When Slavery & Math Don’t Mix

            A homework assignment that was supposed to be given to fourth grade students at an elementary school in New York is the source of controversy and outrage.  Last week students were supposed to be given a math assignment which included insensitive statements about slavery.  The math assignment which was titled “Slavery Word Problems Homework” asked students to solve several problems using the number of slaves on slave ships and the number of whippings a slave received over a month[i]. 

            What is alarming about this controversy, are the teachers who believed it was okay to give students’ homework of an insensitive nature.  The report stated that a teacher new to the building was given the assignment from a veteran teacher to give to her class.  The new teacher asked a student-teacher to make copies of the assignment so the assignment could be given to the students.  If it had not been for a student teacher’s refusal to make copies of the assignment because the student-teacher felt the assignment was insensitive, the controversy could have been worse.  Fortunately, the assignment did not make it home and students and their families were spared from participation in this calamitous act of insensitivity.

            Although there are claims the math questions were a product of a social studies assignment on slavery by another fourth grade class taught by the veteran teacher, one has to question why the teacher would consider using these questions in the math assignment and call the assignment Slavery Word Problems.

            In what is supposed to be an era of political correctness, sensitivity and tolerance, there appears to be less political correctness, less sensitivity, and less tolerance coming from our schools.  What is puzzling is these acts of insensitivity and intolerance are increasingly coming from teachers. 

Knowing the offending teachers are a veteran teacher and a teacher new to the building, one could speculate the offending teachers should have known the assignment was offensive and inappropriate.  Furthermore, the report did not state if either of the offending teachers expressed remorse is troubling and leads one to believe this was an intentional act.  Lastly, for this incident to occur during Black History Month is equally disturbing.

            To stem this increasing insensitivity and intolerance among teachers, districts should mandate periodic sensitivity training as part of teacher ongoing professional development.  Additionally, school administrators should become more diligent with the monitoring of lesson plans and assignments to prevent incidents such as this from happening.  An incident such as this is preventable.  Finally, as part of their disciplinary action and penitence, the teachers should formally apologize to the whole school and be placed on some type of disciplinary probation.  I do not believe the teachers should be fired or transferred, unless this is not an isolated incident.

If school leaders do not act on behalf of children to eliminate the rise of insensitivity and intolerance among teachers, our children may give up on education.  Our country cannot afford to continue to lose another generation to underachievement and low expectations because a preventable problem was not corrected.

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[i] www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/177473/ny1-exclusive--community-outrage

The Call for Universal Pre-K

            In his State of the Union address President Obama announced his desire for every child to have access to a high quality early childhood education.  In what is being hailed by many as a call for universal pre-k, it has been reported that most of President Obama’s vision for universal pre-k is already being eroded. 

 

According to published reports by several new agencies, the White House has circulated a “blueprint” on what universal pre-k would look like.  The blueprint would only guarantee federal funding to states for the schooling of four–year olds from families that earn below 200 percent of the poverty line.  Additionally, new programs such as expansion of Head Start and increase availability of home visits by nurses and social workers will be part of a number of services that will support poor children[i].  If this blueprint turns into policy, then our country will not have universal pre-k, our country will have an upgrade of Head Start.

 

While an upgrade of Head Start was adequate for another time, it is not enough for the economic realities of a future which requires mastery of reading, writing and work-based skills.  President Obama believes that universal pre-k is the “best long-term economic investment America can make[ii].”  Most Americans would agree with the President and would not want a Head Start upgrade.  Americans want all children to have access to quality early childhood education. 

 

Although the economy is on the mend, the new reality is higher unemployment, a widening skills gap, and jobs with lower wages.  This new reality brings greater opportunity for families (especially in the middle class) to fall in and out of the poverty line.  As it stands in this new reality, a majority of American families are receiving some form of government assistance in the form of food stamps and health insurance for their children.  This new reality makes it imperative that universal pre-k is truly universal.

 

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[i] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/14/obama-preschool-education_n_2688994.html

[ii] ibid

Changing Our Lens of High School Students

            What would happen if we fundamentally changed how we view high school students?

