Author Archives: mikerlange fleury

I found these articles interesting as it discussed the life of school beyond high school. It is relevant to us as college students because it feels as if it was just yesterday when i was trying to make my decision to which college i wanted to attend. One of my main reasons for choosing baruch was its high quality of education and low cost of schooling. I thought to myself why go away to an expensive private college when i can get a high quality education real close to home which is affordable and flexible with attaining a job close by. After reading these articles about the cuts in public higher education funding it was a big disappointment. I remember hearing when baruch was a free college. Now i look at my semester bill and almost every semester the bill is rising. I understand times change but it is becoming more and more difficult for students to afford college which makes it even harder for them to complete. It was interesting to learn that many of these funding problems come from the state.

When it comes to budget cuts in education, are there any wiser alternatives anyone can think of to help the education system overall ?

It seems as if this is just the start to the rise in cost of public education, do you feel as if this is a time to panic or is this just temporary ?

This article picks up from where we left off in our last class discussion about the involvement of parents in the lives of children in underprivileged schools. I worked in an afterschool program and understood the challenges there were in getting parents involved in showcases and numerous activities the program had to offer. Some parents were just busy (as the main reason they dropped the kids off to the program). Every child is different and has many things going on in their lives. I found it extremely hard to get the parents involved; maybe some parents did not take it serious and seen it as a place to just drop their kids off. From a teachers perspective it is even harder. I like how the article says “There are families who are more comfortable in reaching out to school staff; others are reluctant to do so”.

Should schools make it mandatory in some way that parents/guardians be involved in their Childs academics? If so what are some realistic suggestions.

The article also supports the claim that involvement by parents can actually enhance the students’ academics. What I found interested was the statement “When school staff have a better understanding of their students’ home cultures, families’ parenting practices, home contexts, home crises, or significant family and community events, they can develop processes and strategies to bridge school-based and home-based activities and increase support for student learning”. This seems as if it makes the most sense.

This leads me to ask, are teachers doing enough to get parents/guardians involved in the Childs academics. What can teachers do to get a better understanding of the Childs situation and get families to participate on a daily basis?

Chapter 3 and 4 pretty much picks up where we left off from our last class on the topic of standardized tests.  There is a lot of content in these chapters. This concept of AYP is described as the rate of improvement schools must make on their state test scores to reach 100 percent within a given time frame. I understand how the schools are trying to target improvement but the goals they are looking towards are pretty much impossible. The supporters of the NCLB think that these tests are bringing improvement and accountability to all schools but in a way I disagree.  I like how chapter 3 describes that the larger and more culturally diverse a school is, the more likely it is to be labeled as inadequate by NCLB (pg 55). We are now in a society where majority of schools are culturally diverse and this AYP system really does not provide an accurate picture to the effectiveness schools have on students.

What bothered me most was the funding disparities where if schools do not meet requirements that is the less amount of money they receive. We all know money is absolutely necessary for school improvement.

I disagree with the idea of standardized tests, but what can schools realistically do actually measure the effectiveness of school on students without the aiming of numbers of tests ?

I honestly never looked into the no child left behind act. I always heard about it and assumed it was good for our students and thought that the name of the act said it all. Now that i read Meire’s points i can see how teachers become frustrated as they are basically teaching students to pass a standardized test instead of teaching valuable subject matter. As a student it is even worse because you study the material just to pass the class and you forget the material instead of learning the material to gain and use this valuable knowledge. The fingers seem to always point to the teachers but dealing with these standardized tests teachers are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

This idea of retaining students a grade based on standardized scores is horrible. It wasnt in there best interest but because it was for pressure for schools to show improved test results. This has gone too far.

Is there any way teachers will have the power to teach what they prefer to teach with the existence of these standardized tests ?

Is there really an alternative to standardized tests ? If so would it be more effective

The last chapter by Joel Springs concludes the text by going into detail about the contemporary issues the American school system still encounters today. This chapter had many different topics which sums up many of the different issues we talked about during the semester. One topic that interested me was the idea of religious freedom and prayer in schools. I personally feel that you can not mix religion and schooling in public schools. I went to a catholic high school where we prayed every morning to start off our day. Going to a catholic school was my choice. There is no way children should be forced in public schools to pray where prayers can be performed at church, homes, and in catholic schools (if you choose to go to one). Whenever we hear religion in schools we hear the problem with the pledge of allegiance. My take on it is that it is not mandatory for students to say as long as students are respectful and remain quiet while the other students recite it.

Should there be editing of the pledge of allegiance (under god) or is it fine the way it is being that it is not mandatory for schools?

Another section of this chapter goes into detail about schools being too controlled and based on numbers. We had previous discussions about the effectiveness of teachers. How can teachers be given more freedom so they can use their effective abilities to teach in the classroom ?

In savage Inequalities, Kozol paints a clear image of the underfunded schools in minority areas. It is this idea of demographics, where Kozol vividly describes the brutal conditions these students face such as unclean environments, poor sanitary, and chained doors. These conditions are mostly seen in the Black and Latino communities. This reminds me of the movie in the 80’s Lean on Me, where principle Mr. Clark accepted a job offer in attempt to to change a failing school around. He was faced with adversity as schools with poor test stores, unsafe and unclean environments. This school also reminds me of the reading as it was filled with Blacks and Latinos. Fortunately for principle Mr. Clark with some extreme actions, he was able to turn the school around with the help all teachers, students, and some of the community. Unfortunately in reality it  is not that easy. It is clear that many schools with a high percentage of minorities are still overlooked by the system and underfunded. I agree with Kozol in him saying we need more funding for schools but the question is how can we realistically invest more funds for schools ? Do we raise taxes (maybe more on the rich) ? How can we, society as a whole contribute to this plaguing problem that is clearly still evident today.

