Connections to Jonathan Kozol
HOW THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN...
"I believe that we were put here for a purpose, but these people in the streets can't see a purpose. There's a whole world out there if you know it's there, if you can see it. But they're in a cage. They cannot see."
-Jonathan Kozol, from Amazing Grace
Mott Haven in Providence, where the seven schools being closed down were :
■ Lillian Feinstein Elementary School at Sackett Street
■ Messer Street Elementary School Annex
■ Windmill Elementary School
■ Bridgham Middle School
■ Perry Middle School
■ Feinstein High School
■ Ninth Grade Academy
In a city where what is needed is a better education and access to resources rather than having schools closed down.
Our Connections:
Our experiences in Robert F. Kennedy School shows us that the Providence Schools are struggling financially and in many instances cannot provide necessary resources for their students. Because of this, students in these schools have a much harder time being successful than more affluent communities. What causes this flaw in the system, and what can be done to fix it?
Julie’s Connection: I don’t have a car on campus, I have to walk to the elementary school every week for tutoring. While it was a bit nerve-wracking the first time, (I’m not from this area), it gave me a whole new perspective on the neighborhood and the community outside of the school. Here is what I saw on my route:
-Jonathan Kozol, from Amazing Grace
Mott Haven in Providence, where the seven schools being closed down were :
■ Lillian Feinstein Elementary School at Sackett Street
■ Messer Street Elementary School Annex
■ Windmill Elementary School
■ Bridgham Middle School
■ Perry Middle School
■ Feinstein High School
■ Ninth Grade Academy
In a city where what is needed is a better education and access to resources rather than having schools closed down.
Our Connections:
Our experiences in Robert F. Kennedy School shows us that the Providence Schools are struggling financially and in many instances cannot provide necessary resources for their students. Because of this, students in these schools have a much harder time being successful than more affluent communities. What causes this flaw in the system, and what can be done to fix it?
Julie’s Connection: I don’t have a car on campus, I have to walk to the elementary school every week for tutoring. While it was a bit nerve-wracking the first time, (I’m not from this area), it gave me a whole new perspective on the neighborhood and the community outside of the school. Here is what I saw on my route:
Directions: Take 1st left onto Cathedral Ave. Turn right onto Smith St. Take a slight left onto Eaton St. (at the fork in
the road). School is on the right, take a right to get to the parking lot entrance.
Some things I noticed in the community/outside of the building
the road). School is on the right, take a right to get to the parking lot entrance.
Some things I noticed in the community/outside of the building
- Houses around RIC (Cathedral Ave) look very nice; lots of flowers, nice yards,
etc. - Larger schools in the area (La Salle Academy) are much larger; suggests a very affluent community
- As you walk further away from RIC and closer to RFK, the community changes.
- The elementary school itself appears very run-down in comparison, revealing clues to the poverty in the system.
- There is no large welcome sign, the main office is not visible. It feels a bit unsafe, as if visitors are not welcome.
- You have to walk through the parking lot to get to the main entrance.
- Very small playground for the 500 students that attend the school.
- Landscape around the school isn’t very well taken care of; evidence of a smaller budget.
- Not many areas for parking/bus entrances – most kids walk to school (maybe some parents cannot afford transportation?)
- The windows have grates over them, and you cannot see inside. The overall appearance is a bit prison-like.
Maritza's Connection: As I entered the school the first thing I noticed was the bad condition the building is in. There is a lack of color, a lack of welcoming sense. Most importantly, there is a lack of resources and money that could help our students succeed. The computer lab is way down in the basement, in the corner, it looks like a forgotten place. Although I was glad there were computers in the building, the chairs and materials in that space were so old, and not made for children. The chairs were the metal kind that can be folded, all rusty and with no paint. As I mentioned this room in in the basement where a sign that says "DANGER, high voltage keep out" is located.
Also as I sit in my classroom teaching my students how to solve math problems, I hear how the teacher asks her students to cut their papers in half, because there isn't enough paper supply to last for the whole year. Just the lack of bass materials like paper keeps students in Providence from learning more, or simply having more resources to use in school.
Finally, as we were getting ready to go see a storyteller, as part of reading week, I was told by my students with an attitude mixed in with resignation that they didn't have a cafeteria, nor auditorium, but rather a gymnasium where they had gym class but also that the was the place they used to perform or have events as well as the place they used as their cafeteria. Certainly, the quality of the place you are in changes how you feel about yourself, and the students at RFK are used to not even having a cafeteria in school.
Also as I sit in my classroom teaching my students how to solve math problems, I hear how the teacher asks her students to cut their papers in half, because there isn't enough paper supply to last for the whole year. Just the lack of bass materials like paper keeps students in Providence from learning more, or simply having more resources to use in school.
