WELCOME BACK!
Vanessa Womack
Inclusive Community Development Consultant, College Professor, and BoardSource Consultant
As in welcome back to school for the Fall. The final hot days of summer are winding down and unless your school system is year-round, September is the month when the school year really kicks off in America.
The words, welcome back, put me in a nostalgic TV mood as I remember Room 222, and Welcome Back, Kotter. Both were situation-comedy shows set in classrooms populated with racial and ethnically diverse students. Both shows were popular in the late 60’s – mid 70’s. Coming out of the turbulent 60’s and still in the era of Viet Nam, Hollywood’s bold moves to further integrate the small screen with diverse casts in shows felt like the world was finally, perhaps slowly, recognizing our human diversity.
I know I am showing my age, but all that seems so long ago.
You would think that as a nation, our societal norms around education would have evolved much farther than it has. Education is more expensive. Many post-graduates are struggling with crippling huge student debt and often wonder if their college education was worth it. The pandemic derailed us. When schools shut down in 2020, and virtual learning tried to replace in-person classrooms, no one could have predicted how unprepared we were with remote instruction. We are trying hard to get back on track.
THE COST OF EDUCATION?
Has increased significantly!
Yes, monetarily; but even more drastically, the inequitable costs associated with children, particularly in BIPOC communities where so many have fallen behind in the past two and a half years. The pandemic has been unbearably cruel and its continued devastating effects on our society will exacerbate the most vulnerable of our humanity – our children – for years. The teaching profession in K-12 has suffered tremendously and at the beginning this school year, major teacher shortages have put school systems in jeopardy of overcrowded classrooms and teacher strikes.
At a recent public event in Virginia, the Governor was in attendance to kick off a city-state partnership with the City of Petersburg to build collaboration across the region, promoting health, education, community safety, redevelopment, and fostering growth and business. Several city, state, and community leaders spoke about their agencies and organizations’ commitments to the partnership, each signing a statement to keep that promise. It was the report from a state education official citing a statistic that the students in that city were “23 weeks behind in learning” that saddened me.?
I had seen firsthand while tutoring elementary students in a nearby city how far behind students were in their education. Selected small groups of second through fourth graders with reading levels far below expectations were drilled on consonants, vowels, blends, and spelling. Four days a week, the students were escorted to the tutoring room for 35 minutes to practice reciting words on cards, charts, memorizing them for spelling and reading. They were all eager, enthusiastic learners, encouraging one another. They encouraged me to become more patient, empathetic, caring, and attentive to everyone’s pace for comprehension. When one little girl struggled so hard to read, she was too embarrassed to continue. It was painful to watch. When the group’s time was up, I gently pulled her to the side to offer comforting reinforcement to never stop practicing her words.?
I bent down to her and said, “repeat these words softly to yourself. “I WILL learn how to read.” She looked at me with a beautiful, doe-eyed expression and repeated the words. My heart ached!
SOS – SAVE OUR STUDENTS
What more can be done? The author of the newsletter wants to prompt you through curiosity, concern, and considerations for active engagement, empowerment, and positive change to improve educational systems that offer equitable access according to the unique, diverse needs of student populations; particularly those who have been historically disadvantaged.
By now you know I like to share a little research related to the monthly newsletter topic. You are encouraged to read this these and search others.
The more we learn, the better we grow. (Hopefully!)
领英推荐
An overview of public schools
Here is an overview as described in this article about the 15 biggest failures of the American public education system.
Public Education is under attack, and we must take a stand. Some may try to undermine teaching the truth about our American history, but lessons from the past provide insights for us today and the future.
Continuing with the inclusive thread, let’s not forget Native American students. They are a small percentage of higher education and often left out of the data.
Native American Education Statistics https://pnpi.org/native-american-students/
As the largest student population in the United States, Latino students’ issues are gaining attention. Read about the tremendous progress being made through the success of programs described here.
Latino Education https://www.unidosus.org/issues/education/
Another high growth student population is the AAPI, but don’t make the mistake of lumping all of them into one monolithic category. Read here about how “The Center for American Progress believes explicit racial equity lens?toward policymaking in K-12 education as a cornerstone of ensuring that all children have access to a quality education.”
Asian American and Pacific Islanders https://www.americanprogress.org/article/education-policies-need-to-address-the-unique-needs-of-asian-american-and-pacific-islander-communities/
Whether it is K-12 in a public or private setting, home-schooled, undergraduate, technical, graduate, the learning never ends for many of us who proclaim to be lifelong learners. There may be stops and starts along life’s journey, but each day can deliver an opportunity to learn something new, refresh our knowledge, and Pass It On.
Praying for all students’ success in school!
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PASS IT ON!