Author Archives: Victor Rodriguez

The cost of attending college is definitely a huge concern for many people. Whether its high school students deciding how they will afford a college education or current college students witnessing their tuition gradually increase, the cost of attending college is on everyone’s mind. Public Universities have always been seen as the economical choice when it comes to attending college. Many middle class families who aren’t able to send their children to private universities often rely on public universities to offer an affordable quality education. As the articles point out, the cost of attending Public Universities such as the ones in the CUNY system are going up and it is becoming increasingly more difficult for States to fund Public Higher Education. This is of course a real shame as public colleges and universities are a real important part of our country. As it becomes more expensive, it will become more difficult for many Americans to obtain a college degree which would definitely set us back in being able to keep up with other countries academically and in being able to compete in the global market.

The fact that States are not adequately funding Public higher education comes as no surprise given the financial situation that many States are in. It is difficult for them to continue supporting schools as they have in the past and this has resulted in increased tuition, a reduction in programs and services, and a reduction in financial aid which is another huge blow to middle and lower income families. I personally see this continuing for the next several years given the financial state of the country and given the fact that politicians and our elected representatives don’t seem to want to work together in ensuring that this issue is addressed. There doesn’t seem to be much emphasis and value being placed in Public higher education.

I think parental involvement is extremely important for the academic performance and success of students. As the studies in the article prove, parental involvement has a significant effect on students academically. I didn’t find this surprising at all and I think many other people wouldn’t either. I think it’s well known that parents play a huge role in their child’s education. I think parents generally rely too much on teachers to educate and support their child’s learning. They often feel it’s not necessary to get too involved in their child’s education as they may feel that it’s primarily the job of teachers and schools. I do understand that in this day and age it may be more difficult for parents to spend quality time going over their child’s schoolwork or becoming involved with their schools (PTA, meetings, etc.), especially as it is typical now for both parents to be working, but I still think parents should find some time to spend with their child and have more influence over their education. As the article mentions, “Students of all ages benefit academically, emotionally, and physically when an adult is actively involved in the day-to-day events of their lives, including school activities”, and I think this is very important especially when you consider that it is difficult for students to get quality one on one time with teachers with class sizes being so big. This is where parents come in and where they fill that void by becoming involved and offering that much needed support. It makes a significant difference.

One study that I found particularly interesting was the one on socio-economic background and teacher perceptions of parental involvement. I found it interesting how teachers value family involvement when family actions fit their ideal definition or when their contributions are visible to the teachers. I have a slight problem with that. I understand why teachers would want parents to cooperate and work with them in a sense but I think its ok for there to be some form of disagreement especially if parents have a problem with what or how their child’s teacher is teaching. It is only important to keep in mind how the child/student is affected. I don’t think it’s fair for teachers to require that parents agree with everything they do but they definitely should work together in ensuring that the student gets the best education possible and is learning and improving his/her performance. I was also surprised by the assumptions the teachers made when they determined the quality of a family’s involvement by socioeconomic or educational status. There are many parents or families that are not well off or may not be highly educated but are still heavily involved in their child’s education especially if they want their child to have a much better future for him/herself.

Is it possible for parents to become too involved in their child’s education? Would/could it be detrimental for their child’s education and academic performance if they did so?

This is a recent article posted on the nytimes regarding school choice which relates to some of the discussions we had last week.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/08/nyregion/in-applying-for-high-school-some-8th-graders-find-a-maze.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion

Chapters 3 and 4 highlight some serious issues with the No Child Left behind Act. The idea that schools are evaluated and judged based on whether students make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) isn’t fair in my opinion. I don’t think it’s reasonable or even possible to expect every single student to score at or above the proficient level by 2014. This is setting the standards way to high and many schools will be declared failing as a result.  Of course schools will be under immense pressure to reach those standards in order to receive federal funds, so curriculums will continue to be based on teaching to the standardized tests which is the fundamental problem with NCLB. As Kapp mentions in chapter 3, there are serious inequalities that exist as a result of NCLB and standardized testing. Culturally diverse schools are more likely to be labeled as inadequate, as schools with large numbers of low income, minority, immigrant, or special education students face many more hurdles and obstacles in order to reach proficient scoring levels on these exams and make yearly progress. I think this is a very important issue and one that is clearly overlooked by proponents of NCLB. Some groups of students need more help than others and applying this one size fits all solution to helping these students and schools makes no sense at all.

