NCLB and Citizenship

After doing a little reading and thinking about the different persepectives on citizenship, I tried to connect them to NCLB to see which model of citizenship fits best.

The three types of citizens are:
(taken from here)

The Personally Responsible Citizen:
This citizen is an active member of their community, works and pays taxes, recycles, gives blood, and volunteers to lend a hand in times of crisis.

The Participatory Citizen:
This citizen is an active member of community organizations and/or improvement efforts, organizes community efforts to care for those in need, promotes economic development, or cleans up the envoirnment, knows how government agencies work, and knows strategies for accomplishing collective tasks.

The Justice-oriented Citizen:
This citizen critically assesses social, political, and economic structures to see beyond surface causes, seeks out and addresses areas of injustice, and knows about social movements and how to effect systemic change.

Basically, these three citizens models start off from what benefits you and your community, to what benefits you can have in society. In the article, "Character Education Abstract," it states that "character education is an inclusive concept regarding all aspects of how families, schools, and related social instituions support the positive character development of children and adults." My question is who decides what "positive character development" is, and what makes it the right method for everyone? What kind of citizen is the right kind? Where should children learn these values and positive character development?

These questions are going to be left unanswered, sinceI do not know the correct answer, and it seems that the education department doesn't make it clear either. As I continue to read over the U.S. Department of Education's website, I can't help but find more unclear statements on charcter development and becoming a good citizen. For example, the website states that, "Character is a set of qualities, or values, that shape our thoughts, actions, reactions and feelings. People with strong character show compassion, are honest and fair, display self-discipline in setting and meeting goals, make good judgments, show respect to others, show courage in standing up for beliefs, have a strong sense of responsibility, are good citizens who are concerned for their community, and maintain self-respect." It even goes on to explain what their meaning of these traits are. According to this statement, I would assume that NCLB would like children to become a personally responsible citizen since it states that they should be concerned with their community. Making good judgements and being honest and fair can be associated with obeying laws, recycling, and paying taxes -- all part of being a personally responsible citizen.

However, the Dept. Of Ed. also states that, " Citizenship requires doing our share for our community and our country. Being a good citizen means caring about the good of society and participating actively to make things better.Citizenship requires doing our share for our community and our country. Being a good citizen means caring about the good of society and participating actively to make things better." This can easily be characteristics of a Participatory Citizen. It clearly states that being a good citizen is making a difference in the community and in society. It states that you need to take the extra effort and participate in community efforts to make a difference.

Lastly, the Dept. of Ed. states that, "Patriotism is an important part of good citizenship. Patriotism is love of and loyalty to our country. It involves honoring the democratic ideals on which the country is based and expecting elected officials to do the same, respecting and obeying its laws and honoring its flag and other symbols. It also involves accepting the responsibilities of good citizenship, such as keeping informed about national issues, voting, volunteering and serving the country in times of war." This can be translated into being a Justice-Oriented citizen. Clearly, you need to know about the political system and know how to be an active member in it. It states that you need to know about social movements by keeping informed about national issues, etc.

Clearly, NCLB can include all models of citizenships and there is no right or wrong answer here. All the citizenship models represent good ideas towards building a strong citizen. I would stop focusing so much on which individual model of citizenship NCLB should follow and combine them all to make a super citizen. I think it's important for children and adults to be active in their community, know how government agencies work, and how to effect systemic change. All of these characteristics are important and should all be looked at together. There is no reason why NCLB can't incorporate all of these models to make something better, something that might just make a difference. Before this happens, there needs to be a better understanding of what exactly makes a good character an who is going to decide that.

Children need to be taught that being a citizen and having good character are intertwined. They work with each other and teach us how to be the best addition to society. We not only help ourselves this way, but communities and society will see a difference as well. People should always be willing to add a good input and idea and show the world that anyone can make a difference. There needs to be an idea of working together, and that will make the best model of a citizen and an even better society.

What is NCLB?

NCLB is No Child Left Behind. NCLB consists of four pillars (click here for the official website)that are:

• Stronger Accountability for Results: this basically states that all students are required to achieve academic proficiency. This calls for all states to be on the same level with their academic progress. The district and state will have annual report cards and be responsible for supplemental services if that school is not making adequate yearly progress (AYP). If the school is still not making AYP after five years, "dramatic" changes will be made to the school.
• More Freedom for States and Communities:this basically states that school districts can use their funds any way they want. They can transfer money from fund to fund based on what they think is important for the school
• Proven Education Methods:this basically states that "scientific research" will determine which educational programs are effective, and federal funding will support these select programs.
• More Choices for Parents:this basically states that if a parent feels their child is not getting a sufficient education in their current school, and the school has failed to meet AYP for two years, they are able to transfer their child out of that school and into another school as long as it is in the same district. The district is responsible for that student's transportation.

