Goodbye Minimally Adequate

The other day I went to see a speaker present for a Capstone Conversation at my dorm. This man was the creator of the documentary “Corridor of Shame”. Needless to say he has been very influential in getting media attention for the poor quality of education in South Carolina.

He has created another venture that goes to improve the quality of education on a whole other level. This time on a state constitutional level. It is a petition to change the wording of the state constitution in regards to its standard of education from “minimally adequate” to “high quality education”.

This seemingly small detail could change so much for the educational system. It would prevent places like “The Corridor of Shame” from happening. It would uphold a much higher standard for public schools. Funding would not have to be increased for poorer school systems that desperately need the money.

If this petition to change the state constitution recieves 100,000 signatures it will taken before the general assembly. Hopefully with such a large support base and media attention, this will be something that could definitely be passed. At the moment there are around 70,000 signatures. If you want to support the cause it is just a click away, go to www.goodbyeminimallyadequate.com and sign your name on the web petition and submit your support for a worthy cause.

The Significance of Education Individuals on Mental Health

The text defines a mental disorder as "A condition that makes it difficult or impossible for a person to cope with everyday life. A label for those who violate certain kinds of social rules" (Social Problems, 10th ed. - Coleman & Kerbo, 140). This week in class we discussed the importance of being able to diagnose mental disorders and the stigma that comes along with that diagnosis. In my opinion, by educating people about mental diseases, it would be much easier to diminish the stigmas that have existed for many years.

According to an article on the Health News Digest, "A study published in the Journal of Child and Family Studies (August 2011) has found that a family education program offered by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) for parents and caregivers of children and adolescents living with mental illness produces “significant improvement” for families in communication and coping skills." Rather than parents, caregivers, other family members, and friends conforming to the belief that someone who has a mental disease is automatically crazy,or weird, they can learn the facts behind a mental disease diagnosis. This can be instrumental in ensuring that the relationship others have with a mentally disabled person isn't a negative one. They will be able to understand what their loved one may be going through,

The study found that those who participated experience a decrease in inflammatory communication. They learned what to expect and what not to expect. The program offered by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)

provides the aid that being in a doctor's office cannot provide. The role of a parent in a child's treatment is second only to that of the medicine they are prescribed. If parents know how to act, then they're not only benefiting their children, but themselves as well.

South Carolina GED testing program bests national passing rate for the first time

Good news regarding the South Carolina public schools district. South Carolina’s GED test-takers improved their passing rates on the high school equivalency exams and surpassed the national passing rate for the first time in the state's history! The GED stands for "General Education Development". It is a group of five multiple-choice tests designed to measure the general knowledge and thinking skills needed to receive a high school diploma. The South Carolina Department of Education issues a high school equivalency diploma to those who pass all five tests with an average score of 450 – for a total of 2250 – and a minimum score of 410 on each exam. These new passing rates give reason for hope that the whole public school system in South Carolina is on its way to greater achievements to come! 

The Other Side of the Education Gap

Today I looked at a very interesting discussion of the U.S. achievement gap that provided many insightful graphs and data references about the socioeconomic side of the gap instead of the racial side.

I believe that race was and still is a very important factor in the educational gap between high achieving children and low achieving children. However, I believe with the coming generations that people are becoming more tolerant of other races and the discrimination is shifting off of race and on to socioeconomic class. The focus of study is still on race, however, because it is easier to obtain data on race and because of previous discrimination it just so happens that many african-american and other minorities are still representing a major portion of the lower socioeconomic classes.

Data comparisons showing African- American and white educational attainment show African-American high school graduation rates at somewhere around 82% and whites around 90%, and African- American college degree rates at 15% and white Americans around 30%. Not as much of a gap as media would have you believe.

However, reading and math scores broken down by socioeconomic status show an even more interesting story. Higher socioeconomic students ranked right around the 60th percentile for both reading and math, grades one through three. Lower socioeconomic students ranked right around the 30th percentile for both subjects.

