As a group we are trying to figure out how standardized testing ultimately prepares students for their future. We have broken the prioject down into four major parts.
1) Test taking and life skills
2) Newark schools
3) Other schools as a measure(including in state suburban schools and other countries)
4) State required standardized tests and the effect on curriculum
I am gathering information on state standardized tests and the effect it has on curriculum. It has become very apparent that all of the standardized tests have a great impact on curriculum. At a young age students are required to take the NJ Ask. This starts in grade 3 and goes up to grade 8. Then in high school students take the HSPA as juniors. A major problem that I am seeing is that there is such a focus to pass these tests that students are spending a lot of classroom time just preparing for them. This has led to many test prep companies capitalizing on this and publishing many books about these tests. The students seem to be focusing on how to pass a specific test rather than gaining knowledge for future success.
Another issue that I plan to focus on is that although all these standardized tests come from the Core Curriculum Content Standards, the test given to third graders is vastly different than that given to juniors. The NJ Ask for third graders tests seven areas:
1. Language Arts Literacy
2. Mathematics
3. Science
4. Visual and Performing Arts
5. Social Studies
6. Health and Physical Education
7. World Languages
(The New Jersey Department of Education http://www.nj.gov/education/assessment/es/njask_info_guide.pdf)
The HSPA tests just these two:
1. Mathematics
2. Language Arts Literacy
(The New Jersey Department of Education
http://www.state.nj.us/education/assessment/hs/hspa_guide_english.pdf)
It seems that by testing in the seven areas that students at a young age are given many opportunities to succeed and to find out what they are good at. Then as they get older they are only tested on two major subjects. Why does this happen? I plan to investigate this further and I think this will help lead our group in the right direction toward ultimately answering our question. Actually, I think it will just lead to many more questions.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Community Inquiry Project Details
Topic:
How much of what students are learning in school today applies to everyday life skills for future success?
Data Type:
Qualitative
Interview
a. Students- Current, Dropouts, Graduates
b. Teachers
c. Administration- Superintendent/Principal (+20 years exp.)
d. Janitors
Observation
a. Facility- Inside and Out
b. Area/People Around the Facility- Few Block Radius
c. Student/Teacher Interaction- During and Outside of Class
d. Student/Student Interaction- During and Outside of Class
e. Teacher/Teacher Interaction
Interview Questions:
Teachers
1. Are you required to
a. Show or submit lesson plans of your curriculum?
b. Prove by documentation the use of the NJCCS within your curriculum plans?
c. If yes, how is the proof documented; on the lesson plans themselves or written on the board during the lesson.
d. If no, why is there lack of connection between the teachers, state curriculum and the school? Do you think that this connection is beneficial to the students and the school?
2. Do you feel that through your curriculum you are teaching your students the necessary life skills they need for future success post schooling? ie- Critical thinking skills, collaborative skills, reasoning skills, lifelong learning skills?
3. Have the standardized tests changed anything specifically about your curriculum and/or teaching style? If so, what has changed?
4. How important are standardized testing to you? Do you think it is beneficial to the students learning?
5. Have content area class been cut as a result of standardized testing? If so, what classes? Do you feel that these classes are important to the student’s well-rounded development?
6. What skills besides literacy and mathematical competence do you feel your students will need after graduation?
Administration-Superintendent
7. How has the budget been affected, if at all, by standardized testing?
8. Do you find yourself in Trenton trying to collect funding for your schools?
9. How important do you feel standardized testing is for the success of your schools and students?
10. Have you felt a true change in your schools, perhaps more pressure or stresses on yourself or the faculty due to standardized testing?
11.What steps are you taking to ensure that your schools meet their AYP?
Students
12. What is a standardized test?
13. How important are the tests to you?
14. How do the tests make you feel? Do you like them? Do you think that they will help you for your future? If so, in what ways?
15. Have you had any other experiences with tests? If so, what type of tests? Do you like those tests better?
16. Do you think that standardized testing really tests your true abilities and strengths?
17. Do you feel any changes in your classes as you have moved up through the grades about what you are learning?
18. Do you think what you are learning is going to be useful in the real world after you graduate?
19. What skills do you think will be important for you after you graduate?
20. What do you want to be when you grow up?
21. Do you feel that after receiving your diploma, you will have all that you need for success in the future?
22. What are you plans after graduation? Will you pursue further education (where to) or join the work force (in what line of work)?
