Blog Post 1, Video

I am curious as to what happened to Lonnie and James: what happened to them when they "grew up"? What careers do they have now? It would be interesting to see the aftermath.

Though Lonnie and James are both bright children, their environments have ultimately shaped who they've become. Lonnie grew up in an environment where he didn't feel safe, and went to a school where he wasn't getting as many resources or motivation. James, on the other hand, grew up in a safer environment and went to a school where he was much more likely to succeed.

As far as the two schools go, Riverdale definitely has more opportunities for students to succeed. First of all, the teachers are actually certified in the subject they are teaching - this isn't the case at Lonnie's school. Teacher expectations are also much different. At Riverdale, the teachers expect more of their students, where at Lonnie's school, they didn't seem as interested in the student's well being. They also didn't know what they were teaching as well, due to not being certified, and they didn't have proper equipement to teach even if they did know the material. Also, the school provides activities such as band class, a field to learn sports in, and more, whereas at Lonnie's school, they don't have the money or space for those things. Security and safety is another issue that Lonnie's school faces - it's clear that Riverdale is a much safer environment. All of these things definitely contribute to the achievement gap: students who feel safe, have teachers who know what they're teaching, have equipment to use, and feel like teachers want them to succeed are more likely to succeed.

Students at Riverdale are more likely to succeed academically because they are more motivated, due to the difference in environment. You can see that the teacher at Lonnie's school punishes them more, yells at them more, and doesn't expect as much out of them as at Riverdale. You can tell that students at Riverdale are more motivated, because they're given the resources by their teachers to be more motivated - the teacher at Riverdale, for example, said that her goal is to get her students interested in the topic she's teaching. Parent involvement is also more important at Riverdale: they show a clip of a teacher talking with James' mom about how he can succeed more. You can see Lonnie slowly losing motivation as the movie continues. At the beginning, he wants to be a lawyer, but as time goes on he's changing his mind about his aspiration. Also, his grades are lower, which is a result of the environment he's in and the lack of resources available to him. It's so sad to see such a bright kid lose motivation due to his environment.