Such a wide gap, much wider than a racial gap, shows that more emphasis needs to be placed on elevating the education quality in areas with low socioeconomic classes rather than solely focusing on the racial inequalities that still exist in our nation if they truly want to close the achievement gap.

South Carolina Public Charter School District is Making Changes

                                                                

It seems like the South Carolina Public Charter School District is making changes that the AYP measurement system of No Child Left Behind could not touch upon, well at least it is supposed to. In the thirteen schools of the SCPCSD if one of the schools does not make adequate progress then it is recommended for closure, according to Wayne Brazell, superintendent of the South Carolina Public Charter School District.  In his article, he says that the AYP is "sluggish and not proactive" and when the schools are not performing well the AYP just gives intervention money to stave off the inherent problems.
So far, it seems like this school system is producing the results that it claims to.  According to the data for the 2009 ELA HSAP(the exit exam required for South Carolina public schools) only 11.4% of the students were considered below basic, and in 2010 the same test produced 14% of students below basic, but that could very well be due to the 300% increase in students. 
The only possible problem is that 6 of the schools are online. Most students are kinesthetic learners, so looking at a computer screen should not produce good results.  However, in Provost Academy there have been Merit Scholar Semifinalists, and in South Carolina Connections the scores for the ELA HSAP have gone down, even with more than twice the amount of students. 
The South Carolina Public Charter School District, seems to be doing its job, but it will have to be monitored closely to make sure it is progressing to be better than the regular public schools.  If it keeps increasing its good results, then there might be a solution to the  South Carolina education system.

Here is the map of the school district.

                                                                    Dr. Wayne Brazell

Continuing Effort to Improve South Carolina School Performance

In an article I found by the Associated Press, a new initiative has been announced to inspire innovation in South Carolina schools. The "WhatWorksSC Award" winner will be announced on Wednesday, October 26th, to honor efforts to start education programs within the school.

The finalists for the award are: Clinton Elementary reading program in Lancaster, SC; a training program for elementary teachers at Clemson University, and a state scholarship program. The winner will receive $10,000 from BB&T to help further the program.

Will the Corridor of Shame Remain the Corridor of Shame?

Education is one of the most important gateways to our future workforce. In the state of South Carolina, it is very concerning about the vast amount of Corridor of Shame schools across the state. This article describes how the Corridor of Shame schools will still remain in this state until significant changes are made. There is a troubling statement that makes the author of this article mention "Will the Corridor of Shame schools remain the same?" The statement is how the state’s constitution requires that South Carolina shall provide “a minimally adequate education”. This means that schools don’t have to meet an above level education as long as it is minimally adequate. With this being said it poses the question of will change really occur? because the constitution sees no change necessary, you be the judge.

No Use For Achievement Gap

Today I read an interesting article in the Washington Post entitled “Why I Have No Use for the Achievement Gap”. While being very opinionated, as implied by the title, it was also very thought provoking. The article was a little bit of a criticism of No Child Left Behind, it pointed out the fact that while No Child Left Behind was helping the bottom end of America’s children it was also not focusing equal attention of our high achieving students. The trends of our high achieving students used to trend upward, constantly producing more intelligent and well prepared students. Now those same students at the top are now steadying off, not getting worse but not flourishing.

Another interesting point made is that people always view narrowing the achievement gap as positive. There are a plethora of situations where that is not always the case, as he points out, "Here are some ways the gap could narrow: Low-income scores improve but high-incomes scores don't; low-income scores don't change but high-income scores drop; low-income scores drop but high-income scores drop even more. In each of those cases of gap-narrowing, something bad is happening," It is not always fair to jude our educational improvement on the narrowing of the education gap. No Child Left Behind may not be the best course of action for our education system, or if it is, focus needs to be spread more evenly over all students.

