Annotated Bibliography

Darling-Hammond, Linda (1998) Unequal Opportunity: Race and Education

The Brookings Institution
http://www.brookings.edu/articles/1998/spring_education_darling-hammond.aspx

There is a presumption now that equal opportunity exists in schools among all races. This view attributes low achievement levels on standardized tests as a function of genes, culture and a lack of effort on the part of minority students. This view does not take in to account the fact that the U.S. educational system is one of the most unequal in the industrialized world. The reality is that these educational outcomes are much more a function of their unequal access to necessary educational resources, including skilled teachers and quality curriculum. In order to make assumptions based on culture and effort the students must be operating on a level playing field. This is clearly not the case in our country. Recent analysis of data has shown that in many states on every tangible measure, from qualified teachers to curriculum offering, that schools dominated by students of color had considerably less resources that schools dominated by white students. These are the same areas that fare the worst in educational expenditures. It is very easy to see these test scores and just blame it on lack of effort. In order to make these scores relevant at all we need to look into ways to make educational opportunities more fair. When given the same educational resources studies have shown that students of color achieve at the same level as white students. Some states have already taken a step in the right direction. They have equalized educational spending, enforced higher teaching standards, and reduced teacher shortages. The most important thing in education is that every student deserves and opportunity at a good education. Until this happens we cannot blame the students for the gap in test scores.



Ravitch, Diane (2007) Get Congress Out of the Classroom

The Brookings Institution

http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2007/1003education_ravitch.aspx

This article talks about the negative effect that No Child Left Behind has had on our classrooms. This has created an unhealthy obsession of standardized testing and has diminished time in the classroom for teaching other important subjects. Another important issue is the choice to move to another school if your school is not meeting the standards. This seems great except that it is not that easy in the inner cities. Most schools in the inner city do not have seats available to accommodate other students. This makes it very unequal, especially in the areas that need the most help.

Berliner, David (2008) Why Rising Test Scores May Not Equal Increased Student Learning

Harvard Ed Review

http://www.hepg.org/news/23

A big problem with standardized testing is the idea that test scores must go up or else. This forces the schools to teach toward the test. They hold test prep classes and teach exactly what is on the test. This will result in rising scores but it may not result in a higher level of learning. The students can spend up to 60 days a year preparing for these tests. But this is not education, this is training. So the result is student being very well prepared for one specific test but this does not mean that they are prepared for life after the test.

Miller, Virginia (2001) The New Definition of Standards in American Education

The Heritage Foundation

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Education/BG1427.cfm

In order to improve quality of education, policy makers at the federal, state and local levels are pressing for higher standards in education. So far they have only implemented standards and have paid little attention to their content. The Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) has been trying to identify the skills need in the workplace and how we can implement these in our curriculums. This is an effort to have our education in the classroom better prepare our students for the workplace.

Geier, Robert; Blumenfeld, Phyllis C.; Marx, Ronald W.; Krajcik, Joseph S.; Fishman, Barry; Soloway, Elliot; Clay-Chambers, Juanita (2008) Standardized Test Outcomes for Students Engaged in Inquiry Based Science Curricula in the Context of Urban Reform

Educational Resources Information center

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/Home.portal?_nfpb=true&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=standardized+test&searchtype=keyword&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=kw&_pageLabel=RecordDetails&objectId=0900019b8035620b&accno=EJ813446&_nfls=false

This article takes a look at a different way of teaching called inquiry based teaching. It took a group of 7th and 8th graders from Detroit and used inquiry based teaching in their science curriculum. Then they compared their test results to all the other 7th and 8th graders in the same school. Their findings showed that the experimental group of students out performed the other students on the standardized science tests. Although a small sample size it shows that teaching for understanding can actually help standardized test scores. This is very different from the usual teaching toward the test method.

