided in the current year’s SRSA application for review and revision.

What information should an LEA provide in a GEPA statement?

• A GEPA statement must provide an explanation of how the LEA will ensure equitable access to and participation in SRSA programs by addressing the special needs of students, teachers, and other program beneficiaries, including barriers based on any federally protected categories, such as gender, race, national origin, color, disability, or age.

How long does a GEPA statement need to be?

• There is not a minimum word count for a GEPA statement, although it may not exceed 1000 characters as part of the SRSA application.

Grantees & Applicants

Contact OESE

• Privacy Policy

Both college campuses will be closed on Friday, March 29, 2024 for Spring Day. There will be no classes. Normal class times and business hours will resume on Monday, April 1, 2024.

South Suburban College

General Education Statements for A.A., A.S., A.F.A., A.E.S., and A.A.S. Degrees

The purpose of general education at SSC is not simply to prepare students for a life of work, but to prepare them for the work of their lives. Throughout the history of the West, the emphasis in education has been on the study of both Mind and Nature, and the goals of education have remained constant: G1. The student will demonstrate critical thinking through written, oral or skill-based activities G2. The student will argue with insight, intelligence, eloquence and responsibility. G3. The student will express oneself with discipline and creativity. G4. The student will demonstrate an understanding of discipline specific material and how it interrelates with other subjects. G5. The student will recognize the existence of a multi-cultural society and demonstrate an appreciation of multiple perspectives. G6. The student will evaluate the impact of science and technology on the individual, society and the natural world.

Technology T1. Students will demonstrate the use of a variety of forms of technology as fundamental tools. T2. Students will demonstrate the effective application of current computers and software to a particular field of study.

Group I – Communication

C1. Students will compose written English in a grammatically correct, well-organized and coherent manner for a variety of purposes. C2. Students will compose, develop and deliver effective, English, language-based oral presentations for a variety of purposes. C3. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the various forms of rhetoric. C4. Students will integrate library/research skills into various areas of study.

• ENG 101 Composition and Rhetoric (must be completed with a grade of “C” or better)
• ENG 102 Composition and Research (must be completed with a grade of “C” or better)
• SPE 108 Oral Communication

Group II – Humanities and Fine Arts

H1. Students will identify and analyze ideas, movements, civilizations and cultures. H2. Students will critically assess and express ideas about cultural diversity and individual roles in society.

Three courses (9 semester credits) with at least one course selected from humanities and at least one course from the fine arts.

• DRM 152 Plays and Playwrights
• ENG 103 Introduction to American Literature I, 1607 to Civil War
• ENG 104 Introduction to American Literature II, Civil War to Present
• ENG 111 Introduction to Literature I
• ENG 202 Introduction to British Literature I
• ENG 203 Introduction to British Literature II
• ENG 204 Shakespeare
• ENG 206 World Literature I
• ENG 208 Introduction to Women’s Literature
• HFA 158 Drama into Film
• HFA 201 General Humanities I
• HFA 202 General Humanities II
• HFA 203 Humanities of Eastern Asia
• HUM 210 World Mythology
• PHL 101 Introduction to Philosophy
• PHL 102 Ethics
• PHL 103 World Religions
• PHL 105 Logic
• SPN 204 Intermediate Spanish II

FA1. Students will apply aesthetic reasoning for the expression, analysis, and interpretation of art forms. FA2. Students will express themselves by creating or performing works of verbal or non-verbal Art.

• ART 105 History of Art, Survey I
• ART 106 History of Art Survey II
• ART 107 Art Appreciation
• ART 219 Non-Western Art
• DRM 151 Theatre Appreciation
• DRM 155 Ethnic Traditions in American Theatre
• HFA 108 Introduction to Film Appreciation
• HFA 109 Introduction to Film History
• HFA 158 Drama Into Film
• MUS 123 Music Appreciation
• MUS 223 Introduction to African American Music

Group III – Social and Behavioral Sciences

SB1 . Students will examine human thought processes and behaviors in diverse populations, cultures and settings. SB2. Students will use the principles of Social and Behavioral Science to analyze and interpret individual and world issues.

Three courses (9 semester credits) with courses selected from at least two disciplines.

• ANT 101 Anthropology
• ECO 201 Principles of Economics, Macro
• ECO 202 Principles of Economics, Micro
• GEO 103 Geography of the Developed World
• GEO 104 Geography of the Emerging World
• HIS 109 Europe to the 19th Century
• HIS 110 History of Modern Europe
• HIS 203 Early American History
• HIS 204 Later American History
• HIS 271 History of Modern African Civilization
• PSC 101 American National Government
• PSC 102 American State & Local Governments
• PSC 210 Comparative Government
• PSY 101 Introduction to Psychology
• PSY 204 Social Psychology
• PSY 211 Human Growth and Development (Lifespan)
• PSY 212 Adolescent Psychology
• SOC 101 Introduction to Sociology
• SOC 102 Social Problems
• SOC 205 Marriage and the Family

Group IV – Mathematics

M1. Students will demonstrate analytical, quantitative, and problem-solving skills. M2. Students will integrate mathematical relationships with other fields of study.

