Table of Contents

I. About SEA pg. 2 II. Mission Statement and Goals pg. 3 III. A Look at the Issues pg. 4 Family Involvement The Role of the Counselor Tracking Standardized Testing and the Achievement Gap Physical Conditions and Environment Financial Resources IV. Bibliography pg. 14

About Society for Educational Awareness (SEA) Society for Educational Awareness (SEA) was founded on the summer 2009 voyage of Semester at Sea by a group of students learning about education in the United States and other parts of the world.

Mission Statement To spread awareness and knowledge to the public about major issues pertaining to the United States public education system, in an effort to inspire social change. Goals
To gain support and partnerships with universities and other local, state, and national organizations across United States To offer meaningful service to educational institutions and organizations within rural and urban communities To gather feedback from current K-12 students, teachers, and administrators concerning their experiences in the United States public education system For each member, to promote awareness to at least 100 people and one local school district by December 2009 To obtain an endorsement from Semester at Sea and the Institute for Shipboard Education (ISE) To secure a principle source of funding, through either private or public donations, to assist with organizational programs To generate awareness through a number of technological outreach projects, including radio, television, websites, online journals, and social networking sites To present future Semester at Sea voyagers with the opportunity to strengthen the mission and operation of SEA

A Look at the Issues:

Family Involvement
Why is it Important?
There has been a historical separation between family and schools, but today schools and families are beginning to work together. Parent involvement includes volunteering, attending events, and communicating with schools. A high level of parent involvement contributes to a student's academic success. Parents are motivators; siblings are mentors and stage-setters. Parents help build vocabulary and communication skills. Parental connections with other parents, teachers, and school administrators can provide more information and opportunities for children. At home, spending time with children and encouraging both academic and extracurricular activities can increase a child's chance of success. If a family has high academic expectations for a child, it is more likely that he/she will perform well in school and pursue higher education. A supportive home environment is more valuable than income or social status.

Problems?

When Students are put into remedial or regular classes rather than honors or AP classes, the students will not be expected to attend college. Some parents do not know this, so they cannot intervene on behalf of their children. Parental involvement decreases in middle/high school because parents feel they cannot assist with more challenging subjects. Parents who are not in communication with school officials and other parents may not know how to navigate the education system. A distrust of school officials (rooted in historical prejudices) passed down from generation to generation contributes to the lack of communication between families and schools. Parents with jobs or other obligations may not have as much time to devote to involvement in the children's education. Higher income families often know people who can give their children a leg-up, thus putting lower income families at a disadvantage.

Possible Solutions?

Doing homework and practicing skills with kids. Keeping parents up-to-date on the skills learned in the classroom gives parents the ability to be involved in their children's education. This could be achieved through parent classes or sending information home. Familial attendance at extracurricular activities encourages students to stay involved. Parent outreach programs should work around parent schedules and availability. Parent outreach programs should provide translators to overcome language barriers within immigrant populations. There should be frequent conferences between parents, teachers, and counselors. These conferences should easily fit into parents' schedules. 4

Teachers should have clear expectations of their students and should communicate these expectations to parents. Frequent career days and professional open houses educate students on higher education and potential careers. Some parents might present their own careers, stressing the importance of education in pursuing them.

A Look at the Issues:

The Role of the School Counselor

Why is it Important?
Counselors determine how much information students receive about college. Supportive counselors encourage more students to attend college. Counselors influence many students' academic decisions. If a counselor has high expectations for a student, he/she will be more likely to enroll in college preparatory courses. In geographical areas where it is not as common to attend college, counselors are often the most knowledgeable about the application process. Counselors encourage students to stay in school and help balance emotional problems and needs of families.

Problems?

In some schools, the current counselor-to-student ratio is up to 1000 to 1. Over half of school counselors spent less than 20% of their time on college advising--they are over-extended with other responsibilities. In schools where the counseling office is understaffed, military recruiters may take on the role of college counselors and push students to postpone college and enlist in the military. While minority students are the most likely to be influenced by counselors, they are the least likely to have counselors available to them. Students from high-income families can afford to hire private college-admission counselors, whereas students from low-income families cannot.

Possible Solutions?