These are the main ideas that are stemming from NCLB. They are cleary ineffective, and have not been though out. Often, people think that this is something that the government just threw out recently, but that is not the case. NCLB is 50+ years in the making. It started way back at the end of the civil war when the Office of Education was established in 1868. The establishment of education continued into JFK's era, hit some bumps in Regan's era, and made it out alive with George Bush and Bill Clinton.

Goals 2000, later changed to America 2000 was a big jump for education. The plan was to raise literacy rates 90% and improve math and science in schools. They wanted to have equal education and make society better for the children. After America 2000, the "Texas Miracle" with Rod Paige (superintendant in Houston, TX) was introduced. This was the prequal to NCLB, and was said to have raised education standards in Texas. After this, in 2001, NCLB was piloted at the state level where it won the support of both Republicans and Democrats.

Throughout NCLB's long journey, one thing was brought up and pushed over and over again. American's need to spend more time on Math, English, and Science. This idea has revolved over and over again so that we can keep up with the "race." Other countries are clearly advancing, making it harder for Americans to stay on top. NCLB has many ideas, as shown in the "Four Pillars" that have not been clearly thought out, making them flawed in many aspects. Even with it's flaws, NCLB has some promising insights. With much needed improvement, NCLB can have the resources to truly help students and the education system overall.

Language Arts in the Classroom

Language Arts is a subject that is part of every school and every curriculum. Students must not only pass the subject, but be tested on it as well. The HSPAs have a Language Arts section that many students have trouble passing due to lack of preparation. This testing is just one implication that teachers face today; budgets and classroom resources also play a large role in teaching Language Arts to students.

The HSPAs are becoming an important topic in schools today. Students are constantly being prepared for them in many different ways. Some schools teach only what they can during school hours, while other schools have developed tutoring and after school programs to help the children prepare for testing if and when they need it. This is where the budget and classroom resources come into play. The school develops extra programs, such as tutoring, when the budget allows for it. These extra programs can be the distingushing factor between a student passing or failing. Unfortunately, teachers have to accept the fact that some schools may not have the budget to include these programs into the curriculum.

The budget problems don't stop there. Language Arts requires many books to fulfill the course work. If the budget doesn't allow for new or updated books, the materials might be unreliable to the teachers. In serious cases, teachers might not have enough books for every student making it harder to teach literature in the classroom. If those issues aren't tough enough to deal with, imagine having books that are destroyed or missing pages. These are all the issues that come with not having enough classroom resources and not having a workable budget.

Teachers have to keep all of these situations in mind when they are in the classroom. If the school doesn't have enough resources for all students to have books, the teacher might require that the students purchase their own. This might seem easy enough, but there are more things to consider here as well. Books are not super expensive, but some families are in situations where they cannot afford any extra school supplies. Teachers must put this into consideration and keep in mind what kind of area they are working in. Unfortunately there are many things that can go wrong in school life, but teachers must control the situation and use the resources they have to do the best they can for their students.

A positive outlook can mean all the difference to the students. Teachers learn to work around what they have whether the budget allows for it or not. Some teachers must make sacrifices to help their students when tutoring programs are not available. Students need the proper guidance and looks to their teachers for help. Dedication makes the difference in their lives helping them to keep moving forward.

Diversity and Culture

As we progress towards learning the issues in education, we visit cultural diversity and its role in the educational world.


So, what is cultural diversity in relation to education?

• Cultural diversity means that significant differences exist in students' performance and interactions in broad areas such as verbal and nonverbal communication, and in orientation modes such as conceptions of time, social values, and cognitive tempo. Cultural differences in learning may be especially obvious in three areas: learning styles, communication styles, and language differences (Mindel & Habenstein, 1984).

Basically, saying that a school or group of children is culturally diverse, is saying that they are all different, maybe even from different backgrounds. They learn differently, act differently, and speak differently. Cultural diversity is a part of multicultural education which includes all races to be taught equally and learn to live in a diverse world. Many people mistake multicultural education to include only races outside of the white race, that is not true. Major researchers and theorists in multicultural education agree that[it] is a reform movement designed to restructure educational institutions so that all students, including white, male, and middle-class students, will acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to function effectively in a diverse nation and world (Banks&Banks, 1994; Gay, 1995; Grant&Sleeter, 1997).

