My first question is found on page 101
Why do you think Kozol provided the example of a girl like Timeka, whose goal was to become a doctor?
I think the reason why is because he wanted us to relate to how girls like Timeka have goals just like us, but the only difference is that their goals aren’t attainable under their circumstances. For example the program at her school doesn’t even provide the education necessary to lead her to that goal. Robeson High only sends a few students that are successfully prepared for college and among those few, the likelihood of them going to medical school is almost non-existent. What it comes down to is the reality of her high school, in which only one out of five ninth graders reach twelfth grade and from which Timeka dropped out in eleventh. However, if she had gone to a school in almost any middle-class suburban district, she would have been exposed to an assortment of options that would have potentially permitted her to accomplish her goal.
My second question can be found on pages 102-103
Why do you think a college education isn’t marketed to many students as forcefully as job-related programs are at an inner city school?
The first thing that I thought was people automatically assume that students at a corrupt school aren’t capable of going to college. Instead students are required to decide on a career path at the end of freshmen year, and once a student chooses, his or her entire program is determined by that choice. Say for example if someone were to decide to try the culinary arts program, in which students are prepared to work in restaurant kitchens. He or she would be offered jobs or internships upon completion of their high school diploma, which lures them into a lower economic role in later years than if they were to pursue a college education. Essentially, these students are indirectly told that they don’t have the potential to pursue a further education and that this is the only option they have.
My third question can be found on page 120
What do you feel about this quote, “In Atlanta, recess has been systematically abandoned to secure more time for test-related programs since the last years of the 1990s.”
I personally feel as though elementary schools are turning more into penitentiaries. When you’re a kid a crucial part of learning is to have fun as well. If you lock up kids in a building all day, it will most likely cause them to have a short attention span and lose focus. The most important aspect of recess is that it establishes a break from the day's routine. Breaks are considered essential for satisfaction and alertness. It even has been proven that recall is improved when learning is spaced rather than presented all at once. Besides your brain needs some downtime to relax from learning new concepts that can be hard to understand.
My fourth question can be found on page 121
Why would districts go further to distort the timing of summer break in an effort to accommodate school calendars to testing schedules?
Districts believe that starting school earlier will prepare the students for the state exams that they take in late winter. The higher the test score, the more funding the school gets from the government. For example if students’ scores improve at certain rates, principals and teachers can receive a bonus up to $15,000 a year! Another reason why raising test scores is such a priority is the fact that these state wide tests are widely publicized in press accounts and on TV. There would be nothing more humiliating than for a principal to hear his or her school’s name announced on television as being, “the worst of the worst.” The fear is that if they don’t get these test scores up then their school will continue to decline. However, little do they know that this doesn’t necessarily mean that their children are provided with more of an education; it just counts towards the staff’s paychecks and reputation of the school.
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