Hello Readers,
We continue to monitor our progress so we can learn from them in order to improve and be more efficient ( in meeting students' needs ). Here it is:
Hours and # of Students-
For March, the Writing Center was open for 80 hours, and we worked with 110 students ( dedicating at least an hour per student ). The students' attendance vacillated throughout the month. The week before spring break was crazy and then the week after we averaged 4 students per day. On the 3rd week we reached a record high of 48 students. The last week was the same as the week following spring break. Compared to last month's progress report, the proportions (students per hours) are very close. February's outcome tend to show a rising pattern, while March's outcome had an up-and-down pattern.
Outreach
We're refocusing on faculty. Their words tend to gravitate more with their students ( a quid pro quo in matters of extra credit/improved grades )
Project Facebook continues ( a presence and reminders for students online, a way to connect through instant announcement, comments, and birthday remembrances ) maybe good for internet presence but in terms of student participation outcome, it's not clear.
-As of March 2011 we have 112 friends ( 25 more than last month ).
Events/Workshops
-Resume Workshop
-In progress ( APA Workshop )
Mini-Projects
-In progress ( flyers, log-in sheet, website, handbook, research, journal article, questionaires, and conference presentation, Youtube video, April Fool's Day prank )
-Newsletter ( welcome note, mission, tips, student shout-outs, faculty, stats, events [past/future] )
Scholarship and Discussion
-The first couple of scholarship I read were very confrontational ( a la Muriel Harris ). The very existence of a Writing Center was in the hands of the Budget. Students' participation in writing center was mostly voluntary thus results- in terms of grades -weren't as concrete ( quantity emphasized rather than quality ). Conflicts didn't just exist with the administration but also with faculty ( who felt their authority threatened ). Thank goodness for Peter Carino to offer a less confrontational outlook; he reminded me that collaboration shouldn't only happen in the writing center with students BUT also outside the writing center with the University community ( administration, faculty, et al ).
-When my colleagues and I weren't busy helping students we had discussions. We talked about the resume workshop; we compared our sessions to get insights in other ways of tutoring ( Myers-Briggs personality test ) and to get perspectives about students. We discussed Muriel Harris's contribution to Writing Center scholarship plus her article about different situations ( we found her to be very confrontational ). Then we extended our talk in a larger context factoring in NCLB's impact and Brown versus Board of Education ( the advantages of individualized learning/teaching that avoids the danger of generalizing education and restricting students to standardized molds ).
Future Conferences/Journals
-NCET
-4Cs
-WCA
-IWCA
-Writing Lab Newsletter
-English Journal
-College English
-CCC
Future Collaborations
-Honor Students
-Peer Mentoring Program
-English Honor Society
-Residence Life
Classes to do Presentations
-English and Communication courses
-Writing Intensive courses
-Freshman seminar courses
Friday, April 1, 2011
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Dissertation: notes 2.2
Hi Readers,
What do San Diego School County and the New York City School Districts have in common? Both applied the business principles of the No Child Left Behind ( NCLB ) to reform education in their areas. While both showed initial unprecendented reform, upon further scrutiny the overall modest changes ( maybe hyped-up results ) spur one to question the consequences of such a policy especially its effects to students entering college in 2011 and beyond.
In San Diego, Alan Bersin and Anthony Alvarado called their program "Blueprint for Student Success in a Standards-Based System" ( Blueprint ), and in NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg called his program "Children First." They have slight differences, but both employed Balanced Literacy ( 3 hours of reading ) and professional development ( for Blueprint staff meetings and 2 hour observations from principals, and for NYC a Leadership Academy to train staff in standardized procedures ).
Both used the top-down education reform model, which centralized decision-making and afforded no room for collaboration, thus "the theory behind these tactics [was] culture shock keeping everyone on edge, afraid, insecure" (60). There were no checks and balances, and people making the BIG decisions were non-educators, who were misinformed ( and mostly ignorant ) about curriculum, instruction, educational philosophies et al.
These business experts ( not educational experts ) narrowed curriculum and strictly focused it on literacy and mathematics. To maximize profit and minimize expenses, they curtailed other subjects important to a well-rounded education, such as the Arts, the sciences, the social studies, and others. Success was only measured by test results.
