https://padlet.com/kdillard01/s78wb5xd11qn en-us 2017-01-19 07:55:29 UTC 2017-04-20 16:23:12 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Planets.png kdillard01 https://padlet.com/kdillard01/s78wb5xd11qn/wish/150136712 Summary:
The Unfinished March highlighted the issues of academical achievement with minority groups. To tackle the issue, Rothstein argued that black students' families needed to improve their socioeconomics and their place in society. Segregation has improved in the South, but not in the North. Black students studies were way below white student test scores. Desegregation has not been talked about in recent years because administrators feel as though it can not be solved. Rothstein believes bridging the African American gap on academic achievement involves integrating schools, so middle class does not only pertain to White Americans. Schools that are predominately Black do not have the same resources as Whites, because the government refuses to see the value in education for African Americans. 

I think Rothstein makes valid points regarding integrating schools again because it still a problem in this new millennium. Its sad to see that once schools that were mostly White, become integrated with other minorities lose value. In order to fix the problem, like Rothstein argues, we have to fix our black communities. Ensuring black communities have the proper resources is a step into fixing the neighborhood schools. ]]> 2017-01-30 02:41:34 UTC https://padlet.com/kdillard01/s78wb5xd11qn/wish/150136712 kdillard01 https://padlet.com/kdillard01/s78wb5xd11qn/wish/152369630 Summary:
Peg Tyre explains the situations that rose to the most famous case in history, Brown v. Board of Education. It has been nearly 60 years that segregation of schools were considered unequal under the "separate but equal" argument. However, now the segregation does not involve student's skin color but where they reside at. Funding of schools where mostly African Americans attend have drastically been cut. Now, schools are becoming segregated by rich and poor and unfortunately African Americans are still struggling to get the proper education they deserve. 

Tyre is right about the student achievement gap is not about race but socioeconomic status. Tyre states, "African-American children, and particularly low-income African American children, are just as likely to attend majority non-white schools as they were in 1960." Its like all the work of other cases that led to Brown v. Board of Education did not mean anything. All the sit-ins and protests African Americans did for equal education vanished because they still were not receiving the same proper education whites had. ]]> 2017-02-08 06:38:10 UTC https://padlet.com/kdillard01/s78wb5xd11qn/wish/152369630 kdillard01 https://padlet.com/kdillard01/s78wb5xd11qn/wish/158549259 Summary:
Hirsch explains his arguments of how students should be taught to read and how they tackle vocabulary. Hirsch claims that teachers should not teach students how to gather background information while reading rather than teaching how to have basic knowledge of what some words mean. "He argues that it is therefore a lack of language knowledge and domain-specific background knowledge, rather than a lack of comprehension strategies, that causes students fluent in decoding to struggle with texts." His reasoning for his argument was that some students might not have as much experience as others and therefore it is much harder for them to use background knowledge to understand vocabulary. One student might be able to figure out a word due to his or her experience outside of school but one student might not be able to. Hirsch believes teachers should not focus on comprehension strategies. 

I somewhat agree with Hirsch on his ideas because teaching skills may be useful to some students but not all. Although I do not believe it should be cut out from the curriculum. I learned how to decipher words through skills such as find context clues around the work to have a better understanding of the sentence. But some teachers only focus on this and not being able to even understand the simplest words. Students are taught mostly skills when entering 5th and 6th grade. Spelling bee tests are put to rest after a certain grade and I feel like that affects how we learn our vocabulary.

]]> 2017-03-08 03:18:54 UTC https://padlet.com/kdillard01/s78wb5xd11qn/wish/158549259 kdillard01 https://padlet.com/kdillard01/s78wb5xd11qn/wish/158870644 Summary:
Jean Anyon tackles a lot of issues in the different social classes represented by schools. Anyon explains in her essay how schools that have a wealthy community tend to lead students on the track of being doctors or engineers. Other schools such as schools that have a low-income community tend to teach students how to become carpenters or other skilled jobs. Anyon studies five different schools. To explain her reasoning how schools with a poor reputation cling to teach students how to get into vocational schools rather than college or big universities, she uses her study on two working class schools. "In the two working-class schools, work is following the steps of a procedure. The procedure is usually mechanical, involving rote behavior and very little decision making or choice." Anyon brings attention to the fact students are taught how to do step by step instructions rather than thinking outside the box and coming to the conclusion by themselves. One teacher exclaims at a student that they must be on the same page as the teacher or else they would mess up. As Anyon studied other schools such as the middle class, affluent professional, and elite schools, the idea of students working on their increases. In elite schools, teachers do not just give out simple math problems that include step by step procedures, she or he challenges the students by making them create problems themselves and finding solutions for them. "There are complicated math mimeos with many word problems. Whenever they go over the examples, they discuss how each child has set up the problem. The children must explain it precisely. On one occasion the teacher said, "I'm more--just as interested in how you set up the problem as in what answer you find. If you set up a problem in a good way, the answer is easy to find." Anyon comes to the conclusion that this "hidden" cirriculum influences students how to act and think in other settings outside of school. 

