Impact: Volume 1

8/4/2019 Impact: Volume 1

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questionsfor discussion.Use the space below each

what do you think

of the Americaneducation system?

what impact do you

think failing schoolshave on acommunity?

what does advocacy

mean to you?

question to record yourthoughts and the thoughts ofothers in your Action Group.

Post responses on yourAction Groups page atDallasFACET.org.

It is difficult, often impossible,to raise healthy children in adisintegrated community.Without local institutions thatdraw families and youngpeople together aroundcommon interests andactivities even the most

heroic child-rearing is likely tofail. Conversely, by gatheringand organizing members ofthe community aroundactivities of common interest particularly the healthydevelopment of children even the most devastatingconditions can be reversed.

The Harlem Childrens ZoneBusiness Plan 2001-2009

When I read this, I quickly assume theprophet is speaking of the people whohave been neglected--the ones who havebeen abused by the powerful, by thesystem, the ones left to fend forthemselves with nothing to fend with.

But at the end of Isaiah, the prophetreveals something else. Instead of callingthe ones in need of material provision the

ones in need of healing, Isaiah suggeststhat the ones with the provision are theones in need of healing. And how are wehealed? By sharing our provisions. Ourbodies and our souls are made wholethrough relationship with those lessfortunate. Isaiah says, If you remove theyoke from among you, the pointing of thefinger, the speaking of evil, if you offeryour food to the hungry and satisfy theneeds of the afflicted, then your light shallrise in the darkness and your gloom belike the noonday (Is 58:9-10).

Ellen Davis, a professor of Bible andPractical Theology from Duke DivinitySchool preached a sermon about whyliving a life of mission heals our woundsrather than just fixing the wounds of thedisadvantaged. Mission is aboutbecoming whole; its about being healedof wounds we did not even know we had specifically, the wounds of separation.

Mission brings us into productiverelationship with those from whom wehave been divided.

The world we live in separates us frompeople without us even realizing it. Weare separated by income levels,neighborhoods, job status, levels ofeducation, race, gender and language.These people are our own flesh. Isaiah

58:7 suggests that doing mission is tonot hide yourself from your ownflesh (the word in NRSV is kin but can betranslated flesh from the Hebrew).Disadvantaged people are part of ourflesh, and it is true that we havecontinually neglected that piece of ourflesh. In order to heal our bruises andsores and bleeding wounds (Is 1:6), wemust enter into meaningful relationshipwith the ones we have separated from.

As Dr. Davis says, healing starts with ourcoming out of hiding. Isaiahs logic

suggests that though we normally viewthe disadvantaged as the ones waitingopen-handedly for our hand-outs, wehave it backwards. We are the ones thatare in need of wholeness and healing,and we can only get there when wereach out with open hands and grabtheirs.

by Cameron Mason Vickrey
http://www.dallasfacet.org/http://www.dallasfacet.org/http://www.dallasfacet.org/http://www.dallasfacet.org/


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Part 1: The State of Our

Schools

The poor state of the American

education system has been a big

issue in national news recently.2000 schools across the country

are considered dropout factories

where 40% of students quit

between 9th and 12th grades.

About 7,000 kids drop out of

school everyday. On a global

scale, students in US schools are

at lower science and math levels

than students abroad especially in

the higher grades. Out of 30

developed countries, the US

ranked 25th in Math and 21st in

science.

No Child Left Behind is a United

States government project that

requires all U.S. public schools to

meet standards every year called

Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).The goal of NCLB is to make all

students 100 percent proficient in

reading and math by 2014.

Unfortunately, Education

Secretary Arne Duncan has said

that 82% of Americas schools

could fail to meet education goals

set by NCLB in 2011.

One way that educational

performance in the US is meas

is by looking at the achieveme

gap. The achievement gap is a

substantial difference in scores

standardized tests between twgroups of students. It has been

shown that there is a significan

achievement gap between poo

and minority students, students

disabilities, English learners, a

their peers. On average, by 4

grade African American and L

students are about 3 academic

years behind their white peers

Part 2: Are West DallasChildren Being PreparedLife After High School?

