Full Day Observation

This past Tuesday I attended Arts High School in Newark for my full day observation. I was initially excited to attend and get some questions answered, and my anticipations paid off. I observed a special needs class that assisted grades 9-12. When I had received my assigned co-op teacher and class I was surprised to find that Arts High even had a special needs class. Based on the difficult application process, I had assumed that students were not only extremely talented but also brilliant straight A, AP class taking students. Well, you know what they say happens when you assume. The fact of the matter is that these students, as many other students, are very talented and may be brilliant as well, but may also struggle in one or two areas. The special needs class focuses mainly on English and Math, and only has about 4-8 students in each class. To be completely honest, I couldn’t tell a difference between the special needs students and average students from other schools that I have observed. In each class there was a mixture of students from different grades, but they each worked on materials from either Math or English and what they were struggling in. What was most interesting to me was how the teacher was so involved with each student. If anyone asked her a question she would in turn ask them a question, raise another issue that was related, or ask them to look up what they were questioning.

The students also all helped each other, and through this sharing and helping with each other they seemed to be learning more. I was overall amazed at how advanced these students seemed, especially considering the fact that they were in a special needs class. It was encouraging to see a teacher who was so involved with her students, and cared so much about their welfare. She mentioned that her door was always open, and she rarely took a lunch break. I emailed her yesterday to thank her for the opportunity to observe her class, and this is part of what she replied with, “I am who I am and I just think that incorporating care and love for the kids is just as important as the teaching give the love, you can get the respect, but always with discipline and dignity-we don't make millions, but we can affect many lives.”

"50 City Schools Get Failing Grade in a New System"

While passing a magazine stand a few days ago, I came across a headline that read "50 City Schools Get Failing Grade in a New System". Needless to say, it caught my attention enough to stop and pick up the paper on my way to class. The article stated that 50 schools got “failing” grades according to the new rating system that judges schools based on both performance and progress. This means that 29,000 students now have the choice to transfer schools if they wish. The article also stated that in addition to the failing schools, 99 schools received a grade of a D. I can’t say that I was completely shocked when I read this article, but I was really disappointed. The NCLB is clearly still not working at all. Because of these failing grades, many teachers and administrators may lose their jobs, and schools may close.

One parent wrote the chancellor saying, ““The way you treat our educators is part and parcel of the way you treat our students – constantly barraging them with narrow, deadening tests and demoralizing them with meaningless scores”” (Jan Carr in NYTIMES). Very well stated Ms. Carr! I think that sad part is the fact that the poor grades are causing the blame to be put on the teachers and administrators who now face the threat of losing their jobs. I think that under those circumstances, even the most caring teacher will have to resort to teaching only what is required to pass the exams. I suppose they wouldn’t consider the fact that the plan itself isn’t working. You can find the article for further information here: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A02E2DF1F3CF935A35752C1A9619C8B63

NCLB on www.ed.gov

After reviewing the www.ed.gov website, I found a lot of information pertaining to education. I paid particular attention to the NCLB articles, and the reauthorization of the act in an April 2007 newsletter. The reauthorization proposal is called Building on Results: A Blueprint for Strengthening the No Child Left Behind Act. In order to come up with this proposal the government worked closely with the school officers, parents, teachers, and policymakers across the country. They want the new plans to provide additional tools for teachers to use so that the reading and math scores of students go up by the year 2014. The Building on Results Policy has a few new priorities that are supposed to help the NCLB act. The policies are as follows: 1. Strengthen efforts to close the achievement gap through high standards, accountability, and more information for parents; 2. Give States flexibility to better measure individual student progress, target resources to students most in need, and improve assessments for students with disabilities and limited English proficiency (LEP); 3. Prepare high school students for success by promoting rigorous and advanced coursework and providing new resources for schools serving low-income students; 4. Provide greater resources for teachers to further close the achievement gap through improved math and science instruction, intensive aid for struggling students, continuation of Reading First, and rewards for teachers in high-need schools; 5. Offer additional tools to help local educators turn around chronically under-performing schools and empower parents with information and options.
I personally still think that they are focusing too much on math and reading skills rather than other aspects. Many students do not do so well in math or reading but they may be brilliant in science or computer science. There are many other ways in which students can prove to be “proficient”. The fact that they are still using proficiency tests doesn’t show me that there are going to be great changes.

Observation at Arts High

Prior to visiting the Arts high school in Newark, I was really unsure as to what to expect. Aside from my personal interest as to whether or not I would even find the school, considering the fact that every single time I drive into Newark, I end up getting lost; I was really interested in discovering how the Arts school would be compared to other urban school systems that I have observed. I was most interested to see how the influence of the arts would affect the school. I know from my own personal experience that music and art have always been a positive influence in my life. There is something about expressing yourself through music, or art, or dance that inspires the heart and the mind and helps you to focus. The school was beautifully decorated with pieces of art, and when we first arrived and were seated in the auditorium, an advanced choir class was singing on stage as part of their class. They all seemed very focused and their emotions came through in their voices and facial expressions. This was a common attribute throughout the rest of the school.

After leaving the auditorium, some of the students gave us tours around their school. We went into a few classrooms, and in one particular ceramics class, the students all seemed pretty focused and passionate about the art work they were doing. I was very impressed with the school and their standards. They set high standards and enforce strict policies for their students. For example, the school is very competitive and therefore students must continue to achieve good grades and good attendance in order to stay in the school. From what I could observe in the three hours I was there, the students really appear to take their education at the Arts high school seriously.