METCO: A Bumpy Road

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Having grown up in a suburban part of the greater Boston area, I greatly valued being a student at a diverse high school. However, my town was not particularly diverse itself, but rather it participated in a program called METCO, also known as the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity. This program allowed for minority, inner city kids to come to predominantly white, wealthy suburbs for a good public school education. This program was always important to me, as I felt fortunate to be educated along side people who were so different from me. Though I valued the program in my own education, I did not know a lot about the program as a whole outside of my friends who participated and my town, which sparked my curiosity to learn more. Specifically, I wanted to know how the experiences of the first METCO participants and those in more recent years differed.

The METCO (Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity) was originally created in 1966 in response to the deeply segregated educational communities in Massachusetts, the African Americans being concentrated in the inner city and Somerville with whites in the suburbs. Bostonians met the program with relative warmth, in part because of new legislation. In 1965, Massachusetts passed the Racial Imbalance Law, which offered benefits to school districts with at least fifty percent minority students (Eaton, 3). Parents signed their children up for METCO so they would to receive a better education, which continues to be the driving reason for METCO sign up. Originally, it was supposed to be short term, until the Boston Public Schools improved, however, the program has become America’s oldest desegregation because of its success. As opposed to dying out, the program accelerated (South Boston Today). The participation increased from only seven school districts in its first year, to thirty-three districts now, forty-nine years later (Massachusetts Department of Education). Over the course of the last half a century, it is generally thought that America has made leaps and bounds in terms of achieving racial equality. Though the country may have an African American president, the road for METCO students has not been as smooth as one might romanticize. The program receives amazing feedback for providing them with “good or excellent” experiences, but after a significant amount of research, I would argue that this is because of the resilience and toughness that METCO students have exhibited from the get-go in the sixties, and their willingness to seize opportunity, as opposed to attributing it completely to the receiving schools and their educators. The students have a lot to overcome, many of the same things students in the sixties struggled with.

Susan Eaton, a researcher on Civil Rights issues, wrote an in depth account of the experiences of sixty-five of the earliest METCO participants, a book called “The Other Boston Bussing Story.” Now adults, they reflected on their experiences both good and bad in the revolutionary program. One main issue they had with being placed in these suburban schools was their feelings when placed in either high performing or low performing classes; both caused problems. When a black student was placed in a high performing class, he or she was often the only black student in this class. They described a feeling of isolation and unworthiness. They also described feeling that “the smallest slip would land (them) in trouble” (Eaton, 71). The adults Eaton interviewed described a constant feeling of need to prove themselves because of a believed pre-conceived notion by their educators and white peers that black students were not as smart as their white counterparts. The METCO students also reported that they and their other African American friends were placed in low performance classes even when they were excelling students academically (Eaton, 72). Eaton identifies the three major possibilities for the causes of these problems with the tracking system and METCO students. One of these is the possibility that the suburban schools had higher standards than the schools the METCO students had come from. The second is that long-term METCO students still underperformed in comparison to their white peers, despite having the same education. This could be because of difference is very early childhood or because of the unique problems. The third and most troubling issue is that black METCO students were being placed in lower performing classes because of their teachers’ and administrators prejudices (Eaton, 72).

Aside from racism perpetrated by teachers, the former METCO students also interviewed by Eaton also experienced racism inflicted by their peers. Many of the students interviewed had heard the word “nigger” at some point during their time in the suburban school. There was also occasionally racist graffiti throughout the school. There were cases of dramatic racism, like repeated harassment, which was largely ignored by educators and administrators (58). However, it seems as though there were more commonly experiences of “subtle,” more frequent racist occurrences. Remarkably though, the former METCO students do not dwell on these experiences, but consider them “as merely one aspect of a larger and multifaceted educational experience” (59). One student that had been called a nigger wrote it off as “stupid stuff” he continued that he either “ignored that or (I) insulted them back” (59). How strong these METCO students are and were. Eaton adds, though, that their appeared nonchalance of racism is not completely accurate. They, in fact, would often get in physical altercations with the kids who called them these racist slurs. Today, in their adult lives, they continue to “speak out and take action against racism in its subtle and blatant forms” (59). There was a difference in the way two different groups of METCO students thought about the racism they experienced. Some students “dismissed” the racism, while the other group believed that it was the white students who were afraid of being educated with people they viewed as being so different from them.

