The students we've left behind
Think of nine people you went to elementary school with. OK, now remember all the good times you had and the promises for a great future which were hopefully laid out for you throughout your school career. OK, and now think about those other nine people, and think about the fact that, on average in this country, only four of them would have graduated from high school with you. Ridiculous? Hardly.
On April 1, the America's Promise Alliance, a research alliance founded by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, issued a report detailing the current graduation and dropout rates among America's high schools.
The study determined that only about half of American students who attend high school end up receiving diplomas. Because this is an average, it means that far less than 50 percent of students in some of the worst cities and school districts are graduating. Baltimore City public schools, however, ran a close fourth, with a meager graduation rate of 34.6 percent.
These numbers are shocking to me. At an elite academic institution such as Hopkins, the vast majority of students probably find these numbers to be not just alarming, but downright unforgivable.
I'll admit that coming from the Baltimore County public school system (where the graduation rate is 81.5 percent), I find it simply unfathomable that a school district in such close proximity to mine can provide such a stark contrast.
This only further serves to reinforce the idea that there is an ever-widening financial and learning gap. Something needs to be done about this. But how do we even begin to remedy this problem?
Well, programs such as Teach for America are definitely a good first step in the positive direction. By placing teachers in low-income, underachieving schools, Teach for America aims to promote interest in the teaching population because, frankly, most teachers do not want to teach in schools that are already underperforming.
This idea is also addressed in a recent article by the Baltimore Sun, which discusses the fact that teachers at 11 public schools in Baltimore City may have to reapply for their jobs at the end of the year due to provisions mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).
On April 1, the America's Promise Alliance, a research alliance founded by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, issued a report detailing the current graduation and dropout rates among America's high schools.
The study determined that only about half of American students who attend high school end up receiving diplomas. Because this is an average, it means that far less than 50 percent of students in some of the worst cities and school districts are graduating. Baltimore City public schools, however, ran a close fourth, with a meager graduation rate of 34.6 percent.
These numbers are shocking to me. At an elite academic institution such as Hopkins, the vast majority of students probably find these numbers to be not just alarming, but downright unforgivable.
I'll admit that coming from the Baltimore County public school system (where the graduation rate is 81.5 percent), I find it simply unfathomable that a school district in such close proximity to mine can provide such a stark contrast.
This only further serves to reinforce the idea that there is an ever-widening financial and learning gap. Something needs to be done about this. But how do we even begin to remedy this problem?
Well, programs such as Teach for America are definitely a good first step in the positive direction. By placing teachers in low-income, underachieving schools, Teach for America aims to promote interest in the teaching population because, frankly, most teachers do not want to teach in schools that are already underperforming.
This idea is also addressed in a recent article by the Baltimore Sun, which discusses the fact that teachers at 11 public schools in Baltimore City may have to reapply for their jobs at the end of the year due to provisions mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).
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jdistefano
posted 4/11/08 @ 1:33 PM EST
I applaud your concern and your attempt to present solutions to the problem, however, I think your solutions are based on some media-hyped misnomers.
1. (Continued…)
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