Nobody knows how many T.J.s there are in the system, children for whom years were lost andopportunities slipped away. And for each of them, the stakes could not be higher
This line captures the tragedy of systemic neglect and how many students like T.J. are forgotten in the system. It emphasizes that every delay or oversight has lifelong consequences, making accountability in special education crucial
T.J. is one of more than 200,000 students in New York City public schools classified as having adisability, which can be anything from mild dyslexia to a complex physical disorder. These studentsare a small city unto themselves, and the special education system that serves them is awash indelays, misinformation and confusion
This opening shows how massive and disorganized the special education system is. With so many students affected, delays and misinformation can have serious long term effects. It really highlights how systemic inefficiency can fail the very students it’s meant to support.
PovertyLiving in poverty is associated with conditions that make academic success difficult. For example,low-income children suffer from vision impairment at twice the normal rate. They endure thiscondition as a result of the poor prenatal development that occurs when low-income pregnantmothers do not get adequate care and nutrition (Morgan, 2019). Unfortunately, Black, Hispanic,and Native American students live in poverty at much higher rates than White families (Morgan,2018a; Sauter, 2018).Researchers have hypothesized that living in poverty contributes to the disproportionate rate ofstudents of color in special education since these students are more likely to be exposed to riskfactors that increase academic underachievement and behavioral problems. In addition to visionimpairment, low-income students suffer more from the effects of exposure to lead, high bloodpressure, and low birth weight (Morgan & Farkas, 2018).
This section connects poverty to educational challenges that often lead to misplacement in special education. It’s striking how health and environmental factors outside of school still shape academic outcomes. It reinforces how addressing inequality means improving living conditions, not just classroom interventions.
of LGBTQ lives in the curricula all contribute to negative school-basedexperiences. This chapter details recent studies and theoretical work on thehostile climate in schools, examines gaps in curricula, and discusses family-related issues that also challenge LGBTQ students or students with LGBTQparents. These may include a lack of role models in schools, discomfort withparental involvement, or, especially in the case of children with LGBTQ par-ents, difficult relations between school and family (Kosciw & Diaz, 2008).In keeping with our focus on the diversity of LGBTQ experiences, thischapter continues an analysis of the intersections of racial, gendered, andgender-identity-related violence, harassment, and alienation that students inpublic school and family settings experience. The particular implications forschools' intervention in bias and provision of spaces for
This section shows how exclusion in both curriculum and school climate harms LGBTQ+ students. The lack of representation and safety reinforces feelings of isolation, especially for queer students of color.
Only one-fifthof school personnel consistently responded to anti-LGBTQ incidents. Butjust over one-third of students reported that staff were present when studentsheard biased comments and staff did challenge those remarks
It’s alarming how few school staff actually intervene in anti-LGBTQ incidents. This shows that even when adults are present, silence often reinforces bias. Active responses from teachers could make schools feel much safer for queer students.
Such misunderstandings of law and policy lead to category errors inenforcement or to ignoring the problem of harassment altogether. In theirexamination of how teachers understand anti-bullying and anti-sexual ha-rassment laws, Charmaraman et al. (2013) found that teachers believedbullying to refer to unpleasant peer-to-peer relationships, but did not un-derstand that sexual harassment could be peer-based. Further, teachers didnot connect what they took to be boys bullying girls with Title IX's prohibi-tion of a hostile gender-based environment created by sexual harassment
This highlights how gaps in teacher understanding allow harassment to persist. Many educators don’t realize that peer actions can still count as sexual harassment under Title IX. Better training on these laws could help schools respond more effectively and protect students from genderbased harm
In this paper I draw on my life story as a teacher educator and the mother of a daughter with disabilities to trouble the identity that positions and labels her as, first and foremost in U.S. school settings, a "child with special needs." Drawing on a brief snippet from our profoundly interrelated lives (Hillyer, 1993), I argue that educators must reconsider the positioning of children who differ from the "norm," and stop labeling, and hence limiting, children. I end with recommendations for personal, educational, and societal policies and practices that would be less painful and limiting, and more inclusive, supportive, and ultimately democratic
O’Brien’s reflection challenges how schools define children by their disabilities instead of their abilities. By questioning these labels, she pushes educators to see students as whole people rather than categories. Her call for more inclusive and democratic practices feels essential for real equity in education.
