Monday, December 3, 2012
Students Calling for Action
New York City public school student Claryssa Santana shares her experience in the NYC public school system:
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Two Peas (not) in a Pod: Ultra-Orthodoxy and the Internet
This week, we are being asked to look at a classmate's blog and discuss what they are doing for their Frisch LEADS project.
Here are two blogs that I am looking forward to following as the year goes on:
1. Danielle Silber is exploring what it means to live in ultra Orthodox Jewish communities as a woman. I think this topic is a fascinating one. As Modern Orthodox Jews, we are members of both the religious and secular worlds. Thus, we are probably in the best position to reconcile religious extremism and traditionalism with modern ethics and values. Yet, I find that many people in the Orthodox community stay on one side of the debate, either neglecting to take into account the not all together adverse culture of ultra religious communities, or making up implausible excuses on behalf of these communities without considering their actions against the backdrop of modernity. Many of my family members recently read Unorthodox by Deborah Feldman, a book detailing one woman's experience in the Chasidic neighborhood of Williamsburg. Although I have yet to read the book myself, from what I have heard it raises a plethora of questions regarding religious extremism, gender roles, and so on. One of my cousins read Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali after reading Unorthodox, and commented that one of the differences between the two books is that while both women detail the oppression they experienced in their respective religious communities, Feldman seems to have a lot more anger than does Hirsi Ali. Although I have not read either book, I found this observation interesting. Since I don't forsee myself having time to read Unorthodox in the near future, I look forward to following Danielle's progress with her Frisch LEADS project.
2. Ben Katz is researching the impact that the Internet has on human interaction and connection. This topic is particularly important in light of the immense amount of time that we moderns spend using the World Wide Web. Ben plans to explore social media, popular websites that impact how we learn and research (like Google, Wikipedia and Yahoo! Answers), sites like eBay and Amazon that have changed the face of consumerism, and sites such as eHarmony that have fundamentally altered the way in which we interact with other human beings. Here are some of the questions that Ben wants to answer: " To what extent has the Internet changed human behavior? Is this impact worldwide or just concentrated in certain privileged countries? Will this 'revolution' continue at the rate that it has? Has the Internet brought a positive change for us? To what extent must we remove ourselves from it? What are some instances where the Internet has changed people's lives?" All of these questions intrigue me, so I am very excited to follow Ben's progress!
Here are two blogs that I am looking forward to following as the year goes on:
1. Danielle Silber is exploring what it means to live in ultra Orthodox Jewish communities as a woman. I think this topic is a fascinating one. As Modern Orthodox Jews, we are members of both the religious and secular worlds. Thus, we are probably in the best position to reconcile religious extremism and traditionalism with modern ethics and values. Yet, I find that many people in the Orthodox community stay on one side of the debate, either neglecting to take into account the not all together adverse culture of ultra religious communities, or making up implausible excuses on behalf of these communities without considering their actions against the backdrop of modernity. Many of my family members recently read Unorthodox by Deborah Feldman, a book detailing one woman's experience in the Chasidic neighborhood of Williamsburg. Although I have yet to read the book myself, from what I have heard it raises a plethora of questions regarding religious extremism, gender roles, and so on. One of my cousins read Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali after reading Unorthodox, and commented that one of the differences between the two books is that while both women detail the oppression they experienced in their respective religious communities, Feldman seems to have a lot more anger than does Hirsi Ali. Although I have not read either book, I found this observation interesting. Since I don't forsee myself having time to read Unorthodox in the near future, I look forward to following Danielle's progress with her Frisch LEADS project.
2. Ben Katz is researching the impact that the Internet has on human interaction and connection. This topic is particularly important in light of the immense amount of time that we moderns spend using the World Wide Web. Ben plans to explore social media, popular websites that impact how we learn and research (like Google, Wikipedia and Yahoo! Answers), sites like eBay and Amazon that have changed the face of consumerism, and sites such as eHarmony that have fundamentally altered the way in which we interact with other human beings. Here are some of the questions that Ben wants to answer: " To what extent has the Internet changed human behavior? Is this impact worldwide or just concentrated in certain privileged countries? Will this 'revolution' continue at the rate that it has? Has the Internet brought a positive change for us? To what extent must we remove ourselves from it? What are some instances where the Internet has changed people's lives?" All of these questions intrigue me, so I am very excited to follow Ben's progress!
