Equity

· Discuss one question, confusion, or "I wonder...." you have from watching the video.

I wonder how Lonnie’s life, educationally, would change if he were to change schools beginning the next year in high school. I suspect it would have a huge change on him. Is there any follow up by the people who made this video?

· Are Lonnie and James very different children? How do their environments affect them?

Lonnie and James are VERY different kids because of their environments. They are both smart kids with potential, but because of their environments, we can see that James is a smart kid by his grades and actions, however cannot tell this by Lonnie’s grades and behaviors. James has mostly B’s and Lonnie at least has some C’s. James environment is a supportive environment with his mother who cares very much about her son’s education. She is concerned about the quality of his education and the possible overcrowding of the classrooms. Through his environment, he knows he has to put hard work into anything, to receive anything from the work. From the video, I would assume James used to go to private school, but then his mom switched him to public school, which she still seems to have many doubts about. Lonnie’s environment affects him by not showing his potential, and he is scared to go outside in his own neighborhood, even during the day time. He knows that his area of the town is known as the ghetto, and knows that if he doesn’t attend school he would be considered a bum. Lonnie tries to act like a tough guy, but his mom knows that he is scared to go into the neighborhood during the day to go to the store or at night. His sister talks about being scared and hiding in the bathroom because of a shooting happening in the neighborhood. This possibly hostile and scary environment highly affects Lonnie and his sister.

· What is different or unequal about the two schools? How do opportunities to learn differ? How do teacher expectations differ? How might these contribute to the achievement gap?

The first difference is about music. At JHS 141, there is an actual band with instruments, whereas at IS 137 they only play with keyboards. Next is with sports, at JHS 141 they have an outdoor track and field, but at IS 137 they only have a gym indoors in which they play sports in. At IS 137, the teachers are not certified to teach the subjects they are teaching, or may not even be a certified teacher. The science teacher that Lonnie has at IS 137 is not an actual science teacher, and for that reason and reasons because of resources, the science teacher cannot do real science experiments with the students. He has them do exercise stepping up and down on the chair, and then asks them about how their muscles and hearts feel. The teacher expectations at JHS 141 are much higher than those at IS 137 because at JHS 141 the teachers are licensed and certified to teach their subject area. The science teacher says that he is lucky to actually teach 15 minutes out of a class period because of all of the disruptions and students being disrespectful. At JHS 141, the teachers are fully-trained and all are teaching in their licensed areas. In James’ science class, they actually use microscopes and can do real science experiments, this is seen as one of the biggest differences in opportunities to learn shown in the video. At JHS 141 there are lots of activities of the community for after school and these activities are almost as important as in-school activities. At IS 137 there are no after school activities, and there are few resources for them, and therefore Lonnie plays video games and basketball after school. All of these might contribute to the achievement gap because students are not given the same opportunities, and the teachers are not even fully trained at IS 137, and therefore cannot teach the students as well as a fully trained teacher can at schools like JHS 141.

· Based on what you know about motivation and learning, why might students from Riverdale be more likely to succeed academically? What can you see happening to Lonnie in the video (especially towards the end)?

The students are Riverdale are more likely to succeed because they are motivated to do well, and actually want to attend school. The students are Riverdale in general have so many more opportunities that can help them succeed in the present and future. Several times throughout the video Lonnie says that he doesn’t want to go to school, but states that he does because otherwise he would just become a bum. At the end of the video Lonnie states that he cannot return to that school again next year and his mom even says “If he stays here, he’s not going to make it.” The science teacher at JHS says that the students love the microscopes and doing hands-on activities. The students are excited to learn, which will motivate them to learn. The students at IS 137 do not have opportunities like this and are often standing out in the hallway talking to their friends, and have to be forced to go to class. Lonnie’s mom has to come to school with him sometimes and make sure he goes to class. Lonnie is not motivated to attend school really, but is motivated by the fact that he does know he has to go to school to make something of himself. Sadly to say, I could see Lonnie dropping out of school, and not becoming a lawyer or basketball player as he wants to be. I could see him either dropping out of school, or staying in school and graduating high school, but doing nothing beyond high school. If Lonnie stays at IS 137, he will become even less motivated to go to school and therefore not be motivated to go to college.