School Ad Excludes Whites From Tutoring Program

[SpriteGal]

This is the school district I went to, and still live in the area. It's nowhere near inner city. Most in the Cherry Creek school district are middle class white and quite a few are upper class. In fact, it has one of the best funding in the Denver area due to the property taxes of the homes being quite nice.

 

[eileenhawkeye]

This is the school district I went to, and still live in the area. It's nowhere near inner city. Most in the Cherry Creek school district are middle class white and quite a few are upper class. In fact, it has one of the best funding in the Denver area due to the property taxes of the homes being quite nice.

Well, the specific school in this article is 58% White...19% Hispanic...18% Black...4% Asian. 31% eligible for free/reduced lunch.

Here are their test scores...by grade and race: http://www.greatschools.org/colorado/aurora/248-Mission-Viejo-Elementary-School/?tab=test-scores

Even the white kids aren't doing good on those tests (only 63% of 5th graders passed in Math, for example) so it seems weird to exclude them.

 

[SpriteGal]

Yeah I agree it's beyond bizarre to exclude them.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Even if 99% of the white kids passed, it would still be horrible to exclude them.
What about that 1% that needs the help?

All kids should have the chance to better themselves by taking advantage of extra help.

ALL KIDS.

 

[belimom]

Seems like it was started by parents. That's all fine and I understand their reasoning - I work in a school that is 97% African-American and the achievement gap is a real thing. I think the problem arose when it became a school-sponsored program, on school grounds, as opposed to someone's home, etc.

The new tutoring program was started by parents of minority students to help bridge the achievement gap.

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2013/02/1...oring-program/

Bouncing off my own post about the achievement gap and efforts to close that gap....

There are other programs around the country that try to level the playing field by providing add'l experiences for minority/low-income youth (not that they are always one-and-the-same, but there are criteria for inclusion and not just 'all students') (bbm):


LEAP 2 College (Madison WI):

LEAP 2 College is an after school tutoring and mentoring program rooted in partnership between Edgewood College and the Lussier Community Education Center. The program seeks to provide low income and minority youth with experiences that allow them to succeed academically and personally with the overall goal of putting them on track to attend college.
​

Project EXCITE (Evanston IL):

Project EXCITE is a collaborative project involving Northwestern University's School of Education and Social Policy through its Center for Talent Development (CTD), Evanston/Skokie School District 65, and Evanston Township High School District (ETHS) 202. The importance of Project EXCITE to the Evanston community is that it addresses the achievement gap existing between minority and non-minority students in the Evanston schools by providing supplemental educational opportunities for minorities who are under-represented in the advanced mathematics and science courses at ETHS. ...
.... Project EXCITE serves minority students without regard to family income...​

Rochester Community and Technical College's program (Rochester MN):

Minority Services provides support services and creates a culture of success for minority and English-as-a-second-language students.

​

Reading Rescue - a program devised for language-minority students struggling with reading:

Reading Rescue: An Effective Tutoring Intervention Model for Language-Minority Students Who Are Struggling Readers in First Grade​

STEP Program (Pinellas County FL):

Students Targeted for Educational Performance (S.T.E.P.) program is comprised of minority students who maintain a cumulative 2.5 or higher GPA and FCAT scores that fall within level 3 in reading and /or math. The S.T.E.P. program will provide a school-based supportive structure for minority students in order to optimize academic achievement through encouragement, support, and guidance.​

 

[Sonya610]

When one looks at up and coming world superpowers like China, they spend the most money and resources on the bright kids that can LEARN and EXCEL! The not so bright kids get a basic education and then get moved into factory jobs where they are better suited. They nurture their brightest as they realize THOSE are the ones that have the intellect capable of benefiting their entire society in the future!

In America we do the EXACT OPPOSITE! We spend the most money and resources on the LOWEST ACHIEVERS. Somehow that crazy idea is considered "enlightened" and forward thinking in our brave new world!

 

[belimom]

When one looks at up and coming world superpowers like China, they spend the most money and resources on the bright kids that can LEARN and EXCEL! The not so bright kids get a basic education and then get moved into factory jobs where they are better suited. They nurture their brightest as they realize THOSE are the ones that have the intellect capable of benefiting their entire society in the future!

In America we do the EXACT OPPOSITE! We spend the most money and resources on the LOWEST ACHIEVERS. Somehow that crazy idea is considered "enlightened" and forward thinking in our brave new world!

bbm

:waitasec:

A lot of money goes into gifted programs around the country, which are mainly Caucasian and Asian students - most from advantaged/privileged backgrounds. I recently observed a gifted classroom in our district - a program one of my children was chosen to enter - and was astounded to see only 3 minorities (including Asian) out of 28 students, in an area with a very diverse background and not representative at all of the local demographics.

