Jonathan Kozol is quite a guy. If you've ever heard him speak, you'll find that he's a man of a smaller stature, not exactly the kind you think would commit his lifetime exposing the open sores and pains of public education in urban spots in the US. He's a very knowlegable man.
In my experience, specifically regarding his comments on the "restoration of apartheid schooling in America," I would have to agree. That said, my example is, of course, going to relate to applying to college. Recently, I attended the National Assoc of College Admissions Counselors in Texas. In short, it's a huge conference where the HS side meets the college side. So much of my time is spent meeting college reps, "selling" my school, but more specifically, "selling" my students. If I sit in any session during this conference, I am surrounded by private school after private school. There are very few schools from the Bronx, let alone from public schools. I think their underrepresentation is a result of their schools not having enough money to get them to these conferences. As a result, thousands of public schools specifically urban, that serve low-income, minority students are not getting the exposure that they need to help connect students to the correct post-graduate life. I realize that this isn't the specific focus of Kozol's point here- he's focusing on students in K-12. However, I think this is just one more example of how it continues after k-12.
Often times colleges want "diverse" student bodies...but often at the higher edu level there are still not enough support systems- academically, emotionally, and financially to support the increasing number of minority students who are graduating from high school. As a result, higher edu institutions are "segregated."
I know that many school are working at making this not so, I just don't think we're there yet.
To the NYC Chalkboard
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Hi Amy--
Great post. He's actually speaking on 11/2 @ Mt. Holyoke. One thing that I think about in regard to your position is that a small school has a full-time person devoted to college counseling. It's a fascinating reform strategy. Identify the pivot or the tipping point in the system and devote resources to that point in the system. I know that my high school in Brooklyn (@ 4,000 students had a part-time college counselor). I never met with her one-on-one. With that said, my parents were savvy enough to help me negotiate the system. Although the support I received was crude/unsophisticated-- I know that I was luck and that many of my peers received no guidance.
Anyway-- thanks for posting and looking forward to hearing about parent involvlement next...
best, sam
hi, amy!
thanks for your post, and thank you sam for the heads up about 11/2!
"selling" students seems like a trend. conferences and college fairs are potentially overwhelming, and don't usually provide the needed substance or increase chances.
i went to two college fairs; one in our hs gym, another in boston(field trip). diversity was much truer of boston's than ours.
this is what's eating my brain about your post: (how) should teachers be involved in the college process? thanks for your dedication, and for giving us a chance to grasp at something.
margaret
Hi Amy,
Thank you so much for your post and for bringing up the inequalities in college counseling. I experienced this first hand in my high school, where there were plenty of resources but one had to know how to work the system in order to utilize them.
I wanted to go to college so I solicited the help of our college councilor/disciplinarian/administrator who was more than happy to help me because I asked for the help, however I have many friends who didn't know about the college counseling help and the many opportunities there are for scholarships and ended up not even applying to colleges. Many of them have moved out of their parent's homes and are working full time at minimum wage jobs to pay the rent.
I would love to see something done about college counseling in public schools.
This is one of the main reasons why I started studying education in the first place, thank you for creating a forum for it!!
-Bhagavati
Just to add a few more pieces re: college counseling in a public high school-it's true, I, too, was one of those students who went after information, but I find it's often just luck. There is MORE than enough information out there to support students, it's just a matter of accessing it.
I think if you're a teacher of K-8, you're constantly talking about going to college, using the vocabulary, naming schools, etc. If you teach 9-12, you make their application essay a requirement to for your class, take them on trip to see nearby colleges, bring in articles to inspire them to see themselves in college, and invite college admisssion reps into your school to talk to students.
It's definitely a full-time job. In fact, YesPrep, a public school in Houston, Texas is a great model. 100% of their seniors get accepted to a 4-year school. They have 3-4 full time staff to help students navigate the system.
I wonder what public schools do better than private schools do. Where exactly do both types of schools receive money? How much more money do private schools have in relation to public schools? If ETS likes standardized tests so much, then every student should have the necessities to take them (money and academic preparation).
-Kendra
Thanks for your post!
You make such a great point. It is one that certainly doesn't receive enough thought from the general public. Of course students are going to have a difficult time negotiating college applications if there is no one to assist them. It is a huge process that requires effort from more than just the student, no matter how determined, confident, and dedicated they are. There are such strong connections between some high schools and colleges, thanks often to well funded guidance programs with eager counselors. The fact that there are many equally eager educators who hope to guide their students to college working at schools in which there is no funding to get them into contact with colleges and their admissions staff in a formal setting is upsetting, to say the least. In this kind of circumstance, how can teachers become involved with the application process? But it's more than just applying..how can they help in making college seem like an attainable goal? In my small public high school, we used to hear about college all the time. At least once a day during my senior year I was asked about my plans after graduation, along with everyone else in my graduating class. We were poked and proded, regardless of our grades, constantly reminded about application deadlines. It was a given that we would go. Or that we would at least have a plan. How can teachers start creating an atmosphere in their classroom in which students are expected to apply to college? Is this an appropriate goal?
Thanks again, Marguerite
Post a Comment