Many of the responses on this page suggest an absolute lack of understanding of the impacts of poverty on health, well-being, culture, and the brain. Yes- RCSD teachers would do well to borrow from current brain research, pedagogy on motivation and engagement, culturally responsive pedagogy, etc, etc, etc. There is much we can do on that end to pull students in to our classrooms. But even the most perfect pedagogy and practice cannot undo generations of poverty. Research demonstrates that the effects of poverty leave imprints in one's genes generations after the stressors of poverty have been experienced by the mother.
And to individuals criticizing those who live in poverty for failure " from picking up a rake, broom, or paint brush. Clean up the place where you live. That should help your spirits."- perhaps you have never had to invest all of your time and energy in to making ends meet, only for them not to meet. The point here is that we have a culture of hopelessness and of people who have learned that they are powerless and who externalize everything because of that perceived (or real) powerlessness. It is easy to judge, but that's because most of us who critique are not living in those conditions.
An while the "easy button" concept can be a great tool for motivating some students, it downplays the complexities and realities of urban education: an easy button for math problem quickly becomes insulting when you have failed an exam multiple times or when you have always been underperforming on tests. If urban ed. just needed an easy button, it would have been fixed by now.
Finally- East high school. If the experiment at East works (and it would be wonderful if it did) , that merely underscores the need to put more resources and greater selectivity of students into the design of our schools. Countless former East High School students have flooded OTHER city schools (many of which had well established cultures and academic expectations). Those students, of course, are the special ed students, the ones with histories of suspension, the ones with lower parental investment, the ones with intense needs. By reducing not just school size but by tacitly removing these students (it was not explicit, but there are passive systems that schools embrace to make this happen while appearing to be open to all), East has merely handed off its low performing students to other schools. Hasn't fixed the problem- has simply moved it elsewhere. But as of yet, we have no proof that East works. In fact, we won't have any true evidence for several years (as a single year or two years of performance is not substantive). The true test comes 3-5 years after the concept has been rolled.
Re: “Vargas out: Impossible job claims another superintendent”
Many of the responses on this page suggest an absolute lack of understanding of the impacts of poverty on health, well-being, culture, and the brain. Yes- RCSD teachers would do well to borrow from current brain research, pedagogy on motivation and engagement, culturally responsive pedagogy, etc, etc, etc. There is much we can do on that end to pull students in to our classrooms. But even the most perfect pedagogy and practice cannot undo generations of poverty. Research demonstrates that the effects of poverty leave imprints in one's genes generations after the stressors of poverty have been experienced by the mother.
And to individuals criticizing those who live in poverty for failure " from picking up a rake, broom, or paint brush. Clean up the place where you live. That should help your spirits."- perhaps you have never had to invest all of your time and energy in to making ends meet, only for them not to meet. The point here is that we have a culture of hopelessness and of people who have learned that they are powerless and who externalize everything because of that perceived (or real) powerlessness. It is easy to judge, but that's because most of us who critique are not living in those conditions.
An while the "easy button" concept can be a great tool for motivating some students, it downplays the complexities and realities of urban education: an easy button for math problem quickly becomes insulting when you have failed an exam multiple times or when you have always been underperforming on tests. If urban ed. just needed an easy button, it would have been fixed by now.
Finally- East high school. If the experiment at East works (and it would be wonderful if it did) , that merely underscores the need to put more resources and greater selectivity of students into the design of our schools. Countless former East High School students have flooded OTHER city schools (many of which had well established cultures and academic expectations). Those students, of course, are the special ed students, the ones with histories of suspension, the ones with lower parental investment, the ones with intense needs. By reducing not just school size but by tacitly removing these students (it was not explicit, but there are passive systems that schools embrace to make this happen while appearing to be open to all), East has merely handed off its low performing students to other schools. Hasn't fixed the problem- has simply moved it elsewhere. But as of yet, we have no proof that East works. In fact, we won't have any true evidence for several years (as a single year or two years of performance is not substantive). The true test comes 3-5 years after the concept has been rolled.