Showing posts with label Making a living. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Making a living. Show all posts
Friday, April 1, 2011
Friday, November 12, 2010
The Achievement Gap (Race, Economics, and Class)
Dalton Conley noted in Being Black, Living in the Red that:
"Overall, blacks do worse than whites (the result one expects from anecdotal information and summary statistics), but when the differences in economic endowments that African Americans and whites bring to the educational system are taken into consideration, blacks do better than whites in some measures and the same as whites in others."
""For instance, net worth is the second most important predictor of attaining the increasingly important college degree (after parental education level.) This central importance of assets in financing higher education in an increasingly technical economy shoots a hole through the enticing account of inequality offered by Herrnstein and Murry in The Bell Curve."
"While young African Americans may have the opportunity to obtain the same education, income, and wealth as whites, in actuality they are on a slippery slope, for the discrimination their parents faced in the housing and credit markets sets the stage for perpetual economic disadvantage."
""...black-white asset gap will continue to widen. This is true because of the cruel fact that wealth begets greater wealth. Starting with a few hundred dollars at 10 percent compounded interest, an individual will end up with a thousand dollars after a decade or two. Starting with a thousand dollars, however, another individual will end up with several thousand dollars, and the wealth gap will have grown in absolute terms despite equal access to investments."
"Wealth, not occupation or education, is the realm in which the greatest degree of racial inequality lies in contemporary America."
On the other hand, Annette Lareau, in her book, Unequal Childhoods, make the class argument.
She states "Many Americans believe that this country is fundamentally open. They assume the society is best understood as a collection of individuals. They believe that people who demonstrate hard work, effort and talent are likely to achieve upward mobility. Put differently, many Americans believe in the American Dream. In this view, children should have roughly equal life chances. the extent to which life chances vary can be raced to differences in aspirations, talent, and hard work on the part of individuals. This perspective rejects the notion that parents' social location systematically shapes children's life experiences and outcomes."
Other scholars, Ms. Lareau points out, take the position that "...systemic forms of inequality, including, for example, differences in parents' educational levels, occupational prestige, and income, as well as in their child-rearing practices do exist. However, "These scholars, see such differences within society as a matter of gradation. To explain unequal life outcomes, they see it as helpful to look at, for example, differences in mothers' years of education or the range of incomes by households in a particular city." "Scholars who take this perspective on inequality typically focus on the ways specific patterns are related (e.g., the number of years of mothers' schooling and the size of children's vocabularies, or the number of years of mothers' education and parental involvement in schooling).
Lareau challenges both views. "...I see as more valuable a categorical analysis, wherein families are grouped into social categories such as poor, working class, and middle class. I argued that these categories are helpful in understanding the behavior of family members, not simply in one particular aspect but across a number of spheres. Family practices cohere by social class."
Lareau therefore concluded "Social group membership structures life opportunities. The chances of attaining key and widely sought goals-high scores on standardized tests such as the SAT, graduation from college, professional jobs, and sustained employment-are not equal for all the infants whose births are celebrated by their families. It turns out that the family into which we are born, an event over which we have no control, matters quite a lot."
All in all, this is excellent information. No doubt scholarly and of significant merit. But, we as a people, can not accept or be confined in terms of our life aspirations by any preconceived notions or explanations. We must confront this type of information squarely, and resolve to break the gravitational pull of either race, economics or class.
"Overall, blacks do worse than whites (the result one expects from anecdotal information and summary statistics), but when the differences in economic endowments that African Americans and whites bring to the educational system are taken into consideration, blacks do better than whites in some measures and the same as whites in others."
""For instance, net worth is the second most important predictor of attaining the increasingly important college degree (after parental education level.) This central importance of assets in financing higher education in an increasingly technical economy shoots a hole through the enticing account of inequality offered by Herrnstein and Murry in The Bell Curve."
"While young African Americans may have the opportunity to obtain the same education, income, and wealth as whites, in actuality they are on a slippery slope, for the discrimination their parents faced in the housing and credit markets sets the stage for perpetual economic disadvantage."
""...black-white asset gap will continue to widen. This is true because of the cruel fact that wealth begets greater wealth. Starting with a few hundred dollars at 10 percent compounded interest, an individual will end up with a thousand dollars after a decade or two. Starting with a thousand dollars, however, another individual will end up with several thousand dollars, and the wealth gap will have grown in absolute terms despite equal access to investments."
"Wealth, not occupation or education, is the realm in which the greatest degree of racial inequality lies in contemporary America."
