Hi Andre and Andrea.
Although I have never been a school teacher, I currently work on a reading
research project in several elementary schools in Atlanta. I was curious
about your statement, Andrea, that we still need to come to an
agreement about what the problems in the schools are. Excuse my naivety, but
is there still no consensus? Here are some of the major problems that I have
seen and have discussed with teachers. First (and probably foremost), the
focus on testing creates a lot of apprehension and fear that if they (the
classes and/or schools) perform poorly, more of their funding will be taken
away. Second, there appears to be a lot of variability in the skills and
expertise between both schools and teachers. I'm guessing that this, too,
may stem from the funding issue. Lastly, I think that especially in the
poorer areas, there lacks that important bond between the schools and the
parents. These bonds may encourage children to stay engaged in the learning
process. I suppose that a good place to start to fix these problems would be
a push by educators to overhaul or do away with No Child Left Behind. Of
course, I'm not a teacher and so I am curious about what teachers think
about how to fix the myriad of issues that hinder children's education.

Dana


On 11/24/07, Andrea Wilder <andreawilder at comcast.net> wrote:

>

> Andre--

>

> I understand what you are saying.  I wrote what I did because I think

> there is enough experience and brain power on this list serv and others

> to light up a good-sized city.  Where I live, school boards get

> elected. They are supposed to be the link between the school and us,

> and they are answerable to us--us meaning the people who elected them.

> Here, the "us" are the extremely knowledgeable members of this list

> serv.  We know the consequences of school failure.  This is useful

> knowledge, not only for the dropouts, but what may be behind the drop

> outs.  I am convinced that groups of people with this knowledge, in our

> communities, can make a difference.   I used to be a school teacher,

> too.  We first must come to some agreements as to what the problems

> are, then prioritize and find out where to start.

>

> Andrea

>

> On Nov 24, 2007, at 12:25 PM, Andre Whitmore wrote:

>

> > Andrea

> > I am a former school teacher and I believe that the school system

> > in and of itself is the reason why so many students fail. The

> > schooling process is designed to ensure that students are socialized

> > to acquire an American cultural identity, which for many of the

> > students is an unrealistic goal for them. It has become increasing

> > difficult for students to envisionhow they can actively participate

> > and succeed in this culture. Jobs, occupations, and success are no

> > longer consistent with education. The educational requirements have

> > become too demanding and do not offer any guarantee for a job. Many

> > minority students have observed how their family members and people in

> > the community have sought education that leads to poverty still. The

> > schooling process should offer students the opportunity ability to

> > become socialized in their culture so that they can associate real

> > significance to their education. furthermore, American culture

> > singifies free market and free enterprise opportunities, but the

> > schooling process does not place emphasis on this aspect. Most public

> > schools teach students to become apoorly trained labor force that

> > remains dependent on the corporate structure. Simply put, students

> > will continue to resist public education until education in this

> > country receives a make-over.

> > Andre

> > ----- Original Message ----

> > From: Andrea Wilder <andreawilder at comcast.net>

> > To: Women and Literacy Discussion List The Poverty Race

> > <povertyracewomen at nifl.gov>

> > Sent: Friday, November 23, 2007 10:29:06 PM

> > Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 1429] Changing schools

> >

> > Hi everyone,

> >

> > I think it is really important to find out which types of students in

> > our local schools aren't doing well and to change local school behavior

> > so all students can succeed.

> >

> > Andrea

> >

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