This documentary focuses on two elementary schools in Hartsville, SC. At the time of the documentary, South Carolina ranked 45th in the country in education. Hartsville is a high-poverty area. Though it is a small town, it faces problems similar to what is seen in inner-cities. There is a high minority population and low parental involvement in the schools. Even with these issues, the Hartsville elementary schools have shown significant improvement in education quality. One of the schools went from a C grade to an A grade within a year.
One reason behind this is the presence of a large manufacturing company called Sonoco. This is a large company that has contributed significantly to funding the improvement of education in the Hartsville area. The owner of Sonoco stated that when hiring, potential workers often consider the education their children would get in the area. This is why Sonoco has contributed funding in addition to the property tax values they would already be providing the schools. Their goal was to get the schools into the top quartile of test scores in the state. The funding from Sonoco allows the schools to retain quality teachers and purchase necessary supplies in order to reach this goal. These elementary school students are working in nice classrooms with iPads. This is very different from what we saw in Corridor of Shame. This shows how much the presence of
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These teachers do a great job treating the students as individuals. It was somewhat similar to the way Principal Stone treated some of the kids in Heart of Stone. Hartsville teachers also provided incentives for the children to do their best on state tests. These incentives included spending money for the school store. This can mean a lot for elementary school children. Using meaningful incentives helps ensure students are trying their best on tests and not just rushing through to
Chapter two discusses various theorists that helped to mold and shape early childhood education to where it is today. There are several different theorists that contributed to the development of early childhood education. Some of these theorists include Alfred Adler, Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, and John Dewey. Each theorist developed a unique theory that has caused early childhood guidance and education to flourish like it has today. Without learning and building on these theories, early childhood guidance and education would never develop or change. The chapter explains how some theories may seem strange to the contemporary families, but these theories are the foundation of how early childhood education got to where it is today. The book goes
While listing to Melanie talk about how walking around the grounds of the school and how it made her feel unworthy of being able to achieve her dreams really took me by surprise. When they were writing back and forth to the students at Fieldston, I believe that the teachers purpose was to show the students that yes you are worthy and you are just as smart as these other students that do go to this $43,000/year school. The culture of these two schools had
In my first semester of college at Concordia, I had the opportunity to have the class EDU 120. A requirement for this class was having 10 hours of fieldwork; at least 3 hours in each level of childhood. The reason for this requirement is to help the students discover what grade level they want to teach in the future.
Union Hill Elementary School is embedded in an area of rich history in the City of Worcester. Their school building was built following the Civil War and has withstood the changes of time from its early years of a primarily Jewish Immigrant and merchant town to today’s urban neighborhood, rich in diversity but plagued with instability, crime and poverty. In March of 2010, Union Hill was identified as a Level IV School; it was a school that lacked structure with a chaotic environment with many deficits. There was a lack of supervision, schedule, standard-based curriculum, effective instruction and leadership. Most importantly, there was a lack of trust among the parents. They did not have the faith that Union Hill was going to give their children the best education possible. Under the supervision of new Principal Marie Morse, changes were made. There was a new level of commitment and passion among the school staff that drove them toward creating five areas of focus for the year:
Early Childhood Education illustrates the teaching and care of children in other environments outside of the home. Early childhood centers on the development of all children no matter their gender, race, abilities, or ethnic orientation and gives knowledge of early childhood learning process, which entails values, culture, desires of parents for their children, and especially a child’s need for knowledgeable functionality in society.
The United States, as many believe, is the land of opportunity, however, when looking at individual states, towns, and cities, this popular slogan may seem false to some. Within each state, all schools, such as middle and high schools, may not receive or offer equity. In an effort to revel inequalities within school systems, I will discuss the differences between schools in my town, the apparent lack of public concern about schooling inequality, and what changes could be made in an effort to reduce schooling inequality.
I participate in a tutoring program for elementary students in Dorchester, an underserved community in Boston. Working with the children has helped me eliminate preconceived ideas that led me to believe schools were bad because the parents did not pay enough attention to their children's educations. I now realize that the problems in education have more to do with the amount of funding that goes into certain schools. Ignorance and distance from reality caused me to believe that struggling neighborhoods inherently produce bad students. I now understand that the problems within the school do not reflect the students’ abilities.
