California Education Reform

Dropout Nation: Failing Schools Failing Students

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Pre-listening

Before listening to this edition of A World of Possibilities, respond to the prompt below in order to ignite your background knowledge and connect the themes of this episode to your life experiences.

  • How did you relate to school when you were a child? Who or what inspired you and what did not?
  • What expectations did the adults in your life have for you in regard to your schooling?

In this episode of A World of Possibilities, host Mark Sommer examines why students drop out and how the increasing dropout rate is bad for California. Guests in this program are Russlyn Ali, Director, Educational Trust West, Oakland, Caifornia; Becky Danisch, teacher, Crystal Lake, Illinois; Marqueece Harris-Dawson, activist, South Los Angeles; and Julie Mendoza, Director, Research and Evaluation University of California College Prep Initiative, Culver City, California.

As you listen, think about the following questions:

  • What do we mean when we talk about the “cycle of low expectations”? What long-term impact does this cycle have on students, schools and communities?
  • What do we mean when we refer to “virtual dropouts”? What strategies are schools implementing to reverse the rising trend of dropouts, virtual dropouts and “lost” students in California schools?
  • How can parents, students and communities spur school reform?

 

Listening Guide

Use the graphic organizer to record your thoughts as you listen to this addition of A World of Possibilities. Use the left side of the organizer to record the main ideas and supporting details presented during the show. Then use the right side of the organizer to respond to these points with questions, connections or applications that resonate with your life or work.

Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Activist, South Los Angeles, California

List the main ideas and interesting
points presented.

Respond with questions, connections or applications to your life or work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Russlyn Ali, Director, Educational Trust West, Oakland, California

List the main ideas and interesting
points presented.

Respond with questions, connections or
applications to your life or work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Becky Danisch, Teacher, Crystal Lake, Illinois

List the main ideas and interesting
points presented.

Respond with questions, connections or
applications to your life or work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Julie Mendoza, Director, Research and Evaluation, UC College Prep Initiative, Culver City, California

List the main ideas and interesting
points presented.

Respond with questions, connections or
applications to your life or work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Discussion Questions


Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Activist, South Los Angeles, California

  1. What factors cause students to drop out of school even when they know the economic impact on their long-term financial future?

  2. Give examples from the show and your community of grassroots activism that promotes educational change.

  3. Marqueece Harris-Dawson explains that school is all about relationships: between students, with teachers and administrators, with parents and communities. How can relationships be more effectively fostered in school communities?

  4. What role does empowerment play with regard to change? Explain an example from your own life.

  5. How can communities and schools systematically communicate to students that they matter and are worthy of an education?

  6. Why isn’t it entirely irrational for kids to leave school when their needs aren’t met? What is it about many schools today that drives some of the brightest students away? Which of their needs are not being met?

Russlyn Ali, Director of Educational Trust West

  1. Why is the data on dropout rates so challenging for California's public education system to track and tabulate? What are the impacts on the quality and effectiveness of the system when so little is known about who isn't attending school and why?
  1. What are the best means of determining more accurate dropout rates for schools or districts?
  1. What are the benefits of a small learning community? What are its disadvantages?
  1. What does host Mark Sommer mean by the term social ecology? How does this term  apply to education?

Becky Danisch, Teacher Crystal Lake Illinois

  1. Why do kids drop out of school? What future do they face when they do?
  1. Explain some of the issues surrounding the “Back to Basics” debate? What is the proper balance between the 3R's and other dimensions of an education like arts, music, community involvement, education in ethics and conflict resolution and other non-traditional skills?
  1. How can a school's curriculum better connect to the outside world? How can the skills learned in school be made more relevant to the circumstances in which theses skills will eventually be applied?

Julie Mendoza, Director of Research and Evaluation, UC College Prep Initiative.

  1. In California, bilingual education has been reduced to one year of intensive English immersion before students are mainstreamed in to English-only classes. Why does Ms. Mendoza think this legislation is unwise? How much time do you think students need to learn a new language and apply it to learning academics? How can the additional language and learning barriers they face be reduced?
  1. What factors most affect the failure rate among people whose native language is not English? How would you suggest mitigating the impacts of these factors?
  1. How do student dropouts impact the community around them? Consider the social ecology model.
  1. How might students whose native language is English benefit from the presence in their classes of students whose native language is not English?
  1. What strategies and policy reforms need to be instituted to reduce the rate of dropouts in public schools today?

Additional Questions

  1. A large and rising number of students is being raised by just one parent. What’s the impact of this trend on the stability of these families, the support these parents are able to give their children in school, and the students’ ability to succeed in class?
  1. We ordinarily assume that discipline in class is primarily the teacher’s responsibility. But what responsibility, if any, do parents share in assuring that their children behave appropriately in class?
  1. Does the state bear any responsibility to educate illegal immigrants? If not, is it the responsibility of parents alone to educate their children or return to their native country to place them in schools there? If so, what are the nature and limits of the parents’ responsibility? Should students not in this country be legally permitted to attend public schools?
  1. What role could school vouchers play in giving parents and students alternatives to under-performing public schools? What would be the impacts of widespread use of school vouchers on the resources available to public schools?
  1. How well have state-funded charter schools performed thus far as alternatives to public schools? What impacts have charter schools had on the quality and resources available to public schools? Does the competition help or hurt the overall quality and variety of educational possibilities available to parents and students?
  1. Should students be promoted to the next grade even with failing test scores?
  1. What improvements has No Child Left Behind brought to public education? What has been the impact of NCLB’s emphasis on standardized tests on teachers and their teaching methods? Where and in what circumstances has NCLB been most effective and where has it been less so?

 

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