Monday, August 20, 2012

Low Admission of Black and Latino Students at Area High School Receives Backlash


Anita Kinney points out, first and foremost, that yes, she is a person of color; yes, she has a learning disability; and yes, she was admitted to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ) in Fairfax County.  But she also identifies herself as the exception to the rule. 

Kinney was singled out among her mostly white peers at TJ.  “I endured many taunts from students who told me I had only been admitted to the school because I’d ‘played the race card,’” she wrote in her recent Washington Post guest column.

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology is one of the nation’s top public schools, ranked #2 nationally by U.S. News & World Report.  But the school’s low enrollment of minority and learning-disabled students has long been a topic of debate within the community.

Now, the NAACP and an advocacy group called Coalition of The Silence have filed a 17-page formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Education, the Washington Post reported.  The article, written by Emma Brown, explains that the complaint identifies not only the low enrollment rate of black, Latino and learning-disabled students, but also points out the “systematic failure” of Fairfax County Schools to recognize students of this demographic as gifted from a young age.

Starting in kindergarten, schools begin to pinpoint certain children as gifted.  But even before kindergarten, children from low-income backgrounds do not have the breadth of resources that privileged children do to prepare them for school.  And as Kinney points out, most underrepresented minority students in Fairfax County do not come from privileged backgrounds. 

Upper-middle class parents may be able to enroll their kids in supplementary education programs, while that may not be an option for lower-income families.  Likewise, wealthier families may be able to spend more time talking and reading to their children, while parents working multiple jobs may not have the time to do the same. 

Research shows, for instance, that low-income children hear an average of eight million fewer words per year than kids from wealthier homes, causing a 30 million word gap in a child’s vocabulary before he or she reaches kindergarten. 

While TJ is not necessarily singularly responsible for failing to identify students of color as gifted, their current admissions process, as Kinney puts it, “does not do enough to remedy educational disparities that minority students face in Fairfax County Public Schools.” 

Their admissions process focuses heavily on test scores, for instance.  However, Kinney explains that upper-middle class students tend to excel at this type of testing, while studies show that the same is not true for less privileged students. 

Brown’s article also points out that one part of the admissions application asks students to “Describe in detail your most important out-of-school or after-school activity or interest.”  The complaint states that, “For many black and Latino students, especially those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, their most significant after school activity may well be babysitting their younger siblings while their parents work.”    

Brown says that there is no way to know whether the complaint will lead to a federal investigation, but it is a step in the right direction.  If nothing else, the complaint has brought national attention to TJ’s admission procedures and sparked a dialogue within the community. 

“I hope this complaint,” Kinney says, “will compel our community to discuss how TJ’s narrowing focus on supposedly objective measures of performance ultimately compromises its stated mission ‘to foster a culture of innovation based on ethical behavior and the shared interests of humanity.’”

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Beating Distractions on Saturday Mornings


One of my greatest difficulties as a student was staying focused.  If I was working on an art project or writing an interesting paper, I could work for hours on end without even noticing time passing.  But as soon as someone started explaining the structure of a chemical compound, my mind was elsewhere. 

Unfortunately, we can’t avoid the subjects and tasks we don’t enjoy.  Even when we are focused, today’s world is filled with distractions.  We are plagued with Twitter, Facebook, text messaging, Pinterest and GChat.  Hardly a minute goes by without an alert, an update or an inbox addition.

In a recent Time article, Laura Schwecherl suggests that this influx of technology has made today's generation more distractible than any prior generation.  Her article, “13 Ways to Beat Distractions and Stay Focused at Work", describes methods to help adults stay on task in the workplace, though LSF students and tutors can benefit from many of her suggestions as well.

The first step is fairly straightforward—Schwecherl suggests to “pinpoint the problem.”  If your tutee is having trouble paying attention, ask him what’s going on.  Maybe he didn’t understand the material.  Maybe he is having problems at home or with other kids at school.  A second-grader may not be able to give you a clear answer to your question, but use clues and other questions to try to piece together the puzzle.  As Schwecherl says, “Figuring out the issue is the first step toward resolving it.”   
 
Michele Lerner and Ingrid Toro (grade 7)
Next, she suggests setting goals for the day.  When you sit down to begin work, ask your student what she needs to accomplish today.  We only have an hour and a half, so make sure that the goals you set are reasonable.  Once you complete a task, let her cross it off the list so that she can chart her progress.

Schwecherl also suggests that breaking big tasks into smaller tasks may make the work seem less daunting.  When you can tell that your student is overwhelmed by a big packet of math problems, try writing down one section at a time.  Have your student cross off each task when it’s finished and don’t try to finish the entire packet in one sitting.  Work on other homework and come back to the packet later in the session or next week.

Give each project a time limit.  If you notice your tutee is getting bored with the math packet, tell him to look at the clock.  Assure him that at 11:30, you will move on to something new.  Or, if it’s a particularly difficult subject and the tutee isn’t enthusiastic from the beginning, set a time goal.  If he works on it for fifteen minutes straight, he won’t have to look at it again until next week.  

Being clean and organized is another important element to staying focus, Schwecherl says.  If your tutee has a messy binder full of old homework and crumpled paper, have him clean it out.  Spend five minutes helping him organize his papers, or bring dividers and help him label different sections.  Also make sure that your student has a planner where he writes down his assignments and their due dates, and check each week to see if he’s updating it regularly.  This will help him stay on top of his homework when you’re not there to remind him.      

Finally, Schwecherl suggests to reward yourself and take breaks.  Luckily, we all play games at the end of the day.  But if your student just can’t sit through an hour and half of tutoring (which can be especially difficult for our youngest students), find out what she likes to do.  If she enjoys doodling or coloring, give her five minutes of drawing time between tasks.  Let her get up and grab a glass of orange juice, or take a walk around the cafeteria.  As the article explains, “Short bursts of hard work followed by quick breaks can be more beneficial than never taking a breather, since the brain may just burn out.” 

Some of Schwecherl’s tips shouldn’t be used on kids.  For instance, she suggests trying caffeine to stay alert.  I don’t recommend giving a six-year-old a cup of coffee.  But many of her pointers are worth trying because they could help you and your student have happier, more productive Saturday mornings.