NC State University Institute for Emerging Issues: Collaboration Platform

I think the places that could use some work on and help with expandinging or improving would be the areas in our state that don't have as much money in their community (such as durham) to heighten their educational purposes in schools. so we could go in and deffinatly give them the push and extra hand so they can make their educational processes as well as others schools.

We have so many models already out there from children first center in Durham to the A+ model schools. We need not just one kind of model but a diversity of approaches and models so that we can develop one model that works best for each communities needs. High schools are known for lacking in creativity as compared to an elementary school. Early childhood educators are the most open minded and creative so lets get their ideas and perspectives.

"The kernel of creativity," says psychologist Teresa Amabile, "is there in the infant: the desire and drive to explore, to find out about things, to try things out, to experiment with different ways of handling things and looking at things. As they grow older, children begin to create entire universes of reality in their play."

It seems that for the most part when students get to high school the creativity disappears at a critical time in the lives of our students and I am not speaking of just their academics but also their emotional lives. Visit schools that accomplish change not to copy or emulate but to wonder and expand upon for our own individual models. Opportunities for change are there in our high schools its identifying these programs and sharing what worked for them. Repetition make work in a model for design, but not in education necessarily. Models can serve as a beginning point as do models of creativity.

I will end with Amabile's research who has identified the main creativity killers:

* Surveillance: Hovering over kids, making them feel that they're constantly being watched while they're working.
* Evaluation: Making kids worry about how others judge what they are doing. Kids should be concerned primarily with how satisfied they—and not others—are with their accomplishments.
* Competition: Putting kids in a win/lose situation, where only one person can come out on top. A child should be allowed to progress at his own rate.
* Over control: Telling kids exactly how to do things. This leaves children feeling that any exploration is a waste of time.
* Pressure: Establishing grandiose expectations for a child's performance. Training regimes can easily backfire and end up instilling an aversion for the subject being taught.

I want to see an arts requirement for all high school students in North Carolina. I think it should be experiential and not just lecture-based (i.e. field trips to see well-done performances that might actually be interesting to them, acting out scenes, learning dances, etc.) I went to arts magnet schools in Raleigh in the 1990s (Ligon and Enloe) and was very involved in theatre, dance and chorus. My dedication to these activities kept me attending school at what otherwise was a difficult time in my life. I am now a graduate student in Performing Arts Management at the UNC School of the Arts (one of the greatest things our State Government ever did, in my opinion) and have a BA in Political Science from UNC-Chapel Hill. I want kids who are growing up now to have access to the arts because I am so grateful that I had access when I was their age. That early exposure has shaped my whole life…and will continue to.

I would just like to guide folks to a wonderful book-- Strong Arts, Strong Schools by Charles Fowler. Please READ this work as it contains many valuable explorations and revelations into the potential of Arts Education in Schools.

It’s true thought and I personally found it funny. Back in high school it appeared that the main focus was on the IB and AP kids. The sad thing is that’s still going on, that small population of students at my high school. It’s bad they got all of the attention while the rest didn’t get as much as they needed if not even more. In fact is simple. It’s bothersome to only focus on the minority of the students that are in the AP and IB program. The average student isn’t taking 4 AP classes or uses his/her lunch for a class. The average student is the student that’s in detention because he or she was late to class. The average student is the student that’s in an honors class and possibly an academic class as well. My point is yea, there are those super high achievers that get that 7.0 GPA senior year. The average student doesn’t have that. Ironically the average student is one thing average. The average student is what many of us writing and reading this blog are. We are the students that were considered average but are doing great things in our country. It’s those average students that grow up to be Colin Powel. It’s those average students that grow up to be David Letterman. In this country, an average student can be president. If the average student can be president, or a world famous comedian, or a four-star general then anything is quite possible. Just image what those students would have been if they were given more attention in high school like the non average, overachievers that got a 7.0.

I agree mostly with what has been said thus far, I spent my first three years of high school in Germany at a Department of Defense school system which means everyone that attended that school was either the dependent of a military service memeber or employee of the US government. The desire for success and determination to achieve outside of high school was minimal. To go alongside Dana's comments there was no sense of importance on their education or the prospects of college. The school was focused on merely graduating students not preparing them for higher education. Even this was a failure as a good number did not graduate, and even more did not seek an advanced degree of any kind. I see the same things in NC, changes must be made so that students are engaged and seek to reach the bar, not wait till it drops so low they can simply walk over it. This is not solved with class sizes or throwing money at failing school systems, it will have to happen in every classroom with every teacher refusing to take the shortcut towards educating students. The focus needs to be on educating the students, the only results should be the quality of that education.

