Censorship

The major topic in class this week was censorship. With that being said, I think it is important to understand what censorship means. From dictionary.com it means "the office or power of a censor" or "the act or practice of censoring." To relate this to our class, I understand this to mean that there is a small group of people who decide what is to be taught in our schools. From the reading " school professionals have the primary responsibility to determine the content of course offered by the school district and to select appropriate teaching methods and educational resources." They have the right to choose what is taught and what is read. I do not think this is very fair. According to our rights as American's, I believe that we should be allowed to decide what books we should read. If schools do not think that we are capable of making this decision, then I think it should be a choice of the parents. Sending home a permission slip on books that are considered controversial is one step towards extending our right to choose.

An area of important in class was the two different sides of censorship. First you have the right wing, which is conservative or traditional. The other side is the right wing. The right wing is concerned about equal representation for all social classes including social, racial, and gender issues. I have a huge problem with this idea. I think that these are two extremes that both cause problems. The left wing, I believe, censors too much. Our children see violence, sex, and explicit material on TV everyday. I think the best place to learn about it, at least in a healthy enviornment, would be in a classroom setting. At least there will be an adult to explain and answer questions when needed. The right wing takes away freedom from the writer. It forces them to change their characters to fit all groups. I think this takes away from the potential of the book because the author's creativity is taken away.

The major topic discussed in class this week was standardized assessment. This brought me back to junior year of High School. This particular year, we had to take the SAT's. In the fall, we take what is known as the PSAT, which helps to show students what the exam will be like and to show the range your score will most likely be in. England would consider this a high stakes assessment. It is high stakes because you have to take your SAT's to get into college. If you can't get into college, then you can't get a good job (at least thats what our parents tell us). From her book, she would consider "high-stakes assessment to be dangerous." Of course they are dangerous to students. We get ourselves stressed, nervous, and constantly thinking that we are going to do poorly on this really important exam. How can any student perform to their fullest potential under these conditions? It creates unfairness among the student population. Students who can afford to pay for SAT prep courses are not going to be as nervous because they have been practicing for a long time. Other students who cannot afford this probably have only seen the exam when they took their PSAT's. This is another area of our educational system that leads to a rift between poor students and rich students.

In her book, England also stated "standardized assessments give only a snapshot of what a student knows (or does not know" on a given day." I really liked that she mentioned this. I think that some days students are not on the top of their game. Especially when they are under so much pressure to do well, it is hard not to break under that pressure. I also liked this quote because there is so much more that students have learned throughout their schooling than the three subjects that are on the exam. I like that the new SAT has a third writing section. When I took the SAT's there were only tow parts, math and english. I did not like this because what if you were bad at one or both but great at social studies or science. I like that they added the third writing section because I think this section really gives students a chance to shine.

In Kozol's chatpet, aside from the assessment testing, he mentioned school conditions. The following link gives a visual as to what he is talking about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eJITwQHsjI
There are many schools where the conditions are so bad, that they are unsafe to the health of students. THere are exposed pipes anbd who knows what else is in the air. According to Kozol and the video, it makes students not want to attend schools. I know that if I went to a school that was rat infested and it took me an hour to get lunch, I would not want to go there. This is another reason why there is an unfair situation in our system. Students who really need to go to school to stay out of trouble and make a better life for themselves cannot. They learn that no one cares about them because they do not even have a decent school. I think that these are the schools that are screaming for funding. I think that our government should give more money to these schools. If they cannot do that, then they should shut them down. They should send the students to other schools that can provide them with a safe learning environment.

School Choices

Growing up, I did not know that we had a choice as to what school we attended. In the mornings, I would get dressed, walk to the bus stop, get on the bus, and go to the school that the bus took me to. I never questioned that there were other options. By the time i realized that there were other options, including private school, I was already adjusted to public school. I had my friends and my dress routine down and did not want to change it. Looking back, I wish that I had gone to private school, specifically Catholic High School. Don't get me wrong, I loved my high school, my education, and my friends. I just wish that I got the experience of attending a private school. Had I known about school choice earlier, my educational background may have been different. I think the first step to a better educational system is getting information out there and knowledge about school choices to both parents and students known

When you think of choices, one has to wonder about those students who cannot afford to go to private school. It wouldn't be fair if we gave choices but they were unable to use them. One thing that states are doing is called vouchers. These give children of low-income families the opportunity to attend the school of their choice by giving them money to pay for their tuition. This gives children who attend schoolsthat are not providing the best educational opportunities. Although this sounds like a good idea, there is one down fall. I believe that this can lead to segregation as opposed to desegregation. The reason for this is because students will have a choice to what school they go to. Most people would choose to attend a school where they feel comfortable and are people who resemble them or have the same interested. Many people are afraid of change and think that they can only be happy where they currently are. I think that we should give vouchers but it should be regulated. We should come up with some sort of system to minimize students from choosing schools based on their previous understanding of the way people interact.

This website explains vouchers in greater detail:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/vouchers/choice/