Critical Project #2

Critical Project #2
The Dropout Problem in America
Karen Y. Carter

Students dropping out of school have become a serious problem not just for the parents of these students but for society as a whole. Students drop out of school tend to be engaged in negative behavior such as gang violence and drugs which most often sends them to jail or a juvenile detention facility. They then become either unemployed or underemployed. Of the students who drop out of school, a disproportionate amount is African-American and Latino. It is these students as well as others, who showed signs of being potential drop outs as early as elementary and middle school. Students in these early grades who exhibited risk factors such as receiving an F as a final grade in math and/or English, an 80% or lower attendance in school and “unsatisfactory” as a final grade in behavior were more likely to drop out of school between the seventh and twelfth grades. However, very little is done in the early grades which prevent students from dropping out by the time they reach middle and high school. Why are these students in particular dropping out of school and how do we get them to stay there?
Let’s first look at some statistics. According to the National Center for Education Statistics which gathers information on graduation and dropout rates for the U.S. Department of Education during 2005 – 2006 by race/ethnicity show the following rates: Whites. 2.7%; Blacks, 6.1%; Asian/Pacific Islanders, 2.4%; Hispanic, 6.0% and American Indian/Alaska native, 7.2%. Indeed, the numbers are highest among persons of color with the exception of Asians. What is causing students to drop out at such high numbers?
Guidance counselors, social workers and other experts identify at least three main reasons students drop out of school: 1) Lack of family and community support; 2) Poverty; and 3) Lack of resources at their schools. There are many students who grow up in homes headed by single parents, some of whom may have dropped out of high school themselves and/or were teenage parents; have unbearable family situations such as drug or alcohol abuse and domestic violence; attend schools who do not have the money to pay for after-school activities, sports teams, enrichment classes which help keep students off the streets and live in neighborhoods that are racked with poverty and despair.
In order to assist these students, we must work to try to correct some if not all of the situations which lead students to drop out of school. One of the most important ways is not to forget the middle grades when educators are reforming their curriculums and school systems. The No Child Left Behind Act goes a long way in addressing issues such as testing, standards, etc. in elementary and high schools but in my opinion does not really address the problems that are unique to middle schools, not that they address the other issues well either given that it is an unfunded mandate. Organizations such as the ACT (formerly known as American College Testing but now known only as ACT) show research in their 2008 report The Forgotten Middle: Ensuring That All Students Are On Target For College and Career Readiness Before High School that express the importance of bringing focus to the middle grades. Other ways to prevent students from dropping out are to increase parent involvement, having a real war on poverty, and increasing or changing the funding formulas for poorer schools.
To this end, many schools are becoming creative in order to bring more parents in the schools. Raffles, dinners and other enticements are used to get parents to come to PTA/PA meetings and parent teacher conferences. In addition, efforts by groups such as the Campaign for Fiscal Equity which brought a lawsuit against New York State charging among other things discrimination in the way the funding formula for the state is created. The group won the lawsuit, however, New York State has been slow in implementing the changes. Changes such as these will increase the amount of money schools have to spend on dropout intervention programs, service learning opportunities, enrichment clsses and sports. Employers must also be more willing to work with parents who have children and need to be more involved in their education. About twenty years ago, in New York City, a petition campaign was started by the United Parents Organization (now defunct) to pass a law which required employers to give their employees a certain amount of time off per month to attend parent teacher conferences, workshops, meetings, etc. The idea was similar to that of FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) where parents would take off for example, 10 hours per month to attend parent related events in the school without loss of pay or job. Unfortunately, this idea never really took off. There also needs to be increased funding and availability of drug treatment centers, domestic violence, teenage pregnancy and parenting counseling for people who need it. Steps such as these would not only help the parents of students who drop out of school but society as a whole because it would reduce the amount of time, money and energy spent addressing the negative effects of this problem.


References
ACT. 2008, Policy Report. The Forgotten Middle: Ensuring that All Students Are on Target for College and Career Readiness before High School. Retrieved from http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/pdf/ForgottenMiddle.pdf

United States Department of Education. 2009, Digest of Education Statistics 2008, Table 107. Public high school graduates and dropouts, by race/ethnicity and state or jurisdiction: 2005–06 [Data file]. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d08/tables/dt08_107.asp

Ziomek-Daigle, J. & Andrews, P. G. (2007) Dropout Prevention in the Middle Grades. Middle School Journal.

Critical Project #3

Gollinick (2008) stated that prejudice and discrimination stems from a combination of several factors related to us and them. To get teachers and administrators to really understand and confront their own prejudices they will have to reflect within themselves and point out their issues surrounding their hatred. They have to try to overcome what is causing them to discriminate against a learner. Especially when it is their duty to perform with the utmost respect in the educational institution. In a educational institution setting teachers and administrators are to be leaders and if they are out of place there should be rules and regulations to support this idea. As an teacher and administrator you have to be on top of all sort of information and considered all learners when it comes to being leaders in and out of the classroom. Leaders have to be identified as well as to be well establish because a person can be a teacher and a administrator and not necessarily be able to be a lead. It is very important to distinguish between the ability to perform and lead the duty of teaching and attending and carry out important functions for learners. These require a lot of knowledge and skills and have to be carry out in a very diplomatic way. In functions of a educational facility all prejudice and differences has to be put aside. However, it is also vital that it should be determine that a teacher and administrator are capable of learning and projecting leadership skills and qualities. Where they have to demonstrate certain potential of supporting leadership. These potentials are:

o Partnership and Voice
o Vision and Values
o Knowledge and Audacious
o Savvy and Persistence