The fact that there is a serious lack of involvement between the general public and public schools is definitely one of the main issues with Public Education in America as Deborah Meier points out in Chapter 4. School boards have grown so large that fewer and fewer citizens are able to have any say or make an important decisions regarding school governance. With NCLB, this issue is made even more prevalent. School administrators and law makers are basing their decisions for what to do or how to handle public schools and public education on the outcomes of these exams instead of leaving such critical and important decisions up to the public and those that are a part of the school boards. I think it’s important to have smaller school districts for the sake of being able to base important decisions on the needs of smaller groups of students and ensuring that communities and the public has more say in matters of public education. Having bigger schools and districts is not a good thing and as Meier alludes to, it is detrimental to our democracy. Of course in order to address this issue, lawmakers need to re-evaluate their ideas and beliefs of standardized tests and of the NCLB act as a whole.

Are large school districts detrimental to the quality and performance of public schools? Would having smaller school districts make it more difficult for schools to receive or compete for funding from the federal government?

The Globalization of the American school is a very important topic in regards to the current state of education in the United States. It’s no secret that the level of education you obtain is one of, if not the most critical factor that determines your value in the global market. We are all in pursuit of our college degrees because it will allow for us to pursue and enter our future professional careers, but most importantly, because it will allow for us to better compete with other individuals for increasingly scarce jobs. This is a significant shift in the value and purpose of education from many years past, where the value of education was placed in its ability to increase one’s own intellect, knowledge and understanding of the world. However, I personally have no problem with this shift in value. It is extremely important that Americans are able to compete globally for jobs. It is beneficial to oneself and to the entire country to obtain a college degree and place high value in education. The world is constantly changing and so are demands. President Obama made it one of his missions to ensure that students are receiving the proper level and quality of education that would prepare them for the job market. I think this definitely continues to be a major concern for parents and policymakers. However, developing the appropriate educational polices and reforming our current education system is an important step in ensuring that students are able to receive a good quality of education and are better prepared to enter college and eventually the job Market. Policies such as No Child Left Behind are clearly inefficient and demonstrate one of the many failed attempts in improving school education.

Many of the political debates that occurred during previous presidential administrations, most notably Nixon in the late 1960’s, did not help address and prevent many of the issues that still linger in  education today. Conservative issues pertaining to the permissibility of religion and prayer in public schools dominated public discourse regarding education. Republicans and Democrats where mainly busy engaging in these “cultural wars” rather than addressing important issues in public school education. From what I read in the chapter, it seemed as if though Republican presidents such as Reagan where more concerned with appealing to conservative voters and staying in line with conservative ideals and principles as opposed to offering the solutions and reforms necessary to actually improving the quality of education and being able to compete with other school systems around the world. Of course, appealing to voters and party principles is nothing new in Politics. I think America has a long way to go in improving its education system to enable students to compete with other students globally. Our elected officials definitely need to take this issue seriously and make the necessary changes and offer actual solutions.  

Is the level and quality of education the determining factor in whether or not American students are able to compete in the global market, or are there other factors that play an even bigger role (change in technologies, emergence of new industries, etc)?

Jonathan Kozol definitely brings to light many of the issues that are currently plaguing public schools in New York and in many other states throughout the country. One of the more important points he brings up is the disparities in resource allocation between schools in poor neighborhoods and those in more affluent areas. I don’t think it’s a shock to anyone these days that school districts in affluent neighborhoods receive much more funding and resources for its schools as opposed to school districts in poor urban areas.  Although the children in these poor neighborhoods are in greater need, they are often overlooked and neglected when it comes to providing the resources necessary (Teachers, computers, supplies, etc) to improve learning. With these schools lacking adequate resources, many issues arise including overcrowding and poorly maintained school buildings. These disparities in resources lead to severe inequalities in public school education. I was amazed by the condition that many of the schools in these poor districts where in. It is a shame that these students have to learn in such horrible conditions. This severely hampers the quality of education that these students are able to attain and this is one of the main reasons why there is generally a huge education achievement gap between white students and minorities.

One of the main reasons that such inequalities continue to persist is the fact that there exist the belief among legislators and public officials, that pumping money into poor schools is a waste and will not help turn those schools around. Many of them believe that teachers don’t want to teach in these schools, although when teacher salaries are increased that problem is erased. It is sad that many of these individuals view the students in these schools as poor investments and do not give them the same help and attention that they continuously give to the more affluent schools. Money may not solve all the problems that exist in these poor school districts but I feel it would help tremendously. There definitely appears to be a strong level of bias in the treatment and perception of poor students and schools which only further perpetuates the inequalities in education.  

Is it fair and/or correct to assume that many of the inequalities that exist in public school education are a result of falsely held beliefs about poor students and schools? Is the lack of money the main factor in the existence of such educational inequalities or are there more important and serious factors that need to be taken into consideration, particularly politics?

