Dream Weaver

In the past few weeks, with the dedication of the King Memorial in Washington, DC, there has been a lot of talk about the life of Dr. King and more specifically, his dream. The life of a dream. What does that dream mean today and what does it mean for the nation's children?

Everyone has a dream. Some dream of riches and fame. Some dream of athletic greatness. Others dream of world peace. No matter what the dream, no matter how far fetched, everyone has a dream. It may be coincidence, but the unveiling of the King Memorial coincided with the opening of the school year. Schools are places where dreams are cultivated.

Schools, at their best, are able to develop the dreams of their students. They give the students an opportunity to expand their horizons. Schools enable students to expand their horizons beyond what is known and gives them to tools to help them reach those lofty goals.

At this time of year when school children are returning to school and teachers and administrators are preparing to educate young minds, it is important to think of algebra and science, but it is equally important to foster those dreams. "Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is like a broken-winged bird that cannot fly." Langston Hughes

The goal for the 2011-2012 school year is to help someone else fly and help them find their dream.

The Wu-Tang Effect

During the summer of 2010, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh decided the pool their talents on one team. They settled for the Miami Heat. I am sure there were other things involved in that decision, but the point is that these three friends decided to make their own destiny.

In the summer of 1994 while we were all dancing around to C.R.E.A.M. by Wu-Tang, my good friend and Wu-Tang enthusiast told the tale of how the nine member crew planned to remain solvent. Although they made money and achieved notoriety as a group, each member had their own side projects. A percentage of those side projects went back into the Wu-Tang pot thus making the group The First Bank of Wu-Tang. These young entrepreneurs created their own reality.

There is something to be said about using your resources, pooling your reserves, and using your strengths. This is how companies run and become successful. This is how government works. This is how singers become sensations. There has been talk about how these young men defined destiny. To be sure, there is no real way to define destiny without making others, who would prefer to define destiny for you, angry.

What does any of this have to do with education? First, there old adage goes that it takes a village to raise a child. More important, it takes villagers who bring different strengths to the table. A great teacher, a tremendous presenter/motivator, a skilled administrator, and a financial wizard may be in different stages of their lives and careers. They may not want to give up their great benefits, mediocre job, and brown bag lunch. However, when they get together, they create an educational experience so enriching that we call it "learning."

With the number of educators I know throughout the country, I am determined to get the right fit of educators together to create that educational experience. After over 50 years of "desegregated" schools, a widening Academic Achievement Gap, and a dismal future for African American males, it is clear that we must pool our talents in order to create our own destiny. You don't have to let me know you're interested in this transformation. Trust me, I will be knocking on your door soon.

(As an aside, I would like to take this time to acknowledge "my Wu-Tang Family" also known as the Chicago Crew (originally from Detroit and Cleveland): Jonathan Wray, Gina Gayle,  and Jeremiah White. Our plan was to do "our" thing and unite for various projects and surprise Arsenio Hall as we sat on his couch for our separate interviews which would turn out to be one big hang out session of old friends. Well, there is no more Arsenio Hall Show, but we are still doing our thing. Maybe Arsenio can come out of retirement for one night for just us.

For Whom the Bell Tolls

What does it take for us to realize that we are leaving some children behind? African American males have a dropout rate of over 50% nationwide. In California, African American males overall score lower on standardized testing than students who have been in the country less than 12 months. But don't we already know this. This is not new data. That begs the question, "Does anyone really care?"

The social networking tools of today have allowed me the ability to communicate with my former students. They have agreed that I was hard on them and, only now that they are adults, do they understand why. It is a cruel world. The world consists of the haves and have nots. Education is that continental divide. Those without education limit their opportunities. Once again, this is not new data. We have known this for decades.

We often hear that everyone shouldn't go to college. College is not for everyone. That may be true, but who gets to decide who should go to college. Undereducation of African American males leaves them out of the equation and unable to make the decision for themselves. Maybe college is not for everyone, but shouldn't everyone be prepared for college?

We are not preparing African American males for college, work, or anything else. That is not a new fact either. However, are we prepared to look at these young men as they become adults and admit that we failed them. We failed them because we were scared of them or didn't want them to succeed and our own children to fail. We have to tell them something because they are adults now and they want to know what happened. What are we going to say?