I agree that their is a hidden cirriculum in schools. I never realized that students in a low-income class are taught a certain way because of how teachers think of their future. That being said, students in that atmosphere do not learn how to challenge themselves. They would have low-self esteem about the idea of attending college because if a teacher is yelling at you to move at their pace you wont feel comfortable attending a college class that requires you to think for yourself. In my middle school it was half and half. Do not move faster than the teacher but also challenge yourself to figure out other problems you might come across when solving a math problem. In order to eliminate the hidden cirriculum teachers must see the same opportunity of attending college in every student regardless of income. ]]> 2017-03-09 05:12:17 UTC https://padlet.com/kdillard01/s78wb5xd11qn/wish/158870644 lpincham https://padlet.com/kdillard01/s78wb5xd11qn/wish/159838225 This is an excellent summary and response!
Points = 3/3
LP]]> 2017-03-13 21:58:53 UTC https://padlet.com/kdillard01/s78wb5xd11qn/wish/159838225 lpincham https://padlet.com/kdillard01/s78wb5xd11qn/wish/159838385 You are correct in your thinking.  Almost everything this reading points to about socioeconomics when it comes to closing the achievement gap!
Points = 3/3
LP]]> 2017-03-13 22:00:16 UTC https://padlet.com/kdillard01/s78wb5xd11qn/wish/159838385 lpincham https://padlet.com/kdillard01/s78wb5xd11qn/wish/159838655 There is a lot of emphasis now on language and literacy.
Points = 3/3
LP]]> 2017-03-13 22:03:01 UTC https://padlet.com/kdillard01/s78wb5xd11qn/wish/159838655 lpincham https://padlet.com/kdillard01/s78wb5xd11qn/wish/159838784 A very good description.  I would love for all teachers to read this article!
Points = 3/3]]> 2017-03-13 22:04:18 UTC https://padlet.com/kdillard01/s78wb5xd11qn/wish/159838784 kdillard01 https://padlet.com/kdillard01/s78wb5xd11qn/wish/166671224 Summary: 
Farrah Z Ahmad, a poltical anaylst, notices the diversity gap not with students in the classroom but with teachers. Majority of schools in America have white teachers. Ahmad states that in order for students to reach their academic achievement there needs to be a diversity with staff in the schools. However, there are issues that have stopped minorities entering the teaching field and/or being prepared to teach students at a higher academic level. "including a scarcity of high-quality, teacher-training programs targeted at teachers of color; the educational debt students of color must shoulder; and the general lack of esteem in our society for teaching—stand in the way of producing an optimal pool of teachers." Ahmad believes the issue of of less diverisity in the teaching field may affect how students excel in the classroom. In order for us to stop this issue, Ahmad brings attention to exactly why this is happening. Reports find that teachers of color leave their jobs much higher than white teachers because their is a lack of respect given to them in their field and low salary wages. Another finding was that teachers of color tend to score lower on their licensure exam due to their programs in their local community colleges. Through federal policies reforms, the issue can soon be deceased. Ahamd proposed the idea that colleges reinvent their teaching programs. "Program for competitive grants to teacher-preparation programs at minority-serving institutions to make such programs more rigorous—including raising entry and exit standards for the programs; at the same time, students would receive help in meeting those standards." For states and districts, Ahmad proposed the idea for reforms to include the same salary wages for teachers who share the same skills and responsibilites regardless of color. These reforms can defiantly shape the amount of teachers of color in the future. ]]> 2017-04-18 04:19:32 UTC https://padlet.com/kdillard01/s78wb5xd11qn/wish/166671224 https://padlet.com/kdillard01/s78wb5xd11qn/wish/167315189 You have earned 3 extra credit points!
LP]]> 2017-04-20 16:22:58 UTC https://padlet.com/kdillard01/s78wb5xd11qn/wish/167315189