Public schools, in the United States, have a
mission to provide every student a safe and caring learning environment in
which to develop the skills and knowledge that are essential to live a productive, successful life in an ever-changing global
community. The vision, of education, is to provide all students with access to
develop higher-order thinking which will involve creative and critical thinking
skills that are needed to solve real-world problems. The No Child Left Behind
was an initiative by President
George Bush in 2001 to ensure
that every student in a public school was offered this opportunity. NCLB
required that every state, school
district and school follow
the new guidelines in order to ensure all students are proficient in
grade-level math and reading by 2014. This has led school districts to focus on
the struggling and low-performing students and succumb to the myth that "Gifted
Students Don't Need Help;
They'll Do Fine On Their Own". Strategies that have been used in the
schools (specifically middle schools) to help increase students' growth are
extra math classes, remediation math classes, longer class periods, remediation
and resource coaches who co-teach with a regular classroom teacher,
differentiated instruction in regular classrooms, implementing the tools of technology or manipulatives. The
majority of these resources have been aimed to help the struggling students
reach proficiency; it has not been aimed at supporting the academically and
talented gifted students at accelerating or developing higher-order thinking
skills. In fact, these strategies are causing the academically and talented students to stagnate and lose
their drive for knowledge. Gifted and talented students who miss out on
accelerated learning opportunities still do well above average but may not
accomplish as much later in life. That is the harm: we are losing our future
Madame Curie or Thomas Edison, or Albert Einstein. If the goal of NCLB was to
create access to quality education for all students to achieve proficiency or
growth, then the focus of every school district and school should be just that.
Currently, public school funding is focused on the students who are lower
academically and lagging behind their peers. However, there needs to be a shift
to include the gifted students in that funding. Schools need to change the
schedules to block or hire more math teachers to be able to offer the mandatory
"AIG math class". It seems more likely that schools would switch to a
block schedule to lengthen class periods before they find
money to hire more teachers. The need for AIG students to have access to
adequate services in school is not just an issue of improving student achievement, it is about improving students' critical and
creative thinking skills. This endeavor will require all stakeholders to buy-in
and support the population that is thought to not need help because they will
do fine on their own. The returns on investing in our AIG students to develop
their higher order-thinking skills for the 21st century global
community will benefit
everyone in the global
community. These students are the
future; we as educators must make sure that they have every opportunity to
develop their full potential. Jennifer Senter is is an AIG
consultant for Cumberland
County Schools. Jennifer is also currently enrolled in the Masters of Education
Degree Program at Western Carolina University. Webmasters and other article
publishers are hereby
granted article reproduction permission as long as this article in its entirety,
author's information, and any links remain intact. Copyright 2016 by Jennifer
Senter.
Border Road Organization-Choose As a Career
Option Border Road Organization is a multifaceted, modern construction
organization committed to meeting the strategic needs of the armed forces. The
role Organization is to develop and maintain the operational road
infrastructure in border areas and It also contributes to the socio-economic
development of the border states. It was raised in 1960
to carve roads through difficult Himalayas in North-Western and North-Eastern border
areas of the country. Though for basic purpose it is a road constructing civil
engineering organization - task function-wise similar to central and or state
PWDs- yet in that of Corps of Engineers of the India Army. It constructs and maintains
roads in virgin areas where other civil engineering
works- executing agencies are unable to operate. The officers, supervisors and
men required for maintaining this Force are drawn partly from the Armed Forces,
especially Corps of Engineers, and partly enrolled/enlisted from open market
exclusively for this force. A few officers, especially doctors, are drawn from
Indian Air Force and the Navy also. The troops enrolled exclusively for manning
functions of this organization are collectively known as General Reserve
Engineer Force, or 'GREF'. The personnel drawn from other defence forces are
considered on normal military duty. In other words while the phrase Border
Roads Organization
stands for the department as a whole, 'GREF' is the
name of the collective body of the former's whole-time regular employees,
recruited, maintained and deployed, exclusively on execution of BRO's projects/
works only. The technical head of the organization, located at New Delhi, named
as Director General Border Roads, is a Lt. General from Corps of Engineers. The
Border Road Organization is a potential employer not only for technically
qualified/ trained professionals but
also for semi skilled and unskilled youths having aptitude for outdoor life.
