Reply to prepping for cogat test .. is it cheating?

Forum Index » Advanced Academic Programs (AAP)

Reply to "prepping for cogat test .. is it cheating?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

All the resources in the world are not going to close the gap because it starts at home. [b]The parents of the kids who are behind do not value education. [/b]They don’t care if their kid attends school or does well in school. They are more likely then not uneducated themselves because they were raised by parents who were uneducated. They don’t read to their kids as babies and toddlers.They don’t work on sounds or colors or numbers or letters ot the like. Their kids show up to K behind and there is no support at home to catch up.

We can throw all the resources at these kids and it is not going to make a difference for the vast majority. Schools in low income areas have Social Workers, Case Workers, and government provided resources to reach out to families. Schools send home meals over the weekend. ES schools send home free books for families to read and keep. They offer free summer school to these kids. It has little impact because that K kid who has not been read to by their parent is not going to be able to read that book. And there is a good chance that Mom and Dad cannot read that book.

No one has figured out how to convince the parents of the lower SES families that live in generational poverty to care about school. Head Start helped a bit because it is free day care and food for kids but there is not support at home to maintain the gains that the program sees. Free summer school is available but families don’t send their kids.

So I don’t buy the “throw resources at the problem” as a valid reason for not providing services for kids that are ahead. I think that Title 1 schools should have smaller classes to try and reach the kids that can be reached. I think that ESOL classes should start in K and not MS. I don’t think that we are helping kids who don’t speak English by placing them in a regular classroom in ES. I am fine with continuing to have outreach programs at the schools in the hope that we can reach some parents. I am not fine with dumbing down the curriculum in the name of not widening the gap.[/quote]

How do you know this is true?  Poverty begets poverty, not because people are lazy or don't value education, but because they can't get beyond living paycheck to paycheck.  Parents are working multiple jobs, worrying about rent and food price increases.  Bedtime stories and teaching colors too far up on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

Maybe your family climbed out of poverty or you know someone who did.  Congratulations to them, they beat the odds.  Unfortunately, for many families it is not possible.[/quote]

We know that because we have spent 50 some years tossing money into the Title 1 schools and poor schools around the country and we have not made a dent in the education gap. What we are doing is not working. It goes back to the home where parents don't make kids attend school. It goes back to kids who don't have parents who can help with homework or projects.

There are a ton of studies done on this issue. It is an issue in rural areas with high concentration of poverty and in the inner city. It is part of the reason that we have 16 year olds who give birth and have kids who are 16 and give birth and the like.

If you want to make a change, you will have to change the home environment and that is not going to happen. There will be a small percentage of kids who are motivated to leave that environment and will take advantage of what the school has to offer but that is a small, small percentage. [/quote]

Public schools should stay in their lane and focus on education. Larger societal problems like poverty or racism extend beyond this school system and are broader problems for the country.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics