Students+Attitudes+toward+Urban+Education

 Students Attitudes Toward Urban Education -[]

Definitions: Urban Education: A learning environment located in a city or town.

Student Attitudes: Those engaged in learning’s beliefs and feelings toward their education. -www.dictionary.com

**__Background:__** Urban schools are attended by mostly low-income black and Latino students. This system continues to lag behind suburban schools which consist mostly of middle and high income students on an academic level. However, urban schools are at an extreme disadvantage, especially to the children that are attending these schools. Inequalities in education exist from the textbooks provided to the teacher qualifications which in turn affect the quality of education that inner-city children are receiving. Neighborhoods are being segregated by social class and the impoverished population is not getting the same educational opportunities as the suburban population. Students that attend urban schools are expected to focus and acquire skills to help them lead a more prosperous and successful life, while at the same time they are faced with many distractions. The horrifying conditions of the school, such as leaking roofs, broken furniture, sewage problems, no heat or air conditions, are not conducive to learning. Also, urban students live in crime-infested neighborhoods with violence on the streets. Problems outside the classroom affect students learning which tends to have a great impact in the classroom. These problems directly affect student’s motivation which then has a disadvantage effect on their achievement. Therefore, unlike suburban students who attend schools in a safe and pleasant environment, where learning is the only priority; learning is not the primary concern for urban students. -http://sitemaker.umich.edu/rosman.356/urban_education

**Video:**  Real Students Perspectives on Urban Education media type="youtube" key="1WLScJT2Sbs" height="266" width="336"

**Statistics:** · According to the Children’s Defense Fund one high school student drops out every nine seconds. Most of these students are also of low-income, single parent homes, and attend large urban schools.

· The average high school graduation rate in the nation’s 50 largest cities was 53 percent, compared with 71 pe rcent in the suburbs.

· Baltimore has the nation’s second-largest gap, 41 percent of students graduate from city schools, compared with 81 percent in the suburbs. - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/22/education/22dropout.html



__Real Account of a Urban Student __ Marcus, a sixth-grade African American male, is the eldest of five children. His family is headed by a single mother, who works the evening shift at a local fast-food restaurant. Marcus has no contact with his father. Because of his mother’s hours of employment, Marcus and his siblings receive little adult supervision during the evening hours. Marcus is often seen “on the streets” at late hours, often in the company of older teenagers. Marcus is described by his teacher as disruptive, aggressive, and very “street smart.” Specifically, Marcus is described as lacking concentration and having disorganized work habits. His classroom behavior is characterized by excessive talking, calling out, and talking back. Marcus is performing below grade level in reading and mathematics and had an extensive discipline and suspension record in previous years. Marcus’ actions reflect the behavior of many urban students. However, how his behavior and concerns are addressed by the teacher is the discriminating factor that will determine his overall success or failure in the classroom.
 * Research Studies: **

-McKinney, S., Campbell-Whately, G., & Kea, C. (2005). Managing Student Behavior in Urban Classrooms. Clearing House, 79(1), 16-20. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.

<span style="color: #943634; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">__Keeping Urban Students from Dropping Out__

<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Flexibility when dealing with at-risk students is evident throughout Aldine, Bamberg says. If a student fails his first semester of algebra, Aldine teachers work with him one-on-one to get him caught up instead of forcing him to repeat the entire semester. Bamberg also says that Aldine allows students to retake tests if they fail on the first try. "We're not trying to see how many kids we can catch failing. We're trying to see how many kids we can catch up in urban schools," Bamberg says. <span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">-Calefati, J. (2010). Catching Students Before They Fall Behind. U.S. News & World Report, 147(1), 62-63. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.

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 * __<span style="color: #943634; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Reasons for dropping out: __**

<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">There are various reasons for students to decide to discontinue their education. Students no longer feel the need to try, so they just quit. Some students feel that teachers have low expectations and are impatient with their lack of understanding. As a result of their failure to comprehend the material, many students skip class. This then becomes a vicious cycle, because children get even more lost in material and eventually give up altogether. When 500 dropouts, ages 16-25, were interviewed, they gave many reasons for leaving school <span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">:

· <span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">47% said classes were not interesting · <span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">43% missed too many days to catch up · <span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">45% entered high school poorly prepared by their earlier schooling · <span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">69% said they were not motivated to work hard · <span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">35% said they were failing · <span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">32% said they left to get a job · <span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">25% left to become parents <span style="color: #365f91; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 11pt;">-U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2009). The Condition of Education 2009 (NCES 2009-081),

1Total includes other race/ethnicity categories not separately shown. 2Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. <span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Georgia','serif';">U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2009). //The Condition of Education 2009// (NCES 2009-081), [|Table A-20-2].
 * //Status dropout rates of 16- through 24-year-olds, by race/ethnicity: Selected years, 1980-2007// ||
 * **Year** || **Total1** |||||| **Race/ethnicity2** ||
 * ^  ||^   || **White** || **Black** || **Hispanic** ||
 * **1980** || 14.1 || 11.4 || 19.1 || 35.2 ||
 * **1985** || 12.6 || 10.4 || 15.2 || 27.6 ||
 * **1990** || 12.1 || 9.0 || 13.2 || 32.4 ||
 * **1995** || 12.0 || 8.6 || 12.1 || 30.0 ||
 * **2000** || 10.9 || 6.9 || 13.1 || 27.8 ||
 * **2001** || 10.7 || 7.3 || 10.9 || 27.0 ||
 * **2002** || 10.5 || 6.5 || 11.3 || 25.7 ||
 * **2003** || 9.9 || 6.3 || 10.9 || 23.5 ||
 * **2004** || 10.3 || 6.8 || 11.8 || 23.8 ||
 * **2005** || 9.4 || 6.0 || 10.4 || 22.4 ||
 * **2006** || 9.3 || 5.8 || 10.7 || 22.1 ||
 * **2007** || 8.7 || 5.3 || 8.4 || 21.4 ||

-http://classof2010.blogs.wesleyan.edu/files/2008/10/teaching-kids1.jpg


 * __<span style="color: #943634; font-family: 'Georgia','serif';">Student achievement __**

<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Georgia','serif';">The education system is facing many inequalities and no one suffers more from these inequalities than urban school systems. Many factors come into play that helps to create this inequality. One major issue is the extreme poverty in urban areas combined with the higher cost of living. Other factors include: overcrowded classrooms, outdated and meager resources, rundown buildings as well as insufficient funding. As a result of these factors, quality teachers are discouraged from working in urban schools. The lack of quality teachers a major issue which has dire affects urban schools as well as student achievement. Factors that contribute to the low achievement of students in urban schools are teacher-centered classrooms, lack of caring and low expectations. In spite of the overwhelming lack of student achievement in urban schools, there are still a significant amount of students that despite the circumstances overcome the obstacles and manage to succeed. Yet, most these students who enter into higher education institution feel overwhelmed and unprepared. --<span style="color: #365f91; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 11pt;">http://sitemaker.umich.edu/rosman.356/urban_education