The 2009-2010 DISD non cha

school scorecards for elementschools in West Dallas show so

alarming realities. Of the 6 W

Dallas public elementary scho

5 showed that only 63% or le

students were on track for mi

school. And 2 out of these 5

showed that only 51% or less

students were on track for mi

school.

volume ONE

The Impactof Failing

Schools onChildren,Families,

andCommunities


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n all of the elementary schools,more than 30% of their studentswere below grade level ineading, with 2 of the schools morehan 40%. In all of the elementarychools, more than 35% of theirtudents were below grade leveln math, with 3 of the schools morehan 50%.

he 2009-2010 non charter school

corecards for middle schools

howed that one of the two middle

chools in West Dallas had 57.7%

of their 8th graders not on track for

igh school. In SY 2008-2009 and

2009-2010 no graduating student atPinkston High School (the only West

Dallas high school) scored high

nough on the SAT to indicate

eadiness for college. Their average

core is 756.

n DISD from 2006 to 2009,

graduation rates dropped 3 years

n a row, and DISD did not meet the

NCLB standard. DISD has dropoutates twice as high as the state

average.

t is becoming more and more

mportant to have a college level

degree to find work in the United

States. If our children are not

graduating from high school,

success later in life and in the

working world is much more

difficult. In 1964, a high school

dropout earned 64 cents to every

dollar a high school graduate

earned. In 2004, the high schooldropouts earning went down to 34

cents to every dollar earned by a

graduate. A high school dropout

earns about $260,000 less over a

lifetime than a high school

graduate.

The Alliance for Excellent

Education in Washington DC has a

list of characteristics of a successful

high school, and these criteria can

be extended to any kind of school

(elementary and middle):

Challenging classes - Demanding

classes are necessary to gain the

advanced skills needed in the

modern workplace.

Personal attention for all students -Small enough groups to allow

teacher and staff to know each

student and cater to their specific

learning needs, like forming a

detailed plan for graduation by 9th

grade.

Extra help for those who need i

Schools should identify strugglin

students and promptly help them

stay on course.

Bringing the real world to theclassroom - Connect book learn

and the skills needed to be

successful in life.

Family and community involvem

Positive relations should be form

between families, educators, fa

groups, organizations, and othe

members of the community.

A safe learning environment-

Schools should be free of drugs

weapons, and gangs and shoul

respond to bullying and other

threats.

Skilled teachers - Teachers shou

know well the subjects they teac

and should receive the guidanc

and counseling needed to improtheir teaching.

Strong leaders - A skilled princi

and educational leader are nee

for a school to maintain smooth

organization and a vision of

academic excellence.


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User-friendly information - All

community members should be able

to access clear information about

how well the school is serving all of

ts students.

Necessary resources - The school

should provide all the materials

needed to be successful in classes

along with the necessary facilities.

Part 3: Impacts on theCommunity

t used to be assumed that an

unhealthy community caused

schools to be ineffective. Research

s now showing that, in fact, weve

had it backwards. Failing schools

ead to failing communities.

nadequate education affects a

community in many ways.

First, education has effects onphysical health. An increase of just

4 more years of education on

average significantly lowers risks of

dying early from heart disease,

diabetes, and other chronic and

acute diseases. Life expectancy is

ncreasing for everyone in the US.

But high school dropouts have a life

expectancy that is 9.2 years shorter

than high school graduates. And

the difference between life

expectancy is growing between

those with and without a collegeeducation. With higher levels of

education there are more resources

available to learn and practice

healthy lifestyle habits. And of

course a better education means

access to better jobs with better

health care.

With more years of education, the

incidences of an individual

committing violent and property

crime decrease significantly. An

average of one more year of

school for dropouts would reduce

murder and assault by almost 30%,

motor vehicle theft by 20%, arson

by 13%, and burglary and larceny

by about 6%.

