This article was very interesting. However, the title does not suit the piece.

Those oppressive situations that brought THE ORIGINAL immigrants to this day in time, should serve as a constant reminder of where we do not ever want to return. Every good thing must be carefully maintained. Our ancestors had to use ingenuity to survive. Creating something from absolutely nothing is our legacy.

But hands off parenting, complete buy in to big business engineered consumerism, and governmental legislation that imposes ineffective rearing regulations on American families-has stripped familial authority particularly within marginalized households.

To know that there was a time in our very short American history when people of color were categorically denied the right to read, should be enough motivation for all in question to find as many books as possible for purposes of regularly flexing literacy.

For the life of me, it is absolutely deplorable that the illiteracy rates worldwide are projected to be approximately 130 million school aged children (UNICEF), most of which are female children.

As an educator on many different academic levels, rethinking how educational systems approach parental involvement in and out of schools is absolutely critical to the academic sustainability of marginalized children and youth.

Agreeably some historical factors remain but presently the absolute truths are:

• Parental Involvement needs to improve;
• Widespread illiteracy is a strong contributing factor towards poor achievement;
• Parental distain for education and/or educational systems has projected negativity that is attributed to the lack of investment on behalf of the teachers, students and the parents;
• A consistently high rate of Black male placement in Special education programs speaks to the systems unfair practices that segregate specific kinds of children; espousing distrust among communities;
• Systems are justifying the drugging of school aged children by providing them with Individualized Educational Programs (IEP) that mandate the process before they can participate in classes. The community may have reason to distrust any situation that requires any child to be medicated to sit still.

Parents must abandon practices that relinquish their active participation in their child’s learning process. Expecting someone who has absolutely no investment in YOUR child is asking for failure.

Teachers are human. Personalizing emotionality towards agitated often very unhappy students is not uncommon. Being biased towards youth and children who constantly agonize over having to participate in a process that may cause them a level of discomfort- is quite simply unprofessional but realistically becomes a necessary defense mechanism for overwhelmed teachers who often do not relate to the socio-economic realities experienced by their students.

Some teachers could absolutely careless whether some students fail or pass. Rather than attempting to resolve the psycho-social barriers that impede learning and the development of strong social skills- systems will give what they can and expect PARENTS to step in and finish the enhancements.

Sadly, many marginalized parents are often not equipped to continue the productive process on their own. Conforming to the world that rejects the urban or rural culture-is abjectly unacceptable among members. Constant struggles between schools and homes cause a daily psychological tug of war for students that teeter on disbelief, distrust and potential family betrayal (as some are conditioned to believe)- that there will ever be anything more than their present condition. What can be done?

Some options may include but not be limited to:
• Provide a playroom at Parent Teacher conferences for the other children of parents with babysitting conflicts;
• Provide online webinars that provide a bevy of parental skill development modules;
• Create parent-teacher kiosks at recreation centers and libraries;
• Create parent-teacher kiosks at drop in centers within the school (counselors or often overwhelmed with other meetings);
• Collaborate with outside agencies that are dedicated to the healthy development of children and youth…not the business relationship that can devised with communities;
• Initiate mobile school units that go to the students home or other pre-approve location to conference;
• Incorporate technology (e.g., access to computers, twitter, skype, and facebook);
• Create awareness training for teachers to reduce stigma and to improve emotional intelligence.

Invariably the strongest opponent in the learning process is the opposition from all participants. Every stakeholder in the business of shaping a child- must take the responsibility to be the best possible vestibule of knowledge, wisdom, and discernment as humanly possible.

Learned hopelessness has categorically paralyzed the spirit of Timbuktu in the descendants of those builders that cultivated Egyptian civilization with archaic tools. Just imagine what they would have created if they had access to the equipment, books and nutrition that today’s society takes for granted on a daily basis.

UNICEF

http://www.unicef.org/sowc99/index.html

Illiteracy: The Downfall of America

http://education-portal.com/articles/Illiteracy_The_Downfall_of_American_Society.html

STATISTICS: Begin to Read

http://www.begintoread.com/research/literacystatistics.html

“My first reaction was he’s a very famous person and what is this going to do to the community?” Kennedy said. “I can’t believe someone would say that in a joking manner.”

