Low-achieving schools in the Bay Area

Lana Lopez Lopez 01

Ms. Williams

English 1A

30th, September 2013

Low-achieving schools in the Bay Area 

According to the Oakland Tribune there are “over 188 statewide schools in California that are deemed “persistently lowest- achieving.” These schools have shown no growth in standardized test scores since 2007 in math and english. All Three of Haywards High schools land on this list, which requires them to make a change giving them a couple of different options to improve the schools overall education experience. The schools have the options of: “replacing the principal and staff, closure and charter conversion. If these school want to receive “federal school improvement grant funds must do so by this fall; otherwise, the timeline is unspecified.” 

The similarities that these persistently low-achieving schools face is lack of funding. Due to the “no child left behind act” many schools who score low on standardized test do not get the same benefits that higher-achieving schools who score well do. Lower test scores mean less money given to the school by the federal funding, whereas higher test scores mean more money, also money per pupil is distributed unequally due to the fact that the larger schools who have more students get the same money as the schools with less students. When you break this down you understand why the schools in Savage Inequalities suffer just like the high schools in Hayward, without help they will never improve to get more money for a higher education. 

In Savage Inequalities most of the students and teachers know that they are settling for a little or no education, most children give up by sixth grade knowing that they have no support. Maybe These Hayward high schools show the effects of students that feel this way. These students may need more support and one on one attention from teachers and parents so that before they get to the high school point they will become a better student who acquired the skills needed to understand the basic skills needed to be above average once the reach the high school level.

Like many others I believe that our education system is flawed in many ways. Many students are overlooked and classrooms are overcrowded so badly that students will never be able to get the attention they need to be successful. I understand that surroundings are very important but I would rather the school buy new books and tools needed to provide a better education then spend it on a leaky roof. Schools do get old and need maintenance but in many cases they need to be torn down and rebuilt due to the cost of fixing being more then rebuilding. Homes are being built faster than schools and counties aren’t compensating for student ratio to homes. We will continue to see this problem until someone finally realizes we have enough homes and not enough schools!

Making a difference in education

Lana Lopez Lopez 01

Ms. Williams

English 1A

25th, September 2013

problem solving

In many of these over crowded and underfunded schools teachers and parents believe that lack of funding is the only reason to blame for the poor quality education these children receive. The quality of ones education isn’t measured by funding, but by the passion and effort instilled by the mentors that guide these children towards their future.  As Kozol states in Savage inequalities, “A parent organization also raises independent funds to buy materials, including books, and will soon be running a fund-raiser to enhance the library’s collection ”(Kozol 115). Being involved and taking the extra step is what makes the difference, whether its a fund-raiser to make up for the lack of funding for materials needed or a teacher staying after class to help a student who is struggling and feels like everyone else has given up on him/her. Its showing them that you care enough to take the time out of your day and make the effort for their education so they know its important, whereas many schools give up and just deal with the minimum provided not thinking outside the box for some type of alternative solution. Solutions like fund-raisers provided kids with more than just free money such as: self fulfillment, goal accomplishment and jobs skills. Instead of these teachers and parents relying on the government to provide their children with a “quality” education they should be willing to go that extra mile to make the difference if enough isn’t being done. 

Rule Of Three

Lana Lopez Lopez 01

Ms. Williams

English 1A 

13 September, 2013

Rule of three

Big concept: Positive role models lead to future success.

A leading cause of why our youth is mislead is due to the negative role models our children are misguided by. Without being lead towards positive goals and guidance the youth of our nation will fail. Knowledge is power and to be cheated of being educated is like being robbed of your self empowerment. As Thoreau states, “If you are cheated out of a single dollar by your neighbor, you do not rest satisfied with knowing that you are cheated....  but you take effectual steps at once to obtain the full amount, and see that you are never cheated again.... Action from principle,- the perception and the performance of right, - changes things and relations;  it is essentially revolutionary”(Thoreau 11). If we make sure that our youth is guided and get a well established education then the outcomes from it can be enormous. If you are willing to fight for a dollar then you should being will to fight for our youth’s education because it is priceless. It is a our responsibly to make sure our youth is being lead to succeed by teachers and other role models that they are surrounded by. The youth is the future and without positive role models we are setting them up for failure.

