Category: School

Education all over the world can be called a debatable question as almost every day there appears new tendencies and trends in methodology of teaching and pedagogy, brining new ideas and ways out of the modern problematic situation concerning imperfection of the whole system and, as a result, imperfection of educational level of graduates. This very problem concerning presence or absence of need to reform modern system of education is discussed in the article Big-city schools struggle with graduation rates by Greg Toppo, printed in USA TODAY.

To be more precise, it is entirely dedicated to two opposite opinions on current educational system and graduation rates of modern students. The author of the article, Greg Toppo, tries to understand why there appeared some substantial distinction between Christopher Swansons and Lawrence Mishels statistical data. These both researchers have analyzed graduation rates of American schools and there figures are distinguished more than on 10%.

The Swansons findings open a rather bleak picture of overall nations graduation rate in the USA that is less than 70% according to his study, while lawmakers and the others go on keeping USA students globally competitive. Among 50 largest big-city school districts, there three graduating less than 40%, these are New York City  38.9%, Baltimore  38.5% and Detroit  21.7% (Toppo 2006). Such situation is given in the Swansons study. And from the researchers point of view, the problem here is not in 30% of dropouts the problem is that, in fact, this figure is much higher and is be equal to about 50%.

But taking into account that this research was sponsored by the company Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation promoting its own high school reform, the question arises, whether the results of the study are correct. As such low indexes of modern methodical and pedagogical systems shown by the researchers work make it clear that the level of education the students leaves much to be desired. And the only thing can be done to improve graduation rate is to reform the whole educational system.

Especially controversial this question becomes, when most recent Mishels study puts the overall nations graduation rate of the USA at 82%. It is unknown, whose figures are truthful, but the fact is that there is no any reasons for Mishel to contest Swansons research, in case it would be correct. While Swanson could have some benefit making his work useful for his sponsors.

To conclude, it must me mentioned, that educational system used at modern school is not perfect, but it would thing over and change thousands of times, if graduation rates just in a few cities were equal to 50% or less.

The article by Greg Toppo arises before the readers two main questions:

1. Is the situation at school, really, as bad as Swanson has described?
2. If so, what must be done to correct it?

As our society has no answers on both these questions, let us ask the most outstanding educational specialist of all ages. There are three of them who could know the answers: Paulo Freire, Horace Mann and John Dewey.

At the fist question they three, surely could answer equally that, no matter whose study is taken into account, results in them both are rather poor. And these both results are to be improved by some changes.

Paulo Freire would surely say, that the problem is in banking education that annuls the creative power of a student. It means, that the problem is connected with lack of reciprocity between a teacher and a student. The only way to improve current graduation rates in the USA, in accordance with Freires pedagogy, is not to achieve enactment between teacher and student, but a deep reciprocity that must be inserted into that notion of student and teacher. Ever existing problems of the educational level will not disappear till there would not be understanding of teacher-student as well as student-teacher terms. That is, the problem of rates is not a problem of lack of knowledge or lack of attention it is a problem of relationship between teacher and student. To get rid of imperfection in educational system means to recognize that the basic parts of classroom participation are the fallowing: a teacher learns as well as a learner teaches.

He sais: Through dialogue, the teacher-of-the-students and the students-of-the-teacher cease to exist and a new term emerges: teacher-student with students-teachers. The teacher is no longer merely the-one-who-teaches, but one who is himself taught in dialogue with the students, who in turn while being taught also teach. They become jointly responsible for a process in which all grow. In this process, arguments based on authority are no longer valid; in order to function, authority must be on the side of freedom, not against it (Freire).

Freire would say, that modern interacting provided at school as the best way of teaching and learning was not enough for good results, that is why, more democratic relationship were to be established for better graduation rates.

Manns point of view could be the fallowing, to improve the level of education, it must be free with self-interest and morality as its main principles. Perhaps, in the article by Greg Toppo he could pay special attention to the fallowing points, to improve the rates of the present. The public should not be ignorant. Such education must be controlled as well as sustained by not only teachers but an interested public. To his point of view education must be best provided for children from any background and it should be non-sectarian. And what is the most important this education must be taught by the spirit, methods, and discipline of a free society; and that education should be provided by well-trained, professional teachers (Mann, 1849). He would surely agree with Swanson that modern school needs some changes and, may be, even reforms to male the overall nations graduate rates better. He would say, that American educators are to work schools to be better equipped houses, and a curriculum to be wider.

Deweys opinion concerning the perfection of graduate rates would be based on unity democracy and communication in education. He would say about an importance of high level communication between teacher and students. Because for him the most important factor of a high-leveled education is consisted in the fallowing: What nutrition and reproduction are to physiological life, education is to social life. This education consists primarily in transmission through communication. Communication is a process of sharing experience till it becomes a common possession (Dewey 17).

He, surely, would say that the teacher should not be a dictatorial ruler. For students development and, thanking to it, their better graduate rates the teacher should be recognized as a negligible factor, but a necessary one. A teachers role is a role of the intellectual leader. Being an educational reformer, Dewey would be able to emphasize that concern of teaching claiming about transferring teachers knowledge to student were to be changed into a much better concern based on the students active learning as well as their actual experience.

All, mentioned above, let us conclude that for the greatest educators of the past graduate rates as they are, cannot be considered like the most important factors for education. In the centre of any educational process is relation between teacher and student but not the grades the last get while studying. But, at the same time, in case of the right created communication and regular interaction between these two participants of the process of education graduate rates will, surely, become better, because of the high level of mutual understanding. Thanking to such outstanding pedagogues as Paulo Freire, Horace Mann and John Dewey, education is democratic and teachers aim is not to give knowledge but to help a student to get it in a process of cooperation. But the modern educational system is not perfect and the participants of educational process are to improve it together.

The article by Greg Toppo shows that even in big-city schools graduate rates are to be much better we could say that American students are competitive globally and these rates were not a problematic question. To achieve this aim a lot of things must be made among which reconsideration of relationship between teachers and students, and renewal of some methods of teaching.

References

Dewey, John. Democracy and Education: an introduction to the philosophy of education. New York: The Macmillan company, 1916.

Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Continuum Publishing Company, 1970

Mann, Horace. The Massachusetts system of common schools: being an enlarged and revised edition of the tenth annual report of the first secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education. Boston: Dutton and Wentworth, State Printers, 1849.

Toppo, Greg. Big-city schools struggle with graduation rates. USA TODA. 2006. USA TODA Online. Web.

Introduction

Indigenous education involves teachings about indigenous methods, models, and knowledge. In the recent past, the outcomes of indigenous education in Australia have greatly improved. The improvement is as a result of enhanced enrolment and participation of indigenous students in education. The enrolment of indigenous students in vocational education and training and tertiary sectors has increased considerably (Friesen & Krauth, 2010).

Indigenous Education and Bush School Practice

The culture of most aboriginal communities is closely aligned to their environment. The aboriginals perspective on land, language, and culture varies from the perspectives of other communities. It is important to identify the needs of students from these communities to provide them with an effective education (Guevremont & Kohen, 2012). Identifying a supportive education system for the aboriginal students becomes easy as a result. According to the video, Bush School is one of the educational systems used in indigenous education. It is a school environment that integrates aboriginal content and culture, such as teaching students how to ride horses, into regular curriculum (Bryan, 2009).

Indigenous students use learning styles similar to those used in their community. Examples of such styles include observation, imitation, collaboration, cooperation, and use of narratives and storytelling (Guevremont & Kohen, 2012). Such methods of learning require direct experience and learning through inclusion. The student is regarded as an important part of the community. The Bush School video highlights how aboriginal students use these styles to learn useful skills within an informal setting (Bryan, 2009).

Assessment and reporting are very essential in providing effective education. The video highlights the various aspects of assessing and reporting the achievements of aboriginal students. Other education systems, such as those adopted in western nations, emphasise on explicit instructions and testing. Such techniques may prove ineffective to indigenous students since they retain knowledge more easily when learning through methods that have succeeded in the past as opposed to other methods. The western education format is not consistent with the upbringing of the aboriginal students (Friesen & Krauth, 2010).

Indigenous students reflect the cultural, social, and economic diversity of the communities they come from (Higney, 2012). They are spread across schools in the rural, regional, and urban Australia. Majority of these students speak aboriginal English, Creole, other indigenous languages or a combination of these as their first language. As highlighted by the Bush School video, Bush Schools can integrate all these disparities, making it best practice for indigenous students to enrol (Bryan, 2009).