On the other hand, Annette Lareau, in her book, Unequal Childhoods, make the class argument.
She states "Many Americans believe that this country is fundamentally open. They assume the society is best understood as a collection of individuals. They believe that people who demonstrate hard work, effort and talent are likely to achieve upward mobility. Put differently, many Americans believe in the American Dream. In this view, children should have roughly equal life chances. the extent to which life chances vary can be raced to differences in aspirations, talent, and hard work on the part of individuals. This perspective rejects the notion that parents' social location systematically shapes children's life experiences and outcomes."
Other scholars, Ms. Lareau points out, take the position that "...systemic forms of inequality, including, for example, differences in parents' educational levels, occupational prestige, and income, as well as in their child-rearing practices do exist. However, "These scholars, see such differences within society as a matter of gradation. To explain unequal life outcomes, they see it as helpful to look at, for example, differences in mothers' years of education or the range of incomes by households in a particular city." "Scholars who take this perspective on inequality typically focus on the ways specific patterns are related (e.g., the number of years of mothers' schooling and the size of children's vocabularies, or the number of years of mothers' education and parental involvement in schooling).
Lareau challenges both views. "...I see as more valuable a categorical analysis, wherein families are grouped into social categories such as poor, working class, and middle class. I argued that these categories are helpful in understanding the behavior of family members, not simply in one particular aspect but across a number of spheres. Family practices cohere by social class."
Lareau therefore concluded "Social group membership structures life opportunities. The chances of attaining key and widely sought goals-high scores on standardized tests such as the SAT, graduation from college, professional jobs, and sustained employment-are not equal for all the infants whose births are celebrated by their families. It turns out that the family into which we are born, an event over which we have no control, matters quite a lot."
All in all, this is excellent information. No doubt scholarly and of significant merit. But, we as a people, can not accept or be confined in terms of our life aspirations by any preconceived notions or explanations. We must confront this type of information squarely, and resolve to break the gravitational pull of either race, economics or class.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
A Call for Change
A new report was released on November 9, 2010 by Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS).
This report is titled A Call for Change and it primarily examines black male achievement in 6 areas.
1. Readiness to learn
2. Black male achievement on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
3. Black male achievement on the NAEP in selected big city school districts
4. College and career preparedness
5. School experience
6. Postsecondary experience
Much of the information contained in this report has been revealed from other sources. However, this document does serve to collate significant data sets for review and further analysis.
One of the recommendations by CGCS is to "Convene a White House conference on the status of Black males and develop an overall call to action and strategic direction for improvement."
I vote no on this one. The last thing we need, in my view, is to be studied in the glare of a White House summit as some helpless endangered species.
Instead we should say thanks for the data and the hard work that went into pulling this information together and then get to work making our own corrections.
Government has neither the time nor resources to devote to what I consider to be our problem. When will we (black males) summon the courage and will to reverse these trends?
Marian Wright Edelman notes that "Education is a precondition to survival in America today."
Surely when talking about self-preservation, black males must take ownership of this cause themselves.
To review the report go to http://www.cgcs.org and click on ACHIEVEMENT.
This report is titled A Call for Change and it primarily examines black male achievement in 6 areas.
1. Readiness to learn
2. Black male achievement on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
3. Black male achievement on the NAEP in selected big city school districts
4. College and career preparedness
5. School experience
6. Postsecondary experience
Much of the information contained in this report has been revealed from other sources. However, this document does serve to collate significant data sets for review and further analysis.
One of the recommendations by CGCS is to "Convene a White House conference on the status of Black males and develop an overall call to action and strategic direction for improvement."
I vote no on this one. The last thing we need, in my view, is to be studied in the glare of a White House summit as some helpless endangered species.
Instead we should say thanks for the data and the hard work that went into pulling this information together and then get to work making our own corrections.
Government has neither the time nor resources to devote to what I consider to be our problem. When will we (black males) summon the courage and will to reverse these trends?
Marian Wright Edelman notes that "Education is a precondition to survival in America today."
Surely when talking about self-preservation, black males must take ownership of this cause themselves.
To review the report go to http://www.cgcs.org and click on ACHIEVEMENT.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Money and power clouds debate on education reform
The world of social media is buzzing with all sorts of activity in the overall debate on what constitutes true education reform.
And this fight (yes it is a fight) is full of the usual elements of any good fight. We have lots of name-calling, use and abuse of statistics, finger-pointing, and scapegoating.