• MTH 115 General Education Mathematics
• MTH 126 Fundamentals of Statistics
• MTH 146 Math Concepts & Structures II
• MTH 161 Finite Mathematics
• MTH 180 Calculus for Business & Social Science
• MTH 190 Calculus & Analytic Geometry I
• MTH 203 Calculus & Analytic Geometry II
• MTH 204 Calculus & Analytic Geometry III
• MTH 211 Statistics

Group V – Physical & Life Sciences

PS1. Students will demonstrate an ability to effectively use scientific terminology. PS2. Students will apply fundamental scientific conceptual frameworks for understanding and evaluating natural phenomena and their causes and effects.

Life Sciences

• BIO 101 Concepts of Biology
• BIO 102 Introductory Biology
• BIO 103 Environmental Biology
• BIO 104 Microbes and Society
• BIO 105 General Biology I
• BIO 152 Man and His Environment

Physical Sciences

• AST 101 Introduction to Astronomy
• CHM 101 Chemistry and Society
• CHM 111 Introductory Chemistry I
• CHM 113 General Chemistry I
• GLG 101 Physical Geology
• PHS 101 Physical Science
• PHY 101 Mechanics, Heat and Sound
• PHY 210 University Physics I

Group VI – Area of Concentration/Electives

Associate in Arts and Associate in Science degrees require 22-25 credit hours of college level courses based on transfer school requirements and area of concentration. See Programs of Study for the recommended curriculum for each area of concentration.

9 of these hours must be program-specific courses. (Consult the Group VII – AS Degree Approved Course List and the Group VIII – AA Degree Approved Course below.)

Associate in Arts

• Communication (Radio and TV)
• Communication (Multimedia)
• Drama (Theatre)
• Education (Elementary and Secondary)
• Liberal Arts
• Media Studies
• Political Science

Associate in Science

• Business (Accounting, Business Administration, Finance, Marketing and Management)
• Education (Secondary)
• Engineering
• Forensic Science
• Health Science/Physical Education
• Management Information Systems
• Mathematics
• Nursing-Baccalaureate
• Pre-Pharmacy

Minimum Total Required for AA and AS Degree—62 For information on Associate of Applied Science degree options, please refer to page 64 of the catalog.

Group VII – AS Degree Approved Course List

(A combination of any of these courses will satisfy the 9 credit hours of program-specific courses needed to complete the 22-25 credit hours under the Area of Concentration/Elective requirement of the AS degree.)

• BIO 101, or BIO 102, or BIO 105†
• BIO 115 or BIO 185*
• CHM 111 or CHM 113*
• CHM 203 or CHM 205*
• PHY 101 or PHY 210
• PHY 102 or PHY 212

*Only one course can be selected from these two. †Only one course can be selected from these three.

Group VIII – AA Degree Approved Course List

(A combination of any of these courses will satisfy the 9 credit hours of program-specific courses needed to complete the 22-25 credit hours under the Area of Concentration/Elective requirement of the AA degree.)

• Visit the AAUP Foundation
• Visit the AFT

Secondary menu

Search form.

• Constitution
• Elected Leaders
• Find a Chapter
• State Conferences
• AAUP/AFT Affiliation
• Biennial Meeting
• Academic Freedom
• Shared Governance
• Chapter Organizing
• Collective Bargaining
• Summer Institute
• Legal Program
• Government Relations
• New Deal for Higher Ed
• For AFT Higher Ed Members
• Political Interference in Higher Ed
• Racial Justice
• Diversity in Higher Ed
• Responding to Financial Crisis
• Privatization and OPMs
• COVID-19 Pandemic
• Contingent Faculty Positions
• Workplace Issues
• Gender and Sexuality in Higher Ed
• Targeted Harassment
• Intellectual Property & Copyright
• Free Speech on Campus
• AAUP Policies & Reports
• Faculty Compensation Survey
• Bulletin of the AAUP
• The Redbook
• Journal of Academic Freedom
• Academe Blog
• AAUP in the News
• AAUP Updates
• Join Our Email List
• Member Benefits
• Start a Chapter
• Support Your Union
• AAUP Shirts and Gear
• Brochures and More
• Resources For All Chapters
• For Union Chapters
• For Advocacy Chapters
• Forming a Union Chapter
• Chapter Responsibilities
• Chapter Profiles
• AAUP At-Large Chapter
• AAUP Local 6741 of the AFT

You are here

Statement on online education.

Published in January 2024.

This statement was approved under the title Statement on Distance Education in March 1999 by the Association’s Special Committee on Distance Education and Intellectual Property Issues. It was adopted by the Association’s Council and endorsed by the Eighty-Fifth Annual Meeting in June 1999 and subsequently renamed Statement on Online and Distance Education . The revised text that follows was approved by the Association’s Committee on Teaching, Research, and Publication and adopted by the Association’s Council in November 2023.