Saturday, October 27, 2012
10+ Links on Education Inequality
Here are some articles and videos I've found that relate to my project:
1. At 76, Jonathan Kozol is More Outraged Over Inequality Than Ever
This is an article about Jonathan Kozol, long-time education activist and author of multiple books on education inequality. Kozol is well into his seventies and still lecturing and writing in the hopes that our education system will one day give students equal opportunity to succeed.
Here's a quote from the article:
"What's happening now in America, says Kozol, is "not even a pretense of a meritocracy." We are willfully condemning the futures of poor children in our society and, by scapegoating teachers and underfunding schools we're destroying public education. If that legacy of public education is lost, "that precious dream of Thomas Jefferson at his very best," says Kozol, "it will imperil our democracy."
2. Kalamazoo, Mich., the City That Pays for College
I read this article in the NY Times magazine a couple of weeks ago. In November 2005, some unnamed donors decided to pay tuition for Michigan's public colleges, universities and community colleges for students who graduated from the Kalamazoo, Michigan high schools. The program, called the "Kalamazoo Promise", gives Kalamazoo teenagers hope for higher education. One in three Kalamazoo students lives below the national poverty line, and one in twelve are homeless. The Kalamazoo Promise is blind to family incomes, student grades and disciplinary and criminal records. The program requires families to reside in a Kalamazoo school district and graduate from a Kalamazoo high school. The hope is that families will live and work in Kalamazoo for longer, thereby boosting the local economy.
3. BoostUp
BoostUp is an organization dedicated to helping teens who are at-risk for dropping out of school the support they so desperately need to graduate. I've watched many of the videos on the site about student stories. As I watch these videos, I am reminded that these are just a handful of the adolescents in this country who are struggling to make ends meet. The site also provides statistics about dropout rates and ways for the average person to give these students a boost, whether it be by tutoring students after school, giving students resume and interview help, or donating to schools in need.
4. The Opportunity Gap, by David Brooks
I read this article back in July. Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam recently did a study on the socioeconomic gap in America by looking at opportunity inequality among children, the future of our nation. College-educated parents spend one hour more a day with their children. Upper-income parents have increased the amount of money they spend on their children's enrichment programs by $5,300 a year in the past forty years. Children from upper-income families are about twice as likely to play after-school sports and more than twice as likely to be captain of their teams. They are much more likely to participate in other extracurriculars.
"Equal opportunity, once core to the nation’s identity, is now a tertiary concern. If America really wants to change that, if the country wants to take advantage of all its human capital rather than just the most privileged two-thirds of it, then people are going to have to make some pretty uncomfortable decisions."
5. Income Inequality and Educational Opportunity, by Laura D'Andrea Tyson
This September 2012 article includes some sobering statistics about the education gap in this country.
Knowing the facts is the first step towards making a difference.
The 2012 census reports:
"Of the 20.4 million people with income below one-half of their poverty threshold, 7.3 million were children under age 18, 12.2 million were aged 18 to 64, and 940,000 were aged 65 years and older. The percentage of people aged 65 and older with income below 50 percent of their poverty threshold was 2.3 percent, less than one-half the percentage of the total population at this poverty level (6.6 percent)."
Here are some interesting graphs from the census report:
7. Education Gap Grows Between Rich and Poor, Studies Show
Yet another article with startling statistics about the state of education inequality in America.
"One reason for the growing gap in achievement, researchers say, could be that wealthy parents invest more time and money than ever before in their children (in weekend sports, ballet, music lessons, math tutors, and in overall involvement in their children’s schools), while lower-income families, which are now more likely than ever to be headed by a single parent, are increasingly stretched for time and resources. This has been particularly true as more parents try to position their children for college, which has become ever more essential for success in today’s economy.
10. Some informative and heart-wrenching videos about general socioeconomic inequality and education inequality:
Richard Wilkinson: How Economic Inequality Harms Societies
Inequality in the Public Education System
Disparity in Public Education Funding in America
Jonathan Kozol: Education in America (1 of 6) (Follow the related videos for parts 2-6)
This is America- Jonathan Kozol (Part 1 of 2)
Hans Rosling: New Insights on Poverty
1. At 76, Jonathan Kozol is More Outraged Over Inequality Than Ever
This is an article about Jonathan Kozol, long-time education activist and author of multiple books on education inequality. Kozol is well into his seventies and still lecturing and writing in the hopes that our education system will one day give students equal opportunity to succeed.
Here's a quote from the article:
"What's happening now in America, says Kozol, is "not even a pretense of a meritocracy." We are willfully condemning the futures of poor children in our society and, by scapegoating teachers and underfunding schools we're destroying public education. If that legacy of public education is lost, "that precious dream of Thomas Jefferson at his very best," says Kozol, "it will imperil our democracy."
