The Untold Stories of Black Girls

http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/03/23/471267584/the-untold-stories-of-black-girls 

I’m sure no one has forgotten the video taken at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, S.C., that went viral last fall when a school safety officer flips a desk to the floor with a girl seated in it, then flings her across the floor. The student is African-American; the officer is white. The officer was fired based on the fallout surrounding the video, but Monique Morris, a scholar, author and activist, was concerned about what else happens when the cameras are turned off.

According to recent research black girls are punished at school at rates that are even more disproportionate than those experienced by black boys. They are suspended six times more often than white girls. Morris calls this "a story untold," and she sets out to tell it in her new book, Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools.

"When girls are labeled disruptive and suspended for being 'defiant' for asking questions, when this is seen not as a demonstration of critical thinking but an affront to teacher authority ... girls begin to feel that the emphasis is on how they look, what they're wearing, how they speak, how loud they speak, rather than whether they're learning," say Morris. While researching and reading reviews on the book, the girls were repeatedly saying, 'If you just put me out of school that doesn't solve the problem." Therefore, the school systems need to do a better job at having fair rules and a safe environment that protect all students regardless of race and gender.

Forest Kindergartens?

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/kids-gone-wild

This article explores Forest Kindergartens in Denmark. These kindergartens are held not within a classroom, but in a forest. Children are taught in the forest by pedagogues, who are trained in Human Development. One set of parents sent their children to this school to help them connect more to the actual world instead of just the virtual world. These schools hold that there are lower stress levels and better motor development in children in forest schools.

This is much different than schools in the United States. Many kindergartens that I have seen have children using IPads and Chromebooks. Students are not permitted to go outdoors if there is rain. In addition, many male children, it would seem, do not receive enough time to move around, and are punished. I have noticed much higher office referrals on "indoor recess" days at my internship within a local school district.

I am not sure what I think about having kindergarten entirely outside, even in freezing weather. However, I do think there is something to consider about this approach to education. What do you think?

Closing the GAP

http://laschoolreport.com/report-finds-charters-lead-the-way-in-closing-achievement-gap-in-la/

This article talked about how charter schools are moving closer to closing the achievement gap before public school. I think this is great but there are so many things different between charter schools and public schools and also a lot of similar things. One difference that I like it that the teachers aren't unionized. If someone isn't an effective teacher they don't just move them go a different school. That is something I get angry about. I have been inside Columbus City for 3 years and a lot of teachers who should be teacher get to keep their job just because they "survived" two years. Another difference is the charter schools can step out of the box that has been placed inside unionized schools. They can explore new teaching techniques and they usually hire younger teachers who are willing to make changes. Don't get me wrong, some charter schools aren't making that much of a difference but a lot are. And some public schools that are willing to adapt to the new culture has also made a lot of changes and progress to closing the achievement gap.

Public School Challenges

http://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/10-major-challenges-facing-public-schools

     This is a great article because it focuses on the many challenges that public schools face today. Typically, the first thing that comes to mind when you think of public school challenges is poverty and how the school does not have enough money to get proper and up to date materials for their students. Yes, this is an important issue but rarely do you hear about the students how are in poverty and attend that same impoverished school. This article points out the top ten challenges that public schools face. Some of those challenges are classroom size which is an important issue because if there are too many students in one class with one teacher; those who need the extra help and attention are more than likely falling behind due to the amount of students there are in the classroom and the teacher not being able to attend to everyone. Classroom size can contribute to many other problems but the article also brings attention to poverty, family factors, technology, and more.

How Bad Are The Public Schools?

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/vouchers/howbad/crisis.html

 

This article discusses the topic of whether or not our school system in the United States is actually in “crisis.” The questions are aimed at professionals in the government, directors of universities, professors, and those involved at a high level in the education system. It is clear that they acknowledge the K-12 school system is extremely flawed, but the majority seem to lack any enthusiasm about changing it or improving it any time soon. They identify issues and problems and lack of funding for inner city schools as well as contentment within suburban schools but seem to accept this as just an unfortunate reality and not as an issue that needs to be addressed. Some discuss an equal system as the goal, but from the majority of these interviews, the consensus seems to be that equitable education is alright in the meantime. For example, one interviewee stated,

“School spending has been equalized between rich and poor districts within a state to a great extent over the last 30 years. It is not perfectly equally, by any means, but average school spending has risen, as I said earlier, by about 85% in the United States, on average. And, the poorer districts have had their spending rise faster than that and the richer districts have had their spending rise more slowly than that. So they have drawn together, gradually, over time.”

I think it is important to remember here that with inflation and the cost of materials increasing, more spending doesn’t necessarily mean better school outcomes. The fact that this individual compares poor and rich school district spending then concludes that they are equal really evoked a reaction from me. It is outrageous to think that people think like this but then go on to admit disproportionate levels of education quality. Beyond spending money on schools, there needs to be safety and discipline, high teacher quality, community and parent support. We need to face the reality that there are resource gaps that haven’t been touched since the 1970s because people have accepted these disparities as “normal” and that is not acceptable.

“The enemy in my mind isn't this "crisis." It's this tremendous variation. You need to look at what decreases the variation, when you really look at what would allow for all kids to move to the level of performance where many of our children already are. I think that's actually a more honest statement about it. We have lots of kids that are doing extraordinarily well. We've got some kids in the middle, and then you've got an enormous number of kids on the bottom end…”

If we recognize this, why aren’t we doing more about it?

 

"High School Training Ground"

In this 3 minute TED Talk, Malcolm London performs a poem he wrote about being in high school called "High School Training Ground."  He discusses the culture of school and the disconnect between what is learned in schools and what is needed outside the school walls.  He reminds us that "bubbling in a scantron doesn't stop bullets from bursting."  He also states, "I hear education systems are failing.  But I believe they are succeeding at what they were built to do: to train you, to keep you on track, to track down an American Dream that has failed so many of us all."

Malcolm London boldly reminds us that our education system attempts to teach students about academics, but often leaves out many of the practical and necessary skills needed to survive in the world today and that the "American Dream" isn't the reality anymore.  Do you think there is truth that can be found in Malcolm London's statements?  Is the education system pointing people toward an "American Dream" they will likely be unable to attain?  And if so, how do we rethink the education system so that we are preparing our young people differently?

New Child Support Program

http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2015/05/27/columbus-ohio-franklin-county-courts-using-innovative-child-support-program.html

I accidentally wrote about schools last time, so here is my story about child welfare.

In Franklin Co. there is a push toward working with parents who owe child support to allow the parents to be more supported, rather than being thrown in jail for their non-payment. This program that was implemented last year is designed to help the parents take a more proactive approach toward caring for their children financially, rather than simply throwing them in jail. The program targets workforce education, GED completion and even AOD treatment so that parents can get back on their feet and be in a position better suited to help their children.

I think this is a great program because it helps not only the parent, but also the child, the parent with custody, and society as a whole. The parent receives the help they need, the child and custodial parent are receiving the financial support that they need to help the child grow up, and society does not have the burden of paying for parents to be in jail due to not paying the needed dues that are mandated by the courts or to pay for workers to constantly chase down the parents who are not paying their dues.

Having been a child of this system, I have first hand seen the stress and tension that the old way of managing child support can bring. With constant phone calls, letters, and putting the child in an awkward position, it causes unneeded stress for the whole family. I believe that attempting to treat the parents who owe child support is something that would truly be beneficial for everyone involved. It may cost more upfront, but for the long term I believe that it will help families and society as a whole. Of course, this will not fix every family situation and there may still need to be jail time for some family members or at least use this as leverage to bring payments forward, but giving parents a second chance is something that could solve more problems than it brings.