In the 1999 statement, the AAUP established principles with regard to what was then known as “distance education.” [1] Despite significant technological changes in the last twenty-five years, these basic principles continue to apply: (1) the use of new technologies in teaching should be for the purpose of advancing the basic functions of colleges and universities to preserve, augment, and transmit knowledge and to foster the abilities of students to learn and (2) as with all other curricular matters, the faculty should have primary responsibility for determining the policies and practices of the institution with regard to online education.

I. Academic Freedom and Shared Governance

Faculty members engaged in online education are entitled to academic freedom in accordance with the provisions of the AAUP-AAC&U 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure . Under the principles of academic government set forth in the AAUP’s Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities , the faculty has primary responsibility for decisions regarding curriculum and instruction, which include the technological infrastructure for all courses, whether online, in-person, or a hybrid of the two. The faculty also has primary responsibility for determining the appropriate ratio of in-person to online and hybrid courses. No course should be offered online or in a hybrid format without the consent of the instructor of record and the faculty in the department or program to which that course belongs.

As faculty members may wish, for pedagogical or other reasons, to teach in different modalities at different times, the faculty and administration should work jointly toward reconciling an instructor’s pedagogical preferences with institutional interests. The modality of a course may change from one semester to the next, or even during a semester, but no change in modality should be made without the consent of the instructor of record. Moving a course or a program online should not be used to circumvent the faculty’s primary responsibility for curriculum and methods of instruction.

The Freedom to Teach , a statement by the AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure, provides that the faculty has the right “to select the course materials, determine the approach to the subject, make the assignments, and access student academic performance in teaching activities for which faculty members are individually responsible, without having their decisions subject to the veto of a department chair, dean, or other administrative officer.” This right applies to online and hybrid courses as much as it does to in-person courses.

An institution’s administration should provide faculty members with any necessary professional development in order to facilitate online courses and online components of in-person and hybrid courses. An institution’s instructional technologists should assist faculty members in making informed decisions about their courses but should not make course-related decisions for them, as it is faculty members who have the chief competence for making such decisions. The preparation necessary to create new online and hybrid courses, and to revise existing ones, should be incorporated into the calculation of teaching loads. Faculty members who teach exclusively online should be eligible for tenure under Association-recommended principles and standards.

II. Learning Management Systems and Virtual Classrooms

Learning management systems, such as Blackboard, Canvas, and Moodle, enable instructors to create, manage, and deliver online courses. While such systems have become ubiquitous in higher education, additional tools have emerged to help create other types of virtual classrooms.

As the institutional component with primary responsibility for curriculum, subject matter, and methods of instruction, the faculty must participate in the formulation and implementation of policies governing the selection, installation, and use of a learning management system (LMS) or virtual classroom. The financial interests of an LMS provider should be subordinate to the educational interests of faculty members, students, and the institution. Language in a contract with any technological vendor, especially the company that provides an LMS, should never limit faculty members’ academic freedom or participation in institutional governance. Faculty members should have the freedom to utilize those aspects of the LMS they find helpful to their teaching and decline to use those that they do not find helpful. Faculty members should also be free to employ technological tools outside of the LMS, including electronic textbooks which may not be compatible with the LMS or might be hosted on servers that are not under the institution’s control.

The data generated by learning management systems should be employed only for the sake of improving pedagogy. Faculty members have a reasonable expectation of privacy when teaching online or employing online tools in an in-person class. The faculty member offering the course should be responsible for the evaluation of student work and, under normal circumstances, is the sole judge of the grades received by the students in that course.

III. Intellectual Property in Online Education and Open Educational Resources

The Association’s Statement on Intellectual Property articulates the following principles: “Course syllabi at many institutions are considered public documents; indeed, they may be posted on universally accessible websites. It is thus to be expected that teachers everywhere will learn from one another's syllabi and that syllabi will be disseminated as part of the free exchange of academic knowledge. Faculty lectures or original audiovisual materials, however, unless specifically and voluntarily created as works made for hire, constitute faculty intellectual property.” These principles also apply to courses taught online or in a hybrid format. Classroom lectures should not be recorded without the instructor’s prior knowledge and consent. The right to use an instructor’s words or images in subsequent courses should be controlled by that instructor, though much of what faculty members distribute to students online or write in email messages may legally be redistributed by students for noncommercial uses under the “fair use” principle. Recordings of course materials are academic documents, and, as with other works of scholarship, these should have their author or creator cited accordingly. Instructors who utilize their academic expertise to create new course materials that will be used by others should be acknowledged and, if appropriate, compensated for that work.

The internet has proven to be an incredibly effective educational tool because of its size and general ease of access. Linking to teaching and research materials from an institution’s servers, however, does not give the institution any control over or ownership of that work. Faculty members should be free to share their work on the internet. The faculty and administration should jointly formulate policies governing ownership of works that faculty members may wish to share on the internet.