College graduates are three times

more likely to vote than Americans

without a high school degree.

Education can play an important

role in instilling habits of political

and civic involvement.

By 2012, America is expected to

see a shortfall of 7 million colleg

educated workers. This negative

burden on the economy will affe

everyone.

Part 4: There Are Ways toMake Changes

The chart on the next page show

five ways the achievement gap c

narrow. The best scenarios woul

be options one and/or two

because we want to see only

upward growth in our childrens

performance. In order to ensure

this kind of change we need to a

Advocacyis a way to make

change. Generally defined,

advocacy is speaking on behalf

someone or some group or actin

in support of a cause. Advocacy

notnecessarily political or legal

action. It is about promoting

fairness and equality through

whatever means you feel

comfortable. Talking to your

neighbors about your schools is

form of advocacy.


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Advocacy is a powerful tool

because it has cascading effects.

The small scale, local advocacy

efforts that you can do enact

change at a community level and

can lead to change at a much

larger level (for example the

national level). Advocacy is an

important part of the democratic

processwe all have voices that

should be heard.

There are five basic steps to take

for successful advocacy:

1. Research the issues.

2. Build a network.

3. Communicate.

4. Set clear goals and reasonable

expectations.

5. Develop a plan and take action.

Because you are part of a FACET

Action Group, you are already

doing most of these steps. By the

end of your study of the Impact

materials, you will be ready to

develop an advocacy agenda and

take action on behalf of education

improvement in Dallas. Impacthas

done the research for you,

although you are encouraged to

do more on your own. Your Action

Group is the beginning of your

network. Grow it to make an even

bigger impact! Be sure to maintain

communication with your ActionGroup between meetings and after

the completion of the study of

Impact.

Thank you for your commitment to

improving education in Dallas. It is

more important now than ever

before.

The average scores of both groincrease, while the score of thelower performing group increaeven more.

The average score of the higheperforming group does not chawhile the score of the lowerperforming group increases.

The average score of the higheperforming group declines, whscore of the lower performing gincreases.

The average score of the higheperforming group declines, whscore of the lower performing gdoes not change.

The average scores of both grodecline, but the score of the higperforming group declines evenmore.

5 Ways to Narrow the Achieveme


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NOTES


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Discuss with the person next

to you the ways that you

prepare your children at

home for college and life

after college.

Talk about what skills and

mindsets you think are the

most important to possess.

Discuss what you would

hope that all schools are

teaching children about this

same topic.

good ideas?

post them on

DallasFACET.org

For further information and resources:

Ways to get involved in the West Dallas reform efforts: Dallas Faith

Communities Coalition, community partners and community resources,

http://dfcc.us/partners/

To check on your schools performance: http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/

perfreport/aeis/2010/index.html, clink on Campus Report, and

complete the form.

For ideas for community organizing and inspiration for national

education reform: Take Action, Waiting for Superman, http://

www.waitingforsuperman.com/action/

1. Go to www.DallasFACET.org & create a New Account2. Take action on current Action Alerts3. Join an Action Group & take part in the online conversation on your groups blog4. Invite friends to join.

Ste s to Take ActionOur lives begin to end

the day we become silentabout things that matter.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr

SPECIAL THANKS for the research and development of materials toAnn Drumm, Melva Franklin, Maria Rojas Fernandez, Leslie Johnson,

Shree Moffett, and Cameron Vickrey.

Work product of Dallas Faith Communities Coalition. Permission required for reproduction.

DFCC2011
http://www.dallasfacet.org/http://www.dallasfacet.org/http://www.dallasfacet.org/http://www.dallasfacet.org/http://www.dallasfacet.org/http://www.waitingforsuperman.com/action/http://www.waitingforsuperman.com/action/http://www.waitingforsuperman.com/action/http://www.waitingforsuperman.com/action/http://dfcc.us/partners/http://dfcc.us/partners/

Impact: Volume 1

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