High Unemployment Rate Remains Issue for Adults With Only a High School Diploma

Dr. Ed Yardeni is the President and Chief Investment Strategist of Yardeni Research, Inc., a provider of independent investment strategy and economics research for institutional investors. In a blog entry entitled "Education and Employment" on July 12th of this year, he emphasized the consistency of difficulty that adults with only a high school education or less than that face in finding employment in recent years.

"Yardeni wrote that Employment among adults with college degrees increased 720,000 over the past 12 months to 44.9 million." This is good news when considering the fact that the unemployment is such a huge problem in the U.S. today.

Yardeni also said "The labor force among adults with only a high school diploma declined by 460,000 over the past 12 months as their employment dropped by 164,000. The labor force is dropping even faster among adult workers with less than a high school degree. It fell 654,000 over the past 12 months. Over the same period, their employment is down 580,000."

Based on classroom discussions and readings, I'm almost certain that a large number of the people having trouble finding employment or who are unemployed are trying to raise children in surroundings that are less than perfect. Consequences of an upbringing like this can create a cycle, endangering the child's chances of getting a good education, more importantly, a good job after that education or during.

According to the textbook "Statistics show that members of minority groups are far more likely to have low-status and low-paying jobs"(Social Problems, 10th ed. - Coleman & Kerbo, 199). Based on what I've read in Yardeni's article, I'm sure that these minorities are the bulk of the adult workers with less than a high school degree or just a high school diploma.

SC Public School Funding: Still Soaring

I found a very interesting article regarding the funding in all public schools in South Carolina over the past previous years. During what has been the longest, deepest economic downturn in eight decades, public schools in South Carolina were actually funded at record levels in 2008, 2009, 2010. This year looks promising to be increasing as well. According to the latest data released by the S.C. Department of Education, per pupil spending increased last year to a record $13,880.  Total spending also jumped to $9.5 billion. The average increase is about at 8.3 percent.  These numbers are definitely shocking considering our economy right now and the continuous underachievement of the school system in addition to this.The facts and statistics tell the truth though. Out of this money though only half of every dollar spent on “education” in South Carolina’s public system actually makes it to the classroom. Is this good or bad? you be the judge.

Test Scores Show Growing Achievement Gap

I found a fitting article for the topic as I was researching test score gaps between rich and poor schools. It shows some startling evidence about new, harder state exams showing wider achievement gap between rich and poor students.
The article talks about state exams becoming harder, which showed a significant increase in the achievement gap between schools of high income and schools of low income. The gap increased by 15 percentage point for fourth grade testing.

Other grades showed similar patterns. This is a huge problem for the United States, our income gap should not be affecting public education. It is so important to give every child in the US a fair and solid education, regardless of their economic situation. The right to equal opportunity starts with an equal education.

There are many solutions to this problem being thrown around but so far none that have really stuck in any state. It is so important to take action about this problem before the gap grows even more. The distribution of education funds needs to be adjusted in every state. There needs to be a different way to allocate funds other than income taxes. There needs to be better payment for our educators, no matter where they live in the state. No matter what the solution, a major overhaul needs to considered to the way our schools are funded, it is affecting our young people’s lives, their futures and the future of the American economy.

Poor Economy Leads Colleges to Make Poor Decisions

The struggling quality of the U.S. economy is no secret matter. Over the past few years, it has been a largely debated topic in politics as well as among parents, and education leaders. However, the solution that several colleges have admitted to implementing in order to combat this issue is not the best one for the U.S. In a Sept. 21 article entitled "The Dumbing of America: Effects of the Economy on American Post Secondary Education Practices" published by Clifford S. Mintz, he discusses that as a means of avoiding economic uncertainty, U.S. universities and colleges are admitting students who can afford to attend their schools, despite their being less-qualified than those who aren't as well off financially.

