Williams,Tyesha+S

 The school that I chose to investigate is Narragansett Elementary School. I actually attended that school for three years, second-fourth grade. Demographically, the town of Narragansett is predominantly white. There are a few African American families that live there but not many. Growing I remember there being exactly three other black kids in that school besides me. There was two girls, one of them was my cousin and they both were one grade ahead of me. There was one black boy, I do not remember what grade he was in. For me, I was the only black kid in my whole grade.  As far as how the school looked when I was there, it was in great condition. It didn’t even compare to the school of East St. Louis from //Savage Inequalities.// When reading about the conditions of the schools that these students had to go too, I felt incredibly ungrateful. I would have never thought that I was so lucky to attend elementary, middle and high schools that were in excellent condition when compared to the schools and town of East St. Louis. I cannot even imagine going to a school with bathrooms that have no doors and rotted toilets. Or even living in a town that was so poor that it became basically a wasteland for garbage and poisonous chemicals. When I think back to elementary school I cannot really think of many complaints that I had particularly about the school; the cafeteria was great, the gymnasium was huge, the classes were perfect sizes, all of the bathrooms functioned and it was easy to get around the school. The only thing that I never liked about the school was that sometimes I felt out of place because there was only four black kids in the whole school and there was no black faculty or staff. But when I read about the schools in St. Louis, I definitely grew a greater appreciation for Narragansett Elementary school. My younger sister now attends Narragansett Elementary, previously she attended Underwood in Newport, and show loves Narragansett, she loves the school and her teachers. Again, with her the only problem she has is the lack of students who look like her.
 * Elementary School Experiences **

 When I think of something that someone does when I automatically think of a physical activities such as a basketball, cheerleading, weightlifting, or any kind of sport. I also think of visual activities such as drawing, painting, and photography and so on. Then I think of myself and how I lack all of those talents. So what do I do well? Do I do anything well or am I just talent less? While writing this paper I struggled to think of things that I do well. Then I thought about how much of a hard worker I am, I am a really good waitress, but that is not something that I plan on being for the rest of my life. I am really funny, I always make people laugh but I am no comedian. I am basically a professional procrastinator, but one day that will catch up to me. So, again the question arises “what do I do well?” Then I realized that something I do really, really well is communicate. I find that when I talk to others or meet someone for the first time they often say, “I feel like I can trust you” or “I feel comfortable to tell you ___” and that is because of the way that I communicate with people. First and foremost when I am talking to people I am not just “talking”, I am actually listening to them and hearing and understanding what they have to say. I like talking to people because I am interested in people’s lives so I know how to get personal but not too personal, giving the person leeway to open up and talk about what they feel comfortable talking about. People like when you ask them about themselves because it shows that you care and have an interest in their life; and now a days everyone wants to feel like people care about their lives. Also, I actually remember what people tell me when we are talking. Many people will forget what someone told them and then have to ask them again and that comes off as rude because it seems like you do not really and care and was not listening to them the first time. More importantly, when talking to someone I never judge them. I can honestly say that no matter what anyone has ever told me it has gone unjudged because I understand that we all live different lives and have different problems.  I believe that I just naturally picked up on how to communicate effectively from being a young child and always being around adults. Growing up I was the only child and grandchild for 11 years so I spent a lot of time around the adults in my family. I think that has also made me more mature than others my age when I was younger. Now that I am in college I am a Communications minor and my communications classes have definitely improved my communication skills along the way.
 * Something I Do Well- Expertise Statement **


 * FAE Chapter 2-3 Reflections**

 The Early History of Education in a Changing World is what chapter two is about. This chapter goes through a brief history and the evolution of school and education beginning at 476 ce. This Chapter was interesting because it goes through all of development of schooling in education. I like how in this chapter it discusses that informal education always begins at home with the parents. I think that is very important because now a days people put so much pressure on teachers and the school for children education, which they do play a huge role but parents have to take responsibility as well. I also found it interesting that most schools had began as private and/or religious led schools.  Chapter three was about the Historical Perspectives of Education. This chapter gives you more insight on how society has changed over time and the population has grown. More people brings more students, that bring more changes and challenges to the schools and teachers. I found it interesting to learn how un-involved the government used to not be with the education system, compared to how involved it is now. The government helps and hurts the education system at the same time. It helps because yes the education system obviously needs the funding, but it also hurts because it brings new demands and regulations that the school needs to meet that they did not have before. The world is always changing so fast, the government tries to keep all of the schools up to date but each and every school should be treated fairly and equally in order for students to be able to achieve the same education.


 * FAE Chapter 4 Reflection**

I found chapter interesting because it is about the Philosophy of education. I have previously taken a philosophy class and I find it very interesting, so it was cool to read about philosophy from an education perspective. My favorite thing that I found most interesting was the idea of idealism, that there is more worth knowing about rather than what we can just physically see. The idea and realism and teaching go together because teachers are supposed to help students open and expand their minds to new thoughts and ideas. I also liked reading about the Native American ideas on psychology because I am Native American and I like reading new things about my culture.