The US Department of Education defines openly licensed educational resources (more commonly, open educational resources or OER) as “teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under a license that permits their free use, reuse, modification, and sharing with others.” [2] Their use should be encouraged since they are created with the express purpose of disseminating knowledge. However, the decision whether to use OER should remain with the instructor of record unless the course in question has multiple sections taught by several faculty members and responsibility is shared among the instructors for identifying the texts to be assigned to students. [3]

[1] See Statement on Online and Distance Education in AAUP, Policy Documents and Reports , 11 th ed. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015), 254–56.

[2] “Openly Licensed Educational Resources,” Office of Educational Technology, US Department of Education, accessed January 11, 2024, https://tech.ed.gov/open/ .

[3] Under such circumstances, according to The Freedom to Teach , “[t]he shared responsibility bespeaks a shared freedom, which trumps the freedom of an individual faculty member to assign a textbook that he or she alone considers satisfactory.” The same principle applies to the assignment of OER in multisection courses with several instructors.

Report Category:

• Committee Reports
• Distance Education and Intellectual Property
• Distance Education
• Special Committee on Distance Education and Intellectual Property Issues
• Academic Freedom and Tenure Investigative Reports
• College and University Governance Reports
• Standing Committee and Subcommittee Reports
• Research Reports
• Audit Reports
• View All Reports
• Back to Reports and Publications

American Association of University Professors 555 New Jersey Ave NW, Suite 600 Washington, DC 20001 Phone: 202-737-5900

[email protected], privacy policy & terms of use.

You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience.

Education for Life

• Input search text

The Boise Union Pacific Depot greets a chilly sunrise over the mountains and the opposing capitol building. Opened in 1925, this local icon sits adjacent to Boise State University.

Photo by © knowlesgallery – stock.adobe.com

STATE BOARD STATEMENT ON JUDGE’S ORDER AWARDING ATTORNEY FEES IN ATTORNEY GENERAL RAUL LABRADOR’S LAWSUIT

Next: State Review: Fall, 2021 Previous: PANHANDLE HIGH SCHOOL LAUDED FOR EFFORTS TO INCREASE FIRST GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS

Updated on March 27, 2024

U.S. Department of the Treasury

Treasury designates russian companies supporting sanctions evasion through virtual asset services and technology procurement.

WASHINGTON — Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned thirteen entities and two individuals for operating in the financial services and technology sectors of the Russian Federation economy including persons developing or offering services in virtual assets that enable the evasion of U.S. sanctions. Five entities were designated for being owned or controlled by OFAC-designated persons.

Many of the individuals and entities designated today facilitated transactions or offered other services that helped OFAC-designated entities evade sanctions. These designations build upon OFAC’s February 23, 2024 action to target companies servicing Russia’s core financial infrastructure and curtail Russia’s use of the international financial system to further its war against Ukraine. 

“Russia is increasingly turning to alternative payment mechanisms to circumvent U.S. sanctions and continue to fund its war against Ukraine,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian E. Nelson. “As the Kremlin seeks to leverage entities in the financial technology space, Treasury will continue to expose and disrupt the companies that seek to help sanctioned Russian financial institutions reconnect to the global financial system.”

COUNTERING THE POTENTIAL FOR SANCTIONS EVASION WITH VIRTUAL ASSETS

On February 24, 2024, the G7 Leaders reaffirmed their commitment to step up efforts against the evasion and circumvention of G7 sanctions and export control measures. The companies designated by OFAC today have all either helped build or operate blockchain-based services for, or enabled virtual currency payments in, the Russian financial sector, thus enabling potential sanctions evasion. 

Joint Stock Company B-Crypto (B-Crypto) is a Moscow-based fintech company that has partnered with OFAC-designated Rosbank to facilitate cross-border settlements for Russian exporters using virtual currencies. B-Crypto was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the financial services sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Obshchestvo S Ogranichennoy Otvetstvennostyu Sistemy Raspredelennogo Reyestra  (Masterchain) is a Moscow-based fintech company that has agreements to issue digital financial assets, a term in Russia’s legal framework that refers to blockchain-based tokens that confer digital rights, with various OFAC-designated Russian banks, including VTB Bank and the Central Bank of Russia. Masterchain was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the financial services sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Obshchestvo S Ogranichennoy Otvetstvennostyu Laitkhaus (Laitkhaus) is a Moscow-based fintech company that has worked with OFAC-designated Sberbank and VTB Bank to issue, exchange, and transfer digital financial assets. Laitkhaus was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the financial services sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Obshchestvo S Ogranichennoy Otvetstvennostyu Atomaiz (Atomaiz), a Moscow-based fintech company, is a registered digital financial asset operator that has worked to tokenize precious metals and diamonds for Russian companies and is partnered with OFAC-designated Rosbank and Sovcombank. Atomaiz was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the financial services sector of the Russian Federation economy. 

Tokentrust Holdings Ltd. , based in Cyprus, is the majority shareholder of Atomaiz and was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the financial services sector of the Russian Federation economy. 