According to Mintz, "tough economic times are forcing more students to enroll at community colleges because they can no longer afford the staggeringly-high tuition costs at most American four year public and private colleges and universities." This statement puts emphasis on the idea that quality of education is dependent upon financial status. Being a college student myself, I find the idea of four-year universities and colleges much more appealing than community colleges in terms of how it will look on my resume and how it will influence my job search after college. In his article, Mintz states that “rather than admit deserving academically-qualified and competitive students who may need financial aid to attend their institutions, admission officers will sometimes admit less academically qualified students to offset rising financial costs.” He refers to an article in the New York Times (“Universities Seeking Out Students of Means.” ) that highlights this practice.

Mintz provided the following statistic from that article to support his claim: “22 percent of the admissions officials at four-year institutions said the financial downturn had led them to pay more attention in their decision to applicants’ ability to pay.” Finally, “10 percent of the admissions directors at four-year colleges — and almost 20 percent at private liberal-arts schools — said that the full-pay students they were admitting, on average, had lower grades and test scores than other admitted applicants.”

By admitting students who can afford to attend universities and colleges as the majority, that will significantly impact minority groups, such as African American and Hispanic youths, due to the fact that they are usually less financially stable and require assistance in paying for their college education. This practice hinders them which means that they won’t be receiving the same quality of education as richer and mostly Caucasian students. In order to combat this I would suggest the use of Affirmative Action programs our textbook defines these as “A program designed to make up for past discrimination by giving special assistance to members of the groups that were discriminated against” (Social Problems, 10th ed. - Coleman & Kerbo 67). The textbook also states that these programs have come under fire in past years because some don’t view the practice as fair. However, admitting student based on their wealth is also not fair because some deserve it much more than others.

Mintz argues that this practice implies that “generating revenue has replaced the educational and academic mission that all of these institutions were founded upon.” When I read that statement, I couldn’t help but think of the Edison Company. Edison was attempting to run public primary and secondary schools for profit, but the end result was negative, in that it didn’t work. Money does not make someone smarter; it just makes it easier for them to get what they want. But what does that mean for the people who work hard for what they want? Shouldn’t they take priority? I think so!

State's high school dropout numbers decrease for second consecutive year

There is some good news regarding the South Carolina school district. This includes both the Corridor of Shame and the Not Corridor of Shame. It's been reported that more than 800 fewer students dropped out of state high schools in 2010 than in the previous year, according to a report from the South Carolina Department of Education. This decrease marks the second consecutive year in improvement of dropout numbers. 2011 is expected to be the third consecutive year if everything occurs as expected. The 2011 results aren't in but theres definitley reason to be optimistic. The new report found improvements in all demographic groups. Included were a decrease in African-American dropouts from 3,579 in 2007-08 to 2,724 in 2009-10 and a decrease in dropouts from high-poverty families from 4,451 in 2007-08 to 3,768 in 2009-10. Hispanic dropouts decreased from 399 in 2007-08 to 322 in 2009-10. So in 2011 we can expect and hope for these numbers to continue. As we almost conclude 2011 we anxiously await the new results to come out, as hope for the best because that is what our country/state need!


To read more of this article go to http://ed.sc.gov/agency/news/?nid=1762

Reading is Fundamental

RIF is a national charity that has a local branch here in Columbia. As we explore options and solutions to the poor achieving school systems here in South Carolina it is important to look at local initiatives that have already been taken.

RIF stands for Reading is Fundamental and serves to “motivate young children to read by working with them, their parents, and community members to make reading a fun and beneficial part of everyday life.” This service is concentrated on underprivileged children up to age eight and teaching them basic reading skills. RIF is a volunteer service; volunteers from around the nation spend time in lower income school districts, community centers and after school programs distributing books, staging reading motivation activities and promoting the importance of literacy in their communities.

With reading, and enjoying reading as the center of this program, RIF promotes literacy and basic reading skills. RIF acknowledges the importance of underprivileged children gaining basic reading skills and helps lay the educational groundwork that their parents and the school systems may overlook.

Supporters of RIF nationally include an impressive list of donors such as Macy’s, Nestle, US Airways and even the Department of Education. Locally there are many organizations involved including Richland County school district and Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.