Arizona School District / Achievement Gap, etc.

The topics this week have been a bit overwhelming, but I'll address a few of them.

* Article:  "Why Are Black Students Lagging?"
What I got from this article is that there are a variety of reasons that black (as well as other) students may lag regarding their achievement in school, and in life.  It's not always that they come from a lower SES, or that their parents are in prison or on drugs and don't care about their success in school.  There was mention of middle class black families in which the parents spent more time working than ensuring that their children completed homework assignments, etc.  This happens in families of various ethnicities and of various income/education levels.  Sometimes, the parents are so caught up in working and proving to the world that they can compete with the best of them, that they forget that they have children at home who need their attention and guidance to get to the next level.  I am of the belief that when you learn, you should be sure to pass that knowledge along to someone else so that the cycle will continue, and everyone gets a piece of the (education) pie.  Everyone you try to teach may not accept it, but then you move on to someone else who does want to be helped.
The article referenced the fact that all schools don't have access to the same level of resources, and the schools with the higher minority student populations often don't get the best teachers (because some of them are afraid to teach in certain areas of town, while others would rather teach their own).  I know about the phrase "acting white", that was mentioned in the article.  I didn't know that it came out in the '80s, but I am well aware of the meaning.  Some people use this phrase out of ignorance, as if whites are the only ones who have the intelligence to use proper English, and have etiquette when dining out, or whatever else may fall under this category.  Come on now, most people who were raised by loving families with any level of integrity have some type of "home training", and know how to act around other people unlike themselves.  Enough of that -- let's move on to the next topic.

* Article:  "Racial Lens Used to Cul Curriculum in Arizona"
This article was upsetting to me because I don't think it's fair to deprive any group of students the right to read a variety of books/articles to help enrich their education.  The whole thing about the Mexican-American studies courses turned into a political thing, as situations often do.  It's good that the author (Matt de la Pena) was allowed to visit Tucson High School and address the students, as planned.  Another good thing was that with all of their efforts to raise the $1,000 for his speaker's fee, he reinvested it by donating some of his books to the students at the high school.  When certain types of books are banned from school libraries, it may not necessarily stop the students from reading them, but it's often a huge discouragement, especially when authors of color are involved.  Sometimes, any books which catch students' interests opens their world to more books of various genres, and could raise their grades in other classes which may not involve a lot of reading, but rather problem-solving, and thinking outside the box.

* Lecture:  "Closing the Achievement Gap"
I think we all agree that the lecture on Wed. was not at all what was expected.  I thought we'd find out what causes the achievement gap (besides the obvious -- lack of resources, etc.), and how we as social workers can strive to change that for future students.  Yep, the long, drawn-out introductions got on my nerves too.  I felt like more emphasis should have been put on statistics, success rates, and positive real life stories of challenges and victories in the field.  In our class discussion, a lot of great ideas were mentioned about what could be done to change the way that guest lecturer events should be handled.  One suggestion was that we sign up to attend the lectures, and have the option to do an online survey/evaluation afterwards so that the committee will know how to improve for the next time.  Others were to have a townhall meeting about upcoming lecture series, and ensuring Q&A time at the end of each lecture.  I totally agree that MORE STUDENT INPUT should be a priority since the lectures are supposed to benefit the students.  Overall, these events should be (set up) 'By the students - for the students'.