Phillip but that’s one of the problems thought. We really can’t say what we would do unless we were in that situation. Like Fred Flintstone, so he was a shovinatic pig at times. He was only doing what was socially acceptable. WE all do it today. What is socially acceptable is what we sick to why? We stick to it because it something we know. Something we know makes us comfortable. What makes us happy and whatever is happy, is what we do. So I short whatever is the social norm we do it because it’s what expected of us. If Fred Flintstone was placed into today’s society he could be a woman beater like Chris Brown. But, my bet is that he’d an understanding individual, just everyday guys like me and you Philip.

To piggyback on one of my earlier comments, we also need teachers (and professors) who aren't AFRAID of technology. Technology is expanding on a daily basis, and those who aren't taking the time and/or energy to stay current with the trends and advances will find themselves stuck in the dark ages with Fred Flinstone, wondering why they seem out of touch or unable to relate to students. I'm not suggesting that every teacher and/or professor own an iphone, check their Facebook accounts twelve times a day, or know every social networking website that currently exists, but they should be willing to expand their minds and their horizons.

Underprivileged high schools should have teachers that are willing to stick it out and fight through the problems. It takes a special type of teacher to do that. That’s what North Carolina needs to do….find teachers that can stick it out in some of the harshest teaching conditions and not get discouraged.

I’m not saying it’s a easy task….it’s not. In my opinion being a teacher is the hardest job of all. Thankfully we all have had teachers, without teachers we wouldn’t have presidents, CEO’s etc. North Carolina needs to demand teachers that are tough enough to stick it out.

Dana, I also come from an underprivileged high school and know exactly where you are coming from. There is a lack of motivation that I believe is caused by the low expectations that are set sometimes by the teachers and others faculty in high schools. For instance, when a student misses a certain amount of days, there are usually consequences but not much, at least in my school, was asked about why students were missing so many days. Fortunately, a few years ago, a new assistant principal was assigned to our high school who understood that students received low expectations on their academic work and overall success during and after high school. These have a tremendous effect on students whose parents may not discuss with them the importance of attending and doing well in school.

I agree with the point also that success starts at home but that is a linear thought that does not know acknowledge that there are certain circumstances where not all students can receive the same support at home. There are many cases of these, and these students usually state that someone else in their community encouraged them to do well and succeed. Therefore, it not only about what is at home or at school, even though that is most important, but it is also about community support. That community support can come in different ways whether that is by establishing mentoring programs or supporting fundraisers that students hold to raise money for various school activities.

Teachers are also key figures to the success of students like someone else mentioned. However, if we look at how much teachers are getting paid and the benefits they are receiving, one can see why there sometime is that lack of motivation or not top-quality teachers in the classroom. The value that we place on our teachers is very low. At this moment what Teach for America is doing could be a model of how we can reform our school system from the bottom up, starting with the teachers and focusing on the low achieving schools.

Another large topic that I have become involved with is deciding how to manage increasing social diversity, while still meeting the education needs of all students. Bilingual Education is another part of the topic, especially in NC, having a large immigrant population.

However, in all I truly believe that the problem in high schools comes from the traditional funding of public education through the local property tax. Property tax generally does not keep up with inflation. Therefore some schools find that their funding is not adequate to their needs. To provide the same quality of education as in other areas, parents living in poorer districts must tax themselves at higher rates. This system is a regressive way to finance the school system.

I am glad we can all engage in dialogue about the issues and possible solutions. Many time people will say that the only things that are discussed are usually the issues when action is really what needs to be done. However, I believe that discussing the issues especially about education from individual perspectives, such as this blog, is important in order not to jump into conclusions, assumptions, or generalizations which can be false. Our high schools are part of different districts with diverse group of people and education for one is the driving force of NC’s economy that affects us al so let’s continue this dialogue…

