Sunday, March 9, 2008
The strengths of Urban schools Part 2
Although America’s cities are "the strongest they have been in a decade," according to a 1998 State of the Cities report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, poverty remains more concentrated in distressed urban areas and affects a disproportionate share of minority families. "When asked why people are leaving cities," the report relates, "two answers most commonly cited are the poor quality of urban schools and the relatively high rates of urban crime."
Without ignoring these challenges, however, more and more educators are asking a question intended to help all city kids, whether they go to school in Detroit or Portland, New York or Anchorage: What can schools do to help students thrive in the urban neighborhoods where they live and learn?
Researchers at the Center for Education in the Inner Cities (CEIC), a project of the Laboratory for Student Success at Temple University, are focusing on educational resilience as a key to helping urban students succeed—even if they live in neighborhoods beset by social and economic woes. "Although not forgetting for a moment the details, complexity, and history of the problems cities face," relates the CEIC impact report, Next Steps in Inner-City Education, "researchers focus on the ‘positives’ of inner-city life, the vast resource of the cities, and, most important, the resilience and potential of inner-city children and youth."
Bonnie Benard, who has written widely on the topic of resiliency, reports that "new rigorous research" supports nurturing the strengths of urban youth rather than targeting services to overcome their deficits. Teachers have the power "to tip the scale from risk to resilience," she writes in Turning It Around for All Youth, a 1997 ERIC Digest. Benard cites three school-related factors that have the power to transform city kids’ lives:
Caring relationships with teachers who demonstrate kindness, respect, and understanding
Positive and high expectations, which can challenge students beyond what they believe they can do and help them not see setbacks as pervasive
Opportunities to participate and contribute, which allow students to express their opinions, solve problems, and help others
Without ignoring these challenges, however, more and more educators are asking a question intended to help all city kids, whether they go to school in Detroit or Portland, New York or Anchorage: What can schools do to help students thrive in the urban neighborhoods where they live and learn?
Researchers at the Center for Education in the Inner Cities (CEIC), a project of the Laboratory for Student Success at Temple University, are focusing on educational resilience as a key to helping urban students succeed—even if they live in neighborhoods beset by social and economic woes. "Although not forgetting for a moment the details, complexity, and history of the problems cities face," relates the CEIC impact report, Next Steps in Inner-City Education, "researchers focus on the ‘positives’ of inner-city life, the vast resource of the cities, and, most important, the resilience and potential of inner-city children and youth."
Bonnie Benard, who has written widely on the topic of resiliency, reports that "new rigorous research" supports nurturing the strengths of urban youth rather than targeting services to overcome their deficits. Teachers have the power "to tip the scale from risk to resilience," she writes in Turning It Around for All Youth, a 1997 ERIC Digest. Benard cites three school-related factors that have the power to transform city kids’ lives:
Caring relationships with teachers who demonstrate kindness, respect, and understanding
Positive and high expectations, which can challenge students beyond what they believe they can do and help them not see setbacks as pervasive
Opportunities to participate and contribute, which allow students to express their opinions, solve problems, and help others
The strengths of Urban City Schools
When people think of an Urban City School they automatically give the assumption that all the kids are drug dealers,gang members, drop outs etc. This assumption is not entirely true because Urban City Schools produce kids who are intellectual and capable of doing something with there lives.Building on the strenghts of city kids, rather than tallying up their weaknesses, takes a fundamental shift in thinking about urban education. This article explains a little more:More than 150 languages are now spoken in America’s public schools, a reflection of recent immigration trends. City schools enroll the lion’s share of these newest Americans. Is this diversity a strength or an obstacle to learning? If seen as a deficit, immigrant students’ limited English skills can look like one more burden for urban districts to bear. Taken as a talent, however, children’s "multilingual abilities may one day give them a distinct advantage in the global marketplace," points out R. Craig Sautter in CITYSCHOOLS, a publication of the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. Urban schools, concludes Sautter, "need to develop strategies that build aggressively on the real capacities, experiences, culture, and linguistic attributes of city kids." Such strategies start by thinking of urban children as "of value" rather than "at risk," suggests former Philadelphia superintendent Constance Clayton in City Kids, City Teachers: Reports from the Front Row.
For decades, researchers have been documenting the deficits of urban students and the social ills of the inner cities. Across the country, including the largest cities of the Northwest, achievement gaps remain especially glaring for low-income minority youth. Complex social and economic reasons have left many of these children increasingly isolated from middle-class students and from successful schools, according to Trends and Issues in Urban Education, 1998, a report from the ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education. City kids attending high-poverty schools, according to the ERIC report, tend to have limited exposure to rigorous coursework and experienced teachers—two key factors for boosting achievement.