 * FAE Chapter 5 Reflection**

In this chapter I learned about two different educational philosophies; teacher centered and student centered. The three philosophies for teaching centered are essentialism, behaviorism and positivism and the three philosophies applied to student centered are progressivism, humanism and constructivism. I personally agree more with the student centered philosophy of education. The book defines progressivism as “an educational theory that emphasizes that ideas should be tested by experimentation and that learning is rooted in questions developed by learners (Musial & Gollnick 111). I agree with this style of learning because I think that teachers should experiment with different ideas and styles of teaching in order to ensure that each student is getting the best and most out of their education. I also agree that the learning is rooted in questions asked by the students. When the students ask questions if gives the teacher a better understanding of what the students are comprehending in the class and what they are not. Humanism is “an educational philosophy that is concerned with enhancing the innate goodness of the individual.”(113). This philosophy strongly focuses on an individual student rather than a group of students or the class as a whole. I think it is very important for teachers to spend some individual time with of their students to help each student reach their highest peek of understanding. That is hard for teachers to do when they only have so much time in day with many different students, especially in high school. But I definitely think that in lower education such as elementary school, when the teacher is with the same group of students all day that it is important to spend quality time with each individual student. Constructivism is “an educational philosophy that emphasizes developing personal meaning through hands-on, activity-based teaching and learning.” (115). When a teacher just stands in front of the class and teachers or passes out packets/handouts for students to work, it becomes very difficult for them to focus or even want to do the work. With hands-on activities the students are able to get up and participate as well as interact with their teacher and classmates. When they get to participate that helps students develop a better understanding of what they are learning, why they are learning and how they can apply it to everyday life. I believe that student centered philosophy is more beneficial for students and gives students and chance to get the most out of their education. In student centered learning there is an equality between the teachers and the students when it comes to what is being taught. The teacher is more encouraging, more engaged and also cares more when the learning is student centered.

===**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> When I think back on a time I experienced diversity in school, I think of the time I transferred from the Narragansett Pier Middle school to Thompson Middle school in Newport. When I was attending school in Narragansett there was very little diversity there, in fact I was about 1 of 4 Black students in the whole school. Often I found it uncomfortable to be the only black student in my classes, at lunch and on the play ground. I felt as if I did not fit in or belong there. However when I moved to Newport it was much more diverse, There are children from many different ethnic backgrounds in Newport they range from Hispanic/Latino, African American, Asian and White. Attending school in Newport with many different backgrounds definitely made me feel more comfortable and accepted. I also found that it was easier for me to learn in Newport because I was more relaxed and focused on my learning rather than thinking about if I fit in or not. **===

===**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> I did so well in Newport schools that I was always one math and science class ahead, and in high school I began to take AP courses, in which I was successful. I found that in my higher level classes the were mostly white students but because the school was so diverse I felt comfortable and there was always at least one of two other minorities in those classes. **===

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** Chapter 10 Quiz: LANIER & TYESHA **
Title IX
 * a comprehensive federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally funded education program

The 14th Amendment
 * granting rights to a national citizenship and forbidding the states to restrict the basic rights of citizens or other persons

De facto segregation
 * Jim Crown laws, brought legal racial segregation against black Americans residing in the American south.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
 * protects students with disabilities. Protects students with disabilities in programs or activities that receive Federal financial assistance from the U.S department of education.

Public Law 94-142
 * the Education For All Handicapped Children Act. The first national piece of legislation mandating appropriate and free education for students with disabilities.

Plessy vs. Ferguson
 * U.S supreme court case that set the tone that “separate” facilities for blacks and whites were constitutional as long as they were “equal”.

Collective bargaining
 * negotiation of wages and other conditions of employment by an organized body of employees

Probationary period
 * the initial period of employment, a kind of “trial period”, during which the supervisor carefully considers whether the employee is able to meet the standards and expectations of the job.

Interpretive agents of legal control
 * governs the practice and proceedings before federal administrative agencies. The procedural rules and regulations of most federal agencies are set forth.

Tenth Amendment
 * The Tenth Amendment helps to define the concept of federalism the relationship between Federal and state governments.

Establishment clause
 * the clause in the first amendment, that prohibits the establishments of religion by Congress.

Child benefit theory
 * a principle that allows state funds to be given to students studying in private schools provided by the allotment can be justified as benefiting the child.

Intelligent design
 * the theory that life, or the universe, cannot have arisen by chance and was designed and created by some intelligent entity.

Race-conscious assignment
 * Almost all educations institutions are required to meet strict legal requirements when taking race into account in admissions, financial aid, student assignment, and other educational policy decisions.

Tenure laws
 * The right, term to hold property. In which land is owned by an individual legally.

FERPA
 * (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974) The federal legislation in the U.S. that protects the privacy of students personally identifiable information. This act applies to all educational institutions that receive federal funds.