After 7 years of implementation ( from 2002 - 2009 ), critics evaluated Blueprint and Children First's overall impact. San Diego students compared with other students from the surrounding districts improved only moderately (59). NYC's statistics were tweaked to produce impressive results: student drop-out rate was ignored leaving "children behind;" test standards were lowered to increase passing rate; good schools that were steadily progressing and performing well overall and cumulatively were punished for receiving a bad grade that year.
Primary and secondary schools are suffering the consequences of NCLB-like policy first hand. Nonetheless signs are showing that its effects are lingering into post-secodary education ( colleges and universities ). Skills garnered from the NCLB model of "schooling" ( instead of educating ) students were mostly useful "for taking state tests [thus] students were not prepared to read college textbooks, job-training manuals or anything else that was not specific to the state tests" (88). In fact, 75% of NYC high school graduates attending 2 year colleges are enrolled in remedial courses in reading, writing, and mathematics (88).
Hopefully these results help people, such as voting citizens and policy makers to realize that there are no short cuts for reform, and fear tactics are detrimental in reform. Carl Cohn says that genuine school reform "is dependent upon empowering those at the bottom, not punishing them from the top" (66). Cohn agrees with authors of Trust in Schools Anthony Bryk and Barbara Schneider that cooperation and trust are important in order to make positive changes.
from Daine Ravitch's "The Death and Life of the Great American School System..."
What do San Diego School County and the New York City School Districts have in common? Both applied the business principles of the No Child Left Behind ( NCLB ) to reform education in their areas. While both showed initial unprecendented reform, upon further scrutiny the overall modest changes ( maybe hyped-up results ) spur one to question the consequences of such a policy especially its effects to students entering college in 2011 and beyond.
In San Diego, Alan Bersin and Anthony Alvarado called their program "Blueprint for Student Success in a Standards-Based System" ( Blueprint ), and in NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg called his program "Children First." They have slight differences, but both employed Balanced Literacy ( 3 hours of reading ) and professional development ( for Blueprint staff meetings and 2 hour observations from principals, and for NYC a Leadership Academy to train staff in standardized procedures ).
Both used the top-down education reform model, which centralized decision-making and afforded no room for collaboration, thus "the theory behind these tactics [was] culture shock keeping everyone on edge, afraid, insecure" (60). There were no checks and balances, and people making the BIG decisions were non-educators, who were misinformed ( and mostly ignorant ) about curriculum, instruction, educational philosophies et al.
These business experts ( not educational experts ) narrowed curriculum and strictly focused it on literacy and mathematics. To maximize profit and minimize expenses, they curtailed other subjects important to a well-rounded education, such as the Arts, the sciences, the social studies, and others. Success was only measured by test results.
After 7 years of implementation ( from 2002 - 2009 ), critics evaluated Blueprint and Children First's overall impact. San Diego students compared with other students from the surrounding districts improved only moderately (59). NYC's statistics were tweaked to produce impressive results: student drop-out rate was ignored leaving "children behind;" test standards were lowered to increase passing rate; good schools that were steadily progressing and performing well overall and cumulatively were punished for receiving a bad grade that year.
Primary and secondary schools are suffering the consequences of NCLB-like policy first hand. Nonetheless signs are showing that its effects are lingering into post-secodary education ( colleges and universities ). Skills garnered from the NCLB model of "schooling" ( instead of educating ) students were mostly useful "for taking state tests [thus] students were not prepared to read college textbooks, job-training manuals or anything else that was not specific to the state tests" (88). In fact, 75% of NYC high school graduates attending 2 year colleges are enrolled in remedial courses in reading, writing, and mathematics (88).
Hopefully these results help people, such as voting citizens and policy makers to realize that there are no short cuts for reform, and fear tactics are detrimental in reform. Carl Cohn says that genuine school reform "is dependent upon empowering those at the bottom, not punishing them from the top" (66). Cohn agrees with authors of Trust in Schools Anthony Bryk and Barbara Schneider that cooperation and trust are important in order to make positive changes.
from Daine Ravitch's "The Death and Life of the Great American School System..."
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