 

The METCO in its current form program seeks to address two major issues in the Massachusetts public school system by placing inner city, minority (Asian, Hispanic, and Black) students in predominately white suburban schools. The first is the “racial imbalance” that is experienced in the districts sending students. That is, the concentrated amount of minority groups in public schools. The second and less obvious issue is “racial isolation.” This issue pertains to the school receiving METCO students, where students are almost exclusively accustomed to interacting with other white students. Studies have shown the importance for students of all races to have the experience interacting with races different than their own (Cubeta, 2014.) METCO in some regard has proven these studies correct.

According to research done by Harvard University in 1997, a whopping ninety-one percent of students participating in METCO reported “they had a good or excellent experience in learning to get along with people from other backgrounds.” Eighty-two percent of students said they had “a good or excellent experience with the academic program.” Though nearly all METCO students describe good experiences, I was surprised that over 50 percent of students reported an experience of discrimination by teachers (Harvard, 1997).  In addition to this, although METCO students can be sent to the receiving public school from the early age of pre-kindergarten, they still have an extremely lower average test scores than their peers in school (Cubeta, 2014).

The academic effects of METCO students in the most recent research on the program are overwhelming. The research shows that the METCO students far out perform their peers at the schools in their own districts. Ninety percent of METCO students go on to graduate from high school and attend college. This is drastically different than the schools they had come from, which were environments where college preparation was not heavily emphasized due to a variety of more pressing issues like staying away from gang violence and drugs. It is noted, however, that the evidence for academic success in METCO may not be caused by the program itself but is because of the fact that it is a self selecting program, so the families that make the effort to enroll their children in this program are more likely to encourage students to do well in school. It is incredible that these students have managed to do as well as they have in school, considering the unique array of problems they are met with, like early morning wake ups (one of the things adults remember most about the program), long bus rides, discrimination, and a general uneasiness in an environment so different from that of their own (Eaton Chirichigno, 16).

As a white girl having grown up in a suburban town, I found it compelling as well as accurate to read of the educational benefits to integration for all races. The National Academy of Education concluded that being educated in a racially diverse setting “provides the necessary conditions under which other educational policies can facilitate improved academic achievement, improved intergroup relations, and positive long-term outcomes” (Eaton Chirichigno, 23). Hopefully, the current METCO students will receive a positive outcome in this sense, as I know I did from being educated with them. However, some of the sixty-five METCO students interviewed by Eaton would not say the program had a positive affect on them. One interviewee, Paul Hammond, said that METCO “screwed (him) up for life” (Eaton. 83). He reasons this in saying that just being in METCO, sent the message that where the student was from was a “garbage heap.” Hammond says he internalized these notions of his neighborhood, concluding that he, too, was “shit” (Eaton, 183).  Eaton goes on, saying that other METCO students who had an overall negative experience with the program had similar resentments to Paul’s. The complaints by these students, as troubling as it is, seem like they could hold true today. One of these is that, by placing students in a neighborhood so different from their own, they felt like their background and culture was “neither acknowledged or valued” (Eaton, 184).

There is a struggle here over what solutions for METCO’s problems could be. It has become evident that, while METCO certainly opens numerous academic doors for student, it is still problematic that METCO students are uprooted from their neighborhoods, which provide much of the basis for their background and culture, and are placed in towns that are seen as “better,” causing problems with their identity. In an ideal world, the Boston and Somerville public schools would improve so that students in these districts do not need to leave in order to get opportunities. However, this would detract from the benefits of the learning in a racially diverse environment.

As a student who considers herself to be very lucky to have been taught alongside METCO students, I have to admit that I find my own thesis troubling and surprising, that students are not having the wonderful experiences in the program that I would have hoped. Though I knew of some of the struggles faced by METCO students, the five a.m. wake ups, hour long bus rides, and parent(s) they practically never saw due to their working two jobs, I was blind to some of the others. Since I grew up in an extremely liberal, welcoming town, perhaps I was sheltered to the discrimination that students could potentially face. Though I offer no solution to the problems METCO students face (aside from everyone to be perfectly welcoming and accepting), I think that it is important at the very least to acknowledge the hardships students face, and the extent to which they persevere.

Sources

Cubeta, Kate, Regina Caines, and Bonnie Williamson. “The Wheels on the Bus Go round and Round: Metco in Our Town.” – Your View. N.p., 3 Apr. 2014. Web. 01 May 2014.

Eaton, Susan, and Gina Chirichigno. METCO Merits More. Issue brief. N.p.: Pioneer Institute, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.

Eaton, Susan E. The Other Boston Busing Story: What’s Won and Lost across the Boundary Line. New Haven: Yale UP, 2001. Print.