Tort
 * A wrongful act or an infringement of a right leading to civil legal liability.

Steward B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act
 * A United States federal law that provides federal money for homeless shelter programs.

Where is education mentioned in the constitution?
 * It’s not mentioned. The constitution doesn’t guarantee a right to an education.

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** Chapter 11 Quiz : LANIER & TYESHA **
What are standards?


 * an idea or thing that is used to measure a level of evaluations (usually used in testing or a learning environment)

What do the Common Core State Standards hope to address? Are they a good step toward improving education in places like those in Kozol’s book? Why or why not?


 * These standards seek to set common academic standards based on a shared common goal for the student’s academic success. They are a good step towards improving education because they are needed. However, all schools are different and require different needs as Kozol discusses. They are a step in the right direction, but they may not be the best answer in improving all schools. Each school is different, requires different methods.

What is the difference between formative and summative assessment? Give examples of each from classes you took in high school and college.


 * refers to a wide variety of methods that teachers use to conduct in-process evaluations of student comprehension, learning needs, and academic progress during a lesson, unit, or course. EXAMPLE: in college, especially in my animal science course I would go home and do the assignments. But I would do them without really knowing what I was doing, I would do them just to get the credit of completion. I wouldn’t really comprehend what the material was. Therefore I would stay after my class or attend office hours to get a better understanding of what I was doing. This helped me because I was able to actually understand what I was doing once after completing the assignment incorrectly.
 * Summative assessment is used to evaluate a students learning skill. Usually used at the end of something, a quiz, project, or course. EXAMPLE: I struggled in a Human Development course before, so for my next course I actually enjoyed the class and how the teacher taught. At the end of the course I asked my instructor for advice on how well I was doing. She gave me a conclusion on how I was doing great in her course, she then began to suggest other teachers who taught similar to her. I found courses that were just right for me due to my learning style.

Define diagnostic assessment.


 * a device used by teachers, it can be used to determine strengths and areas of need in all students. It involves the gathering and careful evaluation of detailed data using students knowledge and skills given in a learning area.

What is the difference between norm-referenced measures and criterion-referenced measures? Which would you personally prefer to take and why? (There is no wrong answer to the second part of this question). Does the subject being tested influence your preference?


 * Norm-referenced test report whether test takers performed better or worse than their peers (average student). Usually comparing scores against others performance.
 * Criterion- Referenced measures are test and assessments that are designed to measure a students performance against a fixed set of criteria or learning standards.
 * I prefer the norm-referenced learning method because it shows exactly the information Ive retained compared to those of my peers. If I am in a classroom everyday learning the same amount of information as my peers, it only makes sense to be compared to how they are doing. I feel that the subject matter does have a significantly influence on how students do compared to others. Not all brains are the same, therefore we retain and are better at other subjects compared to our peers. I do believe that a GOOD teacher can make sure all their students are doing well in the course no matter the subject matter.

What is the difference between holistic and analytic assessment?


 * Holistic assessment consists of looking at everything as a whole. It compares all of the material together as one & determines how one is doing. Analytic assessment looks deeper into the assessment. It is looking at individual performance, all aspects.

What does the Depth of Knowledge (DOK) model assess? What is one fundamental difference between DOK and Bloom’s Taxonomy?


 * The D.O.K model assesses recall and reproduction, skills and thinking due to reasoning.
 * The difference between the DOK model and Blooms Taxonomy is that the DOK is the depth of understanding the required answer or explained assessment related to the item. Originally developed for math and science standards. Blooms taxonomy distinguishing the fundamental questions with in the education system.

Define a growth model as it applies to teacher and/or school evaluation.


 * This model is uses to asses the schools academic strengths and weaknesses. It’s used to see how the school itself is holding up to it’s academic standards.

Define a value-added model as it applies to teacher and/or school evaluation.


 * Measures a teachers impact go students achievement apart from other factors, such as individual ability, family environment, past schooling, and the influence of peers.

What problems might occur with the two models above?

Examine the section “Testing Challenges” (pages 322-323). Which concerns you the most? The least? Or do they all concern you equally (or not concern you at all)?

I feel that it’s a misinterpretation of American education because our country varies from great neighborhoods, to districts that are terrible. Children normally perform better due to their surroundings. If a child is located in a district that doesn’t have as many funds or support as a district that’s located in a great area, then they will not perform as well. As a nation, I believe we have more bad neighborhoods than that of the good. Therefore, we have worse school systems compared to other ranking countries. I believe researchers need to look at the bigger picture, and thats the diversity of our school systems in America.
 * The problem that may occur with the value added model may be how the model testes the improvement of students based on how their teachers teach. I agree with the testing on progression, however I don’t agree that the focus should be on the teacher to student content.
 * The problem they may occur with the growth model is that there is a disconnect with the rhetoric supporting growth models, and the structures they end up creating.
 * The growth model concerns me the most because YES there are students that are making huge learning gains, however, there aren’t enough of them improving.