Kennedy said she thought Morgan’s apologies were “sincere.”

“He realizes the things he said and what negative impact they had,” she said.

The organization handled the situation beautifully. Rather than attack Morgan for his views, they opted to teach the comedian the err of his thought process. Often people condemn and persecute before demonstrating the benefit of exploring alternative perspectives.

“We wanted to educate Tracy Morgan,” Siciliano said. “The ability to accept your gay kids is a matter of life and death.”
SOURCE

People have pointed fingers at why the educational systems within Maryland and DC particularly have declined over the past ten to fifteen years. On the May 15, 2011 show that aired on WOL 1450 am, EZ Street and panelists begin asking the questions that will hopefully birth the necessary solutions.

SOLUTIONS
Parental Involvement

Get over it! Parents may be projecting their personal learning experiences onto their children without even realizing what that they are actually doing to their child’s psychological perspectives. Though a parent’s learning experience was traumatic- their learning experience of the child does not have to be that way at all. Often people come to the table with harbored resentment towards the authority figures that perhaps instilled a certain inferiority complex. As a matter of fact it is imperative that the parent’s presence is seen more often. Parents must be more active and invested in the learning experience of their own children.

1. Regularly attend Parent/Teacher conferences.

2. Drop the defense and listen to the teacher’s stance FIRST. Defending unseen behavior tells your student that they “can do no wrong”.

3. Formulate a behavioral plan for those times that student’s need consequences (e.g., take away privileges, increase household duties, etc.). NO CHILD IS PERFECT, nor is any adult.

4. Take the side of the teacher occasionally. Your child is not a saint 100% of the time and should be asked the question “SO WHAT DID YOU DO TO CONTRIBUTE TO THIS SITUATION?” This question begins the moral development of taking responsibility for one’s own actions.

Just stop it! Why are parents sabotaging their own children by planting resentments towards education? Education is not “acting white”. Stop saying that inaccurate, inappropriate stuff to kids. It was historically an implanted message by family members to keep us “controllable” within our families and within the confines of the family “station” within the community. Liberate yourselves from the ties that bound us from seeking more.

Fix it! The issues that occur in the households pour into the classrooms. Be mindful, aware and engaged in the development of a WHOLE CHILD. “What stays in this house stays in this house”, is not how it happens. Being annoyed, upset, angry, hungry and even uncomfortable can directly affect how a child is prepared to learn.

Effective Student Involvement
All students must come to school prepared to learn something. Bring a functioning writing utensil and paper to every class. The iPod, cell phone or other electronic gizmo is distracting the student from being able to function effectively.
1. Take notes and participate in the lessons.

2. DISCONNECT TO CONNECT: Get off of the cell phones during class.

3. Be mentally present in class.

4. Disrespecting peers and adults is not the way to communicate that you are having difficulty with the subject. Speak up and ask for help instead.

Full and fruitful teacher participation
Teachers and students are experiencing a lot of socio-economic and psycho social anguish. The personal issues can become magnified when interacting with many children/youth. Teachers have to not only manage their classes but also balance administration, parents, fellow teachers, and their home lives. Invariably the educational and general welfare of the students are critical to the success of each student.

In this era, children/youth are learning differently. Revising teaching strategies and fully cross examining the abundance of placement tests for students-is absolutely necessary. Children and youth are becoming more visual and less audio and therefore need different modalities of processing available to ensure retention of lessons.
Teachers, educators and educational administrators must know your students.

1. Be deliberate at gauging their accurate levels of learning.

2. Provide one-on-one whenever possible.

3. Use kind words.

4. Make lessons fun, engaging and interactive.

5. Experiential learning should outweigh the conventional lectures.

6. Model the behavior that you expect.

7. Set clear expectations for the class and enforce them consistently.

8. Lower your voice and repeat directions clearly.

9. Utilize every tool in the classroom to reach your students.
 The overhead projector
 The computer
 The audio cassette recorder
 Calculators
 Manipulatives
 And any new technology that’s out there. It changes regularly.
Once student’s master it, something new emerges….stay in the loop.