Bush Schools provide specific intervention programs to meet the specific learning needs of students. The programs include strategies and trials designed to increase the enrolment of indigenous students in schools. In addition, the programs are aimed at ensuring that indigenous students meet national benchmarks in literacy and numeracy tests (Harrison, 2011). The programs encourage indigenous students to remain in school and to attend regularly. Such interventions have increased the number of indigenous students completing year 12. Consequently, the number of indigenous students proceeding to tertiary education has also increased (Guevremont & Kohen, 2012).

Engaging indigenous students in the teaching process is very essential to academic success. It provides the students with the knowledge, understanding, skills, and confidence needed to succeed in employment and higher education. Bush Schools engage indigenous students by using the community in their learning. The Bush School video shows how students are engaged in learning through horse riding and other applications. Engagement is critical for it encourages a sense of belonging and self-worth among the students (Friesen & Krauth, 2010).

For indigenous education to be successful, teaching professionals must be accountable when including aboriginal perspectives in their practice. In the Bush School video, the principal agrees to offer horse riding classes. By doing this, more aboriginal students are encouraged to continue with their education (Bryan, 2009). School leadership must ensure that aboriginal culture is made part of the school environment. Professionals must adjust their attitudes and perceptions about aboriginal communities. The school leadership must enhance the relationship between staff and the aboriginal community. Most employees working in Bush Schools have acquired knowledge on aboriginal communities. The acquisition of such knowledge has significant impacts on the way the employees interact with their colleagues, their students, and the community (Harrison, 2011).

For indigenous education to succeed, a carefully planned curriculum should be developed. The curriculum should contain a syllabus outlining what is to be taught and the teaching approaches and strategies to be adopted (Harrison, 2011). By understanding aboriginal cultures, perspectives, and disparities, Bush Schools produce a curriculum that values aboriginal history, language, and culture (Battiste, 2000).

Applications of Bush School Experience

Engaging Parents and the Larger Community

Improving the relationship between the school and the community is the launch pad to a successful and highly effective education system. The partnership should be built on the principle of cross-cultural respect between the school and the community. There are various national and state policies and programs that emphasise on this relationship (Harrison, 2011).

In addition to the process of developing partnerships between the school and the community, I have a duty of encouraging this relationship as a teacher and making it part of my professional and personal accountability. I will involve the community in the planning, delivery, and evaluation of the curriculum. I will also lobby the school administrators to enhance the inclusion of the communitys perspectives in the curriculum. The inclusion is an opportunity for cultural exchange between the teachers and the community. Such an exchange exposes the school employees to a wide range of perspectives on education (R.A. Malatest & Associates, 2002).

As a teacher, I will make efforts to attend community events and functions. My attendance will help strengthen the partnership and relationship between schools and communities, which is based on mutual trust. The experience derived from such interactions will eventually have an impact on my life as a teacher and on the curriculum. In turn, this will have an impact on the students and their overall performance (Friesen & Krauth, 2010).

There are various strategies used to strengthen the community-school partnership. One of the strategies involves keeping up with important events hosted by the local community and advertising such events using notices and newsletters. I will lobby the administration to include important community events on the school calendar (Harrison, 2011). In addition, I will create units of school work and programs that conform to the needs of the community (Ktunaxa, 2011).

Teaching Strategies

Overview

Indigenous education embeds the communitys perspectives, experiences, language, and culture in the schools curriculum. The inclusion of these aspects enhances the effectiveness and success of education by providing a learning environment that adheres to the students way of life. Such adherence makes it easy for the student to transition into adulthood. As a non-indigenous teacher, my exposure to Bush School will create awareness and increase my knowledge on the culture and traditions of indigenous communities (Harrison, 2011).

Indigenous knowledge is of great importance in the management of environment in contemporary world. The methods traditionally used in environment and land management are still very important to the society today (Ktunaxa, 2011). Indigenous communities have learnt to live sustainably in their regions and have passed the knowledge to their future generations (Downey & Pribesh, 2004). The sustainability is very important to the community. It helps them understand their surroundings better. However, I cannot say the same about indigenous communities that have been eroded through displacement (Desforges & Abouchaar, 2003).

There is value in incorporating indigenous knowledge into mainstream education. Learners from diverse backgrounds benefit when they interact with such knowledge. As a teacher, I can improve the exposure by working with elders from indigenous communities in developing a curriculum that includes authentic indigenous experiences (Nechyba, McEwan, Patric & Older-Aguilar, 1999). I will make efforts to introduce controversial topics in classrooms. I will introduce the topics through various methods tailored for particular age groups (Ktunaxa, 2011).

Classroom structure

The Bush Schools classroom structure creates a link between the community and the classroom, making it easier for students to relate to material. The figure below illustrates the classroom structure adopted by the bush school:

I will adopt a similar structure in my classroom. In such a structure, the school emphasises on group or cooperative learning characterised by an inclusive environment. The students are encouraged to learn by watching each other and observing the environment. I will avoid assuming an authoritative role and encourage regulating the learning with my students.

Conclusion

In this paper, I discussed Bush School as an example of best-practice in indigenous education. I discussed the application of Bush School experience into future teaching practice. In addition, I analyzed the involvement of community members in developing school curriculum. Finally, I discussed teaching practices that can be embedded in mainstream education.

References

Battiste, M. (2000). Maintaining aboriginal identity, language, and culture in modern society. Vancouver: UBC Press.

Bryan, D. (Director). (2009). Bush school [DVD]. Australia: SBS Independent.

Desforges, C., & Abouchaar, A. (2003). The impact of parental involvement, parental support and family education on pupil achievements and adjustment: A literature review. London: Department for Education and Skills, Queens Printer.

Downey, D. B., & Pribesh, S. (2004). When race matters: Teachers evaluations of students classroom behaviour. Sociology of Education, 77(4), 267282.

Friesen, J., & Krauth, B. (2010). Sorting, peers and achievement of Aboriginal students in British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Economics, 43(4), 12731301.

Guevremont, A., & Kohen, D. E. (2012). Knowledge of an aboriginal language and school outcomes for children and adults. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 15(1), 127.

Harrison, N. (2011). Teaching and learning in aboriginal education (2nd ed.). Victoria: Oxford University Press.

Higney, J. (2012). Indigenous education. New York: Free Press.

Ktunaxa, S. A. (2011). An indigenous knowledges perspective on valid meaning making: A commentary on research with the EDI and Aboriginal communities. Social Indicators Research, 103, 315325.

Nechyba, T., McEwan, I., Patric, J., & Older-Aguilar, D. (1999). The impact of family and community resources on student outcomes: An assessment of the international literature with implications for New Zealand. Wellington: New Zealand Ministry of Education.

R.A. Malatest & Associates. (2002). Parent and education agreement partnership project: A discussion paper. Victoria, B.C.: R.A. Malatest & Associates.

The Role of States in Enhancing Performance of Charter Schools

In the United States of America, states play an integral role in enhancing the performance of charter schools as well as promoting their financial integrity via an array of actions such as assisting authorizers in addition to overseeing their operations. Besides, 28 of the 39 states surveyed reported gathering data regarding the degree to which charter schools had attained their academic objectives (Bender, 2002).

With respect to monitoring the authorizers, majority of the states surveyed reported having taken some steps to establish these authorizers were executing their mandate of oversight (Baker, Gersten and Lee, 2002). About half of the states surveyed also reported offering financial assistance to assist authorizers play their responsibility of overseeing charter schools or permit them charge charter schools they authorize a small fee (United Sates Government Accountability Office, 2005).

Various studies have concentrated on whether charter schools improve the academic performance of students who are enrolled in them or not. According to the U.S. GAO (2005), longitudinal students-level information has been utilized to explore the achievement growth after and before students are enrolled to charter school.

The findings of this studies have demonstrated that students enrolled in charter schools were performing better academically just as their colleagues who are enrolled in public schools (United States Department of Education, 2003).

However, these studies revealed that charter schools were in overall not having a direct impact with respect to enhancing the performance of students enrolled in them. Some studies demonstrated that some students even performed worse in charters schools than if they had remained in public schools (United States Government Accountability Office, 2005).

A study was carried out to examine whether competition provided by charter schools has the potential to improve the academic performance of public schools (U.S. GAO, 2005).