But what else is new when the real fight has less to do with educating children, particularly poor (most often black) children and more to do with money and power.
The latest debate is being sparked, in part, by the movie Waiting for Superman. I have not seen the movie but I did study the article by Diane Ravitch titled "The Myth of Charter Schools."
Ms. Ravitch does a very thorough job of reviewing the movie before she launches her analysis and rebuttal.
Her article has been well received in the social media arena. It is all over Twitter and being celebrated as the knockout punch for the movie.
I have always admitted to not being an educator or policy expert. But, I am not intimidated by those who are either or both.
My overarching concern is focused primarily on the black community. I am trying to raise our level of appreciation for the real value of a good education and how that relates to the ability to make a living.
That's it. A good education is a tool that helps you protect and care for your family.
I am also in favor of a strong public school system. I am a product of public schools and most of the people I know are also like me.
However, I do not care to witness an endless debate over the merits of charters vs. non-charters. Frankly, I do not care what works, as long as it works.
And, works for me means that black kids are:
1) graduating from high school on time and on grade level,
2) performing on unbiased standardized tests as well as any other ethnic group,
3) attending and graduating from college or other post secondary training programs in numbers similar to any other ethnic group, and
4) prepared to compete for and win a fair share of the many rewarding career opportunities available in this wonderful country.
Now poor kids (remember mostly black) are being highlighted as the real problem. Well, let's frame it the way at least two recent presentations say it.
Mike Rose in a piece for the Washington Post blog, The Answer Sheet, says "There is a crisis in American education, and it involves mostly poor children, and thus it is a moral as well as educational outrage. But it is just not accurate to characterize public education itself as being in a 30 -year crisis."
Mr. Rose goes on to point out the well worn nexus between poverty and low achievement.
Diane Ravitch in her rebuttal to the movie makes the statement that "Guggenheim seems to believe that teachers alone can overcome the effects of student poverty, even though there are countless studies that demonstrate the link between income and test scores. He shows us footage of the pilot Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier, to the amazement of people who said it couldn't be done. Since Yeager broke the sound barrier, we should be prepared to believe that able teachers are all it takes to overcome the disadvantages of poverty, homelessness, joblessness, poor nutrition, absent parents, etc."
Well that's it folks. Poor kids are not generally getting a good education because of the impact of poverty, and they sure as hell are not going to break the cycle of poverty without a good education.
Sadly, too many are buying into this struggle over money and power and not staying tightly focused on the real issues.
Schools must be expected to educate the population they serve.
Educators and policy makers must be held accountable for devising the right combination of strategies to get the job done. The job is not to come up all the reasons the child is difficult to teach or reach.
Finally, I am also unforgiving when it comes to expecting parents to assume the ultimate responsibility for the health, safety and welfare of the children they have been blessed to have.
Parents can not delegate or abrogate that responsibility to anyone.
Now all stakeholders should begin to hold each other accountable for providing a high quality education to all this nations' children. Anything else is just plain criminal.
And this fight (yes it is a fight) is full of the usual elements of any good fight. We have lots of name-calling, use and abuse of statistics, finger-pointing, and scapegoating.
But what else is new when the real fight has less to do with educating children, particularly poor (most often black) children and more to do with money and power.
The latest debate is being sparked, in part, by the movie Waiting for Superman. I have not seen the movie but I did study the article by Diane Ravitch titled "The Myth of Charter Schools."
Ms. Ravitch does a very thorough job of reviewing the movie before she launches her analysis and rebuttal.
Her article has been well received in the social media arena. It is all over Twitter and being celebrated as the knockout punch for the movie.
I have always admitted to not being an educator or policy expert. But, I am not intimidated by those who are either or both.
My overarching concern is focused primarily on the black community. I am trying to raise our level of appreciation for the real value of a good education and how that relates to the ability to make a living.
That's it. A good education is a tool that helps you protect and care for your family.
I am also in favor of a strong public school system. I am a product of public schools and most of the people I know are also like me.
However, I do not care to witness an endless debate over the merits of charters vs. non-charters. Frankly, I do not care what works, as long as it works.
And, works for me means that black kids are:
1) graduating from high school on time and on grade level,
2) performing on unbiased standardized tests as well as any other ethnic group,
3) attending and graduating from college or other post secondary training programs in numbers similar to any other ethnic group, and
4) prepared to compete for and win a fair share of the many rewarding career opportunities available in this wonderful country.
