As an educated African-American male and an advocate for educating and empowering youth, I tend to sometimes forget that not everyone possesses the same passion for educating and empowering youth as myself or several of my closest friends and colleagues. In 2008, I also started a reading program, which was created in response to a report which indicated a significant academic achievement gap in reading scores for students from grades three to eight. It is a community-driven system of support which aims to increase reading and comprehension skills in children along with bolstering self-esteem. It goes without saying, however, that parents stand as the BIGGEST and most influential advocates for educating and empowering their youth, equipping them with the skills necessary to succeed in life. Second to parents are teachers, with whom we trust our young minds to be taught by. So what do we do when we read that a teacher writes the following sentiments about a 10-year-old boy, who has a little trouble paying attention in class but is young enough to have his mind and actions crafted:
"This students lacks the necessary skills available to succeed in life."
This is an actual statement from a teacher about a student, who just happens to be a young, 10-year-old African-American male student. And to that, I wondered aloud "If this one teacher is making such a statement about a student, what are OTHER teachers saying about students?" Does this type of statement ultimately "mislead" us into believing that our children are actual under-achievers and trouble-makers instead of high achieving scholars? Does this type of sentiment become the beginning of the student's "downfall" because no one believes in them?When looking at student report cards, is it taken into consideration that completed homework and conduct ACTUALLY factor into a student's final numerical grade, thus misleading us once again or is this just a figment of imagination?
As much a numbers person as I may be, I've always been strong enough to realize that achievement levels are much more than that of what "letter" is written or typed onto a report that's sent home every nine weeks. And I speak from experience, being a child who was sent out of class occassionally due to lack of focus or being "unchallenged" by the work that was provided. Furthermore, having come from a poverty-stricken environment where meals and money were hard to come by, it became increasingly difficult to focus in class in particular when you were being picked on or focused solely on eating the school lunches. And somewhere along the way, those factors are being lost in determining the specific needs for the students we, as educators, serve.
There are a number of factors that are deemed "uncontrollable" in the school systems, which often includes urging the parents to reinforce to their children what they've learned in school at home. But that, in itself, should become second nature to parents, guardians and others alike who have the time to work with their children and reinforce positive learned behaviors. True there are parents who work 2 or 3 jobs to support their family and parents who really aren't prepared to work with their children because they didn't complete high school or don't necessarily know how to complete the work themselves. However, in saying all that, if we are not figuring out ways to educate our youth and bridge the gap with parents, we're dooming ourselves for the future...bottom line. As someone once told me, the community USED to act as a village but now that village appears to be a bunch of individual dwellings.
Part of the issue may come from the way our children learn in this generation and some educators' unwillingness to make adjustments, which may essentially serve as a disservice to both the students and the educators. There comes a time when if something isn't necessarily working, it's ok to roll the dice and try it a different way. What's the worse that can actually happen? Another part of the issue may be the fundamental differences between the children and educators themselves, which may include race, religion and socioeconomic status amongst other things. But there's certainly no quick fix or forseeable fix to that particular situation. The onus HAS to be on the educators and parents to encourage, empower and educate these students effectively, whether that means digging deep to find that passion and desire to do so or whether that means finding an inner challenge with which to motivate self. Ultimately, however, parents and educators MUST find a way to work together, and if that can't happen, it could signify the beginning of yet another recession. This time, however, it would affect more than just the wallet.
"This students lacks the necessary skills available to succeed in life."
This is an actual statement from a teacher about a student, who just happens to be a young, 10-year-old African-American male student. And to that, I wondered aloud "If this one teacher is making such a statement about a student, what are OTHER teachers saying about students?" Does this type of statement ultimately "mislead" us into believing that our children are actual under-achievers and trouble-makers instead of high achieving scholars? Does this type of sentiment become the beginning of the student's "downfall" because no one believes in them?When looking at student report cards, is it taken into consideration that completed homework and conduct ACTUALLY factor into a student's final numerical grade, thus misleading us once again or is this just a figment of imagination?
As much a numbers person as I may be, I've always been strong enough to realize that achievement levels are much more than that of what "letter" is written or typed onto a report that's sent home every nine weeks. And I speak from experience, being a child who was sent out of class occassionally due to lack of focus or being "unchallenged" by the work that was provided. Furthermore, having come from a poverty-stricken environment where meals and money were hard to come by, it became increasingly difficult to focus in class in particular when you were being picked on or focused solely on eating the school lunches. And somewhere along the way, those factors are being lost in determining the specific needs for the students we, as educators, serve.
There are a number of factors that are deemed "uncontrollable" in the school systems, which often includes urging the parents to reinforce to their children what they've learned in school at home. But that, in itself, should become second nature to parents, guardians and others alike who have the time to work with their children and reinforce positive learned behaviors. True there are parents who work 2 or 3 jobs to support their family and parents who really aren't prepared to work with their children because they didn't complete high school or don't necessarily know how to complete the work themselves. However, in saying all that, if we are not figuring out ways to educate our youth and bridge the gap with parents, we're dooming ourselves for the future...bottom line. As someone once told me, the community USED to act as a village but now that village appears to be a bunch of individual dwellings.
Part of the issue may come from the way our children learn in this generation and some educators' unwillingness to make adjustments, which may essentially serve as a disservice to both the students and the educators. There comes a time when if something isn't necessarily working, it's ok to roll the dice and try it a different way. What's the worse that can actually happen? Another part of the issue may be the fundamental differences between the children and educators themselves, which may include race, religion and socioeconomic status amongst other things. But there's certainly no quick fix or forseeable fix to that particular situation. The onus HAS to be on the educators and parents to encourage, empower and educate these students effectively, whether that means digging deep to find that passion and desire to do so or whether that means finding an inner challenge with which to motivate self. Ultimately, however, parents and educators MUST find a way to work together, and if that can't happen, it could signify the beginning of yet another recession. This time, however, it would affect more than just the wallet.
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