School Reform

I believe that within school reform all stakeholders voices should be heard and they all should be a part of the process. I believe that as school reform takes place that state and local officials should be involved as reform shouldn’t take place in isolation of what is going on in other parts of the state or the nation. The problems within our educational system are not merely isolated to urban schools within Texas, it is a national epidemic that must be addressed. All teachers, school administrators, community members, business owners and teachers must be a part of the reform from the inception. Once all voices are heard and collaborative agreement has been made then the real work of reform and continued communication can begin.

The David school does need to implement some sort of change. The school must undergo areas of change so that it becomes an effective school for the students that it services. Currently, the students have little to no voice in their learning, little to no differentiation is taking place, and parent and community involvement is nonexistent. In order for the David School to be a relevant, viable source for students the instructional staff as well as campus administrators must begin to re-examine their values and core beliefs and begin to work so that they are meeting those values and beliefs in words and deeds.

Gender Equity

Gender Equity

In my own experiences as a student I didn’t experience any inequities with respect to gender. I believe that my educational experience has been well rounded and provided me with a myriad of educational opportunities. However, I do believe that within certain cultures and communities the inequities with regard to gender are still present and I believe there are some educators and administrators who perpetuate gender inequities.

I do believe that the research of 20 years ago did indicate inequities among gender and within the educational community many teachers and administrators have employed instructional strategies to ensure that those inequities are not prevalent today. Riordan (1999)pointed out that the gender deficits among girls in science and math content areas has been reduced considerably within the last 20 years. Additionally, I believe that 20 years ago the attempt was made to ensure that girls had the same educational opportunity in the content area of mathematics and science. However, now with more recent data the tables have turned and most educators are turning a deaf ear to the fact that currently the achievement gap is favoring boys within the African-American and Hispanic-American ethnic groups. I also believe that educators and administrators are struggling with the most effective ways to assist students while not seeming culturally insensitive. In one of my discussion post, I mentioned that a principal in a suburban school district near Dallas assisted girls on his campus in science by hosting a Science Saturday Camp for girls only. The camp was very successful. Each week 98-100% of girls were in attendance and the school reported unprecedented success on the TAKS Science test; and the contributing factor was solely Science Saturday’s for girls.

Currently, in my school district within the last five years they have opened two campuses with single gender enrollment. The Young Women’s Leadership Academy is embarking upon its third year and the Young Men’s Leadership Academy will host its inaugural graduating class during the Fall of 2012.Both of these campuses were met with much resistance from the community and have been financed with grant funding. One premise behind single gender learning environments is academic deficits. However, many of the students who are selected to participate in single gender learning environments may not display academic deficits and therefore skew the outcome of such academic settings.  I do believe that single gender learning environments can be beneficial when created for the purpose of increased student achievement.

I believe that at the David School there are some gender inequities that are present at the school that lie within the community. The boys disrespect for female authority at school and at home. I wondered if there were any girls within the community that may have had a similar experience and could have been studied as well.

Joy!

Rita

The David School would be much different if Rita were the principal. Rita would ensure that the students at the David School were challenged and prepared for the world outside of the schools doors that awaits them. With Rita as the school principal she would ensure that students had the same opportunities as students at traditional schools such as fine arts. She would also ensure that the community was aware of the progress students were making and showcase the talent of the students who attended the David School. Rita would also ensure that students of the David School were prepared for college if that was their desire.Rita would ensure that systems were in place so that student achievement was paramount and without social inequities.

Joy!