The other week we were having a conference call at work talking about all the students in the Los Angeles County who would not be receiving a high school diploma this spring because they had failed to pass an algebra class. As a matter of fact the LA Times did a series of articles about the drop out rate of the students at Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, CA. It stirred such a response more than 200 people responded in written form and probably other organizations like the Mathnasium had conferences to discuss what to how we should respond when students in this situation come to us.
The funny part is I was telling someone the other day that when I was growing up I didn't even realize there were people who didn't understand things, for whatever reason. I thought if you were failing a subject it's because you weren't trying or you were skipping school or something. I assumed everyone had the ability to make straight As it was just a matter of settling down and learning the material. As I grow more in the knowledge of people, school districts, math wars, and bureaucracy I find that not only are there students who actually struggle but that institutions as sometimes run in a way that makes it near impossible for students to learn.
Please share your thoughts.
Blactoid: As some people know there used to be separate schools in the United States. Then after the Brown vs. the Board of Education decision they were mandated to integrate. A high school in the same city I went to high school in decided to integrate shortly thereafter. Although it met with resistance, those steps they took paved the way for not only African-Americans having equal access to education, but also other minority groups that had suffered from poor education in understaffed and underfunded schools.
I am 50% Left Brain and 50% Right Brain. Interesting...
| You Are 50% Left Brained, 50% Right Brained |
 Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports. |
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7 comments:
I suppose it's easy to see the rest of the world as being like one's own immediate surroundings. I went to a pretty good high school, so when I think of high schools, I tend to think of my own experience. Whereas the reality might be that some high school experiences might not be something I've ever even thought of. Maybe hostile environments, maybe chaotic, maybe just apathetic.
I suppose academic trouble could stem from a lot of different factors. Some of it stems from your home life, how stable that is, how intelligent or motivating or caring (or belittling or uncaring) your parents (or parent, or guardian(s), or none of the above) are. Some of it could, similarly, be the personal qualities of the teachers in the school (which could be affected by the organizational culture, by the community culture, etc). Some of it could be the organizational culture of the school or school system itself. Some of it could be the culture of the teens in that community. Some of it could be lack of appropriate funding (or lack of appropriate spending). And maybe a host of other factors. So (just thinking theoretically anyway), it seems like if a school or school system has low academic success, it might be difficult to determine what the real problem is, and therefore difficult to determine how to fix it.
However, I personally think relationships (parent/child relationships, teacher/student relationships, etc), are probably one of the most influential factors, so, regardless of the problem, focusing efforts on those things (good parenting, good teaching/motivating), might go a long way in helping out.
Of course, helping out relationships isn't something that many businesses and governments and other institutions are readily equipped to do. That might be where the church comes in. Maybe the church is part of the solution. I suppose the whole overblown and distorted idea of the so-called separation of church and state, however, might make such an involvement difficult, but I suppose there could be creative solutions there. (For example, although I haven't participated in it, I believe my church is part of a tutoring program (I think it's called Kid's Hope USA) at a local elementary school. A volunteer will commit, for an entire school year I think (or maybe it's six months, don't remember) to go in every week and tutor a specific child for like an hour or something like that. And it doesn't really even have to focus on academics... just having someone there who reliably shows up, just for you, and that you can talk to, goes a long way in helping out not only the academic skills, but also the social confidence, etc, of at-risk kids.)
Those are some interesting thoughts Daniel. As a matter of fact although not particularly with a church organization I used to go into schools and volunteer and mentor all the way through my own schooling. And I understand the investment you make when you build into a child's life and invest in building quality relationships.
I guess one of the other things I was trying to point out was that somehow children still end up ill prepared academically regardless of there home situation because of outside influences. Now the LA Times looked at some pretty extreme cases touching on some things you pointed out about people with unstable home situations or lack of motivation internally or externally.
I'm currently working with a charter school that is made up entirely of homeschool students. These are students who's parents have decided to educate them themselves, invest in character building, and building strong values and strong work ethic. However these children are still having the exact same problems as the other children with the chaotic life style.
The real problem I feel is that most people who attempt to teach primary mathematics aren't equipped to do so. Most primary school teachers don't have a strong mathematics background and when it comes to teaching fundamentals that's important. Most people teach based on a ghost of a shadow of the rememberance of how they were taught. And as the state continues to raise the standards these children go in to middle school with weak (at best) math abilities. (I'm not including in this people who are gifted academically) Then they start a down hill spiral that ends in them being frustrated by or inhibited by their inability to successfully complete an algebra course They develop a hatred for the subject or other subjects and clearly this can lead to all sorts of problems later in life.
Cool. Maybe the Mathnasium (and other organizations) could have a program for "tutoring"/enriching math teachers (if it doesn't already).
I'm not sure about the other mathnasiums, but here at headquarters we have been trying to offer tutoring/training (free of charge)to math teachers in both the LAUSD and the IUSD systems. Sorry that's Los Angeles and Inglewood Schoold Districts. And believe it or not the school district is pretty resistant to teacher training from outside sources. Did I mention it was free? The irony is if you talk to the teachers they want training they feel like they aren't being properly trained by the school district. But we keep things above board here otherwise I would have already infiltrated the system myself.
Wow that's kinda crazy for the school district to resist that kind of offer, especially when there are problems. I wonder who makes those kinds of decisions, policies. Maybe it's a matter of "voting them out" of office and getting other people in there. Hey, maybe you could run for school board :-)
No I'm about change from the outside in. Not the inside out. I have my mental sanity to preserve. Ok just kidding about that, but I don't want to be any crazier than I already am.
I think it's just the nature of the bureaucracy already set in place. Basically the whole program needs to be started from ground zero. Since that isn't going to happen you change the children so when they grow up to be in those jobs they'll be different. Believe it or not this is a problem all across the country. Unless you are planning to homeschool your children independent of any sort of affiliation you always run into this sort of thing in an organization. Especially large ones like school districts. Even small private schools have similar problems as my mom has found out from her job.
preach it, tanikita. good teaching is freaking hard to come by. i'm not sure why it's such a rarity, but it is; most people teaching shouldn't be doing so. they may be geniuses, but that doesn't mean they can teach.
its hard to be in that place... seeing the whole enchilada as being flawed all the way through - knowing the whole thing needs to change - but knowing thats impossible, so hunkering down to do what you can. i admire you!
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