Journal Entry 2 Constance Barnes-Watson University of Pittsburgh School of Education EDUC 3005: Policy as a Lever for Change Professors: Lindsay Clare Matsumura, Mary Kay Stein May 29, 2022 1 As with many current policies designed to improve living conditions for Americans, such as those for housing that led to increased gentrification, educational policies are leaving more children behind. The policymakers, generally far removed from the urban landscape of epically under-resourced schools, make comprehensive policies for the greater good without considering the foundational inequities in our public schools. "Raising the bar" without building the foundation is idiocy. I liken NCLB to the other sweeping presidential declaration of the "War on Drugs" intended to make the nation better yet disproportionately penalize Black and Brown Americans. Ironically, both rest squarely on the educational debt Ladson-Billings (Darling-Hammond,2007) notes has existed since slavery, which continues to foster our country's economic and educational gaps. "Evaluating No Child Left Behind", (Darling-Hammond,2007) pushed a stark reality to the forefront in a manner I hadn't considered - no one is running to teach in schools that are consistently labeled failures. We also pit schools against schools with race to the top challenges that led to unintended consequences in the form of cheating and inflated test scores. DarlingHammond notes that NCLB's sanctioning of schools with lower test scores has prompted more significant student dropouts, aligning with Plunk et al's (2014) study of the unintended consequences of raising core graduation requirements. Again, attempts at raising the academic bars before strengthening foundations lead to epic failures in traditionally under-resourced communities. Educational reform policies remain a farce related to the improvement of conditions for Black and Brown children. I began my career as a special educator with children whose "emotional challenges" (I argue environmental over emotional) inhibited their ability to learn in already dismal conditions. Our classrooms were rooms without windows allocated for professional development sessions, not daily eight-hour instruction for children. We didn't have textbooks or computers, yet our students were expected to take the same state tests, pass, or be relegated 2 as failures in the abysmal "disaggregated subgroups." My students were essentially forgotten, even by our local administration, therefore expectations for them to perform in advanced mathematics because it's a "civil right" (Loveless,2008) without designing an equitable, culturally relevant education system upholds the notion that "systems are designed for the results they produce." In its state of current disrepair, the US public education system continues to produce students who are poorly prepared to compete in a global society but are equipped to join the menial workforce and dropouts who fill our prisons, harkening back to slavery and Jim Crow eras. The questions I have relate to overall policy and the frustration of dogs chasing tails when it comes to the communities most affected having any direct effect on policy. Policies are enforced upon communities of color under the guise of helping level the playing field. However, the absence of the voice of those directly affected in any policy creation is lip service to the process of democracy. 3 BIBLIOGRAPHY Darling-Hammond, L., Noguera, P., Cobb, V. L., & Meier, D. (2007). Evaluating" no child left behind". NATION-NEW YORK-, 284(20), 11. Loveless, T. (2008). The Misplaced Math Student: Lost in Eighth-Grade Algebra. The 2008 Brown Center Report on American Education. Special Release. Brookings Institution. Plunk, A. D., Tate, W. F., Bierut, L. J., & Grucza, R. A. (2014). Intended and unintended effects of statemandated high school science and mathematics course graduation requirements on educational attainment. Educational Researcher, 43(5), 230-241.
