Dominique Cain

Research 2

Waiting for Superman Discussion Questions

1) What role do high expectations of parents and of school staff play in student success?
a. Low expectations on the part of school staff have been correlated with poor student
academic outcomes and vice versa: high expectationswith the support necessary to meet
themdirectly relate to positive academic outcomes. Schools which establish high
expectations for all youthand give them the support necessary to achieve themhave high
rates of academic success. These schools also have lower rates of problem behaviors such as
dropping out, alcohol and other drug abuse, teen pregnancy, and delinquency than other
schools. Conveying positive and high expectations in a classroom and school environment
occurs at several levels. Parents, guardians, and other adults who care for individual
students play a role in conveying high expectations for goal setting, rigorous study, and for
allocating additional homework time when learning is difficult. High standards help students
develop self-confidence. Self-efficacy is a critical component of developing one's identity and
sense of selfthe major developmental task of the adolescent years. If a large percentage of
students do not score high in the asset of self-efficacy, this may indicate the prevalence of low
expectations in a specific school.
2) How does the physical environment affect school climate and student achievement? What responsibility do
we have to provide students with clean, safe schools that are not overcrowded?
a. The most obvious and powerful is at the belief level, where the teacher and other school staff
communicate the message that the student has everything he or she needs to be successful.
Schools also communicate expectations in the way they are structured and organized. The
curriculum and environment that supports resilience respects the way humans learn. Such a
curriculum and environment is thematic to the cohesive ideal of having an excelling school. I
believe it is not only the parents, and the communitys job, but also the governments to
provide schools that are safe, clean, and in well condition if we want a fostering environment
for the future of America.
3) What do you think would be the impact of sending more money to provide all students with preschool,
longer school days or universal college-preparatory classes? How might this change the so-called cradle-toprison pipeline?
a. The obvious is more government spending and maybe higher taxes or just a movement for
more money that is devoted to education for people who are in school rather than for people
who ae in jail. However, the impact could be very beneficial. Since education for youth is
such a critical component in developing a future prosperous environment, why not invest
more into it. For example, effective preschool education can help make all children ready to
learn the day they start school and, more importantly, help close the enormous gap facing
children in poverty. Preschool education can perform miracles. Children who attend
prekindergarten programs have bigger vocabularies and increased math skills, know more
letters and more letter-sound associations, and are more familiar with words and book
concepts and this is common knowledge. And at any rate preschool cannot be compared to
advanced babysitting for busy parents. Kids also practice many key components of the
school day, including the importance of routine. That's key for early learners. They
understand carpet time, clean-up procedures, how to share crayons, or even getting their

pants on and off without the teacher's help; that's big. Little kids have only a certain amount
of active working memory. If a large portion of their brain is figuring out what they're going
to do next, there's less room there to spend on learning. Thus in conclusion children need
things like preschool to foster than environment and to enhance learning when they are in
bigger environments. Things of this nature may slow down or even stop the cradle-to-prison
pipeline.
4) What do families and communities lose when students have to travel outside their neighborhood to attend a
great school? What do we gain by providing families with high-quality public school choices in their
immediate neighborhood?
a. The idea of choosing a school outside ones specific neighborhood has too often been
romanticized over the years. School choice and market theory in education seem to be a
solution many districts are forced to provide. If they do not provide this, families can (and
do) opt to leave the district and, on a large scale, can a significant impact on the financial
wellbeing of the district. To provide what some families want, many districts have created
specialized schools and academies to try to attract students (and beat out other
schools/districts in the competition for students). By doing this, neighborhood schools often
lose students and staff with strengths in certain areas. For example, if we have a school that
specialized in music education, they will attract many students and teachers with strengths
in music. How does this impact the music programs in other schools? How does this impact
the music education of the students who cannot access the specialized school? If we have a
school that specializes in trades and it attracts those with interests in trades, how does this
impact the trades programs of our neighborhood schools? There are some that state that
providing school choice is a key strategy to better meet the needs of all learners as they can
access more specialized programs and become more engaged as their education will be tied
more to their interests. However, when we look beyond the surface, if not ALL students can
be provided with this access, how does this impact our neighborhood schools? Do our
community schools become schools for those who do not choose other schools or for those
who cannot access the programs at other schools? Can we do both? Can we have specialized
programs in some schools AND maintain effective options for students within our
neighborhood schools? The more we take away from our neighborhood schools, the more the
communities lack in beneficial educational components.