Gender bias is also a problem not only for women. Young men whounderstand cultural messages about masculinity as encouraging their dem-onstration of superiority show their power through aggressive taunting.Whether because of pressure to conform to this problematic notion of malepower or out of concern that they will be thought to be weak or gay if theydon't harass, young men are the group most likely to harass LGBTQ youthand young cisgender women as well. Even though we live in a time whengender norms continue to stretch, especially for women, schools are stillinstitutions where gender sorting occurs, whether it is in the classroom or incommunity settings that debate policy and curricula. Sex education contin-ues to be a relatively conservative part of schools, leading with abstinencc-until-marriage messages that not only exclude most LGBTQ students,but also leave girls at disproportionate risk for unwanted pregnancy (notbecause-obviously-only girls can get pregnant, but because so few youngmen are held responsible for the children that result).
This section highlights how rigid gender norms harm everyone not just women. It’s powerful how Mayo connects toxic masculinity to both harassment and the silencing of LGBTQ+ children. Schools play a big role in reinforcing these ideas especially through outdated sex ed that excludes queer students and fails to hold boys accountable.
Understanding the interplay of normative identities, intersections ofidentity categories, and creative reworkings of norms and categories canhelp provide better strategies for members of school communities to con-sider their own practices more carefully and to challenge how normativityand homophobia create barriers to education for all students
This example shows how everyday school routines, like lining up by gender, can subtly reinforce gendered binary thinking. Teachers could reduce this by organizing groups in more inclusive ways that don’t highlight gender.
uiet students like Patricia just slipped through the cracks and disappea
I think its important to stark acknowledging what biases are happening within the education system and so how much an impact including bias training to promote fairness is incredibly important
r problems. For boys, unfair discipline and the pressures of the traditional male gender role took center
It’s interesting how whether a male or female you’re stuck with certain aspects of education that hold you back. It’s shown how much sexism has really impacted both educators and students and thus will impact students on the future unless we change the norm
worked." 12 In· today's adolescent society many girls still think that being bright conflicts with being popul
It’s interesting how internalized sexism really impacts long term success as it scares young female scholars from truly being able to achieve what theyre capable of.
problem. Today's teenagers, both girls and boys, report that although they have many friends, they lack intimate, close friends. Teenagers say that there is no one that they can really confide in, no one with whom to share their deepest thoughts. In the midst of a crowd, they feel alone. It is a disturbing admission.
