Educational Initiatives

Introducing The Franklin Standard - A guideline for K-12 curricula

The Franklin Standard is a developmental guideline for both elementary and secondary education to provide a stronger basis of education for America's youth. While still in development, we believe it will revolutionize America's approach to education, both from the standpoint of delivery and assessment.

Defining national curriculum guidelines will not only help guide state school boards to develop stronger graduation and curriculum requirements, but will help set a national benchmark that provides a baseline of expected excellence by which school boards will be held accountable. This is different from other government programs that use standardized testing to benchmark educational effectiveness. We believe standardized testing at the state and federal levels teach memorization and thus fails to deliver applied knowledge that students can use at the collegiate level.

 

Advanced Mathematics Requirements for Public School

The implementation of advanced mathematics in public schools at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels is essential to the success of our future generations, especially when compared to education in competitive nations. Advanced levels of mathematics including calculus, trigonometry, and statistics should not be relegated to honors classes only. We feel that advanced mathematics are more easily absorbed by younger students, contrary to traditional teaching methodologies. Students who have a more solid foundation in mathematics are more likely to excel in their collegiate careers.

 

Stronger Teacher Requirements

According to the U.S. Department of Education, less than 65% of math teachers, and 72% of science teachers actually received degrees and were certified in the courses they taught; leaving some teachers to rely on the book to deliver information to students. We believe this to be an inefficiency that needs to be addressed. This is not an attack on America's teachers, this is an indictment of a national education system that does not support its teachers in making sure they have the knowledge necessary to effectively deliver instruction. For most students, science and math lesson plans applied to real world situations, is the most effective way to deliver instruction they will not only comprehend, but remember. The Franklin Foundation is working to help teachers better prepare by offering scholarship opportunities for continuing education and certification, but the implementation of state-wide requirements in every state for teacher credentials will ensure we steer clear of putting "warm bodies" in front of the blackboard.