Why do larger cities have lower high school graduation rates?

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Permalink Reply by ddeubel on April 1, 2008 at 4:35pm

More army recruiters....

Very overlooked point when looking at the U.S. population --- the military is against education and will either pay off "kids" or try to get them young so to avoid competition with "college".

It is a travesty. See an article on this in the latest N.Y. Review of Books, Michael Massing

Yeah, I know everyone will doubt this but it is a big part of the equation. I find it scandalous that the govt will not support higher education and instead throw trillions of dollars at the military as an "option" to schooling. Fact is, prisons and the military are what we prioritize as places for our youth to succeed, not schools.

David
http://eflclassroom.ning.com

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Permalink Reply by Shmuly on April 1, 2008 at 4:39pm

Thanks. Later this week I will do a follow up blog post with the responses.

Did you see this week's Time Magazine with a US map and blood splotches for the US troop deaths based on region?

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Permalink Reply by Daniel Bassill on July 20, 2008 at 10:20am

I encourage you and your students to read messages posted at http://tutormentor.blogspot.com and follow the links on this site. It focuses on your question and proposes solutions, such as volunteer-based tutoring/mentoring.

The links on the site go to many articles such as what you've referred to.

Dan Bassill
Tutor/Mentor Connection

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Permalink Reply by Steve O'Connor on July 20, 2008 at 11:10am

I believe it boils down to concentrations of poverty. Typically those with more money and opportunity live in the suburbs.

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Permalink Reply by Ed Jones on July 21, 2008 at 7:30am

Funny you should ask!! I am just completing a 2 page resource list on the topic, if anyone would like to review it for me.

Also, If you look on my blog under the Education category, you'll find a number of resources, as under my name at Fireside Learning.

The Fordham Institute, and Rick Hess' group at AEI do a great deal of research and policy work in this area.

Ed

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Permalink Reply by Tracy on July 21, 2008 at 12:46pm

I teach in one of those cities, Arlington Tx, between DAllas and Ft. Worth, and I can tell you exactly why. We teach kids who live in a world where they are not immersed in a culture of education. Notice I did NOT say education was not valued, because ask any of my student's parents if education is important, and they will say yes. The problem is that they themselves are not educated, even through high school, and certainly not through university, and neither is anyone they know. They simpy do not know how to look at ideas, whether scientific, political, or social, and think about them, study them, debate them, etc. This creates children who grow in to adults that lack skills in perceiving the world around them, taking interest in it, and thinking critically to change it. When asked to do this in school, without real life practice (immersion) in similar thinking at home, it is "too hard" and "boring." Let's get a good job in construction or service to make the rent payment, because, while there is no growth in that, it's certainly straightforward and I don't have to think too hard about it!

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Permalink Reply by Ed Jones on July 21, 2008 at 1:12pm

Perfect, Tracy, Perfect!! You have in one paragraph exquisitely summarized why change for these families can come via school, not via other programs, or by leaning on the parents! Thank you!

I would love to put you in a room with the folk at boldapproach.org on one side and Al Sharpton and the people at educationequalityproject.org on the other.

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Permalink Reply by Daniel Bassill on July 23, 2008 at 11:12am

Imagine if people in Arlington-Ft. Worth, or Detroit, or New York City could find maps like this on the Internet, that showed where poverty and poorly performing schools were located, and that also showed potential assets that could be engaged in ending poverty for kids and families in different neighborhoods.

This is a map of Chicago showing universities in different parts of the city. It can be found in a gallery of maps and a searchable database of volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs. http://www.tutormentorprogramlocator.net/programlocator/default.asp

If someone were creating and hosting this information, then someone else could create a "help kids in our city @ ning.com" forum to attract people from business, churches, universities, as well as non profits, to share information that leads to an improved flow of resources to the existing non profits working to help kids, as well as resources for groups who create new programs in places on the map where no programs now exist.

I am hosting such a discussion at http://tutormentorconnection.ning.com and trying to mentor similar groups to form, focused on their own city, or their own social network. If you know of others doing this, please introduce us.

As more people who become engaged, involved and informed (learning from the type of information Ed posted), more people will use the maps and databases to shop for where they give time, talent or dollars, and more people will look for ways to help the entire group of organizations become more effective, reaching more youth, in more neighborhoods.

Do you know of groups like this on Ning.com or elsewhere?

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