Chapter 10 : The Massachusetts Experience

Malcolm Gladwell, the author of Outliers, a novel depicting success, provides different examples of how an individual can achieve success in every chapter of his book to show his audience that success, despite a variety of barriers, is in fact in our control. A very important chapter titled, “Marita's Bargain”, explains the flaws in today’s public school systems. He shows the problems with the solutions to fix them while showing the alternatives to the regular system such as the KIPP Program in New York. The KIPP Program (Knowledge is Power Program) is a new kind of middle school that selects students from less fortunate locations and uses unique teaching strategies to turn them around into fantastic learners. In the chapter, Gladwell is extremely descriptive by using visual words to paint the picture of the South Bronx in New York City. He describes the buildings that were built in the 1960’s as squat and bleak looking. Gladwell had an interest in this subject as it involves success, however he had no prior experiences to produce the piece. Gladwell establishes personal credibility through the use of knowledge, reason, and facts and figures. He comes across very knowledgeable on the subject presenting great data with excellent vocabulary. He is able to do this with no obvious bias as well. Gladwell shows authority because he is well known for writing novels that involve success. His intention is to teach and explain how schools need to change the length of vacation breaks

Essex. (2008). School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders (4th ED.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon

The article, “Who benefits from failing urban school districts?” written by Martin Haberman, the authors influential piece expresses the concern for the current direction of public education. When the concept of who is benefiting from failing urban school districts is mentioned; one would believe that no one can possibly benefit from schools failing. The children aren’t benefiting, their parents aren’t benefiting, the community isn’t benefiting. The public institution is becoming a big business instead of an institution that helps children in their development. It is obvious that there are challenges in the schooling system. In this manuscript, I will discuss the issues with the bureaucracy in education. There will also be mentioning of how standardized testing and the lack of resources in urban schools are affecting children’s education in the urban community. Lastly, there will be a discussion about how parents and teachers have an effect on children’s education.

It was with wild fanfare that the state’s Republican legislature and Republican Governor enacted their reforms for the state’s public school system. Among the panaceas was charter schools, a ‘90s education fad that gives individual parents the right to send their children to state-approved public charter schools at public expense. Politicians reasoned that less-bureaucratic charter schools would teach students better than traditional public schools because charter schools wouldn’t be subject to the same mandates that the state had heaped upon public schools. Furthermore, traditional schools would be forced to compete with charter schools as they lured thousands

Jonathan Kozol, Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools is an intense expose of unjust conditions in educating America’s children. Today’s society of living conditions, poverty, income, desegregation and political issues have forced inadequate education to many children across the country. Kozol discusses major reasons for discrepancies in schools: disparities of property taxes, racism and the conflict between state and local control. Kozol traveled to public schools researching conditions and the level of education in each school. He spoke with teachers, students, principals, superintendents and government officials to portray a clear picture of the

“Shrinking state and local education budgets matched with the added pressure of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which sets rigid standards in reading and math that schools must achieve in order to receive federal funding, have created a new challenge for districts” (Van Harken).

Boston Massachusetts was founded on September 7, 1630. Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston. Massachusetts became a state on February 6, 1788.The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691) was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The lands of the settlement were located in central New England in what is now Massachusetts, with initial settlements situated on two natural harbors and surrounding land, about 15.4 miles (24.8 km) apart—the areas around the present-day cities of Salem And Boston. Boston Massachusetts is also where a lot of famous people were born. I'm just gonna name one

One of the biggest overlying pieces of this article, is the narrative brought into view within the first few sentences- American Exceptionalism. People everywhere, disregarding their views on the problems in the school system, agree that America is the best in everything else, therefore our schools should be top-of-the-line and produce high achieving scholars that can compete with anyone from around the world. It doesn’t matter that there are students coming from all different types of backgrounds- we need to be on top. Putting the idea of this narrative in the beginning of the article, the author sets up the option for the reader to try to see why reformers are set on fixing the “issue” in our system. We want to be the best. Have pride in our

The concept of SBM was the result of the call for a more flexible and responsive control structure. The hope was that this reform would improve the productivity of schools, school effectiveness, and student achievement (Odden and Wohlstetter, 1992). When analyzing the level of success that SBM reform had on the field of education, one quickly can identify that this reform goes beyond the surface level of purely symbolic reform. Rather, the problem that this reform was attempting to solve was both historical and political in nature. SBM reform is an example of attempted organizational change that demanded a deep look at authority and power. Since public schools are public institutions, institutional discourse can explain how it relates and shares

