You can chime in here with any thoughts regarding "Waiting for Superman"
What do you predict after watching the 1st segment? How / what is the major cause of the problems we see in Part 1 according to the makers of the movie? What would be the various parts of the solution? How do you reconcile Ravitch's opinions with the opinions expressed by the "Superman" producers? Etc Etc Etc
This blog is specifically designed to address issues in secondary education in general, with a particular focus on RI Social Studies. A major focus of mine is the loss of content breadth in Social Studies courses which has resulted from the well meaning reforms of the past decade. You'll find this article in the Depth vs Breadth section. See list on the right.
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I predict after watching the first segment of "Waiting for Superman" that they are going to suggest that Charter schools are the answer for mass amount of kids who are struggling in their education. In very poverty stricken districts there are these kids that are put in schools where they are basically destined for failure. They start of learning at high levels and they do worse and worse till most of them drop out. I believe the reasoning for these problems is due to the government's inability to reform education so that it benefits everyone and improves our education. They have spent so much on education however, there has been little to no change at all. If there has been change then it has been negative. Ever since "No Child Left Behind", the goal was to get kids in the United States to have 100 percent proficiency in math and reading. No state in the United States is anywhere close with four years remaining to reach their goal. One of the worst is the nation's capital Washington D.C. Kids in neighborhoods that are affected by poverty attend public schools in the same state. Kids do worse and worse each year and eventually they all drop out. This ends up leading to a hard life in potential drugs, crime, and sometimes prison. These schools are called drop out factories. In one school there was 60,000 kids who enrolled and 40,000 did not graduate. That is a tremendous red flag for the education policies administered by our country. I believe that this movie makes a strong argument to support the idea of Charter schools and possibly vouchers. Charter schools will save these kids lives and stop them from their education system to leading them to a terrible and undeserved life. Vouchers will allow these kids to attend schools other the ones that are setting them up to fail. Many parents throughout the film were concerned for their kids future. They were well aware of the statistics and experiences of past students. One of the police officers interviewed said a lot of his friends or classmates ended up in prison. He was one of the lucky ones in a sense. Diane Ravitch did not support the idea of Charter schools on the basis that they have no evidence of performing better and just cause these weak public schools to weaken even more due to the competition. However, these families and kids are desperate. Parents want a better life for their kids and are willing to do whatever it takes. They cannot wait around for change, life is too precious for that. The government is not creating change for the better so they are forced to do it themselves. There is a sort of mindset of survival of the fittest. This is no fault but the government's. These kids deserve better and if vouchers/Charter schools it the answer, then so be it.
ReplyDeleteWatching the “Waiting for Superman” program is both enlightening and disheartening. It is amazing to see young students with such a thirst and drive for education. It seems at the secondary level, fewer of my classmates were actually interested and invested in the education they were receiving and just trying to graduate and go on to college for the social aspects and not the advanced knowledge. Going to college for me was to receive a higher education and expand my knowledge. It is clear that for some of my peers that this is not the case. It is unfortunate that some people feel they have to go onto higher education because it is the norm of today’s society and they are spending so much money just for the social part of college. It is my hope that this younger generation focused on in the video will be the change agents we hope for and will lead to a better world. Just thinking that a girl as young as 7 or 8 already has such high goals as becoming a veterinarian is amazing. After watching the first segment, I am interested to learn more about some of the other students that will be featured and I hope for these students that they will be able to attend better schools than the ones that they are currently in. I think the major cause of the problems we see in part 1 is a lack of funding for these inner city schools. We can all make assumptions about the quality of education and of teachers in the schools but it was clear in the video that there was not adequate funding. It is very interesting to consider both sides of the charter school movement. Going into class on Tuesday after reading Ravitch’s chapter, I was against charter schools and what they stand for but after seeing half of the program, I want them to exist to provide these underprivileged children with a better education. I am incredibly excited to see the remainder of the program.
ReplyDeleteI think this documentary is very emotionally moving. Ravitch's chapters on vouchers and charter schools are very intellectually moving. In watching Waiting for Superman, I definitely wanted to help that little girl become a veterinarian or surgeon. However, I don't think that a charter school is necessarily the solution. Charter schools were intended as a stop-gap measure, a temporary fix to the problem that can then be evaluated for efficiency. As both Diane Ravitch and the authors of the TSS text point out most charter schools perform at or below the level of the local public schools. In a case like the high school in the film which is a drop-out factory, yes a charter school would likely be an improvement, but in most cases charter schools aren't looking to deal with the hard-to-teach students or students with special needs. They are looking for students who are easy to teach and will show a lot of improvement because of that. The documentary does an excellent job at pulling on heartstrings but doesn't provide much factual evidence to support it's claims.
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