Obshchestvo S Ogranichennoy Otvetstvennostyu Veb3 Tekhnologii  (Veb3 Tekhnologii) and Obshchestvo S Ogranichennoy Otvetstvennostyu Veb3 Integrator  (Veb3 Integrator) are Moscow-based technology companies providing blockchain solutions and platforms within the Russian financial sectors, with clients including OFAC-designated Sberbank and Alfa-Bank. Veb3 Tekhnologii and Veb3 Integrator were designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the technology sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Igor Veniaminovich Kaigorodov is the majority shareholder at both Veb3 Tekhnologii and Veb3 Integrator and was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the technology sector of the Russian federation economy.

Obshchestvo S Ogranichennoy Otvetstvennostyu Tsentr Obrabotki Elektronnykh Platezhey (TOEP), under its business names Netexchange and Netex24, is a Moscow-based fintech company that operates a virtual currency exchange which has enabled digital payments in rubles and virtual currencies to OFAC-designated entities such as Sberbank, Alfa-Bank, and Hydra Market. TOEP was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the financial services sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Timur Evgenyevich Bukanov (Bukanov) is the owner and director of TOEP and was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the financial services sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Bitfingroup OÜ (Bitfingroup) is an Estonian company that lists Bukanov as the sole owner. Bitfingroup was designated for being owned or controlled by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Bukanov.

Bitpapa IC FZC LLC (Bitpapa) operates a peer-to-peer virtual currency exchange and offers services to Russian nationals. To date, it has conducted transactions worth millions of dollars with OFAC-designated Russian entities Hydra Market and Garantex. Bitpapa was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the financial services sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Crypto Explorer DMCC (Crypto Explorer), under its business name AWEX, operates a Russia and UAE-based virtual currency exchange that offers conversions between virtual currencies, rubles, and UAE dirhams. AWEX offers cash services at its offices in Moscow and Dubai and also loads funds onto credit cards associated with OFAC-designated Russian banks such as Sberbank and Alfa-Bank. Crypto Explorer was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the financial services sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Obshchestvo S Ogranichennoy Otvetstvennostyu Kripto Eksplorer  (OOO Kripto Eksplorer) is a Russian company that is solely owned by Crypto Explorer. OOO Kripto Eksplorer was designated for being owned or controlled by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Crypto Explorer.

DISRUPTING RUSSIA’S TECHNOLOGY PROCUREMENT

Joint Stock Company Echelon Technologies (Echelon Technologies) is a Moscow-based company that sells technology products and is owned by Joint Stock Company Echelon Union for Science and Technology (Echelon Union) an OFAC-designated entity licensed by the Russian Federal Security Service and the Russian Ministry of Defense. Echelon Technologies was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the technology sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Autonomous Non-Profit Organization of Additional Professional Education Echelon Training Center and Limited Liability Company Key Information Systems are Moscow-based companies that work with and share an address with OFAC-designated Echelon Union and were designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the technology sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Limited Liability Company Echelon Innovations  (Echelon Innovations), Limited Liability Company Project Consulting Bureau Echelon  (Project Bureau Echelon), and Limited Liability Company Cybersecurity Laboratory (Cybersecurity Laboratory) all list Echelon Union as the sole or majority shareholder. Echelon Innovations, Project Bureau Echelon, and Cybersecurity Laboratory were designated for being owned or controlled by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Echelon Union.

SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS

As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons. 

In addition, foreign financial institutions that conduct or facilitate significant transactions or provide any service involving Russia’s military-industrial base run the risk of being sanctioned by OFAC. Examples of activities that could expose foreign financial institutions to sanctions risk under E.O. 14024, as amended, are maintaining accounts, transferring funds, or providing other financial services (i.e., payment processing, trade finance, insurance) for any persons designated for operating in the specified sectors or for any persons, either inside or outside Russia, that support Russia’s military-industrial base, including those that operate in the specified sectors of the Russian Federation economy. For additional guidance, please see the December 22, 2023 OFAC Sanctions Advisory as well as OFAC Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 1146-1157.

The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the SDN List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC’s Frequently Asked Question 897 here . For detailed information on the process to submit a request for removal from an OFAC sanctions list, please click here .

Click here for more information on the individuals and entities designated today .

(GENERAL-24-06) 2024-25 FAFSA Student Aid Index Update and Timeline (Updated March 14, 2024)

Updates: On March 14, 2024, we updated the 2024-25 FAFSA Updates page. Each time we update the page, we will update this announcement and re-push it to our subscription email. In addition, you can bookmark the page and check it periodically.

Issue Alerts: On Feb. 23, 2024, we updated the 2024-25 FAFSA Issue Alerts page. Each time we update the page, we will update this announcement and re-push it to our subscription email. In addition, you can bookmark the page and check it periodically.

We would like to provide you with an important update regarding the 2024-25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA ® ) process. This Electronic Announcement provides further details regarding aid eligibility and the post-processing experience for students, institutions, state higher education agencies, and scholarship organizations.