2. Kalamazoo, Mich., the City That Pays for College
I read this article in the NY Times magazine a couple of weeks ago. In November 2005, some unnamed donors decided to pay tuition for Michigan's public colleges, universities and community colleges for students who graduated from the Kalamazoo, Michigan high schools. The program, called the "Kalamazoo Promise", gives Kalamazoo teenagers hope for higher education. One in three Kalamazoo students lives below the national poverty line, and one in twelve are homeless. The Kalamazoo Promise is blind to family incomes, student grades and disciplinary and criminal records. The program requires families to reside in a Kalamazoo school district and graduate from a Kalamazoo high school. The hope is that families will live and work in Kalamazoo for longer, thereby boosting the local economy.
3. BoostUp
BoostUp is an organization dedicated to helping teens who are at-risk for dropping out of school the support they so desperately need to graduate. I've watched many of the videos on the site about student stories. As I watch these videos, I am reminded that these are just a handful of the adolescents in this country who are struggling to make ends meet. The site also provides statistics about dropout rates and ways for the average person to give these students a boost, whether it be by tutoring students after school, giving students resume and interview help, or donating to schools in need.
4. The Opportunity Gap, by David Brooks
I read this article back in July. Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam recently did a study on the socioeconomic gap in America by looking at opportunity inequality among children, the future of our nation. College-educated parents spend one hour more a day with their children. Upper-income parents have increased the amount of money they spend on their children's enrichment programs by $5,300 a year in the past forty years. Children from upper-income families are about twice as likely to play after-school sports and more than twice as likely to be captain of their teams. They are much more likely to participate in other extracurriculars.
"Equal opportunity, once core to the nation’s identity, is now a tertiary concern. If America really wants to change that, if the country wants to take advantage of all its human capital rather than just the most privileged two-thirds of it, then people are going to have to make some pretty uncomfortable decisions."
5. Income Inequality and Educational Opportunity, by Laura D'Andrea Tyson
This September 2012 article includes some sobering statistics about the education gap in this country.
"The United States is caught in a vicious cycle largely of its own making. Rising income inequality is breeding more inequality in educational opportunity, which results in greater inequality in educational attainment. That, in turn, undermines the intergenerational mobility upon which Americans have always prided themselves and perpetuates income inequality from generation to generation.
This dynamic all but guarantees a permanent underclass. Indeed, the process is already under way: An American child’s future income is already more dependent on his or her parents’ income than a child born in most other developed countries."
Knowing the facts is the first step towards making a difference.
The 2012 census reports:
"Of the 20.4 million people with income below one-half of their poverty threshold, 7.3 million were children under age 18, 12.2 million were aged 18 to 64, and 940,000 were aged 65 years and older. The percentage of people aged 65 and older with income below 50 percent of their poverty threshold was 2.3 percent, less than one-half the percentage of the total population at this poverty level (6.6 percent)."
Here are some interesting graphs from the census report:
7. Education Gap Grows Between Rich and Poor, Studies Show
Yet another article with startling statistics about the state of education inequality in America.
"One reason for the growing gap in achievement, researchers say, could be that wealthy parents invest more time and money than ever before in their children (in weekend sports, ballet, music lessons, math tutors, and in overall involvement in their children’s schools), while lower-income families, which are now more likely than ever to be headed by a single parent, are increasingly stretched for time and resources. This has been particularly true as more parents try to position their children for college, which has become ever more essential for success in today’s economy.
A study by Sabino Kornrich, a researcher at the Center for Advanced Studies at the Juan March Institute in Madrid, and Frank F. Furstenberg, scheduled to appear in the journal Demography this year, found that in 1972, Americans at the upper end of the income spectrum were spending five times as much per child as low-income families. By 2007 that gap had grown to nine to one; spending by upper-income families more than doubled, while spending by low-income families grew by 20 percent."
Here are some great graphs with statistics about inequality in the United States.
One important fact I learned:
"Only college graduates have experienced growth in median weekly earnings since 1979 (in real terms). High school dropouts have, by contrast, seen their real median weekly earnings decline by about 22 percent"
This article focuses on education inequality in New York City.