“Evaluating METCO.” South Boston Today. N.p., 31 Jan. 2014. Web. 1 May 2014.

Logan, John R., Deirdre Oakley, and Jacob Stowell. “Lewis Mumford Center Census 2000 American Newcomers Report.” Lewis Mumford Center Census 2000 American Newcomers Report. University of Albany, 1 Sept. 2003. Web. 02 May 2014.

“METCO Program.” Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.

“METCO Study Finds Broad Support from Parents/Students.” The Harvard University Gazette. Harvard University, 25 Sept. 1997. Web. 02 May 2014.

Nelson, Laura J. “Study Says Metco Students Outperform Urban Peers.” Boston.com. The New York Times, 16 June 2011. Web. 02 May 2014.

Parker, Brock. “Parents, Teachers Implore Brookline Committee Panel Not to Cut Metco – The Boston Globe.” BostonGlobe.com. The Boston Globe, 24 Jan. 2014. Web. 01 May 2014.

METCO: A study of students’ experiences over time

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Having grown up in a suburban part of the greater Boston area, I greatly valued being a student at a diverse high school. However, my town was not particularly diverse itself, but rather it participated in a program called METCO, also known as the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity. This program allowed for minority, inner city kids to come to predominantly white, wealthy suburbs for a good public school education. This program was always important to me, as I felt fortunate to be educated along side people who were so different from me. Though I valued the program in my own education, I did not know a lot about the program as a whole outside of my friends who participated and my town, which sparked my curiosity to learn more. Specifically, I wanted to know how the experiences of the first METCO participants and those in more recent years differed.

The METCO (Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity) program seeks to address two major issues in the Massachusetts public school system by placing inner city, minority (Asian, Hispanic, and Black) students in predominately white suburban schools. The first is the “racial imbalance” that is experienced in the districts sending students. That is, the concentrated amount of minority groups in public schools. The second and less obvious issue is “racial isolation.” This issue pertains to the school receiving METCO students, where students are almost exclusively accustomed to interacting with other white students. Studies have shown the importance for students of all races to have the experience interacting with races different than their own (Cubeta, 2014.) METCO has proven these studies correct. According to research done by Harvard University in 1997, a whopping ninety-one percent of students participating in METCO reported that “they had a good or excellent experience in learning to get along with people from other backgrounds.” Eighty-two percent of students said they had “a good or excellent experience with the academic program.” Though nearly all METCO students describe good experiences, I was surprised that over 50 percent of students reported an experience of discrimination by teachers (Harvard, 1997).  In addition to this, although METCO students can be sent to the receiving public school from the early age of pre-kindergarten, they still have an extremely lower average test scores than their peers in school (Cubeta, 2014).

Susan Eaton, a researcher on Civil Rights issues, wrote an in depth account of the experiences of sixty-five of the earliest METCO participants. Now adults, they reflected on their experiences both good and bad in the revolutionary program. One main issue they had with being placed in these suburban schools was their feelings when placed in either high performing or low performing classes; both caused problems. When a black student was placed in a high performing class, he or she was often the only black student in the class. They described a feeling of isolation and unworthiness. They also described feeling that “the smallest slip would land me in trouble” (Eaton, 71). The adults Eaton interviewed described a constant feeling of need to prove themselves because of a believed pre-conceived notion by their educators and white peers that black students were not as smart as their white counterparts. The METCO students also reported that they and their other African American friends were placed in low performance classes even when they were excelling students academically (Eaton, 72). Eaton identifies the three major problems with the tracking system and METCO students. One of these is the possibility that the suburban schools had higher standards than the schools the METCO students had come from. The second is that long term METCO students still underperformed in comparison to their white peers, despite having the same education. The third and most troubling issue is that black METCO students were being placed in lower performing classes because of their teachers’ and administrators prejudices (Eaton, 72).

Sources

“METCO Program.” Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. N.p., 19 Dec. 2013. Web. 06 Apr. 2014.

“METCO Study Finds Broad Support from Parents/Students.” The Harvard University Gazette. N.p., 25 Sept. 1997. Web. 06 Apr. 2014.

“Segregation in Neighborhoods and Schools: Impacts on Minority Children in the Boston Region.” Lewis Mumford Center Census 2000 American Newcomers Report. N.p., 1 Sept. 2003. Web. 06 Apr. 2014.

Dentler, Robert A. “Barriers to Northern School Desegregation.” Daedalus 95.1, The Negro American—2 (1966): 45-63. JSTOR. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/20026966?ref=search-gateway:087cad3cdf71390e31ff194c00dac63a>.