Since the form went live on Dec. 30, more than 3.1 million forms have been submitted. The Department continues to work to ensure students and their families have access to a stable and secure form.

As part of our continuing commitment to put students first, we will ensure students and their families receive all the aid they are entitled to receive. To account for inflationary adjustments as required under the law, the Department has updated the supporting tables used in the Student Aid Index (SAI) calculation, ensuring that students are benefitting from approximately an additional $1.8 billion in aid. These tables, which directly impact eligibility for need-based federal student aid, detail the allowances against income and assets reported by students and families on their FAFSA form. The revised tables are included in the final Student Aid Index (SAI) and Pell Grant Eligibility Guide . In the coming weeks, our teams will be updating the Federal Processing System (FPS) to include the updated tables. Based upon estimations for completing that work, the Department will begin transmitting batches of FAFSA information (ISIRs) to schools and state agencies in the first half of March, which will include the updated SAI tables. We anticipate catching up with the majority of ISIR transmissions to schools in the weeks following the beginning of ISIR delivery.

We anticipate that the 2024-25 FAFSA processing timeline will change as follows.

Post-Processing Experience for Students

Students will receive an email informing them that their FAFSA form has been fully processed and their FAFSA information has been sent to the schools they listed on their form.

Students who applied using the online FAFSA form will receive an email that they can access their FAFSA Submission Summary by logging in to StudentAid.gov using their account username and password.

The Department will send an email reminder to previous FAFSA applicants who have not yet submitted a 2024-25 FAFSA form.

Students will be able to make corrections to their FAFSA once their eligibility has been calculated and ISIR generated. Students may view their eligibility calculation by logging back into their Studentaid.gov account.

The Department will fully process paper applications in the weeks following.

Post-Processing Experience for Institutions, State Higher Ed Agencies, and Designated Scholarship Organizations

Institutions, state higher ed agencies, and designated scholarship organizations will begin receiving batches of FAFSA information (ISIRs) starting in the first half of March. The information transmitted to schools will include the updated SAI tables.

We are continuing to test several vendor built systems and we will provide regular progress updates to schools and stakeholders as we move forward.

As in previous years, when the Congressional appropriations process has completed and determined the 2024-25 Maximum Federal Pell Grant award amount, ISIRs will be re-processed to reflect that update.

Resources for Institutions, State Higher Education Agencies, and Other External Partners

The Department will continue to assist our external partners through webinars, resources, and updates on the Knowledge Center . We also welcome our partners to continue to submit questions related to the 2024-25 FAFSA launch using the Contact Customer Support form in FSA’s Partner Connect Help Center. To submit a question, please enter your name, email address, topic, and question. When submitting a question related to this Electronic Announcement, please select the topic “2024-25 FAFSA.”

Stay Informed

We will continue to update the “2024-25 FAFSA Updates” page and the key dates noted in this announcement in the 2024-25 FAFSA Roadmap . We encourage our partners to sign up for Knowledge Center Subscription emails to receive the latest news on a daily or weekly basis.

Last Modified: 03/15/2024

• Election 2024
• Entertainment
• Newsletters
• Photography
• Personal Finance
• AP Buyline Personal Finance
• Press Releases
• Israel-Hamas War
• Russia-Ukraine War
• Global elections
• Asia Pacific
• Latin America
• Middle East
• March Madness
• AP Top 25 Poll
• Movie reviews
• Book reviews
• Personal finance
• Financial Markets
• Business Highlights
• Financial wellness
• Artificial Intelligence
• Social Media

Easter 2024

New York’s state budget expected to be late as housing, education negotiations continue

FILE - The New York state Assembly Chamber is seen during a legislative session after Gov. Kathy Hochul presented her 2025 executive state budget at the state Capitol Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024, in Albany, N.Y. New York lawmakers are expected to miss the state’s budget deadline as negotiations over housing and education funding remain ongoing, a top official said Wednesday, March 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File)

• Copy Link copied

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s state budget deadline will be pushed back to next week as negotiations over housing and education are ongoing, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday.

Hochul said in a statement she would deliver a bill to lawmakers delaying the budget’s due date until April 4.

Budget negotiations — conducted in private between the Democratic leaders of the Senate and Assembly and Hochul, also a Democrat — were expected to drag out beyond the original April 1 deadline, which fell right after Easter, though officials have indicated that the meetings have been productive.

Lawmakers appear cautious to avoid the kind of blowup that delayed last year’s spending plan by more than a month as Democrats fought over bail laws and a plan to spur housing construction.

Still, familiar subjects have emerged as sticking points this year.

Lawmakers are trying to forge a deal on a housing plan that includes new construction, tenant protections and a tax break for developers to incentivize building in a state notorious for high rents and home costs.

“We are all on the same planet. We’re all working towards trying to get that grand plan that will not only address affordability but address the needs of supply as well as the needs of tenant protections,” Senate Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins told reporters.