23. How would you change school if you could?
Data Charts
1. Pie Chart representative of the races/ethnicity of the students and faculty of the school.
2. Pie Chart representative of the social classes and family make up of the school.
3. Bar Graphs representative of the performance of standardized testing broken up into the years, content being assessed, and scores.
How much of what students are learning in school today applies to everyday life skills for future success?
Data Type:
Qualitative
Interview
a. Students- Current, Dropouts, Graduates
b. Teachers
c. Administration- Superintendent/Principal (+20 years exp.)
d. Janitors
Observation
a. Facility- Inside and Out
b. Area/People Around the Facility- Few Block Radius
c. Student/Teacher Interaction- During and Outside of Class
d. Student/Student Interaction- During and Outside of Class
e. Teacher/Teacher Interaction
Interview Questions:
Teachers
1. Are you required to
a. Show or submit lesson plans of your curriculum?
b. Prove by documentation the use of the NJCCS within your curriculum plans?
c. If yes, how is the proof documented; on the lesson plans themselves or written on the board during the lesson.
d. If no, why is there lack of connection between the teachers, state curriculum and the school? Do you think that this connection is beneficial to the students and the school?
2. Do you feel that through your curriculum you are teaching your students the necessary life skills they need for future success post schooling? ie- Critical thinking skills, collaborative skills, reasoning skills, lifelong learning skills?
3. Have the standardized tests changed anything specifically about your curriculum and/or teaching style? If so, what has changed?
4. How important are standardized testing to you? Do you think it is beneficial to the students learning?
5. Have content area class been cut as a result of standardized testing? If so, what classes? Do you feel that these classes are important to the student’s well-rounded development?
6. What skills besides literacy and mathematical competence do you feel your students will need after graduation?
Administration-Superintendent
7. How has the budget been affected, if at all, by standardized testing?
8. Do you find yourself in Trenton trying to collect funding for your schools?
9. How important do you feel standardized testing is for the success of your schools and students?
10. Have you felt a true change in your schools, perhaps more pressure or stresses on yourself or the faculty due to standardized testing?
11.What steps are you taking to ensure that your schools meet their AYP?
Students
12. What is a standardized test?
13. How important are the tests to you?
14. How do the tests make you feel? Do you like them? Do you think that they will help you for your future? If so, in what ways?
15. Have you had any other experiences with tests? If so, what type of tests? Do you like those tests better?
16. Do you think that standardized testing really tests your true abilities and strengths?
17. Do you feel any changes in your classes as you have moved up through the grades about what you are learning?
18. Do you think what you are learning is going to be useful in the real world after you graduate?
19. What skills do you think will be important for you after you graduate?
20. What do you want to be when you grow up?
21. Do you feel that after receiving your diploma, you will have all that you need for success in the future?
22. What are you plans after graduation? Will you pursue further education (where to) or join the work force (in what line of work)?
23. How would you change school if you could?
Data Charts
1. Pie Chart representative of the races/ethnicity of the students and faculty of the school.
2. Pie Chart representative of the social classes and family make up of the school.
3. Bar Graphs representative of the performance of standardized testing broken up into the years, content being assessed, and scores.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, March 2, 2009
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.
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?
Monday, February 23, 2009
20/20
The video we watched in class last Monday was very disturbing to me. First the story of Appalachia was astounding. I had no idea that people in our country lived like that. It really makes me think about all the things that I take for granted. Just waking up and being able to make myself breakfast and take a shower never really seems like a big deal. But I can imagine that people in those rural areas have never really experienced that on a daily basis. It was very sad to see the football player do so well not only to drop out of college and go back to where he grew up. He actually was able to escape but even after that he was drawn back in. It is just a horrible that pattern that is going on.