Schools facilitate individual research projects that explore future career options, stressing the importance of higher education. Colleges can send students to local high schools to inform high school students about the college application process. Increased communication between high school administration and colleges. Some high school students can take on leadership roles and help with administrative needs in the counseling center. Counseling center can hold an open house to inform students about the services offered.

A Look at the Issues:

Tracking
What is it?
Tracking is a school placement policy. Students can be placed on tracks based upon their learning ability. The placement, based upon academic qualifications, reflects a students prior achievement in school. A fast learner can be placed on a higher-level or more challenging, learning track, while a slower learner can be placed on a lower-level track. These tracks place students on different learning levels, and then determine the students classes. The classes are geared toward a childs ability to learn at a certain pace and are often set up based on college bound or vocational tracks. The goal of tracking is to have students in classes they will be able to succeed in, and so they are with other students of their learning levels. Ability grouping practices have come under attack the past two decades because of concerns over issues of social and economic equity and potential damage to students' self-concept and self-efficacy. Tracking increases the inequality in achievement because students are limited to certain classes and levels. Once they are in a lower-level class it is very difficult for them to change into a higher-level, and therefore never reach the same level of education as those students in the higher-levels. Students from a minority ethnic background and/or a lower income family have limited opportunities when tracked. The quality and quantity of instruction can vary across tracks. The learning climate and types of academic role models available to students can differ across tracks. And the social psychological impact of track assignment can differ by track level, with consequent differential effects on student self-image, motivation to learn, and effort. Finally, some students may be mis-assigned to tracks where the level of instruction is not commensurate with the students abilities. For example, ESL students are often placed lower because they are still learning English. There is a pattern of instructional inequalities for those placed in the lower tracks: lower quality teachers, less resources, and more behavioral problems. Studies have found that the proportion of high-ability black and Hispanic students not taking college prep courses in math and science was more than twice that of white and Asian-Americans of the same ability level. It has been seen that the poorer the students, the less rigorous the college-prep program.

Problems: Who Gains and Who Looses?

Effects: Long Term and Short Term

Higher Education Potential o Students who are tracked, in no circumstance gain knowledge or skills at the expanse of other students. Much theoretical research is critical of tracking, viewing the practice as a means of perpetuating social class and societal values by providing greater learning opportunities for privileged students and fewer opportunities for less privileged ones. Tracking gives more opportunities to students who are already privileged. o Tracked students do not have equal opportunities. Decisions made in middle school allocate students to different high school course levels and tracks. Because African American students are disproportionately represented in the lower level tracks of high school curriculum and because track placement affects learning and postsecondary opportunities, it is important to explore determinants of track placement. 7

Self-worth o Slavin (1990) expressed concern that the self-concept and self-efficacy of students who are placed in low ability groups will suffer due to the stigma of such an assignment. Students quickly realize what level track they have been placed in, and this affects how they feel about themselves, and the others in their track. Students in low levels begin to consider themselves as poor students because of it, and therefore put less effort into their school. o On the other hand, high ability students often suffer an early drop in self-concept or selfesteem due to the presence of other high ability students in their group (Marsh & Parker, 1985). Students placed in high levels, although better off than those in lower levels, also have struggles. Because these students realize that they are doing harder work and are considered the smarter students, they feel more pressure to succeed and compete with their other students.

Possible Solutions?

According to Hanushek and Woessmanns article on tracking, funding for the tracked and untracked systems is about the same. Therefore, a cost of tracking and not tracking students neither adds nor takes away any money from education. Knowing this, a solution is to give all students the opportunity to take whichever courses they would like. If a student on a high level tracks wants to take a lower level math course, he or she should be allowed in the same way a student on a lower level track should be offered to take a trigonometry class. Given these opportunities for classes, students should also be informed about which classes are recognized by community colleges and universities and those classes that do not. The students should also have more flexibility to change tracks from year to year, so they do not feel trapped. If they succeed in a lower level math, for example, they should be able to move up to a different level. Many people are not even aware that they, or their children, are being tracked. This means that even if the student has the opportunity or ability to change their level, they are not aware of it. Educating students and parents about tracking will help those who are unaware of the problems it causes help fix them for themselves.

A Look at the Issues:

Standardized Testing and the Achievement Gap

A Look at the Issues:

Physical Conditions and Environment

Why is it important?