It’s surprising how invisible gender bias can be within the classroom and the interactions between the students and teachers
Constructing Literacy Spaces in Low-Income Homes and Communities
I like how Volk shows that learning doesn’t just happen in schools and that these families create their own literacy spaces at home too
I know that college is important but right now I have to focus on help-ing my family. Without papers there’s not much I can do. And it’s not the focus of our teachers. They just want us to learn English and so they don’t talk to us about how to apply to college. I think it’s best if I work and help my family
This was the mentality of so many people i knew in middle school and highschool they chose to drop out of education in order to pursue work in trade or rap or whatever they could get their hands on because the education system failed them and denied them their ability to pursue something higher
194 Roberto G. Gonzales and Cynthia N. Carvajalhours away from home and children. Restricted access to decent wages also impacted parents’ ability to fi nd affordable housing. These
when i was a child i faced this exact situation where no one would be home but me the oldest to care for all the children while my parents went to work to make enough to pay for rent and the kids wants
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the way i see it being able to maintain that original piece of you is important to the way you portray yourself as to others. schools equating english proficiency with intelligence is unfair and easily hurtful to one’s self identity
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having immigrant parents and grandparents my grandparents saw it as extremely important that my parents and their siblings learned English in order to maintain better opportunities. its amazing the lengths parents will go to support their children no matter the cost
ubious cultural relevance to the new immigrant groups under consideration. Other studies seemed to repeatedly confound the experiences of immigrant youth ( that is, the foreign-born who come to the United States) with the fortunes of those of immigrant origins (chil-dren whose families have been in the United States for two, and in some cases three, generations). While there are similarities between the experi-ences of immigrants and those of the se
the fact that the author pointed oht the fact that first gen and second gen students face different challenges is extremely important. especially since grouping them together can hide real differences in experience especially when creating policies or studies meant to support them
Keywords
It’s interesting how without fail you can always find the ideas of poverty as well with urbanism but as i was growing up i assumed being in an urban neighborhood was always more rich because you’re able to see everyone as yourself. Almost as though as you have less wealth you have more cultural and social wealth
field on the way home and busted it. School Photograph
It’s so interesting how as you continue in life this mocking of class and income almost increases at an exponential rate in which as you realize you’re poor you start comparing yourself with others
And that's exactly what it felt like being told you're poor without being ready for it.
I think this idea of sapp railing he was poor because of others mocking him is incredibly powerful and shows how school can reinforce the labels of class
The point is, it can be a mistake for a teacher to make assumptions about a student's circumstances or support system without knowing the situation.
I enjoy how a lot of the readings this week revolve around reflecting and understanding a educators bias when it comes to students
gift. Every student has a story to tell, and often those stories are difficult to hear. Teaching
It’s interesting reading how some teachers have to understand that their bias especially as i aim to work in the orientation program i also have to acknowledge where the students are coming from
find myself asking, What did I learn after almost a dozen years in a low-income urban classroom, surrounded by students defined as "at risk" because of their poverty and race? What did I learn about my students? What did I learn about myself?
I admire the authors honesty about her own assumptions as its rare to see people admit their own biases
ac-tivities was significant, particularly when families had more than one child. Cash out-lays included
It’s interesting how it even costs money to put ur kids into clubs and stuff
his parents live in a predominantly black middle-class neighbor-hood. Their six-bedroom
I wonder how race impacts stuff like concerted cultivation
Their six-bedroom house is worth about $150,000.17 Alexander is an only child. Both parents grew up in small towns in the
I have family that have large houses but few children and ive come to realize they have almost a sense of entitlement when it comes to adults and how they feel entitled to almost always get a response and be acknowledged
research. 38 DISCUSS
I didn’t realize how much language use a home can shape the confidence of children when speaking to teachers
AND NAT
After reading a bit of this passage i find it interesting how certain parents structure their kids lives around organized activists and it makes me think about how this gives kids practice with speaking up and time management
dominant position in contemporary capitalist societies, as the only institution that has “the obligatory audience of the totality of the children in the capitalist social formation, eight hours a day for fi ve or six days out of seven.”
basically saying that school is the only thing most people collectively do and they do for a long time.
Latinos Lag behind in Academics,” he wrote that “Hispanic students” were not “pulling their weight” and attributed the cause to cultural factors, suggesting that Asian parents “push their children to move toward academic success,” while Latino parents “are well- meaning but less active
Racial inequality has been so deeply engraved into people of color that now you're forced to compete not only against the oppressive system set up by the white elites but now youre placed into competiotn with other people of color
remember in fifth grade specifically ... I went home every single day in tears because people made fun of me every day. And it probably didn’t help that I didn’t have siblings. I wasn’t particularly tough at all. But I would go home every day in tears because I just felt different, and somebody made fun of me.... I felt that I was inadequate and unable to do anything because I was Asian. It was just the little things that kids would say.... And I would be well aware of the fact that I was different from them
early racists experiences can deeply affect a childs self esteem and sense of belonging in turn causing kids to internalize their feelings of inadequacy
control
this whole paragraph aims to show how a longstanding “white racial frame” sustains systemic racism and ranks racial groups, placing whites at the top and others, including Asian Americans, in lower positions.