Each region of the United States has a unique characteristics that distinguish it from the other regions. Traveling among the US states commence Montana, then to New York City, after that Philadelphia and finally to Boston in Massachusetts state is drawing wonderful impression about the United States. It gave an impression of being a rich with diversity of terrain, environments, customs, cultures, and the nature of the locals. Massachusetts State is one of the most American states known at all, where it played a significant historic role in the history of the United States. Perhaps the other States did not play it. So It is considered that it was - and remains - a major center for continuous stimulation for the development and progress of the American community. Massachusetts state is located in the far northeast of the United States, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. It is a relatively small state and One of the main cities is Boston. The city of Boston is one of the oldest cities in the United States. It is rich in its historical heritage and culture. Boston is characterized by public transportation, and Boston tends to be educated more than recreational. Boston is known as point of science by holding the most famous universities in the world. Boston is a unique city, which characterized by the distinctive history, and it is also a pioneer in several fields such as education, medical treatment and rehabilitation centers.

The First Phase New England: British were not sure if they were actually engaged with the war or not. Many English authorities believed that British forces were simply trying to suppress pouches of rebellion in the contentious area around Boston. However, colonial forces took the offensive and made the entire territory of the American colonies a battleground. British suffered their heaviest casualties of the entire war at Bunker Hill. British conclude that Boston was not the best place from which to wag war. Less than a year after the firing of the first shots, the Massachusetts colonists had driven the British-temporarily-from American soil. Americans launched an invasion of Canada-hoping to remove the British threat and win the Canadians

Newark schooling is negatively affected by the poverty, and events such as the 1967 Newark Rebellion have inadvertently set Newark back. In Dale Russakoff’s book The Prize, the city is shown to be recovering from the major flips in its demographic and socioeconomic makeup during years of conflict. Who could afford to move has moved out to suburbs, and the area left behind is often taken over by gangs and drug dealers (Russakoff 15). Family situations and the high levels of poverty prevent kids from focusing on school; parents desperately want a good education for their kids, but they do not have access to good public schools. The inequity in resources at school is tangible: “some class libraries consist of nothing but comic books” (Russakoff 17). Additionally, strong tenure protections exist, meaning it is difficult to bring in more effective teachers who would focus on helping kids exceed their potential. The clash between teacher unions and reformers leads to the question “were the battles waged in their [children’s] name really improving young lives?” (Russakoff 7). This quotation from The Prize encapsulates how poor schooling and poverty relate to the political economy of changing the schooling system and the ideology of how to change it. As the majority of the public is unaware of the collective power it wields, the issue of how to change the schooling system rests solely in the hands of government and education officials. The public

2. The two main policy issues in urban education related to the two themes I mentioned are the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The Disability act prohibits discrimination based on disabilities in areas that receive Federal funding. The reason this act is important is because through privatization a loop hold has been found. Charter schools are public schools that are controlled independently making them like private schools. For instance, in Michigan where DeVos played a major role in the charter schools program, for-profit companies run the charters schools and she donated $1 million to lawmakers that helped oppose new oversight of charters (Carey, 2016). Charter schools receive their funding based on their test scores so they do not seek out students that may hinder their scores, like students with disabilities, so these kids may be ignored or taken out of charter schools (Ravitch, 2014, p.160). Consequently, this acts as a loophole to disability discrimination that must be fixed.

The multiple failed attempts of the government in fixing the system provide reason for concern of the futures of children who are unable to get into the schools that provide at least a mediocre education. Fortunately, many public schools in the United States are actually very successful; however, there is a vast number of underperforming charter schools. Obviously there are major holes in the education, but the good cannot be ignored. It seems that geographical locations greatly impact the success or failure of schools; therefore, these should be the greater focus of the government and officials. Not all public school systems are bad, and not all charter school systems are good, yet this is not mentioned in the documentary which could have resulted in a less emotionally involved audience. Many public schools deserve kudos for their

The failing of our public schools across the US and particularly in urban areas has been a rant of mine for a long time. I am convinced that a failing education system is the most critical long-term problem facing our country. I have made education the