Tatum raises very interesting points in the opening pages of the first chapter. One very interesting point that is made is that the assumptions and prejudices that people make and develop are not a result of what we have seen or been told on television or books but from what we have not been told. I absolutely agree with this idea. I think people often develop false ideas and impressions of other people because they have never been exposed to any actual facts regarding those individuals or those facts have been distorted in some way. When children grow up with certain prejudices and believing certain stereotypes, in my opinion, this is mainly attributed to them not being taught otherwise. I think people are often quick to blame things like the media  or some other external factor for people behaving or thinking a certain way, but it is important to understand that individuals must be taught right from wrong especially from early childhood. I think omitted information can be just as if not more devastating for a child than distorted information. I think this plays a significant role in the development of prejudices that carry on into adulthood.

Going back to the class discussions we’ve had on the influence of the media on young children, should the media be blamed more for displaying certain stereotypes and assumptions, or for not educating children on the actual facts and teaching them right from wrong? Or stated differently, do the media affect children more by what it shows/says or by what it does not?

In Chapter 4 on Identity development in Adolescents, Tatum brought up a great point in explaining why Black youths tend to think about themselves in terms of race, and that is because that is how the rest of the world thinks of them. I think our self perceptions are definitely influenced by the messages and ideas we perceive from the society around us. If society places emphasis on race, than that is how we as individuals will tend to identify ourselves by. Whether or not society does place a major emphasis on race is debatable since I also believe that race is something we as individuals tend to think about subconsciously especially when we are young and are placed in certain social situations. If emphasis is placed on race, than individuals will tend to identify and associate themselves with other individuals of the same race.

Bilingual education in schools in the United States is very important for the fact that it makes the transition to the American life much easier for immigrants. I think having bilingual education makes immigrant students feel more comfortable and welcomed in schools which I believe would have a positive effect on them academically and socially. I had mixed feelings when reading about the Mexican American Student boycotts during the 60’s. On one hand, I agree that the schools in Los Angeles should have allowed for the use of Spanish in schools and should have incorporated teachings of Mexican American culture. I could definitely understand why the students would demand such things and they had every right to do so. On the other hand, I disagree with the belief that the schools should have gone out of their way to completely cater to one specific culture. As I mentioned, I think it’s very important for immigrants to feel accepted, but at the same time, I think immigrants should have an obligation to transition to and be more accepting of the American Culture and other cultures as well. This is why I strongly believe in multicultural education.

I found the culture wars surrounding multicultural education very interesting. I completely disagree with the idea surrounding ethnocentric schools. I don’t think it is very productive and beneficial to students to only learn of their own specific cultures. I do believe that individuals should learn and have a very good understanding of their cultures and backgrounds, but at the same time be educated in the cultures and histories of other individuals. I believe this will make individuals more accepting and understanding of others and this will definitely promote tolerance of other cultures and ideas which is vitally important in ensuring that everyone gets along with one another and respects one another’s ideas and beliefs. This would benefit society as a whole. I believe James Banks was right in advocating for the learning of different cultural perspectives for this very reason.

Would James Banks’ ideas surrounding multicultural education be more beneficial to students in today’s education system than that of ethnocentric schools? Which one seems to be given more focus or priority today?

I think chapter 12 introduces a very important issue that is affecting children throughout the country today, and that is the power and influence of the media and popular culture. Children are heavily influenced by what they see on T.V., the internet, and other forms of entertainment. It is difficult for children not to see advertisements that promote certain lifestyles or material goods, or even different ideologies and beliefs. Children are often pushed and influenced to consume different material goods, engage in certain activities, or to believe certain things. The most influential and the most powerful aspect of the media and popular culture is its ability to keep children distracted and disinterested in important things like education and learning. It is common for children to spend more time watching T.V. and surfing the internet than studying and doing their homework. It is extremely rare to see a young child reading a book as they’re too busy playing videogames or engaged in other unproductive activities.

HOWEVER, I don’t think the government should step in to regulate and censor the media in order to protect children. It is the job of the parents to understand and know what their children are watching and listening to and to protect them from any content they believe to be negative and harmful. Censorship does nothing to teach children right from wrong or any moral or social lessons. This is why I agreed with the advocates of self regulation as opposed to government censorship. Prohibiting/censoring content will only make it more appealing. It would be more effective to positively change or influence the content and the messages expressed within the media. Although I agree with the idea to make movies and other forms of entertainment more educational, I still think individuals should have the freedom to choose what material they want to view. As I mentioned, parents are the ones responsible for what their children view.

In what ways do the media positively influence students? Should the government do more to regulate or even censor material they find inappropriate for young individuals?