•Personal qualities (passion, humor, and empathy strength of character, general maturity, patience, wisdom, common sense, trustworthiness, reliability, creativity, sensitivity) .
If a individual possess these before they are hired to be teachers and administrators a lot of the issues surrounding teacher and administrators abusing the learners would not be so much of an issue.
I came across an article from NAPTA (National Association for Prevention of Teacher Abuse) that states that granted, not all teachers have good intentions, but I would venture to say that the majority of people, who choose teaching with its low paying salary, do so to make a difference (NAPTA 2002). They come to teaching with love in their hearts, soon becoming lifeless bodies, going through the motions. What I get from this statement is that the teachers and administrators take on these positions in our education institutions to make a change and when they get the position they are stun because they actually realize the time and dedication that are needed by learners. So they get frustrated and tired with providing services for these learners so in the process whatever negative ideas that they have about races, nationality, sex, gender, religion, etc. become evident. To rectify these issues I believe that the educational institutions should have seminars and workshops that are mandatory to attend, before employment and annually to evaluate where the teachers and administrators mind are on a lot of the issues surrounding the learners and the education institution. There should also be a psychological exam probably every three years because of the work load and tension that these administrators and teachers have on a daily basis interacting with each other and learners. Finally I will implement days in which interaction among teacher, administrators and learners can communicate and learn about each other whether it is through a gift exchanges, mentor programs or just buddy programs. In conclusion, prejudices stems from our beliefs of others and my opinion on teachers and administrator prejudice is that if they have issues try to avoid areas where they would have to project inequity. Or seek some type of help from a psychologist or some individual who will help them to raise their tolerance level; taking a deep look at these issues through a different lens.





Reference



Gollnick, D. M., & Chinn, P. C. (2008). Multicultural education in a pluralistic society (8th ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill / Pearson



National Association of Prevention of Teacher Abuse (2002). Teacher prejudice: The Cement that buries. Retrieved September 28, 2009, from NAPTA. Website: http://www.endteacherabuse.info/prejudic.html

Multicultural History

Rachel Shaw
10/1/09
EDGE 6101

My cultural heritage is rooted in several different nationalities. On my mother’s side, all of my ancestors fled from Russia due to religious persecution at the turn of the 20th Century. I have heard the story of my great grandparents’ escape by way of a farmer’s wagon many times and have always felt proud that they were brave and strong enough to make the long journey from Russia to America. In Russia, my ancestors were wealthy furriers. Once they arrived in the port of New York, that changed. They lived in the Jewish tenements on the Lower East Side in deplorable conditions. My grandfather, who was born here, was raised by the firm and loving hand of my great-grandmother Rose, whom I am named after. He became a very successful entertainer, dancer, and comedian who performed at the Apollo Theater in Harlem many times (despite being Jewish). Once he made enough money to move out of New York City, he moved to upstate New York and became a successful real estate agent. My mother was raised in a conservative and wealthy Jewish home.
My paternal ancestry is truly a melting pot of cultures and nationalities. My father’s ancestors were primarily Irish Catholics and immigrated to America during the potato famine in Ireland. My father’s great, great grandfather, Peter Schaad, was a Swiss mountain guide who was afraid of heights. To cope with this fear, he regularly took arsenic which he had become immune to over time. When he arrived at Ellis Island, the officials spelled his name the way it sounded to them, Shaw, and that is where my last name originates from. I also have an ancestor who immigrated from England and met and married a Seneca woman whose ancestors had lived in the area now known as New York for thousands of years. None of these ancestors were wealthy, indeed they were all members of the working class. All of these ancestors eventually merged in Upstate New York and my father was raised in a lower middle class Catholic home.
Growing up, I had mixed feelings about my multicultural ancestry. In regards to the blend of nationalities that make up my family tree, I have always felt immensely proud to be a part of so many different cultures. I always felt especially impressive when telling people that I was part Seneca, or American Indian. It made me feel different and unique. My father would often comment on how I looked like a little Indian princess and whether or not it was true, I took it as a compliment. Then again, my mother would probably say that I look Russian through and through. Regardless, throughout my years in school and still today, I love talking about my cultural ancestry.
My feelings about my religious heritage were more mixed. Since my father was Catholic and my mother was Jewish, I was raised celebrating all major holidays in both religions. When my parents spoke about God, they always spoke of a greater power that held some control over the universe. However, I always knew that they believed different things about what that God was actually like. My father had been raised in a traditionally Catholic home, had attended Catholic school for his 12 years of grade school and had, as a result, grown to disdain organized religion. While my father was loathe to take us to church, my mother had a very strong Jewish identity and took us to synagogue on a monthly basis. Due to this, I grew up feeling that I was Jewish. However, my father would not allow me to have a Bat Mitzvah, a traditional Jewish ceremony that signifies the transition to adulthood. This meant that while I certainly didn’t consider myself Catholic, I didn’t really feel Jewish either. While other kids envied my Christmas and Chanukah presents, I spent a great deal of time wishing that I could just be one or the other and not caring which. I just wanted to belong.
As a teacher, my religious and cultural experiences have provided me with an appreciation that children come from different backgrounds and an understanding that their feelings about their heritage may be both positive and negative. I seek to learn as much as possible about my students, and part of that is learning about the religious and cultural beliefs that are a part of their daily lives. I believe that my own enthusiasm about my multicultural ancestry shows my students that it is okay to be proud of who you are. I know that it is important to make sure that all students feel that their beliefs are recognized and respected by the classroom community as a whole. However, it is also crucial to understand that there are those students who may not want to discuss the holidays and traditions that their family celebrates. Even though my cultural and religious experiences were not always positive, I know that they made me the person and teacher I am today.