Wednesday, December 10, 2014

HOW STRICT IS TOO STRICT?


“The backlash against no excuses discipline in high school”
By: Sarah Carrnov
Level of Difficulty: ****
BEFORE YOU READ
Watch the following videos and discuss them. How strict should school administrators be?
·         Video: “How strict is too strict?”    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1e0P77f1BE 
·         Video: “Strictest school in the country” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpYMRez8DUM
QUESTIONS
1.       Why did Summer Daskin say “It felt like I was in elementary school”?
·         There were rules governing how Summer dressed
·         There were rules during break time
·         There were too many rules governing everything
·         Teachers praised students for following the rules
2.       What is the justification for this no excuses type of policy at schools?
3.       The writer says “Some go further”. Further than what?  Saying that ……………………………………….
4.       What additional undesirable consequence is harsh discipline claimed to have? It paves the way to………………………
5.       What important aspect of individual development was not emphasized in the schools in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina?
6.       What does “this theory” in the phrase “There was no better place to apply this theory” refer to?
7.       Looking back to the days before the charter schools in New Orleans, it can be said that the reformers have been successful because………………………………………………………………………………..
8.       The New Orleans Teachers and parents favored strict discipline because they believed it would get them ………………………...but parents wanted discipline for another reason too. It was the desire to ……………
9.       What conclusion can be reached upon reading the paragraph beginning “As adolescence arrives”?
10.   What similarity is there between charter schools and the job market in New Orleans?
11.   There seems to be disagreement concerning the effect of ……………………..on overall academic success according to the text.
12.   Racial bias seems to be a factor influencing suspension as…………………………………………The fact these students …………………………………………..proves that the decision to ban “discretionary discipline tactics” was right.
13.   How dependable are the suspension figures presented by charter schools in New Orleans? How do you know?
14.   The text states that “some have called the problem the progress trap” Why exactly is a “rigidly rule based mentality” a progress trap? Because it taught ……………………………….instead of …………………, ……………………..and …………………………………………….
15.   The top down management system popular in charter schools was relaxed at Cohen College when………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
16.   The administrators at Cohen College are trying to reach a compromise between…………………….
17.   KIPP Renaissance  has reached the conclusion that over use of the disciplinary practice of ……………………………………is counterproductive as a lot of students end up in trouble with the law rather than going on to college.
18.   The words on Summer’s wrist band imply the following……………………….(Use your own words)
19.   The fundamental reason for the disillusionment with the Charter schools is the fact that……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
WRITING TASK
Write an argumentative essay in which you discuss the extent of discipline that should be applied at schools and what punitive measures, if any, should be implemented. Remember to justify your position and refute counter arguments.

HOW STICT IS TOO STRICT KEY AND TEACHER’S NOTES
This highly topical text discusses the age old problem of how strict schools need to be, what constitutes misbehavior and how to penalize students. It does this in relation to the “Charter School” movement in the US which popularized draconian rules and stringent discipline. The text leads to a wonderful argumentative essay.
1.       C
2.       To send all their graduates, many of them first-generation college aspirants, on to higher education
3.       That the no excuses approach more effectively contributes to very different results: a flagrant form of two tiered education and a rise in racially skewed suspension and expulsion rates for low level misbehavior.
4.       To prison (rather than college)
5.       Individual expression
6.       The (controversial)broken window theory
7.       Academic performance has improved citywide (nearly two thirds of students…)
8.       To college; keep their children safe
9.       Strict enforcement gets harder but no less urgent in the eyes of many families in urban settings like New Orleans and for good reason.
10.   Employees who make even a small misstep can be speedily replaced with new hires who don’t show up late forget their uniform or talk back to customers
11.   Suspension
12.   Starting in preschool, black children are suspended and expelled at far higher rates than white students are despite little objective evidence that they behave any worse;  were nearly three times as likely to come into contact with the juvenile justice system the following year.
13.   Not very because several students complained that they were sometimes sent home “off the books” with nobody documenting the dismissal and minimal or no inquiry into the circumstances that led to misbehavior.
14.   Obedience for obedience’s sake; (increasing) self control, the ability to think critically, navigate course work independently
15.   The principal and other administrators held town hall meetings where they solicited students’ views on school rules, and hammered out compromises.
16.   Structure and flexibility
17.   Suspension
18.   The desire to express herself freely; individual expression
19.   School disciplinarians had failed to cultivate a shared sense of direction and the trust that goes with it.



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