Teachers that test well are provided the No Child Left Behind distinctive label “HIGHLY QUALIFIED”. No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the defunct educational legislation signed into being by George W. Bush- requires that Highly Qualified teachers lead instruction in classrooms. However, there is a lot to be said for the social and emotional intelligence of a master teacher-that cannot be tested unless observed in action. There are superior teachers who never obtain licensure because the test (PRAXIS I& II), is a hurdle.

It is critical for adults caring for children and youth to actually like them. It is necessary for the same adults to connect with students on some level. Most importantly- youth must be spoken to in a manner that commands respect while at the same time offers it. The balanced duality of this type of interaction will always attribute to a winning academic situation.

Real teachers are never frauds. Kids can see right through the act!
SERIOUSLY? Recently information has surfaced that indicates that test scores under Rhee were not accurate. Essentially it was alleged that information was falsified to make it appear that Rhee was more impactful than actual.
Administrative support

Given the economic climate, administrators have had to make some serious decisions about what programs to keep and which ones to let go. They’ve had to dismiss excellent teachers who have less time invested into the systems and overload classes that were already overloaded. School administrators -have a hard and often thankless job that often produces a very high rate of turnover.

In Washington D.C., particularly retaining a superintendent or chancellor for more than three years has proven quite difficult within the last ten years. The high rate of turnover is the main contributor to the lack of established operational protocol within the quickly crumbling educational system. The ladder climbers have come and left without any concern for the half hearted attempts at creating band-aiding programs intended to stop the hemorrhaging from the last leader that left unexpectedly.

When seeking to improve an overall educational system. Administrators are advised to exact the following:
1. Seek to improve teacher’s salaries

2. Keep up with the learning trends

3. Be more open to different “teaching styles”;

4. Just as there are many different learning styles there are just as many teaching styles.

5. Budget constraints/cuts cannot be used as justification for reducing the quality of the academic experience.
Sports, art, technical skills and music programs are being cut because jurisdictions are grappling with financial constraints. This practice is crippling a student’s ability to release stress, develop and hone social skill development, and to attain a level of success in areas outside of academia.
6. Improve the overall conditions of the school.
7. Schools with no air condition and/or heating causes students to focus on their comfort level rather than their GPA…it’s that simple.
8. Antiquated technology will create antiquated practices. Students learning on tools that are already obsolete cannot possibly compete in an ever changing technological world.
9. The safety of everyone in the building, including teachers and staff-must be a priority.

10. Create an effective behavioral plan. Bullying, cyber bullying and physical assaults on school property should be handled with the harshest severity.
11. Revise policies that undermine authority. Students do not run the schools nor the homes for that matter and that message needs to be sent loud and clearly.

12. Actively explore other funding options without compromising ethics required by the school system and personal beliefs.

13. Provide the necessary resources to teachers and classrooms to ensure student success.
a. All classrooms should have at least two functional computers.
b. Teachers should not be expected to come out of pocket to provide the materials for lessons that the Superintendent has signed into mandatory curriculum.

Teachers are absolutely exhausted from having to constantly battle the purveyors of their success. Equip the educators with the tools they need to become highly effectual. If the teacher, parent, student, and/or community don’t meet the effort half way THEN push harder.

Less government governance
Mind your own business. Government has inserted itself into an entity that needed little.

Mandated tests are not producing better students. If anything it is causing more anxiety. Unfair testing out practices have students attending high school for four years only to be told that they can’t graduate because they didn’t pass the state exit exam.

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND-Needs major reform or to be rejected wholly. The law excludes many of the very students that it is supposed to assist. There are some viable support systems in place to accommodate the laws as well; however, when homeless mothers are arrested for sending their children to schools that are better than average one must question whether or not the law is actually working.
Requiring states to create their own standardized testing modules for which the student’s proficiency is “garnered” is proving to be an exercise in fraudulence. Many states are not reporting accurate information.