Without a positive role models our youth will not learn values and our country will slowly deplete. Youth need guidance to understand why laws and other rules are put in place for their benefit. Such as taxes, if the youth aren’t educated on why they must pay taxes then they may not understand the repercussions soon to come. As Thoreau states  “ If I deny the authority of the State when it presents its tax-bill, it will soon take and waste all my property, and so harass me and my children without end... ‘ Pay’ it said, ‘ or be locked up in jail.’ “ (Thoreau 16,17). If the youth aren’t educated on what our tax money goes towards and why we must pay taxes they may choose to rebel, while our streets go unmaintained, prison guards go unpaid, tax paid heath care slowly depletes and public assistance such as WIC and other federal and state programs that help families diminish. Also they will have to deal with these issues because they didn’t have positive role models to guide them on how to deal with fixing their mistakes. The future of our youth may never recover from the issues that arise due to the lack of values and guidance therefore our country will slowly deplete.  

To become a educated and established leader you need someone to look up to who is a positive role model. The younger generation is the future and needs positive role models to help mentor and inspire them. As The Passion Project states , “ Through empathy comes genuine learning...Once the door to the vault is sealed and the classroom undertakes its transformation into a utopia concealed from the outside world, it creates a paradox of exploration and comfort, of expression and absorption. Something more divine than armor is being built.” (Ontiveros 7,12).  When youth are inspired by great leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. , President John F. Kennedy and Mahatma Gandhi the outcomes can be endless. The inspiration from one person to another is like a disease it spreads fast and the outcomes are endless. The student in your classroom can go from someone just going to class because he or she has to, yet a teacher can inspire him or her to pursue their dream to become a Senator because he or she has always wanted to make a difference in their state and how its ran and to be a positive leader, but never had the confidence in themselves to pursue their dream. Having a positive role model can make all the difference in our youths outcome, which sets the bar for our future leaders. 

TED talk

Lana Lopez

Ms. Williams

English 1A

9th of Sept, 2013

What in education is out of date like the wristwatch, "a single function device?"

In education there are many things that are out of date, such as the curriculum and techniques that are used to educated our future leaders. If we are using the same curriculum to teach the new generations then how are the suppose to progress? Many teachers do not interact with the subject they are teaching and just choose to lecture in hopes that the students will engage. We are in the 20th century and teachers need to use the new and improved electronics that are out there and intertwine them with their teaching strategies so that students relate to the style of learning provided. Instead of handing out a packet so a student teaches themselves try making some type of videos with a test at the end so they must pay attention like they do when they are playing video games. Teachers in education need to making learning fun, then students will turn into educated adults! 

Reeling in Research

Lana Lopez                                                                                                                                                                                  Lopez 01

09/02/2013

Ms. Williams

English 1A

Reeling in Research

I chose an article called Connecting and Creating for the Learning: Integrating Subject Matter Across the Curriculum and the School, which I believe relates to the passion project because it indicates how important subject matter is and how students need to relate to what they are learning.  As the students in the passion project state outright that they need to be able to connect not only with the subject but also with the teacher is very true, if the teacher themselves doesn't show a passion for their own work how can the student “mirror” something different if what they are being shown is carelessness and lack of passion. In the article I chose the teachers were teaching their students by explaining why they are being taught different subjects and why they are related, in the eyes of the child “ reading occurred during reading time, math occurred during math time and never would one be used with the other during school.” ( Rocher, fear and Herman,206) When educators realized children were only memorizing what they were being taught instead of retaining information a study was done to figure out a way to help these children retain the information to become a better student. Teachers started to explain to their students that you needed to know how to read to be able to understand math, science and other subjects that use reading to explain information, 

Lopez 02

therefor they learned that students began “ to say I don't understand” (pg. 217).  When students started to become more comfortable with relating subjects, teachers began to see a major difference if self expression and “ ‘children conduct respectful interactions’; at-risk children are not isolated, they have more opportunity and support” (pg. 217). Due to this change of learning style and informing the students of why subject matter is important and related, teachers themselves witnessed first hand that showing passion by taking that extra step for their students lead to the students being comfortable and passionate themselves, which is the whole point of the passion project to me. 

Lopez 03

Works Cited

Roehler, Laura, Kathleen Fear, and Beth Ann Herrmann. "Connecting And Creating For Learning: Integrating Subject.." Educational Psychology Review 10.2 (1998): 201. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Sept. 2013.