The study hypothesized that if charter schools are successful in drawing students from private schools as well as traditional public schools, this development may promoted improvements in addition to reforms in the existing schools within the U.S.

The study employed school-level information to investigate how charter schools in Michigan influence the academic performance of traditional public schools within the same state. The findings of this study revealed that competition provided by charter schools played an integral role in enhancing the academic performance of traditional public schools (Tomlinson, 1999).

The funding of charter and Public schools

Numerous studies have been carried to examine the funding of charter and public as well as its effect to academic improvement of these schools. Buddin (2012) affirms that the findings of these studies have revealed that tradition public schools are more funded as compared to charter schools.

A study carried out by Batdoff et al. found out that the gap of funding that existed between charter schools and public schools stood at 19%. A similar study carried out by Miron and Urschel revealed that there existed a big gap with respect to funding between traditional public schools and charter schools (about 30%) (Scholastic Instructor, 2010).

This difference was attributed to the fact that traditional public schools spent more in food services, transportation, students support as well as special education compared to charter schools. Hunuschek, on the other hand, is of the opinion that the differences that exist between traditional public schools and charter schools with respect to funding do not influence the academic performance of these schools (Skilton-Sylvester, 2011).

Enrollment Effects

Some studies have investigated how the option provided by charter schools influence the enrollment pattern with the U.S. A study conducted by Glomm et al. discovered that charter schools were more popular in areas where there is more expenditure related to special education, had more private schools as well as in areas that were having people from diverse ethnic backgrounds (Buddin, 2012).

Curriculum Development

Majority of charter schools, which are newly created move via distinct stages in order for them to develop into functioning learning institutions. According to Premack (1998), these phases encompass preoperational phase (between 1 and 2 years), operational phase (between 2 and 3 years) and lastly institutional operational phase (between 3 and 5 years).

As stipulated by Peebles (2004), the activities related to operational as well as preoperational have the capacity to delay the opening of chart schools and as such, there is a need to give them more attention in the course of the initial phases of development.

When developing a curriculum for a charter school, the role of the experience of teachers as well as their support is integral. Hassel (2003) contends that various studies have indicated that the teaching staff full of experienced teachers has the capacity to contribute positively to the development of school curriculum.

In addition, surveys play a critical role in the development of a school curriculum. A survey that was carried out by Marblehead charter school revealed that majority of the parents wanted as stronger emphasis in mathematics as well as allocation of more time when teaching the subject. When developing a school curriculum, teachers must be given more time to plan, create, adopt as well as assessing the proposed curriculum (U.S. Department of Education, 2003).

Challenges Schools Face When Developing Curriculum

Several studies have highlighted some of the challenges directors, parents as well as teachers face when developing a curriculum. Peebles (2004) opines that a lack of sound policies, tradition as well as structure can unconstructively affect the outcome of a curriculum. To effectively deal with these issues, a detailed school reform design can play a critical role in enhancing the academic achievement of students in both traditional public as well as charter schools (Peebles, 2000).

Besides, in order to successfully adopt the school curriculum, teachers in both public and charter schools must receive professional development as well as necessary training. Moreover, teachers must mirror and create beliefs, habits, as well as knowledge that offer support to the development of school curriculum (Allsopp, Kyger and Lovin, 2007).

Conclusion

This literature review has revealed that states play an important role in enhancing the performance of charter schools as well as promoting their financial integrity via an array of actions such as assisting authorizers in addition to overseeing their operations. Moreover, studies have indicated that tradition public schools are more funded as compared to charter schools (Allsopp, et al. 2008).

With respect to enrollment effects, several studies have demonstrated that charter schools were more popular in areas where there is more expenditure related to special education, had more private schools as well as in areas that were having people from diverse ethnic backgrounds.

There are three phases involved when developing a school curriculum. These phases include preoperational phase (between 1 and 2 years), operational phase (between 2 and 3 years) and lastly institutional operational phase (between 3 and 5 years) (Bailey, 2009). Some of the challenges schools face when developing a curriculum includes lack of sound policies, tradition as well as structure can unconstructively affect the outcome of a curriculum.

References

Allsopp, D., Kyger, M., Lovin, L., Garretson, H., Carson, K., & Ray, S. (2008). Mathematics dynamic assessment: Informal assessment that responds to the needs of struggling learners in mathematics. Teaching Exceptional Children, 40(3), 6-16.

Allsopp, D. H., Kyger, M. M., & Lovin, L. H. (2007). Teaching mathematics meaningfully: Solutions to reaching struggling learners. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing.

Bailey, M. J. H. (2009). The Introduction of Religious Chapter Schools: A Cultural Movement in the Private School Sector. Journal of Research on Christian Education, 18, 272-289.

Baker, S., Gersten, R., & Lee, D. (2002). A synthesis of empirical research on teaching mathematics to low-achieving students. The Elementary School Journal, 103, 51-73.

Bender, W. (2002). Differentiating instruction for students with learning disabilities. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Buddin, R. (2012). The Impact of Charter Schools on Public and Private School Enrollment. Policy Analysis, 2012(701), 1-64.

Hassel, B. C. (2003). Friendly competition. Education Next, 1(l), 8-15.

Peebles, L. (2000). The challenge of leadership in charter schools. Journal of the Intermountain Center for Effectiveness, 1(2), 41-55.

Peebles, L. D. (2004). Curriculum Issues and Charter Schools. Curriculum and Teaching Dialogue, 6(1), 1-11.

Premack, E. (1998).Charter School Development Guide: California Edition. California: Charter School Project.

Scholastic Instructor. (2010). 10 ways to help ells succeed in Math. Web.

Skilton-Sylvester, P. (2011). Eyes on the Curriculum: How One Charter School ResistedTest-Driven Pressures. Dissent (00123846), 58(4), 52-58.

Tomlinson, C. (1999). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms. Alexandria , VA: ASCD.

United States Department of Education. (2003). Charter schools. Web.

United States Government Accountability Office. (2005). Charter Schools. Web.

Introduction

Charter and public schools in the United States of America are facing a myriad of challenges stemming from external and internal pressure. Externally, both public and charter schools are required to perform well during examinations. Anderson and Holder (2012) carried out a longitudinal study to investigate the ten years annual reports of the two local charter schools in the United States of America.

The study utilized information from various sources, such as document analyses, site visits along with various and numerous interviews. The findings of this study revealed that the two schools under study received a lot of feedback regarding its administration, curriculum and evaluation.

CER (Center for education reform) describes a charter school as an innovative public school that is accountable to pupils/students outcomes as well as developed into offer programs that are modified to meet the desires or needs of the community they serve. In the year 1992, a first charter school was opened in the city of Saint Paul within the state of Minnesota.

Presently, there are at least 4,100 charter schools in the United States of America, which accommodate more than 1.2 million students (Bailey, 2009).

The District of Columbia and 42 states in the U.S. have laws, which are associated with the charter school. In every charter school, there is a board of governors that are responsible for making critical decision in regards to the school. Besides, there are also sponsors in charter schools who play an integral role in monitoring as well as approving application to ensure that there is success in this school.

Statement of the Problem

The core reason why charter schools were initiated was to increase the academic option in the public school system. Peebles (2004) defines curriculum as the entire issues that take place within the school. They include interpersonal link, guidance, extracurricular activities as well as academic work.

Peebles further points out that curriculum entails cultural dissonance, academic expectation of the parents, teachers support as well as experience in addition to instructional leadership. Peebles carried out a case study to examine four issues associated with curriculum in the Marblehead charter school.

The issues explored included cultural dissonance, academic expectation, teacher training and experience as well as instructional leadership. Peebles also asserts that, in order for the charter schools to develop, they must move via various critical stages. These stages encompass pre-operational phase, operational phase as well as institutional operational stage.

As pointed out by Anderson and Holder (2012), operational and pre-operational activities have the capacity to impede the opening of charter schools and as such, great focus should be directed to them in the course of the beginning phases of the charter schools development. The director of Marblehead charter school placed more focus on the survival of the school, such as curriculum development, development as well as staff and instruction supervision.

Background of the Problem

The desire to perform well is putting a lot of pressure on both, charter and public schools to constantly review their curriculum in an effort to compete effectively.

Skilton-Sylvester(2011) opine that present day principles and managers of public and charter schools are required to constantly monitor and evaluate efficacy of their curriculum, review and implement new strategies and tactics in order to improve the performance of students in schools.