"The real outrage, then, is not our vivid language but how education in New York City is more likely to reinforce existing patterns of inequality than to serve as a pathway to opportunity. It is as if New York is testing black, Latino and poor students on their swimming abilities after knowingly relegating them to pools where the water has been drained. These students are then stigmatized as failures, their parents labeled as less than fully engaged, and their teachers called ineffective. Ultimately, their community’s schools are closed rather than being supplied with the necessary resources and supports to flourish. One cannot ignore the impact of such policies and practices on the public image of blacks and Latinos males and the profiling that exists in our society."
10. Some informative and heart-wrenching videos about general socioeconomic inequality and education inequality:
Richard Wilkinson: How Economic Inequality Harms Societies
Inequality in the Public Education System
Disparity in Public Education Funding in America
Jonathan Kozol: Education in America (1 of 6) (Follow the related videos for parts 2-6)
This is America- Jonathan Kozol (Part 1 of 2)
Hans Rosling: New Insights on Poverty
Friday, October 12, 2012
Bursting Bubbles
As I look back on my Frisch career, I think about all of the times when I inadvertently made schoolwork harder for myself. I made a big deal about small assignments, left things to the last minute, and so on. Yet here I am, on the last leg of my journey through Frisch, purposefully making school more difficult. Why, you ask? I advise you to buckle your seatbelt, because this will blow you out of the water...
I want to actually learn something during my senior year.
I know, I'm crazy. Feel free to mock.
Instead of combining my Tikvah paper with the Frisch LEADS project, I am leaning towards working on two totally different topics. Yes, I'll have more work, but I'm optimistic about how much I will learn in the process.
And now (drum roll please), presenting what I hope will be my final topic: education inequality.
Over the past year, I have developed an interest in and a passion for education reform. One specific area in which I am interested is education inequality, particularly in urban school systems. I have been privileged to attend well funded private yeshiva day schools all my life. I have spent my days in beautiful facilities with high-tech classrooms and benefited from a plethora of enrichment programs and extracurricular activities. I have taken for granted things like adequate lighting, intact textbooks and exposure to the arts. The more I read about education, the more shocked I become. The gaps between private and public schools, and well funded public schools and under-funded public schools are extraordinarily wide! During my excursions into the large network of educators on twitter, Facebook and blogging sites, I have learned that this problem has existed for decades. For years and years, urban youth have been getting the short end of the stick. Education is of primary importance for youth living in urban areas, where there tends to be more violence, substance abuse and the like. Yet we've substantially reduced the chances that these young people will one day move up the socioeconomic ladder. We are prolonging-- possibly worsening-- the general socioeconomic rift in our country.
For my project, I want to thoroughly examine the state of American public education with an eye toward urban schools. I would like to look at issues that arise in these schools due to the socioeconomic standing of the students, as well as the amount of funding that the respective schools receive from the government. For part two of project, I want to find creative, implementable solutions to the problems I have explored. In terms of finding sources, I am planning to a read a book or two by Jonathan Kozol, an educator who has dedicated his life to acting and writing on behalf of inner-city students. Hopefully, his writings will give me an overview of the current situation, and perhaps some specifics. There are many other books, essays, articles and blog posts on this topic, so I don't think I will have a problem finding sources of information. In addition, I would love to visit an under-funded school in New York City and talk to students, teachers and administrators about their experiences with education inequality. As a final project, I'm thinking about starting Ramp It Up, a non-profit organization that Mrs. Wiener, Eddie Maza, and I have been planning to create. The organization would provide study help for AP students who do not have the resources that most private school students are fortunate enough to have- multiple review books, flashcards, lists and summaries given out by teachers, practice tests, etc. Hopefully, my understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of public education will inform how we structure the organization.
People within the Jewish community often talk about the yeshiva day school "bubble". I consider myself to be a fairly open minded individual, generally knowledgable about issues that do not effect the Jewish community. Yet, I cannot deny the fact that growing up in the comfort of the Jewish day school system has made me virtually ignorant to the unique challenges of public education. Hopefully, this project can help me burst that bubble once and for all.
I want to actually learn something during my senior year.
I know, I'm crazy. Feel free to mock.
Instead of combining my Tikvah paper with the Frisch LEADS project, I am leaning towards working on two totally different topics. Yes, I'll have more work, but I'm optimistic about how much I will learn in the process.
And now (drum roll please), presenting what I hope will be my final topic: education inequality.
