Trinity Banter | Amanda Gurren | Activity

Amanda Gurren wrote a new post, Admission to Private Preschool Isn't Such a Stroll For NYC Parents, on the site Educ 300: Education Reform, Past and Present

Fri, 03 May 2013 20:20:32 -0400

New York City’s horror stories used to primarily entail the amount of crime and violence on the streets. Today, however, many of the most horrifying tales are concerning parents and their desperate and relentless scramble to get their children into the most elite and prestigious private preschools. That said competition for admission to New York […]

Amanda Gurren wrote a new post, Sheff Lecture--Amanda Gurren, on the site Educ 300: Education Reform, Past and Present

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 19:09:10 -0400

Amanda Gurren Sheff Lecture Professor Paris April 18, 2013 Today, I was fortunate enough to attend a lecture hosted by guest speaker Michael Paris, a professor at SUNY Staten Island, during common hour at the Rittenberg Lounge. I came into the lecture feeling fairly on top of my game (as you will) considering I am rather familiar with the […]

Amanda Gurren wrote a new post, A Strategic Search for Scholarly Reviews: Doug Harris’s Value-Added Measures in Education, on the site Educ 300: Education Reform, Past and Present

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 21:56:39 -0400

#13 How do you locate a scholarly reviews of Doug Harris’ book, Value-Added Measures in Education ? Describe your search strategy and summarize criticisms of his book. A Strategic Search for Scholarly Reviews: Doug Harris’s Value-Added Measures in Education To say the least, I was not entirely sure on where to begin my search for scholarly reviews of Doug Harris’s book, Value-Added Measures […]

Amanda Gurren wrote a new post, Research Proposal--Amanda Gurren, on the site Educ 300: Education Reform, Past and Present

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 22:46:13 -0400

Research Question: Has competition increased for entrance into top elite pre-schools in New York City, and why? Relevance/Why it Deserves to Be Researched: How did we get to the point where competition for preschools is the norm? I have consistently questioned this ever since I had asked my mom why in the world we had moved from lively, […]

Amanda Gurren wrote a new post, More Funding= More Diversity: Addressing the Issue of Racial Imbalance in West Hartford's Magnet Schools, on the site Educ 300: Education Reform, Past and Present

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 19:13:14 -0500

More Funding = More Diversity Addressing the Issue of Racial Imbalance in West Hartford’s Magnet Schools By Amanda Gurren and Emma Hayes HARTFORD, CT–On Wednesday March 6th, the Connecticut State Board of Education assembled at the Capitol Building in Hartford, Connecticut. Members of the Board, including Commissioner Stefan Pryor, opened with kind words in remembrance of a colleague, Ellen Camhi—a […]

Amanda Gurren commented on the post, The Race to Nowhere and The Role of the Family in Schools, on the site Educ 300: Education Reform, Past and Present

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 17:43:08 -0500

I really enjoyed this perspective on education reform and the emphasis placed on creating a « whole child » as opposed to « little professionals. » As opposed to « American Teacher, » which stressed the importance of good and qualified teachers in public schools, this film stressed the importance of the roles of the […]

Amanda Gurren commented on the post, The Lottery Video Analysis, on the site Educ 300: Education Reform, Past and Present

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 17:25:14 -0500

It is quite interesting to see the drastic differences between this film compared to « American Teacher » in respect to advocating charter schools, while « American Teacher » emphasized the need to improve public schools and gave off the impression that charter schools were actually detrimental to education and society. The filmmakers of « […]

Amanda Gurren wrote a new post, Video Analysis: American Teacher, on the site Educ 300: Education Reform, Past and Present

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 01:24:45 -0500

American Teacher Film Analysis As Nelson Mendella once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” An excellent educational system has always been regarded as a fundamental component for a strong democracy. Today, however, America’s public school system is rapidly deteriorating, with those attending schools in urban districts suffering […]

Amanda Gurren wrote a new post, Avoiding Plagiarism , on the site Educ 300: Education Reform, Past and Present

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 20:23:40 -0500

Example 1: Plagiarize the original text by copying portions of it word-for-word. The value-added scores also vary between years. A teacher who obtains a particular ranking in year one is likely to get a different ranking the following year. There will continuously be instability in these rankings, some of which will reflect “real” performance changes. Example […]

Amanda Gurren wrote a new post, My Learning Goals, on the site Educ 300: Education Reform, Past and Present

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 00:37:43 -0500

I wish to learn about the policies that have come to shape today’s schooling system. I wonder which previously enacted polices essentially compromised certain individuals’ and/or group’s educations and which proved themselves to be considerably successful. Are there any plausible solutions to today’s arguably unequal educational system?

Amanda Gurren wrote a new post, Connecticut ‘Takes the Wheel’ on Education Reform: Project Concern, on the site Cities, Suburbs & Schools Project at Trinity College

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 02:34:05 -0500

Amanda Gurren–Trinity College Connecticut ‘Takes the Wheel’ on Education Reform: Project Concern Early Student Participants of Project Concern Project; Source: Hartford Times 1968, Hartford Public Library Conventionally, students attend school in the district where they live, but the option to choose other educational alternatives has been a part of Connecticut’s state policy for years. One of these educational alternatives included Project […]

Amanda Gurren wrote a new post, Lying with Maps, on the site Cities, Suburbs & Schools Project at Trinity College

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 01:49:26 -0500

Map and Key that Portray a Racially Diverse Region Map and Key that Depict Sharp Racial Division within Hartford Region Although both maps are created using the same information, they appear drastically different in respect to the composition of demographics of the population. In the map I created to portray the Hartford region as being racially diverse, one […]

Amanda Gurren wrote a new post, Charts–”How to Lie with Statistics”, on the site Cities, Suburbs & Schools Project at Trinity College

Sat, 27 Oct 2012 03:45:44 -0400

To lie about the statistics, I altered the minimum and maximum of the Y-axis to portray the data in a way that would make it appear drastically different from what a simple data table—or an appropriately scaled graph—would portray to the viewer. By increasing the maximum of the Y-axis, the graph made the results of the data […]

Amanda Gurren wrote a new post, Project Concern, on the site Cities, Suburbs & Schools Project at Trinity College

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 00:01:34 -0400

Amanda Gurren–Trinity College Connecticut ‘Takes the Wheel’ on Education Reform: Project Concern Early Student Participants of Project Concern Project; Source: Hartford Times 1968, Hartford Public Library Conventionally, students attend school in the district where they live, but the option to choose other educational alternatives has been a part of Connecticut’s state policy for years. One of these educational alternatives included Project […]

Amanda Gurren wrote a new post, Sample Post, on the site Cities, Suburbs & Schools Project at Trinity College