In all honesty, I think the parents who started the program that is now in the news were trying to 'level the playing field' for minority students.

I also found an article written by someone who tutors in an after-school writing program. He said that the majority of students who attend and who filled up the slots early are from privileged backgrounds who are writing very well but their parents want them to write better for college entrance exams, etc. The author said this is very unfortunate considering that the program was set up to help floundering students get up to par - yet those parents were the last to hear about it (or not at all) and therefore there were no spaces left for them, due to the high-achievers in there.

Where Are the Gifted Minorities?

For more than a quarter century, critics have faulted gifted education programs for catering to kids from advantaged backgrounds. These programs do, after all, typically enroll outsized numbers of European American and Asian American students hailing from relatively well-off homes. Members of other ethnic groups, meanwhile, tend to be underrepresented, as judged by the percentage of these students in a school district relative to that in its gifted program.

FYI -- there is alot of money already being funneled to children who are high-achieving already:

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com...s/2012/11/02/where-are-the-gifted-minorities/

Minorities under-represented in school gifted classes


....Research will say the percentage of gifted and talented (GT) students should be proportionate in ethnic group and gender to the general population, but it doesn’t fall that way, said Greg Reeves, advanced academics, GT and English Language Arts specialist for the Region 17 Service Center.

“There tends to be an over-representation of the minority population in special education and an under-representation of minority population in GT classes,” Reeves said.....

http://lubbockonline.com/education/...epresented-school-gifted-classes#.UR-lbTn9tk8

Thomas Jefferson H.S., Fairfax schools shut out blacks and Latinos, complaint alleges

....The complaint alleges that black and Latino students, as well as students with disabilities, are being shut out of Thomas Jefferson, or TJ, long before they apply in eighth grade because of Fairfax County Public Schools’ systematic failure to identify them for gifted-education programs that begin in elementary school....

http://articles.washingtonpost.com/...students-math-and-science-students-admissions

 

[belimom]

When one looks at up and coming world superpowers like China, they spend the most money and resources on the bright kids that can LEARN and EXCEL! The not so bright kids get a basic education and then get moved into factory jobs where they are better suited. They nurture their brightest as they realize THOSE are the ones that have the intellect capable of benefiting their entire society in the future!

In America we do the EXACT OPPOSITE! We spend the most money and resources on the LOWEST ACHIEVERS. Somehow that crazy idea is considered "enlightened" and forward thinking in our brave new world!

bbm

OT: Sorry to quote the same post twice, but I thought of something else. If we don't target the lowest achievers, then those students are unable to graduate, to read/write well, to be contributing members of society. If left to fall through the cracks, these will be the same students who then need support for food, etc., because they are unable to find employment (b/c they can't read/write well enough or they never got the help they needed to even want to achieve to begin with). It's easy to say 'why don't they get jobs' when you don't realize they may not have the skills b/c they were never taught. (Heck, in this economy, those same folks are competing for jobs with people who may have college degrees.)

It is common to pass a student along in failing schools, which happens when there is little funding for under-achieving students. And then the general public wonders how someone can graduate from high school and is still reading on a 2nd- or 3rd-grade level.

Tutoring/mentoring provides students with an incentive. I've been involved with such programs, and so have friends and family members. My FIL has tutored in the same program for 10-15 yrs, working with the same (minority) child for 2-3 years at a time, once a week. The program is highly successful, as it provides even more of a support system and encouragement to do well in school.

Sorry - but this is a topic very dear to my heart. I choose to work in the school I do (97% minority) rather than one with children from privileged backgrounds. Been there, done that. I get much more satisfaction from really identifying how to help a struggling student than trying to placate a parent whose child missed the gifted cutoff and who is irate. I have had to bite my tongue to refrain from telling them how fortunate they are that they have an above-average child rather than a child who is struggling (much less one who is severely disabled, bound to a wheelchair, drooling out the side of their mouth, and who will require assistance for the remainder of their lives. Those parents have something very real to worry about: who will care for their child once they're gone?).

I know this post deviates from the original topic of requiring that a student be a minority to be included in a tutoring program. That is different and discussed in my other posts. Appropriating funds where they are needed is part of what ensures that all members of society can contribute to the best of their ability and is not "a crazy idea". Where should the money go? To teaching the children or welfare for the adults? That's what it very well may be in the long run if children who need help aren't getting it.