Finally, as we were getting ready to go see a storyteller, as part of reading week, I was told by my students with an attitude mixed in with resignation that they didn't have a cafeteria, nor auditorium, but rather a gymnasium where they had gym class but also that the was the place they used to perform or have events as well as the place they used as their cafeteria. Certainly, the quality of the place you are in changes how you feel about yourself, and the students at RFK are used to not even having a cafeteria in school.
Who attends RFK?
Like expected minoritiy students are the largest population at Kennedy, and just like in Mott Haven, minorities are the ones living in the worst conditions.
Data on poverty in the Providence Area: Residents with income below the poverty level in 2009:
Providence- 29.5%
Whole State- 15.2%
Residents with income below 50% of the poverty level in 2009:
Providence:- 10%
Whole State - 4.9%
Median household income- $36,925 compared with $56,858 in RI
Barrington- 4.7%
Whole State-15.2%
Residents with income below 50% of the poverty level in 2009:
Barrington-1.2%
Whole State- 4.9%
Median household income- $99,389 compared with $56,858 in RI
Providence- 29.5%
Whole State- 15.2%
Residents with income below 50% of the poverty level in 2009:
Providence:- 10%
Whole State - 4.9%
Median household income- $36,925 compared with $56,858 in RI
Barrington- 4.7%
Whole State-15.2%
Residents with income below 50% of the poverty level in 2009:
Barrington-1.2%
Whole State- 4.9%
Median household income- $99,389 compared with $56,858 in RI
School funding: “As a state, Rhode Island allocates a smaller share of education money from state coffers than do most states. The burden of funding is therefore left mainly in the hands of property taxpayers. Wealthy communities have had an easier time raising money for schools". As seen Providence is among the poorest cities, and it consists of "23,561 students in 43 schools, 3 annexes, 2 charter schools, and 1 center servicing students with disabilities." also having in mind that "across the nation, school personnel costs account for between 80% and 85% of all school spending.”, causing a problem in the schools creating a lack of resources needed in order to give its students a proper education, that enables them to succeed.
Source: InfoWorks
“What is it like for children to grow up here? What do they
think the world has done to them? Do they believe that they are being shunned or hidden by society? If so, do they think that they deserve this?"
-Jonathan Kozol, Amazing Grace
The effect that this has on our school:
Looking at the school program at Kennedy, there is a lack of resources available to their students.
77% of the students receive subsidized lunch. This is a much higher level of poverty than in the rest of the state, where an average of 44% receive free and reduced lunch. In Barrington, a wealthier district, only 6% of students qualify.
The school library is small; it's only a classroom with bookshelves. for 500 students, this library does not have enough books! (Picture source: Robert F. Kennedy School website)
Kennedy students scored significantly lower on the NECAP tests than those on wealthier districts:
NECAP TEST SCORES 2013-2014
Looking at the school program at Kennedy, there is a lack of resources available to their students.
77% of the students receive subsidized lunch. This is a much higher level of poverty than in the rest of the state, where an average of 44% receive free and reduced lunch. In Barrington, a wealthier district, only 6% of students qualify.
The school library is small; it's only a classroom with bookshelves. for 500 students, this library does not have enough books! (Picture source: Robert F. Kennedy School website)
Kennedy students scored significantly lower on the NECAP tests than those on wealthier districts:
NECAP TEST SCORES 2013-2014
This school also cannot afford to offer enrichment programs to its students:
“ProPublica's analysis found that all too often, states and schools provide poor students fewer educational programs like Advanced Placement, gifted and talented programs, and advanced math and science classes. Studies have linked participation in these programs with better outcomes later in life….The school hasn't reported or may not have a gifted and talented program.”
Source: ProPublica
As we saw from our reading from Jeannie Oakes, "Why Schools Need to Take Another Route," this absence of gifted programs at Kennedy and in the Providence School District as a whole, greatly puts our students at a disadvantage since "students who are placed in high-ability groups have access to far richer schooling experiences than other students," and "students in low-ability classes [are] likely to have little contact with the knowledge and skills that would allow them to move into higher classes or to be successful if they got there"
-Jeannie Oakes
To add on to the absence of gifted programs, Kennedy also has no variety of after school programs to offer their students, creating no ways for them to think critically or to expand their knowledge beyond the classroom.
How this affects the whole school district as a whole:
4-year graduation rates:
Providence District: 71.4%
Barrington District: 95.3%
Source: InfoWorks
Providence has four of the five lowest performing schools in Rhode Island, Central Falls High School being the fifth.
source: Ri Department of Education
Lack of resources as well as low performance ends up in the closing of more schools, and creating a bigger student to teacher ratio, in our classrooms at Kennedy being 23:1.
Once again the lack of resources just limits more the majority of Providence students, the Latino community, who "are grade levels behind their white peers. Hispanics scored two to three levels behind their white peers in math and one or two levels behind in reading on National Assessment of Educational Progress tests".