Autonomy as well as teachers leadership are critical tenets in the development of a schools curriculum. Several studies have demonstrated that inexperienced teachers do not contribute enough to the development of a school curriculum.

Purpose of the Study

Charter and public schools in the United States of America have to combat a number of challenges because of external and internal pressure.

Externally, both public and charter schools need to show good results during examinations. Internally, some schools have inexperienced teachers and poor curriculum that does not enhance performance of students. Developing a comprehensive and effective curriculum in both charter and public schools will provide a platform for these schools to perform well in examinations.

As noted by Peebles (2004), an inexperienced and poor teacher has the potential to unconstructively affect the outcome of students even after the students have left the class. In the process of defining a curriculum, it is critical that teachers possess a detailed apprehension of approaches for assessing the outcome of students, techniques for assessing curricula as well as instructional delivery and the content of the curriculum.

Besides, when developing a curriculum, teachers should be given sufficient time to plan, to create, to adopt and to assess the curriculum. Numerous studies have revealed that one of the reasons why students migrate from one school to another is attributed mainly to students poor academic performance. Most parents who are not contented with grades of their children received during the process of studying at school are more than wiling to transfer their children to another school.

The significance of the Problem

Students have different abilities in a given or particular classroom. We can hardly have a one-size lesson package which can fit all students in the class. Learning procedures and abilities differ across the classroom. As a result, there is a need for a lesson tailored to fit a specific group of students with a common liability or problem.

The lesson must address these needs for effectiveness and benefits of the students. At the same time, the needs of students are divers. This means that teachers should tailor their teaching profession in a specific way in order to meet specific needs of the students. The teacher in this case faces a challenging task of ensuring that he or she has the needed and required skills for some particular needs. Differentiated instruction is an area in the teaching profession which is harnessed for providing specific needs to students.

Given that students have specific needs that must be catered for by differentiated instructions, there is the need for developing an area for students professional development for the differentiated instruction. In this paper, differentiated instruction for students with difficulties in learning the English language in a mathematics class will be addressed and looked at.

Mathematics Learning in English Language

Mathematics is a core subject in all disciplines. The subject is a must-learn for students in various disciplines. Mathematics is majorly taught in English. This is because of the ease with which the language is used in relation to mathematical expressions. The United States of America, the United Kingdom, and some countries in Africa use English in mathematics classes.

At the same time, the United Kingdom and the United States of America have non-English speaking population who are schooling in the same. As a result, mathematical textbooks used in this setting are written in the English language. The same text books are used in African countries in the mathematical curriculum.

Teachers in training colleges are taught in English and as a result, they infer the same to students in English. At the same time, there is no discrimination in education settings. Consequently, students are huddled together in the same learning environment irrespective of their ethnic backgrounds (Bender, 2002).

Students who have English as their second language find it hard to cope with in a mathematics class as they are faced with two tasks that ought to be accomplished simultaneously. The first task entails learning the English language, whereas the second task involves learning mathematics itself.

Due to this, the students who have the English language as their second language struggle to grasp concepts in mathematics class. This happens due to the fact that when the lessons are delivered, teachers do not discriminate students but deliver the lesson with an assumption that they are grasping the concept irrespective of the language deficiency.

Given that teachers cannot speak and learn the first language for every student in class, there is a need for them to offer differentiated instruction to students in this area. Differentiated instruction is vital to students with learning disabilities as teachers are trained to give instructions with a generalized idea on the same (American Institutes for Research, 2010).

Differentiating Mathematical Instruction for English Language Learners

Mathematics classes have normally diverse students. The common diversity is seen in terms of ethnic backgrounds. In a mathematics class, about 30% of the students are normally the English language learners. As a result, they differ in the learning abilities, facilities, and styles.

The English language learners find it hard to cope with the material in this class. The purpose of differentiation in a mathematics class is to teach the victimized students with the aid of myriads of techniques and strategies that address their deficiencies. This implies that the main focus is on the teacher.

The teacher is supposed to come up with strategies in order to implement the differentiation instruction. In this case, the teacher is supposed to be equipped with professional techniques needed to address this issues (Tomlinson, 1999). In this project, the professionalism involved in differentiation mathematical instructions for the English language learners are going to be discussed and highlighted.

The Objectives

The purpose of differentiating the mathematical instructions for the English language learners is to make the lesson of mathematics comprehensible for all students in the class. Through this concept, the students are supposed to achieve the needed mathematical concept despite their language barriers.

As a result, the teacher is supposed to ensure that the students express the numbers or concept used to solve a certain mathematical expression in writing or orally. This involves ensuring that the lesson is not given as it is written in the books but rather is made for the students (Glencoe, 2005).

Assessment Methods

Before implementing as well as also during and after implementing the strategies involved in the learning process, the teacher is supposed to make an assessment of the class and students in order to identify the needs of the students. There are several methods that can be used.

The first method is examination of the records. In this case, the teacher is supposed to carefully examine or review the test score of the students in previous mathematical tests. He or she is also supposed to check the daily assignments and the wording used in the students books.

Assessment should be done at the beginning of the term or the period the teacher has taken over. Assessments can also be done through a one-on-one talk with the student in case the class is small. In addition, assessment can also be done through testing a learning style inventory that can work best to the students. This is possible through ascertaining the topic that best suits the students (American Institutes for Research, 2010). For this case, the students should be given topics, such as algebra and statistics.

Assessment should also be assessed for their progress. This should be done through the skills levels, learning style and thinking skills among many other issues. At the end of every period, the teacher should give the students some projects and evaluate the same to see the extent to which they have grasped the concept (Baker, Gersten, & Lee, 2002).

The Strategies

Making Expressions Banks

The strategy consists in making the use of diagrams that show expressions and phrases that are helpful in the English language learners (ELLs) study of mathematics. This occurs because when the words used by a teacher are accompanied by diagrams and illustrations, they help the ELLs understand various mathematical concepts and have the memory stick accordingly.

The Use of Manipulative Tools

These are gadgets that a teacher should employ in the course of teaching in order to ease understanding. These manipulative tools are made to help the students come up with physical illustrations which comprise the mathematical expressions. Having a student come up with a physical mathematical model by himself or herself will boost his or her confidence and motivate them to understanding the mathematical concept easily and qucikly (Scholastic Instructor, 2010).

Modify a Teacher Talk and Practice Wait Time

The teacher should not engage in a lot of talking without giving time to ask questions. Also, when asking a question, some time in order to generate answers should be given to the students in the class. Writing the question on the board helps a lot as well as it helps to stress the most major concepts in the mathematical language (Scholastic Instructor, 2010).

Eliciting Nonverbal Responses

The English language learners are in most cases used to nonverbal communication. As such, the teacher should be keen to notice their understanding of concepts by simply observing their behavior and reactions while teaching (Scholastic Instructor, 2010).

The Use of Sentence Frames

The English language learners understand sentence frames quite well in their English language. Therefore, the use of such statements while expressing mathematical concept will foster the students understanding.

Design Different Questions and Prompts at Each Proficiency Level

Asking question gives students a chance to express and confirm their understanding of the subject. Also, it helps the teacher know if the concepts taught in the class having been grasped or not.

The Use of Prompts to Support Students Responses

The use of prompts to support students responses entails giving a certain way of answering a question to the English language learners. Such prompts help them to be confident while expressing their answers during the lesson

Consider Language and Math Skills When Grouping Students

Interacting in a group level gives students an opportunity to learn new ideas as well as overcome difficulties which they might have had in understanding some mathematical concepts. Therefore, grouping students with different abilities together helps their learning to a great extent.

Those people who support the education for the ELL suggest that common core academic standards should be implemented with an aim of raising achievement for the English learners. Education sector should pay more attention to the non-performers to improve their performance in all the subjects and area of study. Screening of the students performance to identify their weaknesses could contribute positively to their performance in the end.

The Arizona system of assessment should also be evaluated to improve its effectiveness on the assessment of the students performance. Since the study identified that the non-ELL performed better in math than non-ELL, more emphasis should be put on their system of education and the curriculum to equalize the performance of both groups.

Utilize Partner Talk

In the course of teaching, the teacher should allow discussions between the neighboring students, which breaks the monotony of the teacher talking alone and also contributes to building trust between the students, being very vital in the process of studying in class.

Encourage Choral Responses from Students

To encourage choral responses from students helps a sector of learners who hardly speak out to answer a question or ask one. In a choral response, therefore, they are able to gain confidence as well as get the right pronunciation of the mathematical concepts (Scholastic Instructor, 2010).