The other video we watched was equally as disturbing. I knew that Camden was bad but the little boy Ivan is what hit me. He is a wonderful kid and never asked for any of this but the reality is that everyday is a struggle for him. I can remember being young and not truly appreciating school. I did well but I was basically just doing what I was told. It was amazing to just how much Ivan appreciated his first day of school. It is very sad to think that this thirst for learning could easily diminish by high school. He has a one in three chance of being incarcerated by the age of 18. It just makes me think of all the kids that have died, are in jail, in gangs, or selling drugs, could have all been like Ivan when they were little. The influences in these inner cities are destroying our eager youth.
Seeing these videos is very depressing but there is some optimism in my eyes. The story of these two kids makes me understand that the kids in these areas are not bad kids at all. They all have the eagerness to learn and succeed somewhere in them. It will be our job as future educators to find that in however many students we possibly can.
The other video we watched was equally as disturbing. I knew that Camden was bad but the little boy Ivan is what hit me. He is a wonderful kid and never asked for any of this but the reality is that everyday is a struggle for him. I can remember being young and not truly appreciating school. I did well but I was basically just doing what I was told. It was amazing to just how much Ivan appreciated his first day of school. It is very sad to think that this thirst for learning could easily diminish by high school. He has a one in three chance of being incarcerated by the age of 18. It just makes me think of all the kids that have died, are in jail, in gangs, or selling drugs, could have all been like Ivan when they were little. The influences in these inner cities are destroying our eager youth.
Seeing these videos is very depressing but there is some optimism in my eyes. The story of these two kids makes me understand that the kids in these areas are not bad kids at all. They all have the eagerness to learn and succeed somewhere in them. It will be our job as future educators to find that in however many students we possibly can.
What are the major influences that shape urban schools?
After reading both of these books I can see many different factors that influence schools in the inner city. A few of them really stick out at me. The first one that is very obvious is history. When the decision was made on Brown v Board of Education, it was made official that we would no longer segregate schools. But this clearly was not completely carried out. An example of this is Camden. My parents grew up in Camden in the fifties and sixties, but it was very different that it is now. They tell me how it was a city in the fact that there was a lot of people living close together but it was not what an inner city is thought of today. They did not feel as they were in any danger on a daily basis and they felt they had many different opportunities. But as the sixties hit minority families began to move in and white families were scared. They spoke of property values going down and were just plain scared of change. Slowly but surely white families relocated to the suburbs and the city became very segregated. This continued and we can see what Camden is like today. It is a place that lacks opportunity and is very dangerous. This has happened in many American cities and contributes to the problems in the schools.
This leads to how the outside environment that has been created by history can affect the schools. Many factors such as gangs, violence, drugs, and overall poverty can hinder ones effort to obtain a good education. Education is supposed to be something that can help you in life for the long term. But many of the students in the inner city do not see themselves living very long and this does make getting an education seem very important. These environmental factors are what we are fighting as educators to make a difference. This helps shape the very schools that we will enter into shortly.
These problems that exist have become very apparent and the government is involved. There are efforts to raise test scores and acts such as No Child Left Behind. This is forcing the administration to have a big role in curriculum and lesson plans. The teachers do not have the freedom to teach how they want to teach. Instead it seems as though everything we do is teaching towards some test. We are focusing on large groups of students test scores and not looking at how each student is different from the one next to them. I feel as though the each student’s individuality is much more important than how a test represents the progress of a whole community.
This leads to how the outside environment that has been created by history can affect the schools. Many factors such as gangs, violence, drugs, and overall poverty can hinder ones effort to obtain a good education. Education is supposed to be something that can help you in life for the long term. But many of the students in the inner city do not see themselves living very long and this does make getting an education seem very important. These environmental factors are what we are fighting as educators to make a difference. This helps shape the very schools that we will enter into shortly.
These problems that exist have become very apparent and the government is involved. There are efforts to raise test scores and acts such as No Child Left Behind. This is forcing the administration to have a big role in curriculum and lesson plans. The teachers do not have the freedom to teach how they want to teach. Instead it seems as though everything we do is teaching towards some test. We are focusing on large groups of students test scores and not looking at how each student is different from the one next to them. I feel as though the each student’s individuality is much more important than how a test represents the progress of a whole community.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
