1. Five things I would do if I were Secretary of Education (assuming that I had carte blanch and no opposition):
- Abolish the No ChIld Left Behind Act: besides being impossible to achieve, the act works counter to its goal of improving education.
- Implement National Standards: you can not accurately measure students’ learning if they are not held to the same standards.
- Take the focus off of standardized testing: standardized tests would be issued at the beginning, middle, and end of year to track individual student learning (not teacher effectiveness).
- Provide funding for vice principals: every school would be required to have a vice principal so that either the principal or vice principal would have time to conduct evaluations on teacher effectiveness.
- And finally, even though this is rather vague, I would like to make sure funding reached the classrooms and teachers. Somewhere in the bureaucracy and administration there is a mismanagement of funds that I would like to see corrected.
2. What I find most meaningful from Ravitch is her in-depth knowledge of educational movements which allows us, as the reader, to easily see the cause and effect or action and reaction fads and trends in education. Seeing this pattern really helped me realize the need for stable solutions based on research.
3. Given the current state of American education I feel it is important for me as a teacher to always strive to improve myself. Professional development in both content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge would help ensure that I am as effective as possible as an instructor. As a citizen, I feel it is my duty to keep informed of the current educational policies so that I can be an educated voter.
4. Two associations from my subject area:
- Girls Inc. (http://www.girlsinc.org). “Girls Inc. inspires all girls to be strong, smart, and bold through life-changing programs and experiences that help girls navigate gender, economic, and social barriers. Research-based curricula, delivered by trained, mentoring professionals in a positive all-girl environment equip girls to achieve academically; lead healthy and physically active lives; manage money; navigate media messages; and discover an interest in science, technology, engineering, and math. The network of local Girls Inc. nonprofit organizations serves 125,000 girls ages 6 - 18 annually across the United States and Canada.” (Girls Inc. website).
- The Trevor Project (http://www.thetrevorproject.org). “The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth.” (The Trevor Project website).
5a. Five Bay Area experiential resources I would like to see:
- San Francisco: Mission District murals
- San Francisco: International Museum of Women
- Richmond: Rosie the Riveter Memorial
- Bay Area: Special Delivery- a large scale mural exhibit featuring prolific street artists
- I would like to sit in on a meeting and speak with members of the Bay Area Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement
b. Five books I would like to read:
- Improving Academic Achievement: Impact of Psychological Factors on Education edited by Joshua Aronson
- Reducing Prejudice and Discrimination edited by Stuart Oskamp
- The Nature of Prejudice by Gordon W. Allport
- Education Today by John Dewey
- Educational Psychology by Lev Vygotsky
c. Two journals I would like to investigate:
- American Educational Research Journal
- Journal of Social Issues
d. Two conferences I would like to attend:
- Living Walls: “Living Walls has succeeded in making key parts of Atlanta’s creative culture visible to the wider community while bringing in internationally known street artists to enrich our urban spaces,” said Louis Corrigan, founder of Possible Futures. “Its annual conference situates this work within an intellectual and social context that fosters vital conversations about art, urbanism, and community and connects Atlanta to other urban centers. I’m excited to see how Living Walls evolves.”
- Boston-area Educators for Social Justice Conference
- Facilitate dialogue, share resources and build strategy among those interested in education for liberation
- Develop youth leadership and support youth voice in education
- Build a movement for quality education that combines the visions of youth, communities, families and teachers
e. Five world wide areas I would like to visit:
- Paris, France: a walking tour of Paris to see Invader’s artwork
- Israel: viewing of the West Bank Barrier wall-home to many works of street art
- Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian American History Museum
- Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Memphis, Tennessee: National Civil Rights Museum
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