Implementation of the Plan

When setting out the plan, the teacher is supposed to ensure that the room is well arranged in a way that it can quickly be rearranged for the next lesson. The teacher should then issue materials in a properly arranged manner to be used for the study. Materials such as drawings tools, computers, textbooks, and audio materials among many others should be provided (Allsopp, 2008). When everything is ready and arranged, the lesson should start.

Leadership Principles

The teacher is supposed to display some qualities or principles vital for the implementation of the plan. The first principle is patience. The teacher should be patient with the students and give everyone time to express their own ideas. The next principle should be willingness.

The teacher should develop a parent heart and be willing to always help his or her students any time. At the same time, the teacher should maintain professional methods and never deviate from the topic or give up on it because of the difficulties involved. When teaching, the teacher should be honest with his or her students and avoid showing divided favors.

Key players in the Plan

Since this is a school setting, various players should be involved for the success of the plan. First of all, the parents should be involved by all means. They are supposed to provide the needed funds and materials for the success of the plan. Teachers should also be involved. They should mark the needs of the English language learners and be ready to be called for extra lessons.

The teacher leaders should ensure that materials are availed on time. The staff should also be willing to help in any way possible. The students should be willing to be helped and always help each other (Allsopp, Kyger & Lovin, 2007).

Mathematics is often regarded as a foreign and quite hard subject to grasp to most students unlike the other subjects taught at school or college. Particularly, in the case of English Language Learners (ELLs), mathematics to them is a major challenge. For a teacher, as a result, it is hard make the students fully understand the math language, as such, a lot of efforts are required to acquire math concepts in the oral and written form.

References

Allsopp, D. H., Kyger, M. M. & Lovin, L. H. (2007). Teaching mathematics meaningfully: Solutions to reaching struggling learners. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing.

Allsopp, D., Kyger, M., Lovin, L., Garretson, H., Carson, K. & Ray, S. (2008). Mathematics dynamic assessment: Informal assessment that responds to the needs of struggling learners in mathematics. Teaching Exceptional Children, 40(3), 6-16.

American Institutes for Research. (2010). Differentiated Instruction for Math. Web.

Anderson, D. L., & Holder, K. C. (2012). Accolades and Recommendations: A Longitudinal Analysis of Monitoring Reports for Two Charter Schools Serving Native American Students. Journal of School Choice, 6(2), 184-208. doi:10.1080/15582159.2012.673967

Bailey, M.J.H. (2009). The Introduction of Religious Chapter Schools: A Cultural Movement in the Private School Sector. Journal of Research on Christian Education, 18, 272-289.

Baker, S., Gersten, R., & Lee, D. (2002). A synthesis of empirical research on teaching mathematics to low-achieving students. The Elementary School Journal, 103, 51-73.

Bender, W. (2002). Differentiating instruction for students with learning disabilities. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Glencoe. (2005). Differentiating instruction in the Mathematics classroom. Web.

Scholastic Instructor. (2010). 10 ways to help ells succeed in Math. Scholastic Instructor. Web.

Skilton-Sylvester, P. (2011). Eyes on the Curriculum: How One Charter School Resisted Test-Driven Pressures. Dissent (00123846), 58(4), 52-58.

Tomlinson, C. (1999). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms. Alexandria , VA: ASCD.

The character education program in preliminary school greatly contributes to the improvement of the learning process and enhancing the student learning skills. It is also aimed at enhancing the relationships within the educational communities, between the teaching staff and student for further cooperation and improvement of the learning environment (Ryan and Lickona, 1992 p. 335). Due to the fact that character education programs should be reported to various stakeholders, there is a strong necessity to work out effective strategies depending on various aspects. Hence, the target stakeholders of the report presentation will be the teaching staff, students, and program advisors.

Character education program delivery for the teaching staff is predetermined by the following requirement. Usually, teachers demand a full presentation of the report and examples. Each issue of the report should be explained and supported by evidence-based theories and reliable researchers. Additionally, they are more focused on the depiction of such aspects as the connection of student skill and their engagement into the learning process.

Based on the above, the following strategies have been developed:

• The program should be presented in the form of an algorithm, which means that each step should be followed by a supportive one.
• The report should comprise a minimum of theory and a maximum of practice, as teachers and instructors should be know how to apply for character education programs in practice.
• The enclosure of report presentation copies is important to provide teachers with visual examples.
• The speech should be oriented on evidence-based researches that provide similar program results.

Needless to say that students should be more concerned with such aspects as communication and leadership within the student communities, the evaluation of skills in correlation with students capabilities. Additionally, they are not interested in introducing parts of the report but in the conclusions made. Therefore, this stakeholder group will be more convinced if the narrator chooses the following strategies:

• To begin with, the introduction part of the report should be interesting and attention-grabbing. Therefore, it is necessary to start with the evaluation of the results of the program in order to persuade the audience of the importance and usefulness of the program
• The main task of the narrator is to establish cross-communication and make students ask and answer the questions.
• It is better for the report delivery to make a powerpoint presentation, where the main issues will be highlighted.
• Finally, as students are more focused on the conclusions, the evaluation report should have a strong final thesis.

The program report for advisors and investors presupposes a thorough preparation so that the stakeholder can understand why they should care for this program development. Therefore, the core issue of report presentation is a successful identification of the aim of the program and its importance for the education process (Manchester Open Learning, 1993, p. 9). Then, it is necessary to outline the beneficial points of the program and its contribution to students skills development. Finally, the program advisors are more inclined to listen to a progress report where all issues are revealed in detail. As a whole, they will be more interested in the complete report on evaluation, as they are active participants of program fulfillment. A successful and detailed presentation will help them to understand what issues were omitted and what issues should include in the future.

References

Manchester Open Learning. (1993). Making effective presentations. Great Britain: Kogan Page Publishers.

Ryan, K., and Lickona T. (1992). Character development in school and beyond. US: CRVP.

Educators define at-risk behaviors of a student as those actions or characteristics which are not usually displayed by his/her coevals, and which may produce a negative effect on his/her health or academic performance (Bender & Neutens, 1997, p 11). Speaking about this thirteen-year-old adolescent, we can single out the following at-risk behaviors

1. daydreaming that results in poor concentration;
2. unsociability that leads to alienation from classmates;
3. restlessness or lack of perseverance. All of these issues must be addressed by his/her teacher. For this purpose it, it is necessary to develop a plan of intervention.

Daydreaming or attention deficit presents significant difficulties for both teachers and learners because it decreases the capacity of a persons memory, critical thinking ability, and participation in the discussions etc. There are several methods to cope with this issue; one of them is to remove this student from a reinforcing setting into setting with lower reinforcing value (Bowen et al, 2004, 288). In other words, this pupil should be placed in an environment where he/she will have to be constantly alert and attentive, for example, at the front desk. The presence of the instructor will act as a powerful stimulus for him.

Another strategy is to engage him in group work. A person, who has to communicate with other people, unavoidably becomes more concentrated. It is important that his teammates are on friendly terms with him. This adolescent must not feel like an outsider in this team. One of the most important tasks for a teacher is to ensure that this teenager is not excluded from the group (Bender & Neutens, 1997).

Thirdly, propensity to daydreaming can be alleviated by alternating the assignments this student and his/her activities. It should be borne in mind that attention weakens if a learner has to do monotonous tasks. For instance, an individual is rather unlikely to remain focused if he reads or writes for more than thirty or forty minutes. Therefore, it is necessary to make a pause or switch to a different assignment.

It should be noted that daydreaming may be due to the fact that this pupil does not get enough sleep. This is why a teacher should talk to him and explain the importance of biorhythm. A person of his/her age should sleep at least seven or eight hours. The thing is that sleep deprivation can be the underlying cause of many disorders, including lack of concentration, slow reaction or even depression (Bender & Neutens, 1997). So, we can argue that explanatory work can be extremely beneficial as an intervention measure.

Unsociability or reticence is another disturbing form of at-risk behavior. This student has very few friends in the class. One of the possible interventions has already been described in the previous section; it lies in encouraging this student to participate in teamwork and class discussions. He/she may be asked to assess the responses of others and uphold ones opinion. It is also possible to assign group-projects to a class. These projects may last for one or two weeks.