Summer Camp

I have spent my summer walking the walk. My colleague and I established a fun filled, hands on, yet rigorous summer camp for boys from the ages of 6-12. These boys have risen to the challenge and are enjoying their days in our camp.

Please check out the link and let me know your thoughts.
http://sciencediscoverysummercamp.yolasite.com/

The Miseducation of the Black Male

Detroit, my hometown, was called the murder capital when I grew up there in the 70s and 80s. Now it is known as the dropout capital. Large numbers of students, mostly African American males, drop out of the city's high schools annually. The Tom Joyner Morning Show recently broadcasted from my alma mater (Renaissance High School) to shine a light on the problem.

Unfortunately, Detroit isn't the only city with that problem. Every urban city is dealing with the same problems. African American males, in particular, are not reaching academic success. The bigger question is what are we going to do about it. We are producing a generation of students who will not be college ready or career ready. Where does that leave the students we continue to undereducate?

Recently in South LA, a teacher told her classroom that because they were inner city kids, they would never amount to much and college should not be there goal. They should focus on being garbage men and day laborers. This teacher was not removed from duty or reprimanded. These students will suffer from not being well educated by the very system that is supposed to educate them.

What do we do now? How do we begin to help our African American male students succeed? How do we help our teachers educate these students? We continue to miseducate our African American male students. When will we stop?

THE ALGEBRA 1 SYNDROME

OK, I live in California and it is a pretty well known fact that if a student does not take Algebra 1 by grade 8, they will not have the necessary requirements to attend a University of California institution or maybe not even a California State University. That means, if a student is not given Algebra 1 in grade 8, they reduce their chances of going to college in the State of California.
With that being said, my son's school realized this. Unfortunately, they realized this after the school year had started. Even worse, they failed to realize this when the students were in grade 7 so that they could prepare these students to start out in Algebra 1 when school began in the Fall.
Well, someone, in their infinite wisdom, decided to give the students who were not programmed in Algebra 1 an intervention/boot camp. I have my own thoughts on intervention (it doesn't work) versus a rigorous curriculum. I understand the No Child Left Behind game that many districts and schools are playing right now. What shocked me was that this school gave students the intervention (which doesn't work) and put them in an Algebra 1 class in December (3 months after school started.)
Parents clapped and cheered, but they didn't realize that this move would actually cause their children more harm that good. They will have 3 months less of preparation for standardized tests than the other Algebra 1 students. Not to mention that many of these students unprepared for the class in the first place.
There is a lot of talk about parents being the key to a child's academic success. However, many of the parents don't have all of the information to make an informed decision. Just like most of us don't know what McDonald's secret sauce is, but we assume that McDonald's does. If McDonald's trusts the secret sauce, who are we to differ? Most parents feel the same way about school. If the teacher, principal, or school says this is best, who are we to differ?
We expect a lot from parents, but we give them so little in return. Not one educator (other than myself) told these parents that the Algebra 1 situation was completely out of place. This was an issue that should have been addressed when the students were in grade 6, not pushed upon them in grade 8. If we really want parent participation, we have to respect the parents and not just let them know part of the story. The Algebra 1 syndrome plays itself out all across this country every day, but what does that do for the academic achievement of our students?

THE FUTURE IS NOW

I usually RANT and RAVE in my blogs. There is something about purposely undereducating children that bothers me. . . especially when those children are traditionally underserved populations. But today, I took a deep breath. My rants have fallen on deaf ears. They have been called "just another opinion of another crazy man." So, I had to stop and think if what I was doing mattered to anyone, what it important. That was when I really looked at my own children being undereducated in school. I realized the work their mother and I put in when the children came home. We made them college ready, gifted, or whatever you want to call it. However, all of that happened after school, not during. As an educator, I differentiate instruction for my children, but what about all of the parents who are unable to do so. So, yes, it does matter.
I had to make myself three promises:
1. Blog more often
2. Make it relative to what parents are experiencing as their children come home from the classroom, and
3. Bring the plight of educating underserved students and students of color to the forefront of our collective consciousness. Their should be no ARRA funding until we address inequities that currently exist in our public education system.
With that being said, I welcome your comments. I would really like to hear from public school teachers whose districts are using ARRA funds in the matter that they were intended and creating educational systems to make all students successful.