There has also been a split over Hochul’s proposal to raise criminal penalties for assaulting retail workers, part of her larger strategy to address crime concerns in the state. Legislative leaders rejected her plan not long after it was announced, arguing the state already has laws against assault and said enhancing penalties won’t stop crimes.

Another potential avenue for disagreement is Hochul’s proposal to change how the state gives out education funding to schools. The governor has said her plan would result in the state better directing money to districts that need additional funding. But it has drawn criticism because it would result in some districts getting less money.

Instead, legislative leaders have said the state should conduct a study around the state’s school funding formula to see how it could be improved in the future.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a Democrat, told reporters earlier this week that an extension was possible but maintained that he, the Senate and the governor were on the same page, mostly.

“Sometimes in the budget, you might be in a different galaxy,” Heastie said Tuesday, adding “I don’t know if we’re in the same country yet, but I think we’re on the same planet.

• Getting Results.
• Newsletters

WEATHER ALERT

A rip current statement in effect for Coastal Volusia Region

Missouri attorney general is accused of racial bias for pinning a student fight on diversity program.

Summer Ballentine

Associated Press

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Days after Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey blamed an after-school fight on a school district's diversity programming, a lawyer for the majority Black district in suburban St. Louis said that the state's chief attorney is showing “obvious racial bias."

Bailey, who is campaigning to keep his seat, said last week that he is investigating possible violations of the state’s human rights laws by the Hazelwood School District, after a March 8 fight left a girl hospitalized with severe head injuries.

Recommended Videos

Bailey blamed the school district’s diversity, equity and inclusion programming as a cause for the fight, which St. Louis County police say happened after school hours in a neighborhood about two blocks from Hazelwood East High School. He said were it not for the programs, a school resource officer would have been present at the school.

“I am launching an investigation into Hazelwood School District after a student was senselessly assaulted by another student in broad daylight,” Bailey said in a statement. “The entire community deserves answers on how Hazelwood’s radical DEI programs resulted in such despicable safety failures that has resulted in a student fighting for her life.”

Hazelwood School District lawyer Cindy Reeds Ormsby said in a Tuesday letter to Bailey that his “obvious racial bias against majority minority school districts is clear.”

“Do you honestly believe, again, without any official verification or specific knowledge, that the fight on March 8th was a result of a racial issue between the female students that was caused by the HSD belief in the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion for all?” Ormsby wrote. “What community do you represent as the Missouri Attorney General? Do you represent all citizens of Missouri? Or only the white citizens?”

Ormsby also questioned Bailey’s interest in the Hazelwood assault, but not several other cases of violence against students from nearby districts.

Hazelwood School District is about 95% Black and less than 2% white, according to state education department data. The races of the victim and a 15-year-old girl who was arrested for assault have not been released.

In a response Tuesday to Ormsby's letter, Bailey did not directly address her allegations of racial bias but said she should stop making personal attacks. He acknowledged his previous error in stating the date of the fight was March 11, not March 8, and again directed the district to provide records for his investigation.

Associated Press calls and emails to the family attorney of the hospitalized girl were not immediately returned. The 15-year-old has not been named by police because she is a juvenile.

Issues with school resource officers in Hazelwood schools began in 2021, when the district tried to require police to attend 10 hours of diversity, equity and inclusion training to work at the schools.

Police chiefs from St. Louis County, Florissant and Hazelwood sent a letter to the school board in June of that year saying police “receive training that is more than adequate and addresses the critical matters of diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

No deal was reached between police and the schools, prompting the district to hire 60 private security guards to replace the school resource officers.

Hazelwood police later returned to some of the district's buildings as school resource officers. But Florissant and St. Louis County police never reached an agreement with the school district.

In a letter requesting documents from Hazelwood about the student fight, Bailey wrote that “the absence of SROs on the scene is directly attributable to Hazelwood's insistence on prioritizing race-based policies over basic student safety.”

Ormsby said school resource officers “would not have prevented a fight from occurring off school property and outside of the school day.”

Hazelwood spokeswoman Jordyn Elston said in a statement that the school district “does not prioritize DEI initiatives at the expense of student safety" and believes the programs help student safety and learning.

“These values are not negotiable," Elston said, "and we will continue to prioritize them in all aspects of our work as community leaders.”

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Artificial Intelligence Act: MEPs adopt landmark law  

Share this page:  .

• Facebook  
• Twitter  
• LinkedIn  
• WhatsApp  
• Safeguards on general purpose artificial intelligence  
• Limits on the use of biometric identification systems by law enforcement  
• Bans on social scoring and AI used to manipulate or exploit user vulnerabilities  
• Right of consumers to launch complaints and receive meaningful explanations  

On Wednesday, Parliament approved the Artificial Intelligence Act that ensures safety and compliance with fundamental rights, while boosting innovation.

The regulation, agreed in negotiations with member states in December 2023, was endorsed by MEPs with 523 votes in favour, 46 against and 49 abstentions.

It aims to protect fundamental rights, democracy, the rule of law and environmental sustainability from high-risk AI, while boosting innovation and establishing Europe as a leader in the field. The regulation establishes obligations for AI based on its potential risks and level of impact.