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

 

[eileenhawkeye]

When one looks at up and coming world superpowers like China, they spend the most money and resources on the bright kids that can LEARN and EXCEL! The not so bright kids get a basic education and then get moved into factory jobs where they are better suited. They nurture their brightest as they realize THOSE are the ones that have the intellect capable of benefiting their entire society in the future!

In America we do the EXACT OPPOSITE! We spend the most money and resources on the LOWEST ACHIEVERS. Somehow that crazy idea is considered "enlightened" and forward thinking in our brave new world!

WTH Just because you aren't good at test taking doesn't mean you should be sent to some factory to work.
And please, even people who weren't that bright in HS help society out just by having a job afterwards--and it doesn't have to be in some factory.

And how do we neglect the high achievers? Here is the world's smallest violin for the kids about to go to an Ivy League school.

 

[traacker13]

Regarding Sonya's post...last time I checked, we arent a socialist nation. That kind of mentality is exactly what we've strived to overcome. Have you ever heard of The American Dream? That's the kind of America I want to live in. One that fosters the ability for all to have an equal opportunity (no matter how idealistic that may sound).

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[traacker13]

In response to Sonya's post...Last time I checked, we arent a socialist nation. That kind of mentality is exactly what we've strived to overcome. Have you ever heard of The American Dream? That's the kind of America I want to live in. One that fosters the ability for all to have an equal opportunity (no matter how idealistic thatay sound).

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Sonya610]

I also found an article written by someone who tutors in an after-school writing program. He said that the majority of students who attend and who filled up the slots early are from privileged backgrounds who are writing very well but their parents want them to write better for college entrance exams, etc.

Yeah that might be because intelligence is INHERITED.

Lots of tutoring may up the scores for some when they are young but when they are adults the IQ averages show it is all about genetics.

If the parents are bright they provide well for their kids and they strive to educate their kids, they are often "financially better off" thanks to their brains and dedication to family and their kids have the same genes and IQ.

Great advancing societies/countries cherish, encourage, and reward the best achievers.

Atlas can and will shrug.

 

[belimom]

Yeah that might be because intelligence is INHERITED.

Lots of tutoring may up the scores for some when they are young but when they are adults the IQ averages show it is all about genetics.

If the parents are bright they provide well for their kids and they strive to educate their kids, they are often "financially better off" thanks to their brains and dedication to family and their kids have the same genes and IQ.

Great advancing societies/countries cherish, encourage, and reward the best achievers.

Atlas can and will shrug.

You are right - intelligence is inherited, for the most part. However, the tests used to measure intelligence are fallable.

Also, achievement is not the same as intelligence --- two completely different things. What you're capable of doing vs what you're actually doing. It's what the schools are trying to determine in the cases of the students I test, for example - why is their intelligence higher than their achievement? Is it due to an emotional disturbance? a learning disability? motivation? a bad student-teacher match? lack of emphasis on education in the home? So many factors to consider. The nature vs nurture debate is incredibly interesting, to say the least.

I've given over 700 IQ tests as a School Psychologist (right along with an achievement test as well, and many times a learning/memory test such as the WRAML or the TOMAL). It's what I do. And what I love. And what I taught to teachers for two years at a major university (Educational Psychology).

 

[kdblaisdell]

intelligence is INHERITED.

True, to a degree. Often times, I have been pleasantly surprised that kids exposed to new ideas and vocabulary take off like rockets. Sometimes it's just a cycle of poverty and/or addiction. The parents/caretakers aren't educated so the kids aren't exposed to the same ideas, resources and vocabulary as the high achievers. Once they are, they're hooked and learn at the speed of light. Sometimes it takes a bit more effort to get them hooked. It also takes a minute for them to catch up. I've seen students gain 3 years worth of reading levels in 1 year because of these intervention programs.

I teach in a predominantly white/hispanic rural area and we see many of the same problems with education as the inner city schools. Our area is rather unique in that way.

With all that said, I couldn't even imagine setting up an after school (or in school) program for only one specific group of kids based on race or ethnic background. The kids it was set up for would be horribly insulted, too. If you need to set criteria, make it grades, reading or math levels or voluntary--not the way they were trying to do it. That's just nuts!

 

[AlwaysShocked]

In addition to being nuts, is not this type of discrimination against the law? Schools receive Federal and State funding in addition to local taxes. I would think any type of racial discrimination - no matter what race is being discriminated against - would violate the statutes for the use of these funds.

And I am talking even the use of the school building and facilities by a volunteer group.