Dana,

Different school districts may have different issues--hence my remark 
about needing to come to agreement about school problems.  I can't 
remember just where NCLB is in the legislative  pipeline.

A couple of weeks ago at a conference I had the "opportunity" to see 
some of those exercises that taught "teaching to the test."  Stupidest 
pages I ever saw. The whole point about testing is missed--the items to 
be tested on should be embedded in a context of reading and writing.

Most--many?--of the problems are associated with funding.  There are 
court cases around this issue in different states.

Of course this is all political--but there are those drop-outs.  That 
shouldn't be happening.

Andrea

On Nov 25, 2007, at 3:52 PM, Dana Donohue wrote:


> 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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>> >

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