Kozol Chapter 8 and Marlowe Chapter 11

Kozol page 189

“The problem, as it soon turned out, was that the program had become too cheap too rapidly.”

This program, Higher Horizons, that Abraham Ribicoff is talking about is one that made a tremendous difference in the schools that took part in it.  Although this program spent fifty dollars more per child, it quickly dwindled down to only twenty seven dollars.  Where some may still complain that the program was still costing extra money to be spent per child, it made many beneficial improvements happen within the schools that used it.  It raised students’ reading comprehension and reading levels, it lowered the number of suspensions in a year (from 30 to 11), there was better student attendance, better work habits and more self-discipline seen from the students.  This program allowed for extra instruction in reading, writing and math for each student and allowed for field trips to educational places.  This new hands-on and students-driven way of teaching was proven to help so many students to learn better and want to participate in school.  However, despite proof of improvement (academically, behaviorally, etc.) in the students, the program was done away with because they stopped putting as much money into it.  “It became too cheap too quickly.”  So here is a program that started out doing well, but the idea of it being inexpensive took over and it soon became too cheap to run functionally.  At that point, it did not help the students who it promised to help, and proved, to help at first.  Why is it that programs like this who are showing improvements in students, do things to make it so that they stop being beneficial?  Is it the money aspect of it? This makes me wonder if a price limit is put on a child’s education.  Because of these changes the program dwindled away to nothing.

Kozol Page 190

“”Despite these changes, the extent of segregation in the city’s schools was greater in 1963” than it had been in 1958.”

In cities where the ethnic demographics were very diverse and the towns segregated, some programs and attempts were made to try and desegregate the people.  These attempts were not big and they failed.  In fact, the segregation rates were even higher in schools after these programs were attempted.  In places where these programs and the compensatory education programs were put into effect, the education programs had more of an effect on the students, helping to positively affect their performances in school.  Why is it that when programs are implemented to help children learn better in their schools, they are followed through and actually show improvements but when a program to help end segregation gets put into effect, the opposite ends up happening?  Is there more involved to trying to help end segregation in areas than just trying to implement a program in a school system?  If the school’s program did not work, why wasn’t anything else tried?  Is segregation too big of a problem for an education system to solve?  Does the government and communities need to be involved in the process as well?

Kozol page 195

“An entirely different kind of practice, one that seems much easier to understand in human terms, in the high set of expectations that attach themselves to changes in the topmost personnel- superintendent, CEO, or chancellor, as they are often known- who come and go so frequently in many of our urban systems, although personnel and program oftentimes are intertwined.”

Kozol then goes on to give examples of people who come and go in the education system very quickly, usually due to stress.  A position like those stated above needs a constant person to work in it because so many decisions need to be made for the schools and problems, etc. need to be dealt with in a way that best fits the schools.  If different people are always stepping into those higher-up positions, then no one way of running everything will stay in effect.  The students and teachers need something constant in their lives for their education.  If things are constantly changing, where will the stability come in for the learners?  A child will have a more difficult time learning in an environment or system that is not constant.  Programs that are implemented with one person may be changed with the next, despite the possibility of them working.  If the stress is too high for one person to keep these jobs, how can we change things to make it so that one person stays for an extended period of time?  Is there anything that can be done to make this happen?  One possibility may be to put more than one person in that area of work to help share the workload.  Any other thoughts on this? Doesn’t an education system need stability in something good to help it succeed?

Marlowe page 11

“First, teachers today have been swamped by tasks- often, trivial and unconnected to students- that demand compliance, to the point where it is difficult for teachers to balance or to discern what is really important.”

Teachers today have so many things on their plates, not only when they walk into the school building but when they walk out of it also.  Many times, because there is so much work to be done, they bring their work home with them.  Whether this work is meaningful or trivial is a big question.  Now, because of NCLB and RTTT there are so many laws and regulations that force teachers to do extra things as part of their day.  When teachers have to focus on their students getting passing scores on the standardized tests, little room is left to do anything else.  These practices that are given to prepare must be graded and assessed by the teacher, with all of the students scores logged and assessed.  All of this extra stuff that needs to get done takes time out of the teachers day to either plan for the next day’s lessons or it takes the time right out of the learning day away from the students.  Unfortunately, these tests do not improve or prove the learning ability of the students, which means that all of the teacher preparations that are involved are a waste of time.  There are other things too that teachers are asked to do to keep up with the mandates that are given by the state and national government that have nothing to do with teaching their students.  How can a teacher teach what’s important and do all of these other “useless” things at the same time? Is there a way for teachers too not do what is useless so that their students will be given the best opportunities to learn?

Marlowe page 113

“Simply stated, when one acknowledges someone as being good (or great), there is a corresponding expectation to pay those people well. So while I have heard a lot over thirty years about teacher competency and merit pay, I have yet to hear a sincere effort to acknowledge what is the essence of great teaching.”

When most people are hired for a job, they expect to get recognition for a great job that they are doing, if they are doing it.  Also, many times, a pay raise is included in with that recognition.  However, for teachers, there is no recognition for doing a good job and there is no pay raise either.  Now, the teachers that get recognized for the good grades on the standardized tests are getting recognized as being good teachers.  When in reality so many of those teachers have conformed to the testing that they would no longer be considered “good” in terms of helping the students to learn and comprehend in their best capacity.  Now, because of NCLB, a good teacher is qualified as one that has their students pass the high stakes tests.  No longer are good teachers recognized as the ones who form a compassionate learning environment, who teach to and for the children (not the test), who help all of their students to learn in the best way possible for each of their students, etc.  Unfortunately, the definition of “good” is changing.  Those teachers, who are doing what I would consider to be a good job at teaching, are not getting recognized at all for their hard work.  So now, many of those teachers are losing their jobs or being thrown in the background because their students may or may not have passed the tests.  This definition of good is changing the way our education system is working.  The teachers who are teaching to the test will get merit pay, because their students passed the test.  But will those students have learned everything they needed to in order to survive in the real world after school?  Will those teachers have succeeded in creating a healthy environment for the students to learn in and in teaching to each child’s needs?  I doubt it.  So where have the good teachers gone?  Why is it that the teachers who are truly teaching each student in the ways that are best for them, are not getting recognized for their work?  What will happen to those good teachers if they are never shown recognition, will we lose them forever?

Marlowe page 116                                 

“Student success is also fostered by empowering students (and students are automatically empowered when they are producing!). Empowering means actively teaching students how to help themselves, how to take responsibility for their work; how to get help: How to ask for help, whom to ask for help, and when to seek help. This is a real world skill that starts and grows in class an in school.”

Unfortunately, when teachers are forced to teach students according to the test they have to take and pass, these real world skills are not being taught to the students because none of them are forced to critically think and produce outcomes that are original to their own points of view and styles of learning.  Because of NCLB, the students are not expected to think in creative ways, or independently.  They do not have to ask for help because everything is given to them in a self-explanatory way.  The students do not need to think about how to answer the questions asked, they need to read the question, come up with an answer and bubble it in.  So many times, when a student is wrong with an answer that has been bubbled in, they are not corrected because there is not enough time to go over why something was wrong.  This way of schooling is not helping our students become better and enriched people, instead, it is forcing them to become one type of person who knows how to read a paper and fill in bubble sheets.  So if this is what is happening, there is no student success in our school systems, according to this generation.  If so many people know this, then why do our laws keep changing to continue to make this a part of our education system?  Will someone listen and refuse to let this continue to go on?