What are the biggest problems in urban education today?

Question

More specifically, what prevents MOST children from succeeding in these environments? Of course, there are the typical answers. We know that racism and poverty are usually factors but are there other not so readily apparent reasons?

Answer 1

tracking system.  those standarized tests that students take in elementary school instantly categorizes them into groups from basic math to gifted and talented.  i personally think this is unfair because elementary students who did poor on these tests will forever be exposed to less-challenging education which doesn't prepare them for college but instead a vocational program.

Answer 2

I am in education, the problem is not always with the teacher, yes you do see teachers that don't care, and who are only there for a paycheck, but parents have to take responsiblity too, learning does not stop once a student goes home for the day, or at least it shouldn't. Parents should be involved in their childs education, know what is going on. Also funding does matter, if your school can afford to pay teachers who are experienced, it does make a difference. The no child left behind... sounded great to some, but it really leaves behind more children than helps them. Statistically minorites do worse on standardized tests, this makes there school letter grade fall, which in turn means that they get less money, how that makes sense I will never know.

Answer 3

Many people think throwing money at the problem will fix it. In many other countries they spend much less on education and yet their 8th grade students laugh at our final exams for high school seniors because they can't imagine going out into the world with such a lack of knowledge. I believe, and showed in a college thesis, that the breakdown of the family unit is ,at least in part, the basis for just about any conceivable problem in our society. Statistics show that the increase in societal problems rise at a similar rate to divorce and the percentage of children raised in single parent and severely dysfunctional families. The lack of extended family involvement appears to play a role as well. It seems simplistic but is actually far from it when you consider the myriad of reasons for this very complex phenomenon. Ask yourself a question. Where do we as human beings learn the basic skills needed to be  healthy and productive members of society? Because of this breakdown we depend more and more on the public schools to teach our kids what used to be the responsibility of the family unit. I am not blaming parents for the whole mess. The world is so much more difficult than it was even 50 years ago. I see a lot of parents that have 2 choices. Give their kids the time and attention required or work too much just to keep a roof over their heads and food in their stomachs. We are headed down a slippery slope and their is no easy fix. I am generally an optimist but to be honest, I am scared to death for our young people and future society. It's up to you guys my young heroes. It ain't fair but it's up to you to clean up our mess. Please think about it for your sakes. Peace and my sincere best wishes to all.

Answer 4

I work in a Title I school, the main problems I see are the fact that parents are NOT involved, there is no sense of community within the school which makes kids not really care about the environment of the school.

Absences with no reasons and no consequences, to either parent or child.

More emphasis put on testing than teaching, my students took 14 different test the last nine weeks of school, yet we were not given time to teach because of events like concerts and competitions.

NCLB!!!!!!!!! Stupidest law ever enacted. There are students that are not capable of being on level and never will be, they are tested the same and never given credit for the accomplishments and progress they make, as a school we are penalized, yet we must educate every child.

In some states, mine included there are no consequences to a child failing until they reach 9th grade, high school. This is a well known fact and parents will tell you, don't bother me, I send them to school for you to take care and you can't do anything to hold them back, so deal with. Yes, I have had more than one parent tell me to get over myself and thinking i am going to teach their kid anything, because school does not matter.

Answer 5

lack of discipline  for students and lack of dedication for teachers

Answer 6

Each of the above responses approach the problems facing urban education but fail to see the forest for sake of the trees.  Yes, for education to succeed money is required.  Required for infrastructure, equipment, safety, and teacher salaries.  However, the foremost problem is the education of teachers.  While almost everyone assumes that all teaching degrees are equal, nothing could be further from the truth.  Many colleges and universities manufacture teachers from a set curriculum, saying all are the same if they pass the state boards.  This is false.  Not all schools are equal.  Just as not everyone in the United States is equal, i.e., some are more equal than others.  Like everything else in this society, once an idea "takes off" a million copies follow.  A graduate degree from the The University of Blaa Blaa is in no way comparable to a graduate degree from MIT or one of the other elite schools.  That is the case, don't fool yourself.  Not only does it require money to be accepted by one of the top 10, it takes commitment and intelligence.  Yes, some of the lesser schools have smart people on board, but, they are few and far between when compared to the faculty of the top schools in the world.  

This is not a treatise of elitism, this is a simple statement of fact.  The elite schools have multi-billion dollar endowments, and focus on the enrichment of education, the arts and science, not on sports and other such meaningless distractions so desired by the masses.  That is the primary difference.   The other difference, .....is the student.

Answer 7

Socio-economic differences.  Period.  Children who don't have access to early learning experiences, whose parents aren't educated, etc. are the ones who suffer the most.  Lack of funding by the government is a HUGE problem.  You know the saying, "When public schools have all the money they need but the military has to hold a bake sale to buy a new airplane, all will be right with the world!" haha

Answer 8

There isn't any!

Answer 9

Teachers with low expectations and children who speak English as a second language.  Hunger and heath issues are others.

The Rosenthal and Jacobson study has spawned thousands of others.  They have concluded it's teachers expectations, not parent involvement that matters most.

Answer 10

The urban dictionary is bad, which causes the kid to be more misspellings in these error.  Another bad choice is that the parent don't set limit for television, friend time, phone calls, and computer of free time for their kid.  These kid are suppose to be learning while they are underage.  When they grow out of their age, they can do whatever they want to do.  I recommend kid to be learning while they are underage, not about s*x, having to get pregnant, learning to do something bad, drug, alcohol, many other bad choices are going around, and it may include child abuse.  This need to change, because I'm tired of these people saying some "typos" on my messages online and thing, and here I'm trying to tell them to get out of it and learn more.  We don't need no dummy here in USA.  It is about time to get smarter than those Jews.

Answer 11

The teachers. Not always but in most cases the teachers are just horribly stupid.

Answer 12

Well you see federal funding for schools is ****.

Suburban towns can afford to fund their public schools more putting urban schools at a disadvantage.

In addition the no child left behind act cuts funding for schools with low test scores, ie the ones that need the money to begin with, thus eternally s******g them over.

Answer 13

Most of the kids in my school were afraid to go because of the violence. Another problem was the vice-principal, and teachers, having given up and telling all the kids they would never be anything, or succeed at anything.

So, faculty laziness first.

And violence second.

Faculty is definately the biggest problem. Teachers should get bonuses based on retention AND grades.

Answer 14

There are so many!  I personally think that one of the biggest and least talked about ones is classism.  Too many teachers do not understand the children they are teaching, their life circumstances and what not.  They are too quick to judge and label these children with this or that rather than approach them with compassion, passion, and care.  Schools also tend to rely on Ruby Payne's framework for understanding poverty...and she is full of c**p.  She spits out ridiculous middle to upper class values and basically blames the least privileged in our society for their plights.  It disturbs me to no end.  Teachers are being taught how to care for these children and educate them in a completely ignorant way...I could go on and on...but I won't  :)