For decades, researchers have been documenting the deficits of urban students and the social ills of the inner cities. Across the country, including the largest cities of the Northwest, achievement gaps remain especially glaring for low-income minority youth. Complex social and economic reasons have left many of these children increasingly isolated from middle-class students and from successful schools, according to Trends and Issues in Urban Education, 1998, a report from the ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education. City kids attending high-poverty schools, according to the ERIC report, tend to have limited exposure to rigorous coursework and experienced teachers—two key factors for boosting achievement.
Poverty Versus The Military
This article gives brief info. on how the military looks on urban cities and the people who inhabit the urban cities."The U.S. Department of Defense sees urban schools as ones of its biggest recruiting obstacles. Not because leftist teachers in some of those schools try to keep recruiters out, but because so many potential recruits have to be turned down because of the poor education they have received in those schools. While only 21 percent of Americans live in rural areas, 44 percent of the qualified recruits come from these areas. What's strange about all this is that the rural areas spend much less, per pupil, on education, but get much better results. Part of this can be attributed to differences in cost of living, but a lot of it has to do with simply getting more done with less. Per capita, young people in urban areas are 22 percent more likely to join the army, than those of the same age in urban areas.
The rural recruits are also a lot easier to train, and generally make better soldiers. The urban recruits often have a bad attitude, as well as a difficult time getting along with others, and following instructions. The urban schools deserve some of the blame for this, while rural schools tend to be far more orderly, and put more emphasis on civil responsibility. Many of the urban recruits are aware of these problems, and joined the service to learn useful (for getting a job) social skills. Those skills are more often found among rural recruits because out in the boondocks, people are more involved with local government, and more involved in general. This has been noted in urban neighborhoods, and for decades, many urban parents have sought to send their kids, "to live with kinfolk in the country" to get the child away from the bad influences of urban life.
Over the last decade, there's been a movement back to the rural areas. Urban areas may be more exciting, and offer more employment opportunities, but they are a tough place to raise kids, or find suitable recruits for the military."
The rural recruits are also a lot easier to train, and generally make better soldiers. The urban recruits often have a bad attitude, as well as a difficult time getting along with others, and following instructions. The urban schools deserve some of the blame for this, while rural schools tend to be far more orderly, and put more emphasis on civil responsibility. Many of the urban recruits are aware of these problems, and joined the service to learn useful (for getting a job) social skills. Those skills are more often found among rural recruits because out in the boondocks, people are more involved with local government, and more involved in general. This has been noted in urban neighborhoods, and for decades, many urban parents have sought to send their kids, "to live with kinfolk in the country" to get the child away from the bad influences of urban life.
Over the last decade, there's been a movement back to the rural areas. Urban areas may be more exciting, and offer more employment opportunities, but they are a tough place to raise kids, or find suitable recruits for the military."
Monday, March 3, 2008
More Stereotypes.......Shadow Tha Hedgehog
Sonic the hedgehog has been out since before i could remember. In 200_, a new character was introduced to the franchise as Sonic was returing for a sequel to the dreamcast. His name is Shadow. He is Sonic's alter ego and the newest villian since Eggman. He is the "lone wolf" of his pack. He had his own solo game which was released not too long ago.
The Thing is....
How come he is the only one in the Sonic series that used a gun? He was imprisoned in a base until Dr. Eggman broke him out. He only fights cops and good guys. He is just as fast as Sonic but, he is given a motorcycle. If it's a children's game, why does Shadow have uzis & rocket launchers? Sonic has never touch a gun throughout the series and is appealing to everyone. Who are they trying to appeal to?
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Cartoons an the messages it sends us.
If you think about it in every cartoon you've ever watched or even observed you can notice that there's only one African American in it. Their maybe none even. Cartoons like "Hey Arnold, Jimmy Neutron, Fairly OddParents and even Family Guy." These cartoon show one African American male or female. Why is that? why does one race rule over the other? One good example of no African American being showed in a cartoon show would be "Doug." You see no African American teens in there and I feel that isn't right. Do you?
Hillary Clinton & Barrack Obama
We all have heard lately in the news the debates going on between the two canidates up for Democracy for the presidency of '08. Mad TV has decided to take this issue in turn it into something unappropiate. Watch this Video clip and you decide wether you think they should or should not be allowed to show this on television.
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