Many students are tested on information that they have not fully grasped. Many jurisdictions are not clear on whether to exclude or include the tests taken by Special Education students who have been “included” into classrooms. If the students are required by law to be included in the classroom during regular instruction, then should their tests be also factored into the overall results? Again this question causes quite a bit of debate that offers no real functional solution.

The issues that impact education within and around DC, Maryland and Virginia vary from state to state, though they are geographical neighbors. The disparities are quite evident and call to question how and why the systems function so counter.

Shopping is the analogy that comes to mind immediately. The same store will often carry different merchandise depending on the geographical location of the store. Higher quality products will often be found in stores located in wealthy areas and the lower quality product, poor customer service and the aesthetically displeasing store will be in the area that is located in the middle to low income areas. Perhaps this is not the best analogy but it serves as an effective correlation between the educational systems that are found within those same socio-economic areas.

Discrimination is no longer necessarily contingent upon skin color; however, whether or not one has green is categorically determining whether or not certain children and youth are able to obtain further education.

Beyond that pursuant to the report that was released stating that the city of Detroit, MI was 50% functionally illiterate

RESOURCES:

Documentary: Waiting on Superman

http://www.waitingforsuperman.com/action/

Books : “better than” Educational Reform

http://educationnext.org/the-education-reform-book-is-dead/

Detroit is 50% functionally illiterate! How does that happen?
REFERENCE

The Educational Crisis no one is talking about:

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2070930,00.html

Construction is scheduled to be completed in mid-August with the schools opening in October.

“I’m excited we are moving forward on this initiative in the Washington, D.C. community,” Woods said in a statement released through his Tiger Woods Foundation. “The two campuses will bring the best of our curriculum to some very deserving kids. A lot of people have helped to make this happen, and I’m very grateful for their support.”

The foundation will hire five to eight staff members for the two campuses, and the hope is to serve 2,000 children in the 2010-2011 school year, the Post reports. The curriculum focuses on careers in science, technology, engineering, math and communications

SOURCE

Harvard University Announcement No tuition and no student loans.

University announced over the weekend that from now on undergraduate students from low-income families will pay no tuition.

In making the announcement, Harvard’s president Lawrence H. Summers said, “When onlyten percent of the students in elite higher education come from familiesin the lower half of the income distribution, we are not doing enough.

We are not doing enough in bringing elite higher education to the lower
half of the income distribution.

If you know of a family earning less than $60,000 a year with an honor student graduating from high school soon, Harvard University wants to pay the tuition. The prestigious university recently announced that from now on undergraduatestudents from low-income families can go to Harvard for free… no tuition and no student loans! To find out more about Harvard offering free tuition for families making less than $60,000 a year, visit Harvard’s financial aid website at:
http://www.fao.fas.harvard.edu/ or call the school’s financial aid
office at (617) 495-1581.

A while back, we reported that Trey Songz felt that R. Kelly had fallen off over the past few years. Well, Kells has finally responded, basically saying that he’s not going to feed into it. All the details after the jump….

R Kelly let journalists review his upcoming Untitled album and in the process he offered a response to the recent diss from Trey Songz where Songz said R Kelly was Dead.

In response to a question posed to him about Trey Songz, he said: “When you’re a king…I don’t get into the challenges anymore… What is an elephant gonna do when an ant or a fly lands on them? That’s something I would have answered 20 years ago.”

In addition to the Trey Songz beef, R Kelly announced that he has many unreleased Michael Jackson collaborations he intends to release. “I did like five songs with Michael Jackson before he passed that we didn’t get a chance to do,” Kelly informed the panel. “I’m gonna finish what me and Mike were doing and try to get it out there. When I did ‘We Are Not Alone,’ it sounded just like him…”

My question is this: After all of the controversy surrounding Kels ( you know, the sex tape and all), is anyone even feeling him anymore? I mean, you can’t just do remixes for the rest of your career….unless you’re Lil Wayne of course.

SOURCE