The importance of investing time and money into this issue is not merely a case of making students comfortable, which in and of itself is important, but providing an environment that is conducive to teaching and learning One study in Washington, DC showed that if a schools physical conditions improved from poor to fair, standardized test scores improved by 5 percentage points. Similarly, if the schools condition improved from poor to excellent, test scores rose by 11 points. The morale and efficiency of teachers and students is strongly connected between the quality of school facilities Studies show facilities contribute to a growing achievement gap between racial and socioeconomic groups

Problems?

Physical conditions faced by schools: Bad lighting and acoustics, inadequate classroom space, no professional space, leaky roofs, broken windows, and lack of necessary materials such as books, technology, desks, physical education equipment Policy makers and researcher ignore significance of physical conditions, choosing instead to focus on educational reform issues such as school choice, curricula reforms, teacher quality, test scores and accountability The problem of maintaining the integrity of school buildings is not limited to the inner city and suburban areas, but is pervasive in rural America as well Problems of social justice and equity arise in the quality of physical conditions in different geographical areas Health risks for teachers and students: poor indoor air quality, animal and pest infestation, inadequately maintained lunchrooms and restrooms, and asbestos. This can lead to teacher retention problems in schools and the profession.

Solutions?

The U.S. General Accounting Office has made four suggestions for the Needs of a 21 Century School. o Flexible space, including space for small- and large-group instruction; o Space to store and display alternative student assessment materials; o Facilities for teaching laboratory science, including demonstration and student laboratory stations, safety equipment, and appropriate storage space for chemicals and other supplies; and o A media center/library with multiple, networked computers to access information to outside libraries and information sources. o In addition, such schools would also have space for a variety of support activities: private areas for student counseling and testing and for parent support activities, such as tutoring,

10

planning, making materials, and the like; social and health care services, day care, and before- and after-school care. Provide appropriate financial sources for the renovation and creation of educational facilities Educate administrators on how to allot budgets effectively, in order to utilize funds efficiently Instilling, in students, a sense of respect and responsibility for school property through character building programs, in order to ensure the longevity of their environment Encouraging Parent Teacher Associations (PTA) and community organizations to offer volunteer services and fundraising efforts to improve physical conditions

11

A Look at the Issues:

Financial Resources
Why is it important?

To maintain facilities in order to provide a productive learning environment To provide resources, such as books and computers To provide equal opportunities for all students To provide supplies to students so they have the means to learn ex: pencils and notebooks To pay teacher salaries to maintain a full faculty To encourage learning outside the classroom

Problems?

Without proper funding schools dont have resources to succeed in testing, which determines how much they are funded, therefore funding is most often cut from these lower income schools who need it the most Funding is not evenly spread throughout populations and communities Depending on the type of funding a state receives, some schools have caps on how much money they can receive Even though grants are available in most states, many people are unaware of how to apply for them or that they are an option The distribution of budget for different levels of education are not uniform There is not enough funding to employ adequate numbers of teachers, so student teacher ratios are high

Possible Solutions?

Evenly distribute budget to levels of education on the local and national level Provide more funding to lower class schools Make changes in legislature to allow schools who score poorly not to be denied funding, such as No Child Left Behind Continue to raise awareness that may encourage donors Create partnerships between lower income and higher income schools to decrease gaps

Types of Financial Resources:

Scope: general aid for most government purposes, or categorical aid, which is targeted to certain functions, or objects of expenditure, such as capital Selection: Do all districts receive funding automatically or do districts have to submit requests for project grants requiring approval by a state agency? Among project grants does the state government rank or prioritize these projects and what criteria are used in the ranking process? Distribution: Is aid distributed as a lump-sum grant to school districts, or do districts receive matching aid, which requires a local contribution? Is the level of state match open-ended or is there a limit to the amount of aid a district can receive? Lump-sum aid is affixed addition of resources to a school district, while open-ended matching grants reduce the price to local 12