Banned applications

The new rules ban certain AI applications that threaten citizens’ rights, including biometric categorisation systems based on sensitive characteristics and untargeted scraping of facial images from the internet or CCTV footage to create facial recognition databases. Emotion recognition in the workplace and schools, social scoring, predictive policing (when it is based solely on profiling a person or assessing their characteristics), and AI that manipulates human behaviour or exploits people’s vulnerabilities will also be forbidden.

Law enforcement exemptions

The use of biometric identification systems (RBI) by law enforcement is prohibited in principle, except in exhaustively listed and narrowly defined situations. “Real-time” RBI can only be deployed if strict safeguards are met, e.g. its use is limited in time and geographic scope and subject to specific prior judicial or administrative authorisation. Such uses may include, for example, a targeted search of a missing person or preventing a terrorist attack. Using such systems post-facto (“post-remote RBI”) is considered a high-risk use case, requiring judicial authorisation being linked to a criminal offence.

Obligations for high-risk systems

Clear obligations are also foreseen for other high-risk AI systems (due to their significant potential harm to health, safety, fundamental rights, environment, democracy and the rule of law). Examples of high-risk AI uses include critical infrastructure, education and vocational training, employment, essential private and public services (e.g. healthcare, banking), certain systems in law enforcement, migration and border management, justice and democratic processes (e.g. influencing elections). Such systems must assess and reduce risks, maintain use logs, be transparent and accurate, and ensure human oversight. Citizens will have a right to submit complaints about AI systems and receive explanations about decisions based on high-risk AI systems that affect their rights.

Transparency requirements

General-purpose AI (GPAI) systems, and the GPAI models they are based on, must meet certain transparency requirements, including compliance with EU copyright law and publishing detailed summaries of the content used for training. The more powerful GPAI models that could pose systemic risks will face additional requirements, including performing model evaluations, assessing and mitigating systemic risks, and reporting on incidents.

Additionally, artificial or manipulated images, audio or video content (“deepfakes”) need to be clearly labelled as such.

Measures to support innovation and SMEs

Regulatory sandboxes and real-world testing will have to be established at the national level, and made accessible to SMEs and start-ups, to develop and train innovative AI before its placement on the market.

During the plenary debate on Tuesday, the Internal Market Committee co-rapporteur Brando Benifei (S&D, Italy) said: “We finally have the world’s first binding law on artificial intelligence, to reduce risks, create opportunities, combat discrimination, and bring transparency. Thanks to Parliament, unacceptable AI practices will be banned in Europe and the rights of workers and citizens will be protected. The AI Office will now be set up to support companies to start complying with the rules before they enter into force. We ensured that human beings and European values are at the very centre of AI’s development”.

Civil Liberties Committee co-rapporteur Dragos Tudorache (Renew, Romania) said: “The EU has delivered. We have linked the concept of artificial intelligence to the fundamental values that form the basis of our societies. However, much work lies ahead that goes beyond the AI Act itself. AI will push us to rethink the social contract at the heart of our democracies, our education models, labour markets, and the way we conduct warfare. The AI Act is a starting point for a new model of governance built around technology. We must now focus on putting this law into practice”.

The regulation is still subject to a final lawyer-linguist check and is expected to be finally adopted before the end of the legislature (through the so-called corrigendum procedure). The law also needs to be formally endorsed by the Council.

It will enter into force twenty days after its publication in the official Journal, and be fully applicable 24 months after its entry into force, except for: bans on prohibited practises, which will apply six months after the entry into force date; codes of practise (nine months after entry into force); general-purpose AI rules including governance (12 months after entry into force); and obligations for high-risk systems (36 months).

The Artificial Intelligence Act responds directly to citizens’ proposals from the Conference on the Future of Europe (COFE), most concretely to proposal 12(10) on enhancing EU’s competitiveness in strategic sectors, proposal 33(5) on a safe and trustworthy society, including countering disinformation and ensuring humans are ultimately in control, proposal 35 on promoting digital innovation, (3) while ensuring human oversight and (8) trustworthy and responsible use of AI, setting safeguards and ensuring transparency, and proposal 37 (3) on using AI and digital tools to improve citizens’ access to information, including persons with disabilities.

Contacts:  

Yasmina yakimova  .

• Phone number: (+32) 2 28 42626 (BXL)  
• Mobile number: (+32) 470 88 10 60  
• E-mail: [email protected]  
• Twitter account: @EP_SingleMarket  

Janne OJAMO  

• Phone number: (+32) 2 284 12 50 (BXL)  
• Mobile number: (+32) 470 89 21 92  
• E-mail: [email protected]  
• Twitter account: @EP_Justice  

Further information  

• Link to adopted text (13.03.2024)  
• Plenary debate (12.03.2024)  
• Procedure file  
• EP Research Service: compilation of studies on Artificial Intelligence  
• Result of roll-call votes (13.03.2024)  
• Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection  
• Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs  

Product information