Failing Students In Texas

Texas contains a lot of issues when it comes to its education policies. The issue that has the most people thinking about and I feel more passionate about when it comes to education is the high-stakes testing in the Texas high schools, middle schools, and even elementary schools. This issue has brought plenty of attention from students and their parents. The testing situation in Texas has been addressed from time to time, but there hasn’t been a proper solution that keeps the student performance numbers from decreasing in numerous reports. The problem is that Texas education emphasizes the importance of standardized testing - such as the current State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness or STAAR - implemented to

Social influence regards to any aspect where people interact and discuss ideas. For instance, Document B is a quote by Adam Smith from the Wealth of Nations in 1776. A summary of the quote is that if we, as a society, can buy a product cheaper than making it, we should do that. This was an idea in 1776 and it is still utilized today by many companies. This document has affected economies socially because it relates to trade. When trade occurs, different regions and countries meet up to interact and trade goods. This has influenced economies because societies will be spending less money for goods and will be selling them for a higher value which gives them more money and profit. It influences economies on how they spend their money and how they are going to receive money back. In addition, Document G is an agreement by GATT about trade with the governments of many different countries around the world.GATT is the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. This document is related to economics socially because it brought many countries together. These countries were brought together by common goals with tariffs and trade. It influences economies on what tariffs and trade rules should be established in different countries. This will affect the trade of that countries which will also affect the profit of the society. As seen from these two documents, social factors have influenced modern day economies of the

When it comes to high school dropout rates, there are many factors that need to be considered before attempting to suggest a reason, and a solution to the issue. One of the first

The path to graduation can be long, unpredictable and quite confusing. This article “California Dropout Research Project” shows how the Los Angeles School District tried to explain what are the factors that come into to place that prevent certain student from graduating high school on time. Some of the factors are race, gender, and income. The chapter that mainly focuses on income indicates in order understand dropout crisis requires understanding the academic and

To understand more about school dropout I continue to search for more articles in academic search premier, and then I ran into article written by Azzam, Amy M. The author states that, a “Divers youth, ages 16-25, who had failed to complete high school.” The author discovered that approximately “About one-third of all high school students in the United Sates fail to graduate” (91). Based on this article, the dropout rates vary among the races. The dropout rate among Black and Hispanic are fifty percent. She describes that the reasons for students dropping out from high school are including, “Students were bored, missed too many days, spent time with people who weren’t interested in school, had too much freedom, and not supervision.”

According to Blue & Cook (2004) “factors influence dropping out, including the conditions of schooling, individual personality traits, home environment, and the economic context within which students live”( Blue, D., & Cook, J, 2004). Within this study, students that live in a low income neighborhood are most likely to drop out of school than other students that live in a wealthier neighborhood. Poverty is a key contributor, Hispanic students lack of English proficiency is a factor to higher dropout possibility. They suggest that the neighborhood that many African-Americans live in explains the high dropout rates. According to Blue & Cook (2004) “Texas students who are overage for grade level, as a result of being retained in grade are disproportionately represented among high school dropouts”.

All failing schools need guidance on what it will take to improve student outcomes. However, some schools today have been considered as failing schools and is in a greater need than other k-12 schools. The purpose of this assignment is to apply what I have learned throughout the course and present additional information on failing schools. By the end of this assignment, students will understand the importance of being proficiency on state mandated test and graduating on time.

Social theory refers to the utilization of dynamic and frequently complex theoretical structures to depict, clarify, and break down the social world. A great social theory uncovers things that generally stay covered up. It likewise makes expectations about future activities, movements. Therefore, when all is said in done, the bid of social theory gets from the way that it removes the center from the person, which is the manner by which most people take a look at world, and centers it on the general public itself and the social forces that influence our daily lives. This sociological insight looks past the supposition that social structures and patterns are absolutely irregular, and attempts to give more noteworthy understanding and meaning to human existence. From this perception of social theory, the author Charles Lemert defines social theory in a way that the readers can have a main takeaway from the book.

Ryan Holeywell and Elizabeth Pierson Hernandez said, “Nearly two dozen Rio Grande Valley high schools were labeled ‘dropout factories’”(Holeywell and Hernandez, TheMonitor.com). Throughout the years dropout rates have increased within Texas as well as within the Rio Grande Valley. The most common reasons to this outcome has been teen pregnancy, and having to work to support a family house hold.

Social force is the first theory that I am going to discuss. Social forces are thing that influence, pressure, or push the person to interact, behave, or think in specified ways. These behaviors or responses are different based on the three main factors: history, culture, and the environment. One of the best examples for social force is the racial classification; race is not a living reality, but we as a human being created a way of categorizing people by assigning meaning to their skin tones, weight, hair color, ethnicity and other physical features. For example, a parent and his or her biological son or daughter can be classified as different races because of the color of their skin.

Within society, there are many external forces in our lives that require us to adapt in a way that changes us internally. Society plays a huge role in how the world is constructed, as well as how we as humans are constructed to live. We often make the decisions that we make in our lives because of outward forces that may or may not be within our control, and it takes a toll on our lives. As a person experiences something that is out of their control, it is related back to social forces; this is what the sociological imagination is.

Social forces can be perceived either bad or good depending on what and who they affect. Such social forces as who we choose to marry, where we are employed, and how much education we receive are all components of our culture, personal environment, and history. Depending on how you were raised, your view of these social forces will be either positive or negative because in most cases they either affect your status in society, when you will choose to have a family, or how much money you will have for the future. From a young age, I was told by my parents and grandparents to receive good grades in school because that would allow me to have a bright future. Along with this, I was told that I would be going to college and not working at a minimum

Many students who are at risk for dropping out have problems inside and outside of school, like homelessness, school supervision, early parenthood, or lack of academic confidence.

Structural forces, also known as social structures are the hierarchies established by a society of which various interactions take place amongst

Chapter 8 discusses children’s relationship and interactions with their peers. One part of the chapter that stuck out to me is the different ways that peers serve as socializers and how they influence children’s values and behaviors. Children learn behaviors by observing their peers. According to the textbook, one way this occurs is when children imitate the behavior of a peer that follows class rules and does not get in trouble. The child watches their peer’s behaviors and learns how to follow the rules and appropriate behaviors. Another way peers serve as a socializer is through reinforcing and punishing behavior. Peers tell each other how to behave and praise them for behaviors they approve of and criticize them for behaviors they do not approve of. Children also measure themselves against their peers through a process called social comparison. Social comparison is a process that occurs when children watch and evaluate their peers and then use what they have learned to evaluate themselves (Clarke-Stewart and Parke, 2014). Social comparison plays a major role in children’s self-esteem depending on if they view themselves positive in relation to their peers or if feel they are falling short in comparison to their peers. Some of the factors that affect peer acceptance that I found interesting are behaviors and biological predispositions. As a teacher it is important for me to be aware of behaviors that can lead to peer rejection and neglect. Peer rejection behaviors are