This will offer students a good opportunity to know each other better. Thus, in this way this teenager may become more communicative. It should be taken into consideration that these interventions must not be conspicuous; they must not hurt the feelings of the teenager, otherwise this student may view oneself as abnormal. We should mention that in some cases, unsociability can be ascribed to low self-esteem, and it is vital to raise it (Bowen et al, 2004). So, it is advisable to praise this student, if he shows good results. A teacher may also assign him a task, demanding responsibility and accuracy. This will be a token of trust, which will enhance his/her motivation. The educator must make sure that this adolescent does not regard oneself inferior to others.

Restlessness or lack of perseverance is much more difficult to manage. The thing is that such conduct is more typical of children of seven or ten, who are not used to working on the same task for a long period of time; sometimes, they find it very hard to sit in a chair during the course of a lesson. As it has been previously pointed out, teacher should alternate tasks, assigned to this teenager. The activities of the students must not be monotonous because monotony is one the reasons why learners may abandon academic tasks.

Careful monitoring may also be an effective strategy, to be employed by a teacher. The educator should ask this student whether he/she needs help on a particular assignment or whether there is something unclear. Proffer of help must be unobtrusive otherwise this adolescent may view oneself as the one, who constantly lags behind. We should say that lack of parental control is one of the reasons why students can assume an irresponsible attitude to their studies.

We should remember that this teenager lives a divorced parent. Thus, an educator may ask this parent to pay more attention to the academic performance of his/her off-spring. It has to be admitted that this analysis lacks more specific data, particularly: the performance of this student in various subjects, his/her IQ rate, interactions with the opposite sex and so forth. Yet, interventions, described in this essay, may help to resolve many of his/her problems.

Reference List

Bender S. J. & Neutens J (1997). Teaching health science: elementary and middle school. New York: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Bowen. J.M. Jenson W.R. & Clark L.(2004). School-based interventions for students with behavior problems. New York: Springer.

Fiscal issues impacting the state of Georgia school funding

The State of Georgia has been committed to improving standards of education within the state by developing a funding formula that would ensure that all the needs of schools are adequately met. However, some recent fiscal trends and issues have impacted on the states school funding formula, which in turn have affected the schools budget. According to Houck, Rolle, and Jiang (2010), the State of Georgia, like many other states in the country, have been financially constrained, especially following the recent economic recession that affected the economy of the country. This forced the state to review its funding structure to schools within this country.

The states government realized that it had no option but to reduce its funding on education sector. This meant that the government had to come up with a new fiscal policy that reduced allocation of funds to schools. The funding formula changed from the initial approach where all schools were allocated a specific amount of money, to an approach where allocation of funds was based on the needs of the schools. This meant that schools that were believed to be having the capacity to fund most of their projects were given a lower percentage of funds.

The states government also introduced a funding formula which demanded that part of the funds used by some schools had to come from local sources. This was something that was new to most of the schools administrations. They had to reevaluate their policies in order to find ways of funding their activities from local sources. These drastic measures came at a time when these schools least expected a reduction of funding from the state government. According to Toutkoushian and Michael (2008), most of the state officials did not expect that their funding will be reduced at a time when they were facing financial constraints with their current budget. The schools administrations were negatively affected by this move.

Some of the local sources of funds that they were directed to source their funding from were not reliable. It forced the administrations of the affected schools to improvise ways of funding their activities. The report by Verstegen and Jordan (2009) indicate that the State of Georgia has been poorly ranked among other states in the quality of education and the graduates they produce. This may have some direct relation with the reduced funding from the states government.

It is a clear indication that the performance of students and the schools in general depend on the effort put in place by the government. If the government puts little effort, then this will be reflected in the poor performance. Some schools were always forced to cut down their budget, meaning that they had to reduce some of their educational activities. The strained budget also meant that students could not be exposed to some of the co-curriculum, something that has been blamed for the poor performance.

An analysis done Sielke (2004) on the current fiscal trends in this state indicates that the current formula used to fund schools in Georgia is one of the best approaches in the United States. This report indicates that before the application of this new approach, many schools were being awarded amount of money that was way above their financial needs. Some schools could easily get alternative funding, making the funds from the state government unnecessary.

However, they still kept receiving states funding to cater for unnecessary luxuries that do not add value to education. Sielke (2004) argues that the recent report that Georgia is performing poorly in the education sector should not be associated to the reduced funding from the state. This is so because even before the reduction took place, the state was not performing any better. In fact, the state has achieved some little improvement in its education system within the last one year, but this was after the reduction in funds. The blame on this poor performance should be attributed to the structural issues in the education system. Addressing these structural issues does not need extra funding. The relevant stakeholders must commit themselves to changing the systems in order to reflect the changing trends in the education sector.

Scholars and educational experts have had positive comments about the new fiscal trends used by this state to fund schools. There are schools that have higher needs of funds than others. Awarding the same amount of money to all schools without following a specific criterion, is unfair for schools with higher needs. Reising (2002) says, Students with greater levels of need should be assigned to academic programs with smaller class sizes, and, therefore, should be allocated more funding. This is what the states new funding program is following. This new funding formula focuses on needs of the schools before issuing funds. This means that cases where schools would receive more money than they need has been eliminated. This does not only reduce extravagance in schools, but also encourages accountability and discipline in the administration of schools. The schools are reminded that the economic resources are scarce, and they have to learn how to maximize their limited funds.

Consolidating school districts within a state or privatizing public education elements

The current burden to fund public education relies on the tax payers within the state. As a superintendent of schools, it is a fact that the expenditure of the state on education has been reduced because of fundamental reasons. However, it has been a challenge trying to convince both sides on the best approach to be taken in funding schools. The states government is convinced that the best approach to take is to reduce the amount of its budget on schools funding. The principals and other schools administrations believe that this amount should be increased. As the districts superintendent of education, I often find myself between the two forces that demand that I have to understand them.

I believe that consolidation of school districts within the state or privatization of various elements of public education offers a real solution to the existing problems in funding the schools. It is important to note that although these are two different approaches, they have a number of similarities. Both approaches seek to withdraw the financial responsibility of the schools from the states government to stakeholders who believe that they have a role to play in the education system. This does not only reduce states agents to education department, but also encourages governance of the schools as entities that are semi-independent from the state (Adams & Foster, 2002). This will cut the costs of operations, reducing the burden they have on education.

According to Byrnes (2009), consolidation of school districts within the state has been confirmed as one of the ways of improving efficiency of running schools. The consolidation helps the schools fiscal budget to be made at lower levels that enable the stakeholders understand the specific needs of the individual institutions. This has a similar impact to privatization of some elements of public education. When the schools are privatized, it becomes possible to understand specific areas that are redundant and can be eliminated to ensure that there is efficiency in administration (Byrnes, 2009). This will help in further reduction of funds needed for the schools.

According to Kaufmann (2012), one of the main benefits of consolidating school districts within a state is that it results into higher educational quality. This is so because it offers the relevant stakeholders an opportunity to have greater participatory roles in the management of schools. The centralized system of managing the district schools makes it easy to develop a comprehensive program that can be used to boost education in the entire state. This will help improve the current poor performance that has been witnessed in the recent past. This has a similar impact to what privatization will have on the education system.

According to McKinley and Phillis (2008), privatization of some elements of public schools will result in a scenario where the responsibility of those elements is taken away from the state government to individuals who accept to be part of such administrations. This means that the cost of those elements will be met by the individuals other than the state. It is also a fact that privatization will improve performance of individual schools within the state.

Byrnes (2009) says that, one of the reasons why some public schools have been performing poorly is because of limited strict supervision from the superior authorities. Some of the administrators feel that they do not owe anyone any explanation in case of poor performance. This will change in case some of the elements are privatized. The administrations of these schools will find themselves under much heat trying to meet the needs of the stakeholders. The stakeholders will need good results out of their investment. This will result into improved performance of the schools.

Consolidation of school districts within a state has some significant differences with privatization of various elements of public schools. One such difference is that, while consolidation of the district schools seeks to centralize management of schools, privatization seeks to decentralize this management. As the superintendent of schools, it is a fact that this may be appropriate under different circumstances. Privatization would be appropriate in cases where the main focus is to cut government expenditure in schools, while consolidation would be more appropriate if the focus is to develop similar programs that would help improve the education system. Another fundamental difference between consolidation and privatization is on the funding. When some elements on public schools are privatized, those elements will be fully funded by private individuals. However, consolidation of school districts will still need some form of government funding.