Part I starts off by defining racism in a different form than we see it in typical dictionaries. The section i found interesting is when Tatum explains that all whites benefit from racism. The point I would like to touch on is when she says that they do not benefit equally where it is factors such as socioeconomic status,gender,age, religious affiliation, sexual orientation etc. This reminds me of a situation in high school where two students i knew were talking and the colored student asked the white student for money to borrow and the white student responded saying he didn’t have any. The colored student then responded by saying what do you mean you dont have any money? , white people are suppose to have a lot of money. The white student responded back in a joking manner by saying what do you mean, we live in the same neighborhood. I think it is perceptions like these which can be very dangerous. Although it ended as a joke, situations such as these are very serious. It just proves that factors such as this does affect this benefit. I feel as if whites are often placed at a disadvantage in society because so much is expected of them, such as being well educated, having a lot of money, living in rich communities etc.

Another point made by Tatum was that not all people of color are equally targeted by racism where light skin blacks are treated differently than darker skinned blacks (pg 13). I find this very interested because this semester i watched a documentary in my organizational behavior class which discussed color-ism and perceptions. I am not 100% about the title of the documentary but here is the link to some of the commentary on the documentary  http://abcnews.go.com/2020/GiveMeABreak/story?id=548303&page=3. I just found it shocking the way actress Wendy Raquel Robinson was offered more prestigious and sophisticated rolls in movies than her peers (who were darker skinned) who often get the “crack head” roles in movies. They also explain how studies show people see lighter skin blacks as more educated than darker skinned blacks. I just find it crazy how these perceptions are seen today.

Are there effective ways we can stop racism in society at a younger age ? We can see signs of stereotypes and racism in children but how can we tackle these problems at young age whether it is at home taught by the parents or on educational television then developing more in elementary-high schools.

My last question is how can media limit these perceptions of light skin blacks being seen in a more favorable light than darker skin blacks ? It is indeed the media that is shaping these perceptions. In the documentary i seen, there were studies that showed people in general see lighter skin blacks as more educated than darker skinned blacks but it is now reflected in the media with the roles of television characters and this makes it seem as if it is OK to assume these beliefs.

This chapter focuses on the importance of the civil rights movement which included martin luther king jr. This civil rights movement had a major effect on the ending of segregation. The civil rights movement contributed to the expansion of the federal role in education as well as many of the war on poverty programs we discussed in the last chapter. After reading the chapter it seems as if this chapter summed up many of the points we previously discussed earlier classes. One topic that interested me was the international women’s movement. As i recall my elementary school, middle school, and high school, majority of my teachers were female. One of the important goals of this movement was to encourage women to pursue higher education and professional education. In one of our class discussions we discussed the number of females as teachers but it is unfortunate that we do not see many females in higher positions. Are female teachers comfortable with being teachers ? What may be the cause of this lack of females in higher education positions ?

The chapter also discusses the emergence of multicultural education. I believe it is benofficial to incorporate the many cultures in our education system. It shows how diverse the american school system is. I feel that in order to have a diverse school system in must incorporate the many different cultures of the students but as well as the teachers. As i mentioned earlier many of our teachers in elementary, middle school, and high school are females. With more men teachers at the lower level to the higher level teachers in high school i believe this can bring even more diversity.

What can also be done to push more male teachers into the idea of teaching ?

This chapter emphasized the issues on war and poverty. The topics that grabbed my attention and interested me most were to topics on the SAT and television as the third educator in society. As a former highschool student i feel as if i can speak for many others in saying i disagree with the SAT. Many people think it is an IQ tests but it is actually made to predict ones success in college but many disagree with this notion. I’m not writing this post to describe my dislike for this test but i would like to know others point of view of what are some realistic alternatives to the SAT and deciding what is an appropriate criteria for colleges to evaluate future potential students. As students, for the most part we dislike  the idea of tests or maybe school in general so from our point of view we have to think realistically and ask are there other possible solutions to this test or are school systems fine the way they are in providing this test.

The second topic of this chapter i was interested in was the section on television as the third educator. I like this idea that television should educate the youth. I wouldnt go as far to agree with Lesser in that television could be a means of rescuing the entire educational system. However i do remember as a child the educational programs such as blues clues, sesame street, and Mr. Rogers. Today television as we discussed last class is focused on reality tv. Im not sure if we have enough educational programs for the youth today. Maybe there actually are good educational channels there that many of us are not aware of.

What can corporations, foundations,educators, or government officials do to push more informational television for the youth? Maybe these programs are there but we are not aware of them. How can parents take more initiative to monitor what there children watch and let there voices be heard to push for more educational programs on tv ?

After reading the chapter we can see how there was increased control over the content of media as complaints increased by educators and parents. The problem here was the competition between movies and educators over the control of children minds. I was interested in the topic of advertising marketing teenagers. Today the media is focused on youth and the content we see on television focuses on them such as the likes of reality television. Many of the content shown on television is not appropriate for our youth today. The chapter also included Payne studies which described the effect of movies on the emotional responses of children. It also explained how movies had a detrimental effect on the health of children by disturbing sleep patterns. I believe this is true today with the innappropriate content we see on television however it is the job of the parent or guardian around that child to monitor what children should watch and what the deem appropriate. Households have to make an initiative to monitor what there children are watching. We can see how powerful the media is with the magazine example on page 350. Although parents cant monitor what there children are exposed to all the time how can parents let their voices be heard for a change in the content their children are watching? Should government real intervene ?