Scholar-Practitioner Reflections on the Urban Education Contexts of Race and Social Class in the Current Climate of Standards and Accountability
Th e complexity of urban education continues to be a challenge for urban educators. Th is paper explores the urban education context of race and social class in the current climate of standards and accountability through the refl ections of two public school scholar-practitioners. First, the fundamental tenets of scholar-practitioner leadership are presented in the context of a critical pragmatic praxis. Th e perspectives of two Philadelphia scholar-practitioner urban educators in their attempts to deal with urban educational complexity in relation to the infl uences of race, social class, and the standards and accountability mandates are presented. Th e one educator is a charter school Social Studies Department chairperson, and the other is the academic facilitator for a tech prep consortium at a Philadelphia community college. Additionally, both educators discuss how the scholar-practitioner concept positions them to better deal with the complex challenges of urban education.
Preservice Teachers’ Learning about Cultural and Racial Diversity
Several essential interactions or experiences that had an influence on preservice teachers’ learning and understanding about urban education and diversity are described and discussed. In particular, the author introduces a developmental typology that was used to analyze the preservice teachers’ learning and understanding as a result of a course designed to help preservice teachers develop the knowledge, skills, dispositions, and attitudes necessary to teach in highly diverse and urban school contexts. These developmental interactions that made a critical difference in the preservice teachers’ learning included cultural and racial awareness and insight, critical reflection, and a bridge between theory and practice. Understanding the influence of courses in teacher education that endeavor to provide learning spaces for preservice teachers is especially important as we document the most salient ways to provide all prospective teachers with what they need to make meaningful and significant differences in P-12 urban classrooms.
Turning Points 2000: Educating Adolescents in the 21st Century
Turning Points 2000: Educating Adolescents in the 21st Century Anthony W. Jackson & Gayle A. Davis Teacher College Press and National Middle School Association, New York, NY 2000 $25.00, ISBN 0-8077-3997-9 Apparently, lightning can strike twice. In 1989,beta ment published the landmark book, Turning Points: Preparing American Youth for the 21st Century. This study focused on the restructuring of middle schools that had begun more than 20 years before. After a decade of reform, there was a need to step back and take a long look at the effectiveness of the original work and mark the direction for continuing middle school reform. Turning Points 2000: Educating Adolescents in the 21st Century is the result of that effort. The authors, Anthony W. Jackson the principal author of the original and and Gayle A. Davis, a long time proponent of Turning Points hoped to put "flesh on the bone" of the original work. They succeeded admirably, and it is clear that Turning Points 2000 will spur a second wave of reform every bit as significant as that driven by the first effort. Turning Points 2000 uses the same organization as the original though the authors have rearranged the order somewhat to make it more meaningful for today's readers. The ten chapters are well organized making the study easy and logical to follow. Numerous sidebars throughout the book help the reader by showing examples of middle school programs, which are discussed in the chapters. For example, in Chapter Five on Professional Development, Box 5.2 describe "One District's Effort to Support Beginning Teachers." The Reference Section (pages 231-249) is extensive and exhaustive. There surely is no leading writer or theorist on middle level reform who is left off. In an effort to make the book even more timely, there are many "personal communications" made by leaders in the field throughout each chapter. The first chapter includes a description of the early days of the middle level reform after publication of Turning Points in 1989. It adds a section on adolescence and the "Opportunities and Risks" our students face. The authors then point out the need for a study of Turning Points to see how our reform effort is proceeding. Chapter Two discusses the Turning Points 2000 recommendations in light of all we know ten years after the original was published. The major contention of this research is clear. Educators cannot make some recommended changes while ignoring others. The success of our students requires that all the reforms be initiated. Turning Points 2000 then moves to curriculum in Chapter Three. This section is especially complete. It takes into consideration the pressures we face with school accountability and points out that high stakes testing and state-curricula that are mandated need not be inconsistent with an effective curriculum at the middle level. This chapter even proposes the Backward Design model of planning by starting from well-articulated objectives. Chapter Four explains developmentally responsive instruction. Jackson and Davis discuss three age appropriate methods of instruction, Authentic Instruction, WHERE, and Differentiated Instruction as the most effective methods in creating successful students. The chapter also spends considerable time discussing equity and the need to bring all students to mastery. In addition, there is a section on teaching reading in the middle grades. Their research indicates that very little reading is taught past grade three. …