Over the past year, I have developed an interest in and a passion for education reform. One specific area in which I am interested is education inequality, particularly in urban school systems. I have been privileged to attend well funded private yeshiva day schools all my life. I have spent my days in beautiful facilities with high-tech classrooms and benefited from a plethora of enrichment programs and extracurricular activities. I have taken for granted things like adequate lighting, intact textbooks and exposure to the arts. The more I read about education, the more shocked I become. The gaps between private and public schools, and well funded public schools and under-funded public schools are extraordinarily wide! During my excursions into the large network of educators on twitter, Facebook and blogging sites, I have learned that this problem has existed for decades. For years and years, urban youth have been getting the short end of the stick. Education is of primary importance for youth living in urban areas, where there tends to be more violence, substance abuse and the like. Yet we've substantially reduced the chances that these young people will one day move up the socioeconomic ladder. We are prolonging-- possibly worsening-- the general socioeconomic rift in our country.
For my project, I want to thoroughly examine the state of American public education with an eye toward urban schools. I would like to look at issues that arise in these schools due to the socioeconomic standing of the students, as well as the amount of funding that the respective schools receive from the government. For part two of project, I want to find creative, implementable solutions to the problems I have explored. In terms of finding sources, I am planning to a read a book or two by Jonathan Kozol, an educator who has dedicated his life to acting and writing on behalf of inner-city students. Hopefully, his writings will give me an overview of the current situation, and perhaps some specifics. There are many other books, essays, articles and blog posts on this topic, so I don't think I will have a problem finding sources of information. In addition, I would love to visit an under-funded school in New York City and talk to students, teachers and administrators about their experiences with education inequality. As a final project, I'm thinking about starting Ramp It Up, a non-profit organization that Mrs. Wiener, Eddie Maza, and I have been planning to create. The organization would provide study help for AP students who do not have the resources that most private school students are fortunate enough to have- multiple review books, flashcards, lists and summaries given out by teachers, practice tests, etc. Hopefully, my understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of public education will inform how we structure the organization.
People within the Jewish community often talk about the yeshiva day school "bubble". I consider myself to be a fairly open minded individual, generally knowledgable about issues that do not effect the Jewish community. Yet, I cannot deny the fact that growing up in the comfort of the Jewish day school system has made me virtually ignorant to the unique challenges of public education. Hopefully, this project can help me burst that bubble once and for all.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
First Thoughts
A couple of days ago, Mrs. Wiener announced the Frisch LEADS project to our English class. You can probably guess how most students reacted. Even if they didn't vocalize their thoughts, it was clear that my fellow students were experiencing a sinking sensation in their stomachs at the thought of actually doing work during senior year...on top of a regular AP English Literature curriculum no less!
Now, I don't mean to say that I always enjoy school work, but I didn't get that sinking sensation in my stomach. Gasp! She what?? Let me explain myself...
I am a big fan of this kind of project-based, student-directed work because we, the students, are given the freedom to be creative and inventive while simultaneously developing our research and communication skills. I find that my peers often complain about school not because they don't want to learn, but because most of what we learn in school is conveyed in a dry, mundane manner. Who wants to sit at a desk and furiously copy down what the teacher says for ten periods a day? These kinds of projects have the potential to break down the barriers that prevent so many students from actually- can I say it?- enjoying high school. Now, I am pretty sure that my fellow classmates and I will still complain about the blogging requirements (not to mention the final assignment) but my guess is that deep down, each of us will gain from this project something that cannot be acquired via frontal classroom learning.
I have gone through a few topic ideas and I think I've settled on one that ties in to the paper I am writing from the Tikvah class. My Tikvah topic is the individual versus the collective in Judaism and American democracy, and how the distinction between a faith based on covenant and a political structure based on social contract may shed some light on this issue. These questions will hopefully be addressed in my paper: How are we to reconcile the Jewish tradition's insistence on mutual responsibility with the American value of individual freedom and responsibility? How are we, as American Jews, to look at the conflict between individual and community? What are our responsibilities to our respective communities and to the world?
I really like this topic, but I don't want to do the exact same thing for Frisch LEADS. I'm toying with the idea of using individual vs. mutual responsibility as a springboard to explore the American-Jewish approach to the pressing social issues of our time. How do American Jews view homelessness, education inequality and the like? What's more, how should we view these issues given what our faith has to say about social responsibility? As a final project, I might create the organization that Mrs. Wiener, a fellow classmate and I have been discussing for the past few months.
On the other hand, I'm interesting in so many other areas that would make great projects! I'd love to do my project on education, whether it be general education or specifically jewish education. I'm also interested in social action/entrepreneurship, marketing/advertising, psychology...the list goes on! I may regret limiting myself to philosophy...or not.
I'll be brainstorming a lot in the coming days. More on my progress next time...
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