Education Nature of Probable Research the South

Education

Nature of Probable Research

The South Bronx section of New York is among the poorest and most diverse school districts in America. Crime and teenage pregnancy have plagued the primarily Hispanic and Afro-American Bronx community for decades. However, in recent years there has been a concerted effort to curb the dire social conditions and education system. For the purposes of our research we will focus on the efforts to improve the educational system through before school and after school programs.

The probable research will involve studying the effects of before school and after school programs on a low performing middle school in the South Bronx section of New York City. The research will examine the manner in which these programs have been implemented and the students that benefit from the programs. The investigation will also discuss the conditions present in some of the middle schools in the South Bronx and the educational and social needs that must be addressed.

The research will examine the impact that these programs have had on the classroom environment and teachers. The aim of the research will be to delve into the importance of these programs and how these programs can be used to improve the educational systems of other school systems throughout the country. The investigation will solidify the need for and the success of these programs in a challenging community.

Ability to Conduct the Research

The research will be carried out through the use of our university library and other large libraries in the region. I will also utilize various academic databases to retrieve information.

Most of the information needed to conduct the research is readily available; however there may be some difficulty finding a specific middle school to discuss. This problem exists because many of these programs are relatively new and data on their impact is not readily available.

Reading Related to the research

Reading related to the research explains that the South Bronx education system is formerly referred to as Community School District 8. An article in the journal, Education explains,

Geographically CSD 8 stretches from the shadows of the Throggs Neck Bridge to a central point where Castle Hill Avenue intersects the Bruckner Expressway and ends past the renowned and tumultuous Hunts Point Market in the South Bronx. CSD 8 has been the public education home base for countless thousands of students, Secretary of State Colin Powell among them. At first glance the district's student demographics mirror many inner city school districts. On any sunny Sunday while many CSD 8 kids are shooting hoops in the projects many others are dribbling a soccer ball in the park and shouting Gooooooal. With the exception of Antarctica, CSD 8 students can legitimately place a flag of origin on every continent and converse in more than twenty-five languages and dialects. This wide scope of diversity is simultaneously a source of strength and energy and a formidable educational challenge. While certainly not the lowest scoring district in New York City, CSD 8 has struggles to remain near the middle of the pack. As the district became more ethnically diverse and the number of native born students peaked, reading and mathematics scores began a slow but noticeable decline." (Josephs 2001)

Reading that has already been completed also suggests that there are various programs in existence in schools in the South Bronx. These programs are provided by organizations such as; Abraham House, Children's Aid Society, Citizens Advice Bureau, MARC after school programs, Middle School- After School Initiative, The Point Community Development Corp., and Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice. These organizations offer a wide range of before and after school programs including pregnancy prevention to community development.

In addition, the Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk discusses the effectiveness and replicability of various programs for middle school students. The article explains that Programs were considered to be effective if evaluations compared students who participated in the program to similar students in matched comparison or control schools and found that the program students performed significantly better on fair measures of academic performance. Such evaluations were required to demonstrate that experimental and control students were initially equivalent on measures of academic performance, language proficiency, and other measures and were similar in other ways...The best evidence that a program is replicable in other schools is that it has in fact been replicated elsewhere, especially if there is evidence that the program was evaluated and found to be effective in sites beyond its initial pilot locations. The existence of an active dissemination effort, as would be true of most developer-demonstrator projects funded by the National Diffusion Network (NDN), is also a strong indication of replicability. (Fashola et al.)

References www.questia.com/PM.qst?action=openPageViewer&docId=5001060018

Bhatti, J. (2000, July 25). Charter school proposals await OK. The Washington Times, p. 1.

A www.questia.com/PM.qst?action=openPageViewer&docId=5000653801

Cunningham, B. (2002, November/December). Searching for the perfect J-school. Columbia Journalism Review, 41, 20+.

A www.questia.com/PM.qst?action=openPageViewer&docId=95856451

Fashola, O.S., & Slavin, R.E. (1997). Promising Programs for Elementary and Middle Schools: Evidence of Effectiveness and Replicability. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 3(3), 251-307.

A www.questia.com/PM.qst?action=openPageViewer&docId=14469793

Gaffney, E.M. (Ed.). (1981). Private Schools and the Public Good: Policy Alternatives for the Eighties. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.

A www.questia.com/PM.qst?action=openPageViewer&docId=5001017168

Hoyle, J.R., & Slater, R.O. (2001). Love, Happiness, and America's Schools: The Role of Educational Leadership in the 21st Century. Phi Delta Kappan, 82(10), 790.

A www.questia.com/PM.qst?action=openPageViewer&docId=5000948273

Josephs, J. (2001). The Bronx school district's quest to harness the educational potential of digital technology. Education, 122(2), 257+.

A www.questia.com/PM.qst?action=openPageViewer&docId=5000164398

Kelly, P.F. (1993, April 9). Schools worthy of kids; St. Angela's needs help. Commonweal, 120, 6+.

A www.questia.com/PM.qst?action=openPageViewer&docId=5000352347

Kozol, J. (1995, October). Poverty's children: growing up in the South Bronx. The Progressive, 59, 22+.

A www.questia.com/PM.qst?action=openPageViewer&docId=5000746561