            As our public high schools continue to produce students with significant outcome gaps despite almost a century of reform efforts, little consideration has been given to changing the lens in which our educational ideology views high school students.  Currently, high school students are perceived as young, immature, irresponsible individuals who require ongoing supervision.  By viewing high school students in this manner hinders the ability of adults to view high school students differently once these students graduate high school.  It is time to change to change the lens from which we view high school students and introduce a new lens:  the high school student as an “emerging adult.”

            In viewing high school students as emerging adults, our perception of high school students should change.  High school students should now be viewed as individuals who are going through the rituals and rites of passage into adulthood.  The language about high school students should also change.  Labels such as immature and irresponsible should now be viewed not as character flaws, but as skills to be developed and refined in preparation for adulthood while in high school.  Additionally, viewing high school students as emerging adults also compels adults to view high school students as the next group of individuals to take their place in adulthood and either continue their education or enter the workforce.  This would instill confidence in the public and private sectors to hire high school graduates.

Understanding that high school students are emerging adults, would require a change in how we view the purpose of high school.  The current model of high school would not be adequate for and emerging adult ideology.  Our ideas about expectations, needs, curriculum, class offerings, and pedagogy would have to be overhauled. 

High school curriculums would continue to place emphasis on mastery of the CORE courses, but these courses would provide direct connections to the successful transition into the adult world.  High school electives would focus on the development of skills and competencies that instruct students on the skills they would need for success in either post-secondary education/training or in the workforce.  Examples of elective courses are: etiquette (in society and workplace), financial management, applied technology, technical writing, project management and organizational dynamics.  Additionally, the curriculum and courses would no longer be fragmented and disconnected, but would be on a continuum that is connected to past and current courses.

With changes to the curriculum, pedagogy would also change.  Teachers would have to infuse technology and tools that are utilized in post-secondary education/training and the workforce.  When providing instruction, teachers should be utilizing powerpoint, EXCEL and other software/programs.  Lastly, assignments should be project based and submitted via programs such as Google Docs, Dropbox and other cloud based programs. 

If we change the way we view high school students, we may finally have the world-class schools and students we want and our emerging adults will also compete on the global level.

Wearing the Mask

We Wear the mask that grin and lies, it hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,

This debt we pay to human guile; with torn and bleeding hearts we smile,…

Why should the world be overwise, in counting all our tears and sighs?

Nay, let them only see us while we wear the mask…

            One of my favorite poems is “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Lawrence Dunbar.  As an educator, this poem speaks to the complexity of a problem many youth in economically distressed communities face as they attempt to resolve the internal conflict over the relevancy of education while living in the realities of an economically distressed community.

            We expect our youth to get an education so they can obtain the skills to go to college, get a career and become a contributing member to our society.  However, for many youth in economically distressed communities, this expectation does not appear to be realistic or obtainable.  Due to the lack of viable models of success, many youth find it hard to identify educational success with how success is defined in economically distressed communities.

            In many economically distressed communities, success begins (and sometimes ends) with graduation from high school.  The problem with this ideology is that youth see very little success from their peers and adults in their community who graduate from high school.  Since many high school graduates in economically distressed communities struggle to find a job that pays above minimum wage and is not connected to fast food, retail, maintenance or security.  Additionally, many youth see their former peers, neighbors and family members unemployed or underemployed and their dreams lost. 

As a result of the “veil” of success has been removed and the youth develop a misguided understanding that graduation from high school does not equate to success. 

They equate their chance of success in the paths of sports and entertainment.  Unless a youth believes he/she has athletic potential or can sing (or rap), they see their future on the same path as those in their community.  Therefore, youth begin to wear the mask.

In the realm of education, the mask is given a label.  Common labels such as educational apathy, disruptive to instruction, and immature (i.e.: “class clown”) portray these youth as underachievers’ who are on the path to becoming another “statistic.”  As youth become older their mask are called incorrigible and then criminal and they become an unwelcomed presence in their schools. 

As the mask hardens and their dreams of another life begin to fade, they are constantly being told education is important to their future.  Unfortunately, no one is able to help them to make connection between what they are being told to learn and how it applies to continuing their education or the world of work.  Frustration and anger sets in until the youth drops out, is pushed out, or socially promoted to graduation.

Who will help these youth take off their Mask?