I disagree with parts of that Phillip. If it were a perfect world those problems wouldn’t happen. Shoot, if it were a perfect world we wouldn’t be discussing this topic at all. Possibly, in fact this site might not exist. This is the world we live in. There are many problems. Trust me, this world, it ain’t perfect, and it’s far from it. We as individuals need to help out in our individual ways to make it better. I personally have and had a supportive family that taught me manners, and respect. But unfortunately, we live in a world where that isn’t the ideal anymore. Sometimes students only learn how to be polite, respectful when someone teaches them that. There are many was a teacher can teach that without ditching the lesson plan. Teachers are role models, their jobs are not to only teach but to help better those students that enter their classrooms. A teacher’s job is to do one thing…. within that year or semester that student has grown either mentally, spiritually, emotionally. The goal of teaching is to engage students, to push their limits, to better themselves.
High schoolers today need a certain type of teacher. We need teachers that genuinely care about their student’s welfare. A teacher that isn’t just counting down until the day is over. We need teachers that have passion to teach their students. We need teachers that are willing to help those that just don’t know. The reason why I know my manners, have respect, common sense (which btw isn’t common these days) is because I was taught that. I hate to say it but not everyone has been exposed to that and I hate that with a passion. We all have had different experiences in life. High school can be that make or break for someone who hasn’t had such exposure to things that both you (Philip) and I consider normal.

What do high schools need? They need teachers that aren't afraid to enforce rules, who come to work with PASSION and a real sense of joy to do their jobs--because joy is contagious, and who can relate to students as they are in 2010...not how they were 20 or 30 years ago. More than anything, however, I believe that the responsibility for students being successful starts in the homes and in the communities. Teachers should not be expected to teach common sense, manners, professional courtesy or serve as babysitters for "discipline-challenged" students. That is where being a PARENT comes into play. If more parents taught their children these important skills and lessons, the other aspects of teaching and learning would fall into place easier.

High Schools in NC need improvement. Too many students aren’t graduating on time. They are getting discouraged. Many fall under the many pressures of life. Trust me I’m one of them. Now that I’m in college at my young age of 18 I can see many things that almost caused me not to even graduate. I’ve also noticed things that should be different.

The school structure needs to be worked on. Students such as myself lost interest when it appeared that we weren’t really learning. When it appeared that we were just doing book work, students like me stopped paying attention. Students need to learn things that will not only make them good bring intellectual beings but they need to learn how to be a good person as well. Learning facts and information that is relevant. Learning about who we are individually as persons as well is important. Some classes that teach these skills aren’t as accessible to students. For instance every year at my school I wanted to take music, or art but I couldn’t. I couldn’t take it because that class was at the sometime as a math, science, or English class. So I had the choice of taking painting 101 and not having the English I need to graduate. Needless to say, I chose the English or the math.

Coming from an underprivileged high school myself, the things I see that need improving have nothing to do with class sizes or curriculum. When you have kids who won't even pay attention in a one-on-one tutoring session I don't see how class size makes any difference. No, the root of the problem in places like my high school is that the students have no motivation whatsoever. They are hopeless because they see no hope in their own lives. What needs to change is the mentality of the student body, and to change that you have to change the styles and sources of their motivation. The majority of the students at my high school were underprivileged minorities who received little if any direction from their home life. Their concerns away from school were more than enough to overshadow the desire to learn algebra or recite Chaucer verbatim. Certainly schools like Science and Math in Durham are the pinnacle of potential for our educational system, but to try and assimilate all of our high schools to that model would leave a huge population out in the cold. Do you really think asking the sixteen-year-old girl from my hometown who has to take care of her four younger siblings and work all afternoon at the Cookout is going to step up her game just because you make the curriculum more demanding? No, she'll probably drop out. There is no blanket solution--no mold we can force every school into (my school tried to fit themselves into a mold by getting an IB program, which was a failure). Rather every school should be investigated on an individual basis and then you can decide on a plan that would move them one tier up the rung towards achieving higher levels of learning.

I believe it is possible if we invested more in our schools. Not only through more testing but in changing how we work through education in this country. We need to extend the school day to better accommodate working parents and to allow for longer classes and/or study support for kids. We need to make class sizes smaller overall so kids can get individualized help. And, most radically, we should either eliminate or significantly shorten the summer vacation period. Multiple stories show that kids lose a huge proportion of knowledge gained over the three month hiatus and this relative education loss is even greater in poor and minority children, often because their families do not have the resources to send their kids to summer camps, tutors, SAT prep courses etc in the summer time.

This is a national issue, not just a state one. I believe the success of schools like science and math and durham school for the arts show that you can have high accountability and creativity at the same time. These are clearly elite programs that skim the top of our state's high school students, but they are both models that could be replicated on smaller scales. But, at the end of the day, as with many things in this world, it is a question of resources. Until we as a state, and a country, understand that you have to PAY for a good educational system, which means more taxes and investment, then we will continue this slide as localities do more with less and federal support continues to dwindle.

Can we ever resolve the tension between measurement and accountability, and the need for creativity and exploration?