Source NBC Latino
“ProPublica's analysis found that all too often, states and schools provide poor students fewer educational programs like Advanced Placement, gifted and talented programs, and advanced math and science classes. Studies have linked participation in these programs with better outcomes later in life….The school hasn't reported or may not have a gifted and talented program.”
Source: ProPublica
As we saw from our reading from Jeannie Oakes, "Why Schools Need to Take Another Route," this absence of gifted programs at Kennedy and in the Providence School District as a whole, greatly puts our students at a disadvantage since "students who are placed in high-ability groups have access to far richer schooling experiences than other students," and "students in low-ability classes [are] likely to have little contact with the knowledge and skills that would allow them to move into higher classes or to be successful if they got there"
-Jeannie Oakes
To add on to the absence of gifted programs, Kennedy also has no variety of after school programs to offer their students, creating no ways for them to think critically or to expand their knowledge beyond the classroom.
How this affects the whole school district as a whole:
4-year graduation rates:
Providence District: 71.4%
Barrington District: 95.3%
Source: InfoWorks
Providence has four of the five lowest performing schools in Rhode Island, Central Falls High School being the fifth.
source: Ri Department of Education
Lack of resources as well as low performance ends up in the closing of more schools, and creating a bigger student to teacher ratio, in our classrooms at Kennedy being 23:1.
Once again the lack of resources just limits more the majority of Providence students, the Latino community, who "are grade levels behind their white peers. Hispanics scored two to three levels behind their white peers in math and one or two levels behind in reading on National Assessment of Educational Progress tests".
Source NBC Latino
Conclusion:
"And so I ask, 'Those who are the smartest and work hardest go furthest?' Who's kidding whom? When students begin school in such different systems, the odds are set for them...I'd like to hope that a child's expectations are not
determined on the day that she or he enters kindergarten, but it would be
foolish to entertain such a hope unless there are some drastic changes made."
-Patrick Finn, Literacy with an Attitude
We connected this experience to Finn as well as Kozol because they both agree that the broken-down systems of education prevents students from doing well. Without proper financial support, the students don't have access to the resources they need to do well. The kids that perform the best in school are the kids who have access to educational resources. While exceptions can be made and these less privileged students can succeed, the people with greater access to resources will ultimately have greater ability to succeed simply because they have more opportunities available to them within their social class.
“"If poor people behaved rationally," says Lawrence Mead, a
professor of political science at New York University, "they would seldom be
poor for long in the first place." Many social scientists today appear to hold
this point of view and argue that the largest portion of the suffering poor
people undergo has to be blamed upon their own "behaviors," a word they tend to pluralize.”
-Jonathan Kozol, Amazing Grace
As Kozol states, Mead's assumption, which is also the assumption of many privileged people, is false. it's not the fault of the less fortunate students in Providence that they aren't performing as well. It's not the students' intelligence that's broken, it's the system that's broken. It's broken in such a way that it benefits the people in the wealthier community by giving them access to the resources they need for education and keeping the poor people "in their place" by keeping them below the privileged people of society. The system is this way for a reason, but as Kozol says "these people in the streets cannot see a purpose." There is a whole world of access to higher education and achievement for these students, but they just don't have the opportunity to seek it. They don't know it's there.
In the words of Jonathan Kozol,
"And so I ask, 'Those who are the smartest and work hardest go furthest?' Who's kidding whom? When students begin school in such different systems, the odds are set for them...I'd like to hope that a child's expectations are not
determined on the day that she or he enters kindergarten, but it would be
foolish to entertain such a hope unless there are some drastic changes made."
-Patrick Finn, Literacy with an Attitude
We connected this experience to Finn as well as Kozol because they both agree that the broken-down systems of education prevents students from doing well. Without proper financial support, the students don't have access to the resources they need to do well. The kids that perform the best in school are the kids who have access to educational resources. While exceptions can be made and these less privileged students can succeed, the people with greater access to resources will ultimately have greater ability to succeed simply because they have more opportunities available to them within their social class.
“"If poor people behaved rationally," says Lawrence Mead, a
professor of political science at New York University, "they would seldom be
poor for long in the first place." Many social scientists today appear to hold
this point of view and argue that the largest portion of the suffering poor
people undergo has to be blamed upon their own "behaviors," a word they tend to pluralize.”
-Jonathan Kozol, Amazing Grace
As Kozol states, Mead's assumption, which is also the assumption of many privileged people, is false. it's not the fault of the less fortunate students in Providence that they aren't performing as well. It's not the students' intelligence that's broken, it's the system that's broken. It's broken in such a way that it benefits the people in the wealthier community by giving them access to the resources they need for education and keeping the poor people "in their place" by keeping them below the privileged people of society. The system is this way for a reason, but as Kozol says "these people in the streets cannot see a purpose." There is a whole world of access to higher education and achievement for these students, but they just don't have the opportunity to seek it. They don't know it's there.
In the words of Jonathan Kozol,