ABC
Lesson 1-The Economics of Education
What roles do families and society play in the pressures facing youth? Describe.
The roles that families and society play in the pressures facing youth are not restricted to any one ethnic or religious group, but affect young people generally. Most discussions on youth have focused on issues such as drug abuse, crime, violence, sexuality and poverty. In addition to these, today’s youth are afflicted by new challenges. The parents, consequently, have to assume an active role in the moral development of their children. They need to become fully involved at every stage in the child's mental growth until he/she attains maturity. This involvement includes learning to communicate with the younger generation through their books and reading materials. Also, there is need for constructive entertainment and personal involvement in the selection of the types of entertainment (whether at home or outside). This is very critical and almost inevitable since there is enormous pressure on the children from outside their home to participate in undesirable activities.
What can schools and teachers do about these external forces? Describe.
The actions that schools and teachers can make towards these external forces is to eliminate the things that are not working within the classrooms that are not helping the students. As a future teacher I would handle these external forces by spending more time doing activities that would attract and keep the students motivated to excellence. Maybe starting up an after school program to help the students and more so the parents that work long hours. This program could help the students that needs extra help.
Why is it important to graduate from high school and go on to obtain a degree? Describe.
It is important to graduate from high school and go on to obtain a degree because looking at the society that we live in as of now we can only get the best of jobs with a high school diploma or higher. The most obvious benefit of going to college after high school is that it provides you with the opportunity to educate yourself further and at a higher level in the field of your choice. Going to college after high school teaches you invaluable lessons outside of the classroom as well. Exposure to new peer groups, cultures and social situations provides you with the opportunity to expand your social circle and experience new things. All of these experiences allow you to grow and evolve as a person as you move from young adulthood into adulthood.
What are some barriers to educational success in high school? Describe a few.
The educational institutional setting, including school climate, rules, and community location can all contribute significantly to high school diploma attainment as well present barriers to high school academic success. Many dropout studies focused on the individual, in keeping with the field of psychology which focuses “more on human behavior itself and less on the social environment in which the behavior takes place”. More recently, research studies have attempted to reveal associations between educational/school setting factors, conditions, and practices that may converge cumulatively to affect academically and socially at-risk students to push them out of school. These more recent studies consider policies and practices which may negatively affect already at-risk students and present barriers to high school academic success.
Describe what you, as a teacher, can do to help reduce or eliminate these barriers?
As a future teacher the actions that I can take to help reduce or eliminate these barriers is to spend more time doing activities that would attract and keep the students motivated to want to do the right thing and always stay focused. I always will have good instruction because that will appeal to the variety of modalities and learning styles that will make the students feel comfortable.
Summary: This really had me thinking about how our society effects our kids within and out of the classrooms. Me being a future teacher in the making really had me think of many ways that I can help my students in future be on the right track to graduating. This lesson helps me to put together ideas that could benefit me and my students.
Research Question: Why do student’s household problems affect their grades?
Research Analysis: Children in intact families tend to have greater academic achievement and educational attainment and are less likely to exhibit behavioral problems in school. Their parents tend to be more involved in their school activities and to have higher expectations for them.
Educational Attainment. Family structure is related to educational attainment. Individuals from intact families completed, on average, more years of schooling and were also more likely to graduate from high school, attend college, and complete college compared to peers raised in blended or single-parent families.
School Behavior. Adolescents in intact families are less likely to exhibit problem behavior in school and tend to have higher levels of academic achievement. Compared to children living in intact families, peers living in (1) single-mother families, (2) single-mother families with cohabiting partners, and (3) married families with stepfathers were more likely to have ever been suspended or expelled from school; more likely to have engaged in delinquent activities in the past twelve months; more likely to have problems getting along with their teachers, doing homework, and paying attention in school; and more likely to have lower grade point averages. On the Peabody Vocabulary Test (PPVT), an indicator of cognitive development, children living in married-parent families with stepfathers and those living with married biological parents performed similarly; however, compared to adolescents in married biological-parent families, those living in single-mother families or those living with single mothers and their cohabiting partners tended to fare worse on the PPVT.
Research Summary: I’m quite shock by the research that I have found. Due to the fact that some teachers do not even know what their students go through outside of the classrooms. Some teachers are quick to give up on a student instead of trying to assist them. It shouldn’t be the student’s fault that they are not doing well within the classrooms. It should be the teachers because they are there to help the students in anyway.