My Culture

I was born in South Jersey into a family of Irish and Finnish descent. I do not have any living relatives that are actually from these countries. This made it very difficult for me to define my culture. I do not have any customs that date back to either of these countries, although I am very intrigued by my ancestry and where my relatives came from. I do know a lot of their names and how they came from Ireland and Finland in the early 1900’s. But this does not help me figure out who I am right here right now. I thought that if I had parents from a different country or if I was from somewhere else that this assignment would be so much easier. But I was wrong. I realized my problem was that I was thinking of culture only as such things as nationalities, race and customs. My culture is my family. That is a middle class American family that may not be rich in customs but is rich in values as all types of families are. We have a very big family and try to get together as often as we can. The biggest thing that seems to keep my family close is children. When I was growing up I had like 40 cousins. We would all see each other at family gatherings and while we were all out playing together the adults would get to spend time together. This is happening all over again. I have three brothers and a sister and we all have busy lives. My oldest brother has a brand new baby but he lives in Connecticut. My parents live in south jersey along with my sister and her two little boys. I have two brothers who live in Philadelphia. I live in the middle. So I hosted a gathering on Sunday so that we could all see each other but more importantly so we could all see the three little boys. Naturally while the little guys are playing we all have some time to catch up. Even though the time may not be that long it is very important to our family that we do things like this every so often.

I love spending time with my nephews. They have such a big impact on my life. They are all under the age of three and are just so young and innocent. I can already see very distinct personality traits in each of them but I also think about what is going to shape them in the next ten years. I think the obvious and most important influence will be their parents. But after that we could talk about many different things that will influence them. I think about just how much time they are going to spend in school and can’t help but think that their teachers will have an affect on their lives. This leads to me thinking about what I will be like as a teacher, especially in an urban school. I know I cannot change the world but I can change individual children. Just knowing how impressionable I can be on children will force me to handle such a responsibility with care.

Another big part of my life is sports. I played a lot of sports growing up and I watch a lot of sports. When I am not working or studying I am watching sports or at sporting events. I grew up outside of Philadelphia so I naturally root for any team from that city. I love the idea of sports and the competitive nature of it. Besides watching it I have goals of becoming a high school soccer coach. I think this has a big impact on my teaching. First it is just that many more kids that I will be able to connect with and become a mentor for. Also I think that coaching has many parallels to teaching. Instead of math I will be teaching them the game of soccer. Instead of tests we will have matches against other schools. In both cases I will go beyond teaching just math skills or soccer skills. I will be teaching work ethic, problem solving, and ways to achieve beyond the classroom or soccer field.

One of the most important things that helped me try to succeed in my life is self motivation. One way I motivate myself is through learning more about people that I admire. A person that I admire very much is Martin Luther King, Jr. He was an unbelievable man that had great influence on many lives. He fought for a cause that was much greater than him. Even though he struggled and may have failed sometimes he always kept his eye on the big picture. He was able to inspire so many people. The thing I take from him is that one person can truly make a difference. I can use this in the classroom because I know that there will be many times that I fail to get through to some students. I need to keep it all in perspective and realize that what matters are all the students that I have a positive affect on.

Another way I self motivate is through quotes. They are very important to me. I write good quotes down all time and love to use them with students. One of my favorite quotes is “Leadership: The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” This was by Dwight D. Eisenhower. I love this quote because as a teacher I will be a leader in the classroom. I believe that if students just do things because you tell them to do so is not very productive. The idea is to inspire them to want to learn new things. If someone likes what they are doing then they are much more likely to learn and respond well in the classroom. It is my job to create an environment for this to happen.

Each person’s individual culture plays a huge role in who they are and what they will become as a teacher. The definition of culture is different for everybody. For some people their culture has a lot to do with their race or ethnicity. For others gender can play a huge role. For me it is anything that influences me. These things are family, friends, sports, great quotes, and my heroes. These things have shaped my life and have helped define who I am as a person. This is very important to understand because being a teacher will be a huge part of my life. I can use all of these influences to help me become a better teacher.

Urban Education Questions

I have many questions about urban schools but the thing that intrigues me the most is standardized testing. I have a lot of questions about this. First of all, I would like to know just how poorly some of these schools in Newark are performing on these tests. I want to know how much this correlates to how much the students are actually learning. I think that it is crazy that these scores decide how successful a school is but it only tests math and English. I realize that these are two very important subjects but many students are very good at other things. I think we should be focusing on each individual student and finding their strengths. In order to do this standardized testing would have to be altered. I want to look into ways to alter our curriculums and testing. I want to take a look at data from past years about standardized testing and try to find solutions that may better represent each individual student and at the same time determine whether a school is heading in the right direction. So my question is this: What are alternatives to current standardized tests?