Last week, a New Trier graduate and current teacher (through Teach For America ), visited our class. He described the main differences between the high school where teaches (rural Arkansas) and New Trier. The biggest difference is the socioeconomic background of these students; they live in a very poor area. They have completely different life styles and values, not in a sense of better or worse, but just different. These students are limited by their money; they do not have the money for computers at home, and the school itself has hardly any computers. It is hard to even imagine not being able to access the Internet at home, or type a paper for school. And this isn’t just a problem in this one town in Arkansas. It’s a nationwide problem, and it’s even in parts of Chicago.
Then this teacher said something that really shocked me. He said that his ninth grade students are reading at a third grade level. This made me sad because I know how important reading and education are for rising out of poverty. Reading is part of our everyday lives, and if we cannot comprehend what is before us, then we will really face challenges down the road. Reading has applications in so many settings; from ordering at a restaurant to applying for a job, it is essential.
While these students may have some of the basics down, unless they improve their reading, college and further education would be difficult, if not impossible. We need to take steps to address this problem so that they have a brighter future.
Brooks I totally argree with you. The education system needs to be fixed. Our country has fallen way behind compared to other countries. There are so many things that a better education system would fix. For example, the US has the highest incarceration rate in the world. According to wikipedia taxpayers spend $60 billion a year just for the prisons. It costs approximately $30,000 a year to house a prisoner.A better education system would definitely improve this.
ReplyDeleteRecently there was a video published by the "United We Learn" foundation (They were part of the day when Pastor Meeks took inner city students to New Trier). In part of it, a girl says that when she was a senior, in her African American Literature class, they were reading a book for 5th graders. If you're interested here's the website, www.unitedwelearnil.org/watch-the-film