I am a student at Florida Atlantic University studying early childhood education. I am enrolled in EEC 3214 class this semester; the class is called designing and implementing a blending curriculum: birth to age eight. I am required to complete a field experience assignment at a preschool. I will observe young children ranging from three to five years old. I assure you that I will keep all information confidential. In addition, I reassure you that I will not share the information collected outside of my course and that no identifying information will be shared. I will respect and follow all the school’s policies and procedures in a professional manner.
This research report presents an analysis of and conclusions drawn from the experiences and perspectives of two educators that work in the early childhood setting. The main objective is to identify key elements and issues in relation to the families, diversity and difference. In particular how an early childhood educator implements, different approaches to honour culture and diversity, and to advocate for social justice in an early childhood settings. As such, it allows an insight into the important role that families and their background plays in the everyday lives of the children and educators within early childhood settings. In today’s ever-changing growing society it is essential for educators to be flexible to the
The video I watched described the scandal regarding the Atlanta Public School System. The scandal, which has been well documented, was centered around 178 teachers and administrators up until 2006. In short, state testing results, specifically at the Parks Middle School increased dramatically, to where accolades were given. For example, for the mandatory tests in math and reading, the results jumped to an extraordinary level, accrediting teachers for their work in troubling, low income areas, that had a reputation for below average scores. In reading, scores jumped from 35% to 78% and math, from 24% to 86%.
All of this had nothing to do with the socioeconomic status of the residents of the school district. This had everything to do with taking extreme and often ridiculous measures in an attempt to put on a façade of fiscal responsibility. Oftentimes the harebrained ideas backfired, and caused taxpayer dollars to be wasted.
Economic segregation is one of Charlotte’s biggest growing problems in the Charlotte Mecklenburg school system. Wealthy and poor families are becoming divided as new housing development plans take place. Many students go to their closest schools due to lack of transportation and in response, the schools become either rich schools, or poor schools. This then results in unfair education opportunities. Many residents of Charlotte NC are unaware of this, or feel they have no voice. It is however the law for students to receive equal education, and North Carolina has a No Child left Behind Act that is clearly not in full effect in CMS, which will eventually force CMS supervisors to start playing a role in how their schools will not fall short of making their students successful.
Teachers in these big urban schools don’t invest as much time into their students as small suburban schools do. The class sizes are big and the teachers can’t attend to every students needs so students start to fall behind. Falling too far behind, it begins to be too difficult for them to catch up and meet the academic requirements. As the Baltimore education documentary showed, some of the twelve year old boys still could not read, yet the teacher in the Baltimore school didn’t even know this because of how many students they have. Not only are the class sizes substantial, the working environment is neglected and despaired from previous years. The students destroy the schools throughout the years and because of budget cuts, the students are still being educated in these dilapidated, neglected schools. In suburban communities, people along with community members fund the schools and help out to make the school district excel. In urban cities it is harder to receive the funding because in most cases, the schools are surrounded by poverty. It is also problematic to attract quality teachers into these areas when they don’t have favorable work environments, the students are struggling with poor home conditions, and the pay isn’t adequate due to many budget cuts. Because of budget cuts, the schools have to cut more after-school activities, giving the students more reasons to not value school, misbehave, and not be
The education of the young mind is an important step in preparing the child for future learning experiences. The evolution of early childhood education has changed how adults and parents view the importance of offering stimulating and exciting opportunities to the very young. Early childhood Education offers the young child learning experiences that benefit them throughout their educational career. They soon embark on a whole new world of learning. These children are not only experiencing standard brain growth, but verbal and physical skills as well. Early childhood education teachers use a variation of techniques for instructing. They use lesson plans, worksheets, and even teacher resources for these young minds.
Early childhood education is one of the most important policy topics out there. Research has proven that the early years in childhood is a critical period for opportunity to develop a child’s full potential; as well as form academic, social, and cognitive skills that determine not only success in school but also their entire life (The White House). The right to a free, public education is guaranteed to all children in the United States. Early education is voluntary, and therefore some children are not given the opportunity to reach their full potential.