Setup of Units The lower most independent working unit in is called Road Construction
Company, or 'RCC'. Like a Division
of the provincial PWD, an RCC is commanded by an officer of the rank of Executive
Engineer or Major. It comprises of functional platoons like 'Formation Cutting
Platoon' for cutting new roads; 'Permanent
Works platoon' for
construction of culverts, retaining and breast walls, drains and parapets, etc;
'Surfacing Platoon' for keeping the finished roads in good repairs. These
Platoons are Placed under the charge of a Platoons Officer of the rank of
Assistant Executive Engineer or a Captain, who reports to the Officer
Commanding RCC for all executives, administrative and financial matters. A few
RCCs make Border Roads Task Force, or 'BRTF', which is like a Circle of the
provincial PWD or an Engineer Regiment of the Army. Earlier Task Force(s) an
Engineer Regiment of the Army. Earlier Task(s) used to be commanding by a
Superintending Engineer or a Colonel of Corps of Engrs. A few BRTFs put
together form a BRO Project. A Project is commanded by a chief Engineer of
GREF or a Brgadier of the Corps of Engrs. To assist the RCCs and BRTFs produce
optimum results, the organization, has certain common service units like
'Engineer Stores supply & Transport Company' or for procurement, storage,
issuance and transport of construction
stores; 'Field Workshop' or 'Field
Workshop Platoon' for maintenance and repairs of the departmental vehicles and
assorted hill cutting/road building/maintaining machinery and Base Depots' for
holding buffer stocks of stores and equipment. The organization in addition
holds 'GREF Pioneer Companies, each having some 400 Pioneers, who are the
organization's foot soldiers. They handle all kinds of manual tasks, which
otherwise can't be got executed casual daily wagers. Border Road Organization
also borrows a complement of Army Pioneer who are authorized and also fire arms
for security
duties with movement of cash, sensitive documents and
or VIPs. These common service units are manned by officers having expertise in specific
fields. Non-technical
administrative officers command the GREF pioneer companies, who form bulk of
the force. The Medical
Staging Sections and Medical Inspection Rooms take care of the sick and suffering troops,
while Dental officer and his team move from camp to camp for checking and
improving the denture of the road building troops deployed in forward areas.
While every Border Road Organization project has one Signal Officer for manning
the wireless communications network, a Postal Unit is there to look after
movement of official daak as well as the private mail of the troops. Provost
unit is one more setup in a Project for taking care of the internal as well as
external security in the organization. The GREF officers and men are
simultaneously governed under two separate sets of rules. For the purpose of
recruitment, leave, pay and allowances and retirement or discharge etc, they
are governed under Central Civil Services Regulations. For the purpose of
discipline, however, they are / can also be simultaneously governed under the
provision of Army Act, 1950, with certain essential modifications, specially
dove-tailed for GREF. The application of the Army Act entitles the GREF
personnel, to a number of privileges like those entitled to the personnel of
other wings of the Armed Forces. Cadres of GREF officers Many GREF officers are
Civil Engineers, followed by the Electrical & Mechanical Engineers. Both
these groups are constituted into Border Roads Engineering Services, or 'BRES'.
Next numerically lesser strong groups are GREF Administrative Officers and
Medical Officers. Categories of Tradesmen in Border Road Organization The bulk
of working strength of GREF comprises of the roads and buildings. They are
Pioneers, Masons, Drillers, Dozer Operators, Compressor Drivers, Mechanics,
Electricians, Carpenters, Mates, Leading Hands, Overseers, etc. The aforesaid
road making troops are supported by clerks, nursing assistants, wireless
operators, safaiwalas, cooks etc., who are responsible for running the
administration in offices and camps. Recruitment in Border Road Organization
The recruitment of GREF officers is conducted by Union Public Services
Commission based on the head of the organization. The BRES officers are
recruited by the Union Public Service Commission through an All India
Engineering Services Examinations. Officers of the other cadres are recruited
by the UPSC through interview only. In addition, a good number of officers rise
from and out of organization's serving lower ranks through departmental
promotions. The recruitment of various categories of GREF subordinates is done
centrally by the Commandant, GREF Centre and Records, located at Pune in
Maharashtra. While the advertising of the vacancies in officers cadres is done
by UPSC through leading newspapers of the country, that for the subordinates is
done by GREF Records by inserting advertisement in the newspapers.