School is designated to prepare children for the real world, that includes learning about the cultures of various groups. Children should be learning how to solve problems and using their knowledge effectively for a successful future. In a classroom, ideas should be tied together to make learning about other cultures and diverse groups logical and simple to understand. Many researchers believe that incorporating multicultural education should begin in pre-school (Winzer&Mazurek 1998). I agree with this theory and believe that the sooner children learn about diversity, the sooner they understand not to be prejudice and how to avoid any conflicts with children of different cultures. This also promotes children to develop an understanding of social standards leading to their development in the classroom. The earlier children learn about diversity the sooner they begin to understand the importance of equality and take it with them to their future.

Multicultural education consists of four interactive dimensions: (a) equity pedagogy, (b) curriculum reform, (c) multicultural competence, and (d) teaching toward social justice (Burnette, 1998). As a future teacher I believe that it will be my job to teach and give children equal opportunities to learn. I don't however believe in targeting mostly minorities and the economically disadvantaged because that would not be and "equal" opportunity. All children, all races, and all economic statuses should be treated as one and in doing this, I believe children will see what living in unity and accepting all cultures means. Including "monoethnic" courses will enable expanding children's knowledge of cultures even further. This will lead towards multicultural competence and teach them how to be socially just. This means, taking away sterotypes, disregarding gender and race, and ending discrimination in the classroom and in the world.

School Report Cards [Becton/Arts]

While comparing Becton's [East Rutherford] NJ School Report Card to Arts' [Newark] NJ School Report Card, there were actually some surprising statistics. One statistic that really took me by surprise was the "Language Diversity" within each school. Newark is acclaimed for being the diverse city that it is today and takes pride in the number of cultural areas that can be found downtown. Knowing that information, I would assume that Arts High School would definetely have a higher percentage in Language Diversity. However, the language spoken at Arts High School is 99.9% English and 0.1% Spanish, while Becton has 76.5% English and 7+ languages spoken in addition to that.


The length of a school day in Arts is about an hour longer that the average school day in Becton. I don't find this surprising considering the curriculum that is taught in Arts. I would assume that dance and art classes take up more time than English and Math classes might. That extra hour at Arts gives the students the opportunity to spend more time doing what they love. The way the students are welcomed and treated by the faculty seems to be working considering their high attendance rates for freshman students in the 2006-2007 school year; 95.5% versus Becton 93.2%.



Since Becton is located in the "suburbs" and Arts is considered an "urban" school, many people inclsuing myself would assume that Becton would have higher numbers in the academic areas, but the numbers turned out to be very similar. Arts High School even has some better numbers than Becton. This just goes to show that you should never judge a school by the location or types of students. When a school has the proper resources and dedicated teachers, anything is possible no matter where the school is located.

A Visit to Arts High School

Visiting Arts High School in Newark on September 23, 2008 was quite an experience. The school was unlike any school I have ever seen. The students were happy, truly happy to be there. The atmosphere was nothing like my high school, it was inviting and warm. Gorgeous artwork was plastered all over the halls, ceilings, almost everywhere you turned; and the best part of the artwork was that it was done by the students.

My first impression of the students was that they really seem talented and were extremely welcoming. They waved and smiled as we passed them in the hallways and seemed to appreciate us being there. The teachers that we met were just as welcoming. They shared some valuable information with us about teaching and about the school's history. I learned how many influential and well recognized people graduated from Arts and come back frequently to inspire the students there. I even got a chance to meet two of the graduates and listen to their stories about how successful they have become.

The atmosphere was a bit of a culture shock considering I went to private school for most of my ecuational career. I never really thought about what an "Arts" school would be like, but this was definitely outside of any high school I would have imagined. The classrooms ranged from dance studios to media rooms to a huge theatre. The most interesting part about Arts High School was the curriculum. The students were able to do what they love for majority of the day and music, dance, art was incorporated into English, Math, History and all the other required subjects that might not be as interesting to them. The teachers really help the students learn and live up to their full potential. They go out of their way to make sure that the students are doing well in all aspects of their educational career. It was obvious, just watching the teachers and students interact, how great the learning environment was between them.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised at our visit to Arts and look forward to spending more time getting to know the students and offering my help to them. I am glad to have the opportunity to be around such knowledgeable teachers who are willing to help me become a teacher myself. First impressions are very important and Arts High School left a great impression with me.