Cubeta, Kate, Regina Caines, and Bonie Williamson. “METCO an important Program.”The Arlington Advocate. N.p., 05 Apr. 2014. Web. 06 Apr. 2014.

Eaton, Susan E. The Other Boston Busing Story: What’s Won and Lost across the Boundary Line. New Haven: Yale UP, 2001. Print.

Metco Proposal

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Research Question

 

How have the experiences of METCO (Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity) students changed since the programs establishment in 1966? How has the program, then and now, both positively and negatively affected the children sent to the suburbs, as well as those living in the suburbs?

 

Relevance

 

There has been a long-standing national crisis of educational disparities among different racial groups. Research has shown that of whites and minorities in the same socioeconomic group, minorities generally live in much more impoverished neighborhoods (Logan, 2003).  As a result of these racially concentrated neighborhoods and districts, minorities are often stuck with far worse educational opportunities than whites. The METCO (Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity) program seeks to address two major issues in the Massachusetts public school system by placing inner city, minority (Asian, Hispanic, and Black) students in predominately white suburban schools. The first is the “racial imbalance” that is experienced in the districts sending students. That is, the concentrated amount of minority groups in public schools. The second and less obvious issue is “racial isolation.” This issue pertains to the school receiving METCO students, where students are almost exclusively accustomed to interacting with other white students. Studies have shown the importance for students of all races to have the experience interacting with races different than their own (Cubeta, 2014.) In examining the experiences of several of my close friends in the METCO program, it seems that students have a very positive experience today. In fact, in a study conducted by Harvard University, researchers found that “91 percent of students said that they had a good or excellent experience in “learning to get along with people from other backgrounds”” and “82 percent of students surveyed reported a good or excellent experience with the academic program”(Harvard, 1997). These statistics provide extremely persuasive evidence for the positive impact METCO has on the lives of inner city children and young adults. Though they have positive experiences, the METCO students, some of them had been in the suburban schools since kindergarten, still have substantially lower test scores than their peers in school (Angrist, 2004).

I would like to explore further the more negative experiences of METCO students that are not explicit in these statistics. For example, whether or not METCO students have been marginalized based on their race in a predominantly white school, or if they were potentially discriminated against in their classes. I would also like to find out more about the experiences of METCO students in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, and how potentially these experienced based on the specific town.

 

 

 

 

Research Strategy

 

To begin my research, I searched “education and race” in Google Scholar. However, the results were far too broad. I narrowed my search to “northern school desegregation.” After searching this phrase, I gathered a few useful articles based in the contemporary. When I was looking for articles in the years leading up to and during the start of the METCO program, I performed that same search in Google scholar, but limited my search between the years 1964 and 1972. I found a wonderful chapter called “Barriers to Northern School Desegregation” from a book on “Jstor.” This provided good insight into what scholars were saying at the time about racial inequality and ways to approach tackling it. Finally, I wanted to get a contemporary, local level article on METCO. I searched “METCO Massachusetts” into the basic Google search engine. I found an article from the local newspaper of Arlington, Massachusetts explaining all of the wonderful attributes of METCO in that specific town.

 

Sources

 

“METCO Program.” Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. N.p., 19 Dec. 2013. Web. 06 Apr. 2014.

 

“METCO Study Finds Broad Support from Parents/Students.” The Harvard University Gazette. N.p., 25 Sept. 1997. Web. 06 Apr. 2014.

 

“Segregation in Neighborhoods and Schools: Impacts on Minority Children in the Boston Region.” Lewis Mumford Center Census 2000 American Newcomers Report. N.p., 1 Sept. 2003. Web. 06 Apr. 2014.

 

Dentler, Robert A. “Barriers to Northern School Desegregation.” Daedalus 95.1, The Negro American—2 (1966): 45-63. JSTOR. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/20026966?ref=search-gateway:087cad3cdf71390e31ff194c00dac63a>.

 

Cubeta, Kate, Regina Caines, and Bonie Williamson. “METCO an important Program.”The Arlington Advocate. N.p., 05 Apr. 2014. Web. 06 Apr. 2014.

 

Adult Education: The Solution

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The Hartford Board of Education held a conference at the Asian Studies Academy at Bellizzi School on Tuesday evening. During this workshop session, the board and the researchers were discussing the Adult Education Feasibility Study. The researchers presented the information that they had found during the study about the adult education concerns. The board and the researchers collaborated their knowledge and collectively came together with information and questions. The audience consisted of a few adults that seemed to be writing on the workshop, as well as some adults who seemed to be potential adult education students.

