By: Ashley N' Farley

1
Inner City Classrooms

• By Ashley N. Farley

2
Introduction
Inner-city schools are a major issue today that
is becoming worse not only for our educational
system, but for our students as well. There have
been improvements in the past, but it is slow and
unsteady. There are no quick fixes but a
long-term investment to our schools and students
is required. Inner city schools are struggling
and will continue to struggle until major
interventions are made. We, as upcoming
teachers, need to consider this issue instead of
fading it to the back of minds. We are in the
field of education to teach and better our
students. We want to make a difference in the
students lives and community. Students in
inner-city schools need everyones support,
caring, and concern. They have lacked this for
too long. It is time to make a difference and an
impact on our community to support our inner-city
schools.
3
Overview Continued
Inner-city schooling has major problems causing
this to be an issue. These issues are giving our
students an ineffective education. People are
elected to positions in the education system that
are not qualified for the position. Teacher
influence in schools is a major issue when
evaluating the problems in inner-city schools.
We need qualified, caring teachers in the
inner-city schools to function better and to
better support our students academic success. The
students achievement factor into this as well.
Most of your students in inner-city schools live
in poverty which adds to the problem. A lot of
you students in inner-city schools are exposed to
violence. These students come from communities
where they face obstacles everyday that hinders
their achievement in school. Parental
involvement is low in these inner-city schools.
4
Overview
The availability of after-school activities
causes problems. Children need to play and have
constructive educational and fun activities when
they are not in school, but many do not have
that. They leave school and come home to stress
and responsibilities that they should not have.
These stressors and responsibilities cause their
performance in school to decrease. The reality
is, these issues are real and need to be
addressed and reformed.
5
Unqualified People Receiving Positions In The
Education System

• Our students are receiving an ineffective
  education due to the fact that people are elected
  into positions in the educational system that are
  not qualified to be there.
• They are elected due to slick marketing to an
  unintelligent and an easily manipulated
  electorate.
• The educational system is supposed to be based
  on equality but sometimes that is not so.
• There are people that obtain these positions
  that do not care about schools and the students
  that attend them.

6
Unqualified People Receiving Positions In The
Education System Continued

• It is very evident in the difference that they do
  not make while obtaining their position.
• More needs to be done about the electing of
  people for these positions.
• People need to be chosen due to their
  qualifications, care, and concern for the
  schools, students, and community.

7
The Impact Of Teachers Influencing Students

• The teachers involvement has a great impact on
  the students achievement.
• The more time a teachers devotes to students
  effects the motivation and dedication of the
  students school work and academic success.
• Inner-city schools lack teachers.
• This leads to the school systems changing the
  level of certification required to teach there.
• Therefore, this allows for less qualified
  teachers to obtain a position for the simple
  reason of filling a position with a body.

8
The Impact Of Teachers Influencing
Students Continued

• They need to be certified in a manner that is
  going to make them feel confident and competent
  in the classroom.
• Teacher certification should not be compromised
  in order to fill positions.
• This limits students options.
• Teachers goals should be to help them grow and
  succeed academically, but they are just filling a
  position with little care or concern.
• Inner-city students have seen people and teachers
  walk in and out of their lives.

9
The Impact Of Teachers Influencing
Students Continued

• It is important for inner-city schools to have
  knowledgeable teachers that can distinguish
  between inner-city schools and suburban schools
  in order to understand the hardships and the need
  for positive adult involvement.
• They need teachers who will set goals and help
  them grow and succeed academically.
• A true teacher is not just a body to fill a
  position.
• They are a provider of effective education,
  caring, and concern.

10
Student achievement

• Inner-city schools are achieving less than
  suburban and private schools.
• Factors such as poverty and race contribute to
  lower achievement in these schools.
• They are also faced with violence, lack of
  teacher quality, and lack of after-school
  activities.
• Lack of funding contributes to lower achievement
  as well.

11
Student achievement Continued

• Building inadequacies and disruptive classmates
  cause the students to not have the attention they
  need to succeed academically unlike suburban or
  private schools who filter out these distractions
  and needs to focus on learning.
• Learning is not the only priority in inner-city
  schools.
• Inner-city schools and the government need to
  acknowledge these problems faced by inner-city
  students and help find ways to overcome them and
  help students reach their full potential.

12
Poverty

• Inner-city schools face decreased federal
  funding.
• This makes it hard to provide an adequate school
  due to lack of supplies and equipment needed for
  student success.
• It causes inadequate schools due to the fact
  there is no extra money for repairs and upkeep.
• These schools lack positive after-school
  resources due to funding as well.
• Not only is poverty seen in the schools, it is
  seen in the students as well.

13
Poverty Continued

• Students in poverty lack what they need to be
  successful students.
• Some lack food, clothing, and shelter.
• These are all needed in order to fulfill growth
  needs, such as knowledge, learning, and
  understanding.
• Poverty needs to be addressed in inner-city
  schools. Poverty is one of the main sources of
  stress, frustration, and anxiety in children.
• These issues need to be recognized and addressed
  in order for students to achieve academically.

14
Exposure to violence

• This causes decreased school performance and
  decreased membership in extracurricular
  activities.
• Violence increases association with gangs,
  drugs, violence, and decreased academic
  achievement.
• Some of these students bring this violence to the
  classroom, therefore are suspended and expelled
  due to unacceptable conduct.
• This causes them to get behind on their school
  work.
• Students see, what is to them, the real world
  after school.

