Engaging Schools Fostering High School Students' Motivation to Learn (2004) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
1. Student Engagement and Disengagement in Urban High Schools
1. Student Engagement and Disengagement in Urban High Schools
Pages 13-30
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From page 13... ...
The average adolescent watches nearly 3 hours of television a day, and adolescents of color watch more on average (The Kaiser Family Foundation, 1999~. Schools, therefore, have considerable competition for the attention of their clients.
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From page 14... ...
These supports include · a challenging but individualized curriculum that is focused on understanding; · knowledgeable, skilled, and caring teachers; · a school culture that is centered on learning; · a school community that engenders a sense of support and belonging, with opportunities to interact with academically engaged peers; · strong ties linking the school with students' families and commu.
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From page 15... ...
We know how to clo a better job of engaging high school students in learning activities that will help them achieve the kinds of postseconciary educational and career opportunities they desire. We also know of urban schools serving lowincome students and students of color that have substantially clecreaseci dropout rates, increased attendance, and improved achievement and the educational and career prospects of their graduates.
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From page 16... ...
With sufficient societal will and the knowledge that now exists, we can make a measurable difference. HIGH STANDARDS AND DEMOCRATIC VALUES Nearly half a century ago, educational philosopher John Dewey and others claimed that if schools were to succeed in preparing the great majority of young people, not just a select few, to be responsible and productive citizens, they would have to do a much better job of motivating and engaging the broad spectrum of students in learning (Cremin, 1961; Dewey, 1956; Hall, 19691.
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From page 17... ...
2261. It is not coincidental that many of the qualities associated with engaging schools also have been found to foster healthy youth development (Eccles et al., 1993; Institute of Medicine, 1997; McNeely, Nonnemaker, and Blum, 2002; National Research Council, 2002a; Rosenfeld, Richman, and Bowen, 2000)
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From page 18... ...
(1996) found that fewer than half of the students reported taking school or their studies seriously; this was equally true of students in affluent suburban schools and those in poor urban communities.
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From page 19... ...
increases substantially with grade level 11 percent of 8th graders, 17 percent of 10th graders, and 33 percent of 12th graders reported skipping at least 1 day of school during a 4-week period (National Center for Education Statistics, 20021. Corresponding to the gradual decline in student engagement, international comparisons reveal that the academic performance of U.S.
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From page 20... ...
Many of these students drop out before they enter grade ten (Boston Plan for Excellence in the Public Schools, 2001~. URBAN HIGH SCHOOLS Some urban high schools have excellent records of equipping their students with the skills they need to succeed in postsecondary education and in the workplace.
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From page 21... ...
Given the large proportion of urban children who live in poverty, it is not surprising that children living in large urban areas are most likely to attend schools with substantial concentrations of economically disadvantaged students. One national sample of elementary, middle, and high school students showed that 40 percent of urban students attend high-poverty
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From page 22... ...
, compared to only 10 percent of suburban students and 26 percent of rural students (Lippman et al., 1996~. Black and Hispanic students are far more likely than Asian and white students to attend urban schools in general, and high-poverty urban schools in particular (Lippman et al., 1996, p.
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From page 23... ...
explores the ways in which neighborhood conditions create "pathways" or mechanisms through which family income operates to affect indicators of children's well-being. These indicators include school achievement (e.g., grade repetition, expulsion or suspension, dropping out of school)
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From page 24... ...
These failing schools enroll approximately 60 percent of all students of color in the 35 large urban school districts that were examined. High dropout rates are not inevitable in urban schools, however.
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From page 25... ...
Only about half of the variation in school dropout rates could be attributed to the background characteristics of the students who attended them. Another study found that only 20 percent of the variability in mean school attendance rates could be explained by the background characteristics of students (Bryk and Thum, 19891.
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From page 26... ...
In 2000, 40 percent of 12th graders in central cities scored "below basic" on the NAEP (National Center for Education Statistics, 2001a) , compared to 32 percent in urban fringe (suburban)
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From page 27... ...
Evaluations of whole-school reform efforts over the past decade have been mixed at best (e.g., Berends, Chun, Schuyler, 56`High-performing,, schools were those serving students with reading and/or math performance in the top third among all schools in the state at the same grade level; schools ``serving disadvantaged students" were those with at least 50 percent low-income students and at least 50 percent African-American and Hispanic students.
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From page 28... ...
But now we also have promising models for high school reform (American Federation of Teachers, 1998; American Youth Policy Forum, 2000; George and McEwin, 1999; see Chapters 7 and 8, this volume) and a fair amount of knowledge about educational policies and practices that produce high levels of engagement and learning for even the most disadvantaged students (National Research Council, 2002a; Stringfield et al., 1997; see also Chapter 51.
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From page 29... ...
It also discusses the importance of supporting teacher learning and provides examples of strategies for promoting teacher collaboration and clevelopment. Moving from the classroom to the school, Chapter 4 focuses on the larger school context, especially the importance of an intense focus on learning within a supportive school community.
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From page 30... ...
Less is said about the process of school reform how these practices get implemented on a large scale although a chapter is devoted to the qualities of some of the major current reform models. In brief, this volume focuses more on where we want to go than on how we get there.
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