This session started with some background on the study and on adult education in general. The study was approved to start in September of 2013 and ended in December of 2013. The purpose of the study was to gather information that would improve the lives and needs of the adults that are residing in Hartford. The consultants had discussions with many different types of people. They consulted with adult education students in both the day and evening programs. They also talked to the faculty and staff of the adult education program. In addition, they discussed with stakeholders, such as community agencies, city and state officials, higher education experts, funders, and other selected stakeholders. This information collected in this study was obtained through documents, interviews, and identification of resources.

The Hartford adult education program mandates that adult education services is free of charge to any person that is older than 16 and not enrolled in the public school. The program operates four state mandated adult education programs: 1. Elementary School Completion, 2. Secondary School Completion, 3. United States Citizenship, 4. English as a Second Language. The researchers stressed that 30.2% of the adult population in Hartford does not have a high school diploma, while 15.2% of the adult population does not even speak English. This statistic was shocking and means that the Hartford community is in need of resources to better educate the adults. The funding is crucial as well. These statistics are from over the past seven years (2005-2012). They explained that the statewide adult education budget in Connecticut is $20 million, which funds $2,295 per student in Hartford. This is not enough to educate the amount of adults that are in need of a proper education in this district.

Obtaining productive employment by successful Hartford Adult Education students is a critical outcome objective for these researchers. 55% of the adult education students are unemployed at the time of their entry into the program. 72% of the adult students say that obtaining or maintaining employment is the reason why they are enrolled into the program. Middle skilled jobs require more than a high school diploma, but less than a traditional four-year college degree. The salaries for these jobs average between $30,000- $60,000.

Business leaders explained that they expected there would be entry-level jobs that could eventually lead to middle-skilled employment opportunities. Employers also expressed that a GED does not prepare people enough for actual job readiness. Employers are really looking for people that are prepared for the work they will be confronted with, which the adult education program can help achieve. The gap needs to be closed between the classroom at Hartford adult education programs and the realities of a work place.

This meeting, as well as the audience that attended it, was very interesting. A lot of the audience members seemed as if they could be potential adult education students so they seemed very invested in what the researchers had to say. The concept of adults “stopping out” as opposed to “dropping out” was especially interesting. The reasons for stopping out are based on the reality of adults’ every day lives. They have responsibilities that ordinary students would have such as taking care of children, families, and homes, as well as maintaining a job. As the audience was listening to the researchers, it became clear that adult education could drastically improve the situations in Hartford. It could teach the large number of adults that cannot speak English as well as teach valuable employment skills to the great percentage of unemployed adults in the Hartford area. Before this is all fixed, it is obvious that the funding is going to have to be improved as well, as the system currently cannot meet the demand for adult education in this area. One of the concerns of one of the board members was dwindling down the waiting list that currently exists in the program. He asked the researchers how much money they would need to eliminate these waiting lists, a question for which they did not have the answer.

Though the board members made it clear from the get-go that they would not make any decisions during this meeting, a lot was achieved from this workshop. Most importantly, the audience gained an understanding for how greatly this program could improve the Hartford area, which is in desperate need of help.

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The Race to Nowhere

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The film “Race to Nowhere” was originally made because of Vicki Abeles’ concern for her own children after a thirteen year old girl committed suicide because of her schoolwork. The tragedy that was Devon Marvin’s death caused this mother to think more critically about her own children’s experiences in school. It takes a thoughtful and provocative look at the American educational system, why kids are under such stress, and asking the question “is it even paying off?” The answer, according to the movie, is absolutely not. “Race to Nowhere” chronicles the stories of many young people in the school system, some of which have had mental illness as well as physical manifestations of their extreme stress. It also interviews teachers and education reformers, questioning them on their thoughts on the system currently in place and, more importantly, how we can fix this disastrous problem.