15
Exposure to violence Continued

• This causes them to think there is nothing better
  for them, which causes them to drop out.
• Violence is also evident in the community.
• This causes children to bring the violence to
  school, such as bullying.
• Due to lack of parental involvement and funds to
  pay for after-school care, students have to fend
  for themselves in many cases.
• They are left to the influence of their community
  after school drugs, violence, and crime.

16
Parental Involvement

• Parents from lower income families with students
  attending inner-city schools fall into the
  stereotype of not being involved, which most of
  the time is true.
• Lack of parental involvement causes students
  achievement to decrease.
• Many of these students come from single-parent
  homes where the sole provider has to work more
  than one job to provide for the family.
• There are never any thoughts of sending their
  children to private schools because they cannot
  afford it.

17
Parental Involvement Continued

• This leads to the child not having help with
  homework or other school related activities.
• In some cases, the parents do not have adequate
  healthcare for their children.
• This not only includes insurance for when they
  are sick, but also safety for their children when
  they are not in school, due to the fact of not
  having adequate childcare when they cannot be
  there.
• A survey was conducted in 2005 at Garfield and
  Roosevelt High showing that 77 percent of the
  students want to go to college, but only one out
  ten made it.

18
Parental Involvement Continued

• The two main reasons were underachievement and
  the price of tuition.
• Many parents cannot afford to send their children
  to college.
• The home of the students influences them and
  causes an impact on the students achievement in
  school.

19
After-School Activities

• The school systems are already under funded,
  meaning the basic supplies, therefore
  after-school activities are cut from the budget
  as well.
• Students do not even have the opportunity to be
  involved in after-school activities even if they
  wanted to.
• After-school programs need to be funded in order
  to keep children off the streets and provide a
  safe place for them.
• These programs would provide positive support
  for the children and be a good influence,
  therefore funding should be given for
  after-school activities.

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All of the issues pointed out are reality.
Inner-city city schools have these issues
everyday. More consideration needs to take place
when electing people for positions in our
education system. We need qualified and caring
people in these positions. We as upcoming
teachers need to be aware that our influence
makes an impact on our students. There are many
factors effecting our students achievement such
as parental involvement, poverty, and lack of
after-school activities. It is time for
everyone, the community and government, to open
our eyes and reform these issues and fund our
schools better. The students achievement
depends on what we put into our schools.
Inner-city schools deserve what suburban schools
have, but they will never have that until
everyone gets involved.
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Works Cited
http//www.boloji.com (Title Boloji) This is a
great site. It has articles on current events
and happenings in our schools. It offers
information on our heritage such as religion,
holidays, people, and places in the education
system and community. It has a creative writing
section that reviews books, stories, and more
that are used in our education system. This is a
great site for parents and teachers. This site
will keep parents and teachers informed on the
events and happenings in the school system. This
site is also good for teachers because it offers
a wide range of material that is taught in the
classroom.
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http//innercitystruggle.org (Title Inner City
Struggle) This site is good for teachers and
parents. It discusses real issues in our
inner-city schools. It gives you the history and
facts of inner-city schools. It keeps you
up-to-date with the latest news in our inner-city
schools. It keeps you informed of organized
projects going on to help inner-city schools. It
also tells you how you can help. Inner-city
schools need everyones help.
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http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/32222518
(Title BBC News) This site is good for
teachers and parents. It gives us information on
schools in the United Kingdom. This was
particularly good for my topic because it shows
that the United States is not the only ones
dealing with inner-city schools. This is a
worldwide problem, some areas worse than others.
They all have the same issues funding, poverty,
teacher influence, etc. You can search any
educational topic on this site and it will bring
up articles. If our strategies for fixing
problems in the U.S. do not work, we need to go
outside the box. This site provides that. It is
very informational on educational issues.
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http//sitemaker.umich.edu (Title Inner-City
Schooling) This site is good for teachers and
parents. It is based out of the University of
Michigan. There are so many articles available.
You can type in any topic on education and it
will bring up information on it. There are
research studies that back up their articles. I
found it very useful and up-to-date with the
events and happenings in the education system and
inner-city schools in particular. http//www.townh
all.com (Title Townhall) This site is good for
teachers and parents. This site contains many
articles on education. You can type in your
topic and it will have articles about it. I felt
this site kept their issues discussed in the
articles up-to-date. I typed in inner-city
schools and it pulled many articles and links for
related school articles. This is a very
informational site on school events and
happenings today.
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Tyre, Peg. The Blackboard Bungles. Newsweek,
September 3, 2007. Newsweek is a well known
paper. It is good for teachers and parents.
Anytime I have had a paper or a research project
to do, I always find articles on my topic. They
have many articles on education and current
events and happenings in education. You will
also find current events and happenings on the
community. The community influences our students
and the students show it in the classroom. We
need to be in the know about what is going on in
the community. Babera, Landau, and McEwan.
The Art of Classroom Management. New Jersey
Pearson Education Inc., 2004. This is a great
book for teachers. Not only does it discuss
classroom management, it discusses real life
issues happening in the classroom and community
today that we will deal with in the classroom.
It also discusses procedures and ways of dealing
with these issues.