Now poor kids (remember mostly black) are being highlighted as the real problem. Well, let's frame it the way at least two recent presentations say it.
Mike Rose in a piece for the Washington Post blog, The Answer Sheet, says "There is a crisis in American education, and it involves mostly poor children, and thus it is a moral as well as educational outrage. But it is just not accurate to characterize public education itself as being in a 30 -year crisis."
Mr. Rose goes on to point out the well worn nexus between poverty and low achievement.
Diane Ravitch in her rebuttal to the movie makes the statement that "Guggenheim seems to believe that teachers alone can overcome the effects of student poverty, even though there are countless studies that demonstrate the link between income and test scores. He shows us footage of the pilot Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier, to the amazement of people who said it couldn't be done. Since Yeager broke the sound barrier, we should be prepared to believe that able teachers are all it takes to overcome the disadvantages of poverty, homelessness, joblessness, poor nutrition, absent parents, etc."
Well that's it folks. Poor kids are not generally getting a good education because of the impact of poverty, and they sure as hell are not going to break the cycle of poverty without a good education.
Sadly, too many are buying into this struggle over money and power and not staying tightly focused on the real issues.
Schools must be expected to educate the population they serve.
Educators and policy makers must be held accountable for devising the right combination of strategies to get the job done. The job is not to come up all the reasons the child is difficult to teach or reach.
Finally, I am also unforgiving when it comes to expecting parents to assume the ultimate responsibility for the health, safety and welfare of the children they have been blessed to have.
Parents can not delegate or abrogate that responsibility to anyone.
Now all stakeholders should begin to hold each other accountable for providing a high quality education to all this nations' children. Anything else is just plain criminal.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
President Barack Obama on Education
On February 24, 2009, President Barack Obama addressed a joint session of Congress. Below are some of his comments on education:
"In a global economy where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, a good education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity-it is a prerequisite."
"Right now, three-quarters of the fastest-growing occupations require more than a high school diploma."
"We have one of the highest high school dropout rates of any industrialized nation."
"It is our responsibility as lawmakers and as educators to make this system work. But is is the responsibility of every citizen to participate in it. So tonight, I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training. This can be community college or a four-year school; vocational training or an apprenticeship. But what ever the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma."
"These education policies will open the doors of opportunity for our children. But it is up to us to ensure they walk through them. In the end, there is no program or policy that can substitute for a parent-for a mother or father who will attend those parent/teacher conferences, or help with homework, or turn off the TV, put away the video games, read to their child. I speak to you not just as a President, but as a father, when I say that responsibility for our children's education must begin at home."
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Making a Living
"The greatest indictment of such education as Negroes have received, however, is that they have thereby learned little as to making a living, the first essential in civilization." by Carter G. Woodson.
This quote is of course from the masterpiece, The Mis-Education of the Negro. Mr. Woodson was rendering a critique of what he called education under outside control. However, I would like to focus on his clear statement regarding the essential nature of "making a living" and its very basic relationship to civilization itself.
The statement speaks volumes and is a direct hit on those who today refuse, for any reason, to acquire the necessary education (skills, knowledge,training, etc) to take care of your own basic needs.
The United States faced by Mr. Woodson in 1933 is vastly different from the one we encounter in 2007. Opportunities are greater than at any time in our history. To be sure, African Americans continue to face problems, and race is certainly one of them.
But, in my view, neither race nor racism represents our biggest problem as a people today. I will not lecture or engage in further blame. My purpose is to challenge and encourage. Look deep within and learn the virtue of perseverance. You already have the gifts and abilities. Now use them if for no other reason than simply to....make a living.
This quote is of course from the masterpiece, The Mis-Education of the Negro. Mr. Woodson was rendering a critique of what he called education under outside control. However, I would like to focus on his clear statement regarding the essential nature of "making a living" and its very basic relationship to civilization itself.
The statement speaks volumes and is a direct hit on those who today refuse, for any reason, to acquire the necessary education (skills, knowledge,training, etc) to take care of your own basic needs.
The United States faced by Mr. Woodson in 1933 is vastly different from the one we encounter in 2007. Opportunities are greater than at any time in our history. To be sure, African Americans continue to face problems, and race is certainly one of them.
But, in my view, neither race nor racism represents our biggest problem as a people today. I will not lecture or engage in further blame. My purpose is to challenge and encourage. Look deep within and learn the virtue of perseverance. You already have the gifts and abilities. Now use them if for no other reason than simply to....make a living.
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