The filmmakers of “Race to Nowhere” do not pinpoint one specific problem in the educational system, because every interviewee has a different idea of what that problem is. Some think the problem is too much homework while others believe it is the overemphasis of Advanced Placement courses. Different interviews in the film focus on different ages of children. There are problems in the film that are specific to elementary school children, or middle or high school students. However, the generally agreed upon issue is that there is an overarching theme of extreme pressure placed on students which causes an excessive amount of stress. This stress results in both mental illness and physical illness. One nineteen year old, Natalie, describes her experience with Anorexia Nervosa (Abeles 13:45). She cites the reasoning for the onset of her eating disorder as it giving her insomnia, which translated into having more time for homework. Her eating disorder became so severe that she was asked to leave her school, but decided to get her GED instead of dealing with the process of transferring. Dr. Ken Ginsburg, an Adolescent Medicine Specialist at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, says that most negative behaviors, such as eating disorders, are usually caused by stress (Abeles 15:09). These physical manifestations can also be seen in the countless reports of stress induced headaches and stomachaches from children starting at an early age. The second, but less emphasized problem was the fact that despite the pressure placed on children, we are still being outperformed by a number of different countries. The desired goal of the filmmakers is to create an educational system that emphasizes learning and the process of learning rather than just grades and tests. This system would allow students to think creatively and be invested in their own learning. It would also produce happier children that were healthier mentally as well as physically.

By doing things like eliminating homework, the SATs, and even abolishing grading, the hope would be that students would genuinely want to go to school to learn, and that would therefore increase their performance. Jay Chugh, a teacher at Acalanes High School in Lafayette, California, cut the assigned homework for his Advanced Biology course in half one year. The results of the AP tests were actually higher than any other year (Abeles 26:00.) This shows the necessity to reassess how we think students learn and question the hours and hours of homework assigned to high school kids every night. “Stop Homework,” which was founded by Sara Bennett (also interviewed in the film) makes a very strong case against homework. According to the foundation, countries like Japan, Denmark, and the Czech Republic assign very small amounts of homework, but are still among the highest scoring countries on performance tests. In addition, a study done at Duke University showed that there was “very little correlation” between the amounts of homework assigned to students and their performance in elementary school and middle school, and in high school it was found that too much homework caused more harm than good.[1]

One critic of the film, Washington Post writer Jay Matthews, argues with Abeles, saying that as opposed to too much homework, students are receiving too little. He also complains that the film focuses “not on data but feelings.” He also disagrees that low-income students face large amounts of academic pressure.[2] This complaint is in response to a scene in “Race to Nowhere” where a character named Isaiah discusses his specialized struggles as a high school student living below the poverty line (Abeles 44:00). Isaiah’s interview pans his apartment, showing how poor his living conditions Screen Shot 2014-02-27 at 2.36.09 PMare. Isaiah describes his massive amounts of homework, as well as the pressure he feels to rise above his neighborhood. He says that his counselor told him he needed to take Advanced level courses if he wanted colleges to even look at giving him scholarships. He took Advanced Environmental Science and received a D (Abeles 44:54). He also sites that he cheated multiple times throughout his college career to cope with his stress (Abeles 45:00). This scene shows that even in urban, impoverished schools, students are still getting a lot of work and are under an incredible amount of pressure.

Just as there are many different problems brought up in the film, there are also many goals. The main two, however, are the improvement of the well being of children, as well as the increased performance of students. The policy chain in this movie can also be confusing because everyone has a different opinion. Education reformers and teacher bring different ideas to the table on how to improve our educational system. For families, Abeles says that, as a parent, she has begun asking her children less about school work, and creating conversation in other ways (1:13). Dr. Deborah Stipek, Dean of the School of Education at Stanford University, tells us that there is no easy fix for our system, but that we need to fundamentally change our culture and our expectations of students (Abeles 1:16.) Reformers like Sara Bennett suggest eliminating homework, or even abolishing grading, because of an ethical responsibility for the well being of our nations children (Abeles 1:16). Dr. Madeline Levine commends schools for eliminating Advanced Placement courses and colleges for changing the way they require SAT scores (Abeles 1:17).  The hope through all of these actions is that students will have less work, and will therefore be less stressed and will enjoy school more. Through this, they would be more invested in their learning and their performance would improve.

 


[1] Bennett, Sara, and Nancy Kalish. The Case against Homework: How Homework Is Hurting Our Children and What We Can Do about It. New York: Crown, 2006. Print.

 

[2] Mathews, Jay. “Why ‘Race to Nowhere’ Documentary Is Wrong.” Washington Post. The Washington Post, 03 Apr. 2011. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.

 

Avoiding Plagiarism Exercise

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Step 1

The average “margin of error” of a New York City teacher was plus or minus 28 points.

Step 2

The value-added scores can often change between years.

Step 3

The value-added scores can often change between years (Ravitch, 270).

Step 4

According to Ravitch, performance ratings are hard to trust (Ravitch, 270).

Step 5

According to Ravitch, value added scores “fluctuate between years” (Ravitch, 270).