a) if deficient in respect, manners, and responsibility toward others, especially family members. Following from students' definition of education is the implicit notion that learning should be premised on authentic caring, to use Noddings' ( l 984) terminology. That is, learning should be premised on relation with teachers and other school adults having as their chief concern their students' entire well-being. In contrast to their teachers' expect-ations, Seguin youth prefer to be cared for before they care about school, especially when the curriculum is impersonal, irrelevant, and test driven. U.S.-born students, in particular, display psychic and emotional detachment from a schooling process organized arou
i think there should be time dedicated to connecting a teacher and student on a deeper level because it then gives the student reason to care in the classroom and the teacher a reason to teach properly.
icanization
although it wont let me highlight it this whole idea that schools take away your culture and language is so true. as a kid i had a stutter and instead of saying it was because i was a kid my school said it was because i was learning spanish and english at the same time. as such my parents worried i wouldnt have an adulthood in which white society accepted me stopped teaching me spanish.
the narrow and essentially Eurocentric curriculum we provide for our teachers. At the university level, teachers are not being edu-cated with the broad strokes necessary to prepare them prop-erly for the twenty-first cent
i believe myself to be very lucky here. although i come from an extremely low income community i had the ability to go to a free charter school in which as opposed to history i was taught ethnic studies in which my teacher taught about the ways that white historians altered history to make them look more sophisticated and nicer
g less rather than teaching more can happen in sev-eral ways. Those who utilize "skills-based" approaches can
I think to how in school there were so many comprehension tests that ti a point it became less of a whos learning the most and more of a who can remember the most dates and names. i was learning nothing and just remembering things. without the ability to comprehend a writing reading is fruitless
Oh you sound White, you think you're White," they said. And the idea of sounding White was just so absurd to me .... So ninth grade was sort of traumatic in that I started listening to rap music, which I really just don't like. [I said] I'm gonna be Black, and it was just that stupid. But it's more than just how one acts, you know. [The other Black women there] were not into me for the longest time.
I feel like i can connect to this in a deeper level because although i have alot of education under my belt and tons of experience in various areas my speech has never been the most eloquent and thus ive been oftentimes seen as less intelligent than i truly am and can do nothing but act as though the belittling doesn't impact me
Mecklenburg School Dis-trict in North Carolina, Roslyn Mickelson compared the placements of Black and White high school students who had similar scores on a na-tional standardized achievement test they took in the sixth grade. More than half of the White students who scored in the ninetieth to ninety-ninth percentile on the test were enrolled in high school Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) English, while only 20 percent of the Black students who also scored in the ninetieth to ninety-ninth percentile were enrolled in these more-rigorous courses. Meanwhile, 35 percent of White students whose test scores were below the seventieth percentile were taking AP or IB English.
As a poli sci major ive gone through study after study that highlights inequalities at a systematic level and it’s in a way amazing to see the lengths that these inequalities can go in order to make sure communities of color are less likely to grow than white communities
Why are all the Black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?" WALK INTO ANY RACIALLY MIXED HIGH SCHOOL CAFETERIA AT LUNCH-tune 3:11d you will instantly notice that in the sea of adolescent faces, there is an identifiable group of Black students sitting together. Con-versely, it could be pointed out that there are many groups of White students sitting together as well, though people rarely comment about that. The question on the tip of everyone's tongue is, "Why are the Black kids sitting together?"
I have noticed this and it’s strange how far back this goes. I told my dad about this when i was younger and he told me about how it was even worse when he was in hs because there was often fights between the students in regards to race with people often gettting fatally hurt. I think at some point it became a thing of sittting with people who have faced the same hardships that you have