taxpayers of purchasing more services. Formula Components: For either lump sum or matching grants, the distribution of aid is often by formula. The formula may account for just enrollment (flat grant), or may also take into account differences in district fiscal capacity (property wealth and income), student needs, and the cost of doing business in the district. School facilities are not up to standards and in 2000 three quarters of schools in the U.S. reported that repairs, renovations, and modernizations were required to bring their school buildings into a good overall condition The total amount needed for school construction and renovation was estimated to be $127 billion in 2000 The states high court concluded that the states funding system did not enable all districts to provide the facilities and equipment necessary to meet the needs of children In the case of DeRolph v. State (1997) in Ohio, the state Supreme Court declared the states educational finance system unconstitutional and ordered the state to change its insufficient funding for school facilities Prior studies that examined the effects of state funding on school facilities suggest that equitable and adequate funding of school facilities remains an unresolved policy issue. Strong competition for scare state tax dollars continues Most states that have community college funding formulas did not receive full funding for Fiscal Year (FY) 2007-2008

Case Studies

13

Bibliography
Family Involvement
Coleman, J. (1988). Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital. The American Journal of Sociology, 94, S95-S120. Saha, L. (2005). Cultural and Social Capital in Global Perspective. In International Handbook on Globalization, Education and Policy Research (pp. 745-755). Retrieved December 1, 2008, from http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-2960-8_47. Tierney, W., & Auerbach, S. (in press) Toward developing an untapped resource: The role of familes in college preparation. In W. Tierney, Z. Corwin, & J. Colyar (Eds.), From high school to college: Evaluating access. Albany: State University of New York Press.

The Role of the School Counselor

Coleman, J. (1988). Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital. The American Journal of Sociology, 94, S95-S120. McDonough, P.M. (In Press). Counseling Matters: Knowledge, Assistance, and Organizational Commitment in College Preparation. In William J. Tierney (Ed.), Nine Propositions Relating to the Effectiveness of College Preparation Programs. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. FAnn, A, Calderon, S. & McDonough. P. (2006). No child left unrecruited: When military recruiters play the role of high school counselors. Paper presented at the Association for the Study of Higher Education Conference, Anaheim, CA.

Tracking
Archbald, D., Glutting, J., & Qian, X. (2009, Spring2009). GETTING INTO HONORS OR NOT: AN ANALAYSIS OF THE RELATIVE INFLUENCE OF GRADES, TEST SCORES, AND RACE ON TRACK PLACEMENT IN A COMPREHENSIVE HIGH SCHOOL. American Secondary Education, 37(2), 65-81. Retrieved August 17, 2009, from Academic Search Complete database. Hanushek, E. A., & Woessmann L. (2005) Does Educational Tracking Affect Performance and Inequality? Differences-in-Differences Evidence across Countries. Germany: Institute for the Study of Labor. Lewis, A. (1990, December). Tracking. Education Digest, 56(4), 59-59. Retrieved August 17, 2009, from Academic Search Complete database. Meier, D. (1985, May 25). The Wrong Track. Nation, 240(20), 626-630. Retrieved August 17, 2009, from Academic Search Complete database. 14

Society for the Advancement of Education. (1994, August). Tracking Harm Many Students. USA Today. Retrieved August 8, 2009, from http://findarticles.com/p/ articles/mi_m1272/is_n2591_v123/ai_15706326/ Tieso, C. (2003, Fall2003). Ability Grouping Is Not Just Tracking Anymore. Roeper Review, 26(1), 29-36. Retrieved August 17, 2009, from Academic Search Complete database.

Standardized Testing and the Achievement Gap

Physical Conditions and Environment

Berner, Maureen, Buildings Matter: The Connections Between School Building Conditions and Student Achievement in Washington, D.C., in Designing Places for Learning, 1995, p87. Lackney, Jeffrey, PREPS Conference, Jackson, MS, January 28, 1999, available at http://www.edi.msstate.edu/prepsintro.html. Children to learn. Schneider, Mark. Public School Facilities and Teaching: Washington, DC and Chicago. United States General Accounting Office, School Facilities: Condition of Americas Schools, February 1995, p2.

Financial Resources
Duncombe, William; Wang, Wen. School Facilities Funding and Capital-Outlay Distribution in the States. Journal of Education Finance. v. 34 no. 3 p.324-50 2009 Katsinas, Stephen G. Funding Issues in U.S. Community Colleges: Findings From a 2007 Survey of the National State Directors of Community Colleges. American Association of Community Colleges. 2007.

15