Lacireno (2006) says that consolidation of schools is one of the best approaches that can be used to ensure that a state improves its academic performance of all schools in a universal way. However, privatization promotes individualism, where performance of schools will be based on the effort of the individual schools. I would recommend that the state government should consider privatization of some school elements as a way of cutting costs and improving efficiency of schools in this state.

References

Adams, J. & Foster, M. (2002). District Size and State Educational Costs: Should Consolidation Follow School Finance Reform? Journal of Education Finance, 27(3), 833-855. Web.

Byrnes, V. (2009). Getting a Feel for the Market: The Use of Privatized School Management in Philadelphia. American Journal of Education, 115(3), 437-455. Web.

Houck, E., Rolle, A., & Jiang, H. (2010). Examining School District Efficiency in Georgia. Journal of Education Finance, 35(4), 331-357. Web.

Kaufmann, J. (2012). A Post-structural Ethical Analysis of Antibullying Legislation in the State of Georgia Free content Quick View. International Review of Qualitative Research, 5(1), 29-38. Web.

Lacireno, N. (2006). Charter School Enrollments in Context: An Exploration of Organization and Policy Influences. Peabody Journal of Education, 81(1), 79-102. Web.

McKinley, S. & Phillis, W. (2008). Collaboration in Search of a School Funding Remedy post DeRolph. Journal of Education Finance, 33(3), 311-329. Web.

Reising, B. (2002). School Funding. The Clearing House, 75(5), 220-228. Web.

Sielke, C. (2004). Rural Factors in State Funding Systems. Journal of Education Finance, 29(3), 223-236. Web.

Toutkoushian, R. & Michael, R. (2008). The Impacts of School Funding Formula Modifications on Equity, Fiscal Neutrality, and Adequacy. Journal of Education Finance, 33(4), 352-380. Web.

Verstegen, D. & Jordan, T. (2009). A Fifty-State Survey of School Finance Policies and Programs: An Overview. Journal of Education Finance, 34(3), 213-230. Web.

Introduction

Nowadays people are living in a scraped and challenging era at an uncertain period in history. The ideologies that rule contemporary society may be going into their last, frantic stages, their final lap as Wolf (2007) terms it. The cultural, economic, and political policies of civilization, he claims, are unattainable, in fact, are almost collapsing. Besides Wolf, numerous visionary individuals, including among others Joanna Macy (2006), Derrick Jensen (2006), and Richard Tarnas (2007) have lately affirmed the possible end of ideology, the final lap of an era (Wolf, 2007), possibly even the ultimate end of schooling (Jensen, 2006). In fact, many writers, like Joanna Macy (2006) and Derrick Jensen (2006), have observed that people are familiarizing with one of those exceptional past periods when a basic perspective, the only principle for controlling modernity, crumples and paves the way to an emerging historical period.

The key problem facing civilization, according to Wolf (2007), is that people have pushed away personal experiences from the pulses and/or cycles of humanity so as to emphasize selfish power around the globe for temporary benefits. Not only do these alienations make people existentially, mentally, and religiously bereft-troubled, traumatized, forlorn, and scared-but they unleash the horrible hostility of imperialism, majestic, and reserve conflicts. Additionally, the longing for ruling the earth is eventually pointless since natures reserve is limited, and people cannot ever use it and reduce it to waste.

Political economy, Ideology, and Schooling

While people are discussing the topic regarding the founding observers, they might identify what are possibly the most necessary features between school and society the theory dealing with the isolation of controls. The observers tackled the prospective centralization of country power using an explicit plan-demarcating territory between the authorities that all arms of state could manipulate. Richard Tarnas, an Australian theorist suggested a framework, which integrated the threefold culture that likewise partitioned its roles and/or objectives to restrict the centralization of power in only one organization (Tarnas, 2007). Even though Tarnas defended his system based on his obscure religious pedagogy (which I believe is not comprehensible), I have observed that the idea concerning threefold rests individually as a discerning theoretical instrument for evaluating and contesting the political views of contemporary schooling.

Arguing from my own experience, the three fundamental roles of the cultural sphere are the political economy, ideology, and schooling. The economic sphere, Jefferson claimed, regards the processing and transportation of goods, or more widely it regards the interaction between the material sphere and the general public. The political spheres form the realm of justice and humanity or the appropriate interactions between human beings. The ideological sphere comprises the rapid innovative action of the human intellect; the technologies and the practices of learning (which Tarnas predicted) are forms of this free-flow of religious power. Economic actions that involve disparity and unpredictable commodity prices have no impact on political decisions that must be influenced by supreme fairness of lawful rights, and no single cultural action should interrupt the innovative activity of the founder, scholar, or philosopher.

As Horace Mann observed many decades ago, in the contemporary world economic enterprises have spilled over their correct territories, and the outcomes are that each element of life, including learning, have become commodities-things with economic values instead of internal values (Tarnas, 2007). Basically, my experiences are relevant to the ideas predicted by Jefferson and Mann many years back.

Historical Perspectives and Issues in learning

For the past three decades, grave yet still widely ambiguous literature have been originating from diverse academic views, comprising technology, social ethics, spiritual education, and philosophy that challenge the fundamental educational postulations of civilization, specifically their reductionism and acquisitiveness. Various observers claim that realities are costly and dynamic, and humanity more lively and understated, than modern perspective enables. The observers suggest that there are natural relationships between people and the organic sphere, that people are fondly trapped in their pulses and procedures in a way that people are not able to notice when they split the natural world into distinct parts and blind energies.

Some wider metric of life-scientist Derrick Jensen named it the incriminate order-determines design, implication, and possibly even objective of the cycles of the natural world (Wolf, 2007). From historical perspectives, the principle objective of learning is not disseminating knowledge but to aid learners to undergo senses of speculation and/or avid desire in the natural world, together with patterns of critical reflection and open analysis.

Education Philosophy

The philosophy that I advocate is one that is based on the countercultural norms of holistic learning (Macy, 2006)-the distinct collection of essential learning options that include free institutions and other perspectives based on religious ideologies, and that portion of the home-based schooling approach initiated by the autonomous decentralization of learning institutions. This anti-cultural movement was at first apparent in the feedback that Emerson Alcott, an emerging democrat, initiated in Horace Manns popular learning agenda during the early 1850s.

The basics of anti-cultural/optional pedagogy seek to substitute a rigid and mechanistic framework of schooling-learning for all-with an approach that is more natural (aligned to the pulses and/or cycles of the natural world), customized (deferential of the exclusivity and intrinsic strength of a learner), and genuinely autonomous (receptive society). Holistic learning promotes societal and learning agendas based on various necessary pillars; 1) an integral view, 2) respect for humanity, 3) democracy and 4) openness instead of rigid ideology.

In spite of the demographical and methodological variations evident in the many alternative pedagogies- radical individuals, for instance, would debate many concerns-personally am persuaded that these major theories and practices are broadly common to the nonconformist educational policy that has emerged in order to counter the old-age schooling. Also, I believe that it represents the after-industrial, post-civilization global perspective that is evident in numerous areas of tradition, from integral healthcare to natural, native farming to agribusiness and beyond. Integral pedagogies are not attempts to amend the old schooling system, but to replenish completely fresh frameworks from entirely diverse traditional pillars. Through rethinking the aspects constituting this holistic approach, the likely forms of completely new systems start to emerge (Jensen, 2006).

Conclusion

In spite of the desire of numerous schooling observers for the last two centuries, it appears very well that pedagogies do not impact society so much as reflects them. Teaching children regarding our preferred alternatives-autocratic or natural balance, cultural ethics or spiritual collectivism-does do not appear able to substantially change the intellect or political behavior of society provided the radical tradition is alive in strong financial and political institutions, social beliefs, and the emerging perspectives that surround schoolchildren, adopt other values. Attempting to alter cultures through schooling is pointless if the cultures are not otherwise ready for the change.

References

Jensen, D. (2006). Endgame: The Problem of Civilization. New York: Seven Stories Press.

Macy, J. (2006, Summer 38). The Great Turning as Compass and Lens. Yes! Magazine, pp. 22-24.

Tarnas, R. (2007). Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of New World View. New York: Plume.

Wolf, N. (2007). The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Press.

I have been at the meeting of the community agency in Palatine, IL, which is known as Community Consolidated School District 15. It is one of the largest elementary districts in the state, and it consists of more than 30 square miles. As it can be understood from the name, the agency is concentrated on the schools. In this way, it has several elementary and junior high schools as well as the alternative public day and preschool. The history of this community agency goes back to 1946, which proves that it manages its work successfully.

