Closing the Achievement Gaps

Let me go ahead and apologize for the formatting/nonworking hyperlinking to about half of this page. As I was typing and adding hyperlinks along the way, something happened with my edit post page and I could not take away the underlining. Please ignore it. I couldn't control it!

New Report on Achievement Gaps

So with all of the hubbub about schools lowering achievement goals, too much money being cut from education, and even news of how different states are doing certain programs, there is promising news. The Center on Education Policy published a new report that describes the situation in achievement gaps between different student populations. The report shows that in 74% of all cases from 2002 to 2008, minorities and low-income students closed the gaps in achievement across all grades with their counterparts. Even though this is promising news, there is still some gloom over the way all 50 states test. Taken from another article, but cited within this one, "Part of the progress on the percent-proficient measure is because the proficiency bar is set so low," said Bruce Fuller, a professor of education and public policy at the University of California-Berkeley. There is an alarming number of people who are calling for change, but those in charge are not doing much about it. In the actual report, found here, there are some very good possibilities that may come from the study. There were significant increases in Hispanic test scores and African American test scores, specifically in 4th grade math, which shows that new curriculum and methods that are being implemented are beginning to work. In other data, it showed that almost every subgroup closed the gap with White students in specific areas from 5 points to almost 25 points on standardized

tests. I would like to believe that we are now truly in the realm of unbiased education and every student has an equal opportunity. Being at a school that is almost completely comprised of minority students, there are many unique challenges in order to reach these students. However, as we move to standards based classrooms and seek to diversify the way in which we deliver the curriculum, students seem to be better able to grasp the concepts. When we can stray from teaching to the test and give them life-long skills and concepts, they hold onto them longer. Educational theory also suggests that when the students do hands-on activities and even when students teach others, more than 60% of the knowledge is retained compared to about 10% when lectured to. This huge shift in the ability of students to comprehend and the need to differentiate instructional methods can be a good thing, as shown in the seemingly good test results. I would say that it has benefited education to start looking to teaching all and reaching all instead of just the majority. When I was in school, I knew, unfortunately, I was at an advantage because of how the material was directed. My friends, most of them minorities, would not benefit from the direction of the curriculum. This proved so in the standardized tests we took, including the SAT, ACT and AP tests. I generally outscored my friends who were smarter than I was, but were minorities. It appears that time is over and now every student has the opportunity to take control of their own education and that as we teach to new curriculum, the achievement gaps are closing. Hopefully in another 5 or 6 years, it will show that all races are equal in education.

Grading Our Educational System

Grading Education Isn't Easy

It has become increasingly obvious to me that everyone that looks through the window every day at school, does not really understand what's going on. Everyone has an opinion about the state of education, yet no one who gives those opinions has the correct answer to solve our problems. Maybe if everyone started with themselves, asked themselves what they could do to help, it would fix itself, without our state governors stepping in, without our government stepping in, and without our President stepping in. In this article, the author discusses the issues of how public and charter schools are performing in Ohio. The concept of a charter school is to allow parents a choice. The charter schools give parents the opportunity to put their students in a community school that is exempt from certain state mandates so that the school can put its best effort forward. These schools generally receive more money than other public schools, but can also incur unintended costs. The success rate of these schools is extremely high in most cases, with almost 35,000 students enrolled in Georgia charter schools, there is a lot going on. In Ohio, there are over 75,000 students enrolled in charter schools. These schools have traditionally outscored public schools in goals for value added education. In recent years, though, regular schools have taken over. Progress is being made every year in all schools, for the most part, but can we tell which is truly doing better? Does this mean that charter schools are useless now? No, I don't believe so, but there are some issues charter schools are facing that are much greater than public schools. With the current economic state, charter schools are in financial danger. Many schools are failing and having to close or revert back to a public school. This costs jobs and social and economic impacts for the surrounding communities. What can we do to save charter schools or improve our public schools? Outsiders cannot answer those questions. I wish I could say I had all of the answers, but I think everyone in education would agree with that statement. Every person that is an educator or an administrator has some piece of the puzzle to fix what is going on. We are losing ground to other countries in aptitude and ability, yet we are complaining instead of fixing. Let's get on the same page, make some goals, and go accomplish them. I bet the entire country would be a little better off.

Falling College Graduation Rates

Graduation Rates

While we are battling dropout rates and student achievement in middle and high schools across the country, colleges are beginning to have outrageous dropout rates that reach in to the 40 and 50% range. As of right now, colleges are awarded aid based on enrollment. In the article, David Leonhardt states that colleges are packing in classes for freshman with 60 and 70 or more students in a lecture hall and making it cheaper to run these classes. However, as these students progress, the class sizes begin to dwindle as concentrations offer specific classes, which are much more expensive than freshman seminars. The colleges therefore prefer less classes offered and there is no consequence for colleges who have so many dropouts at the sophomore and junior level. Legislation is trying to be pushed through that would force colleges to tie financial aid and other monies to their graduation rates rather than enrollment. Many of the students are not prepared to take college classes because of their secondary education, but it does not simply mean they should drop out. Our work force is being pushed to be better educated than previous generations but yet the educational system is defeating students who are not able to pay or simply become frustrated and quit. Still, more issues remain in the need for improving the drop out rate. The article suggests many students do not apply to the best schools they could get into. An all A student, 1200+ SAT score, does not apply to a notable school, instead they apply to the state college or technical school that does not fully challenge them. Additionally, it has become the norm to not graduate with a Bachelor's in 4 years. Students now take 5, 6, or 7 years to complete 120 credit hours. This lack of oversight and pressure to reach the finish line produces students who take 1 or 2 classes a semester and sometimes fail them and keep taking classes that are not pertinent to their education. I remember from my undergraduate degree that several students in my business classes were professional students. They had accumulated enough hours to have 3 or 4 bachelor's degrees, maybe even a master's degree, but did not want to move on in life so they stay just because. This only increases the laziness of our generation and produces people who are not able to fully take care of themselves and must rely on others, usually parents, to live, which was not a goal of this country only 10 to 15 years ago. We must continue to encourage our students every day to look at the long term and stop looking to the next minute, hour, or day. Tomorrow is never guaranteed but if we don't make the most out of today and prepare for tomorrow or next week or next year, our shortsightedness can kills us. Students must regain the focus of obtaining goals like going to college AND graduating and continuing on to do amazing things in life. If we want this next generation to be game changers, they must take responsibility and focus on finishing the race of high school, college, and life.