My brother Mark is a very intelligent person. This is not just sisterly pride speaking— he was a precocious child who taught himself to read before his third birthday. He started school at the age of four and was an “A” student at the prestigious Gilman School, where he became the first African American “twelve year man,” a recognition bestowed upon a small group of alumni who attend the school from first to twelfth grade.
Jayne Matthews - Education Matters
The Best College Advice: Manage Distractions
- Friday, 19 August 2011 06:43
- Jayne Matthews
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The Missed Education of Black Folks Part II
- Friday, 12 August 2011 10:56
- Jayne Matthews
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The history of black education in America is written in pencil. It can easily be erased and re-sketched to satisfy the ever-changing demands of commerce. Exploitation has trumped enlightenment, leaving generations of black folks wondering why the American dream remains a dream.
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The Missed Education of Black Folks
- Friday, 29 July 2011 12:11
- Jayne Matthews
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Before political correctness marginalized the link between racial disparity and low academic achievement, Dr. Carter G. Woodson wrote The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861— A History of the Education of the Colored People of the United States from the beginning of Slavery to the Civil War.
The Art of Writing
- Friday, 22 July 2011 09:24
- Jayne Matthews
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Six weeks before my son’s high school graduation, I drew up a list of longtime friends and relatives to invite to the commencement. For such a momentous occasion, I used a fountain pen to address the invitations old-school cursive style. Eschewing abbreviations, except for courtesy titles, each name and address was lovingly written and punctuated.
Demanding Educational Excellence
- Friday, 15 July 2011 00:00
- Jayne Matthews
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Knowledge is power —Sir Francis Bacon
Instead of bemoaning the disappointing Maryland State Achievement scores and wringing our hands over school testing scandals, Baltimoreans should get serious about improving the public schools. Years of low academic achievement and high drop out rates threatens to compromise our City’s future. It is time to declare war on educational mediocrity.