The mission of the agency is to produce world-class learners by building a connected learning community (About School District 15, 2015, para. 6). So it is not surprising that the main focus of the meeting of the District 15 was the education of its clients. The meeting included the reports aimed to show how the previously adopted projects were managed and what the results of their work are. The programs beneficial for educational service personnel and those connected with finances gained much attention.

As I have understood from the meeting, the population of the District 15 is rather diverse. It includes the clients from seven communities (Palatine, Rolling Meadows, Hoffman Estates, Inverness, South Barrington, Arlington Heights, and Schaumburg) (About School District 15, 2015, para. 1), who differ in their origin and beliefs. They mostly include the workers of the educational system, students, and their families.

The agency does its best for educators and students to be well qualified and meet (or even excel) the expectations of the community. It makes sure that the schools participate in various activities, which allow the teachers, students and parents to work as a team. It is crucial that the work the agency does contributes to the health of the community. The majority of the reports included the information about the health of the community in financial perspective and in general. Different funds, expected costs and taxes. It was claimed that the educational programs provided the community members with the information about Mental Health Code and sexual health, etc.

The nurses are already involved in the life of the community, and their role is underlined. As the agency focuses on the educational settings, they claimed the school nurses to be responsible for making the clients aware of the crucial health information. Moreover, they are to make sure that the participants of different physical activities (including the mile-long run discussed at the beginning of the meeting) are in a good condition and can take part in them.

I believe that the nurses can play an immense role in the agency as they can monitor the health of the clients. In this way, the nurses can make up a plan of activities needed to enhance the knowledge of the community and improve their health outcomes. They can also help to identify the best way of costs and funds distribution in the sphere of health and life safety. Nurses can offer the plans for improvement of the educational environment.

I believe this meeting to be a great experience, which allowed me to see the connection between the work of the community agency and healthcare at different levels. I realized that the nurses can help their communities to be healthy not only by providing them with the services in the hospitals and healthcare entities and that the communities consider different aspects of life to benefit their clients.

References

About School District 15. (2015). Web.

It should be said that in coherent society a great deal of attention is given to education. Using various means of media, society promotes the belief that it is extremely vital to obtain good education as it could help a person in the future life. It is believed that in the age of rivalry and high tempos, the fact that a person has studied at some prestigious educational establishment could help him/her to achieve success and become prosperous. Additionally, the idea that education helps to obtain the knowledge, which is needed for career and development of a person, is also cultivated. That is why, it is possible to assume that the popularity of the given issue is high. However, at the same time, another fact that contradicts with the popular idea could be outlined. The problem is that along with the promotion of education a great number of young people drop out of high schools, preferring another way for their development. Under these conditions, the question about the main reasons for these dropouts and their aftermath appears.

It should be said that this problem is not new. There has always been a certain percent of students who dropped out because of a great number of various reasons, starting from academic failure end ending with the absence of the desire to continue education. However, under modern conditions, this question obtains especial significance. Various investigations of peculiarities of the given issue in the USA show that the rate of dropouts among high school students from urban areas is high (Chung, n.d.). Nevertheless, the threatening fact is that the shift in the main reasons for dropouts from some personal to political and economic ones could be observed. That is why, the given process could not be taken as unimportant or just as the manifestation of some personal problems of students anymore. One can acknowledge the fact that in terms of the promotion of the interest towards the education and attempt to increase educational standards, the constant increase of the number of dropouts could be taken as the failure of the economic and political aspect of the whole educational sector.

With this in mind, the necessity of the analysis of the given sphere becomes obvious as the problems of the educational sphere and young generation have a great impact on the state of society and could even lead to its collapse. Thus, it should also be said that the problem is also complicated by the fact that students from urban areas leave educational establishments more often than students residing in suburban areas. Besides, nationwide study shows the magnitude of the gap: the average high school graduation rate in the nations 50 largest cities was 53 percent, compared with 71 percent in the suburbs (Dillon, 2009, para. 4). That is why, it is possible to admit the tendency towards the growth of the gap between urban and suburban areas, which indicates the existence of some unique conditions that make students drop out in big cities. There is also another statistics that shows that about 30% of students choose to leave the high school and involve in some other kind of activity (Rumberger, 2001). It is obvious that the problem becomes more and more complicated.

However, talking about the great rate of dropouts, it is impossible not to mention the main reasons for this very process. Traditionally, there are three main groups of reasons, which are school-related reasons (mentioned by 77 percent of students), family-related reasons (34%) and work-related reasons (32%) (Rumberger, 2011). Students explained their desire to leave school by the fact that they do not like it, could not communicate with teachers or just fail to learn (Lund, 2009). Problems within a family or some other private issues were also very often mentioned.

Finally, the smallest part of students decided to leave school because their desire to work. However, nowadays, the shift of the main reasons could be observed. More and more young people drop out of high schools because of the complicated state of finances in their family. Economic reasons also obtain more and more popularity because of the peculiarities of the development of the consumer society as young people are forced to earn money. Finally, students leave schools because they see no perspective in the further studying as it would not help them to obtain the needed job because of the great rivalry and unfair competition. The last reason can also be taken as political one.

Thus, speaking about the economical aspect of high school dropouts, it is impossible to admit the tendency towards the increase of the cost of education, especially in some higher institutions. That is why, very often school graduates are not able to afford college and have to work hard in order to survive. Under these conditions, a certain percent of high school student prefer not to waste time and to leave school in order to find a job and earn some experience that would be helpful in their further life. Resting on these facts, one can admit the shift of the main reasons which make people leave high schools and look for a job.

The current society depends on the state of economy greatly and, that is why, young people realize the necessity and importance of money. Additionally, economy influences the state of households and very often families are not able to afford education for their children and guarantee their studying at college. With this in mind, it should be said that despite the great attention given to the sphere of education nowadays, there is the tendency for the increasing of the cost of educating which leads to the rise of the level of dropouts from high schools.

Additionally, it should also be said that economic reasons should not be taken separately and as the only problem that influences the sphere of education. However, it is vital to state the fact that in some degree economic problems result from some political failures connected with the given sphere. It should be said that policy determines the main ways of the development of the given sphere and outlines some peculiarities according to which it should function. That is why, one can admit the low efficiency of the policy in the given sphere because the level of dropouts increases and more and more potential students prefer to not to obtain education and involve in some other kind of activity (Doll, Eslami, & Walter, 2013).

However, it is also important to show that the education policy is not the only aspect of state policy that influences students. Besides, the general state of the country and society, which is the result of the activity of the government and its policy, also have the negative impact on peoples desire to obtain education. More and more young people become sure that studying at some institutions will not be able to provide some extra opportunities for them. In other words, the government is not able to create the clear and beneficial image of education that will be able to attract young people. Additionally, along with the weak image education comes the absence of the guaranty of the prosperous life for educated persons.

With this in mind, it is possible to state the fact that the current state of the sphere of education and society is not taken as attractive by potential students (Keeping kids in school: What research tells us about preventing dropouts, n.d.). Combination of various political and economic factors leads to the deterioration of the whole idea of education and its necessity. Moreover, high education cost and necessity to work to survive also repel young people from education.

Thus, resting on these facts, it is possible to make a conclusion. It should be said that the nowadays, the rate of dropouts from high schools remains high and there is the tendency towards its increase. However, the reasons that make students leave high school becomes more complicated. More and more young people realize the fact that education could not be the guaranty of a good job and prosperous life and decide to involve in some other kind of activity. That is why, it is possible to state the fact that nowadays, the combination of economic and political factors lead to the appearance of a great number of various problems in the sphere of education which could result in the further worsening of the situation. That is why, some steps to improve the image and prestige value of education should be made.

References

Chung, D. (n.d.). Drop Out rates. Web.

Dillon, S. (2009). Large Urban-Suburban Gap Seen in Graduation Rates. New York Times. Web.

Doll, J., Eslami, Z., & Walter, L. (2013). Understanding Why Students Drop Out of High School, According to Their Own Reports. Sage Open, 3(4). Web.

Keeping kids in school: What research tells us about preventing dropouts. (n.d.). Web.

Lund, C. (2009). Why are students dropping out of school? Web.

Rumberger, R. (2001). Why Students Drop Out of School and What Can be Done. Web.

Rumberger, R. (2011). Dropping out. Web.