Constructive Thoughts for the Day

Constructive Thoughts for the Day
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Saturday , June 7 , 2008

Garden Grove: Unified School

Posted by Kriengsak , Reader : 2434 , 22:06:46 | Category : Education

Picture from http://www.broadfoundation.org/0/bp-masthead3.jpg Bangkok’s 433 public schools employ about 15 thousand teachers who teach basic education to approximately 350,000 students. Most of these students come from poor families, where the basic needs of the kids cannot always be met. This affects their studies, meaning there is a high chance they will drop out of school. Moreover, those students who have come to Bangkok with their parents from poor villages have a low likelihood of getting a good job that will give them a sufficient financial base. Bangkok is like most other megacities in that it attracts large numbers of people who are seeking jobs in the big city. Thus, Bangkok has huge slums where these people live. Those overseeing education in the Department of Education Bangkok Metropolitan Administration are faced with the overwhelming task of managing Bangkok’s education system in such a way that every student receives a thorough basic education, one that will strengthen their future. However, BMA is grappling with the problem of how to handle these students and to give them the same quality of education as the other children in Bangkok. All children and youth in Bangkok need to be able to have access to higher education, so they can earn better wages, and enjoy a better quality of life. One city has done just this. It is Garden Grove Unified School District in Los Angeles, California, USA. Garden Grove is a growing suburban zone. It has about 50,000 students in its more than 70 schools. Similar to Bangkok, many of its students are immigrants: 53% are Mexican, 31% Asian, 5% Caucasian, and 1% African-American. Because of socioeconomic reasons, most of them have little chance of making something of their life. In fact, more than 60% receive lunch scholarships. In addition, this area is full of families who have just moved to the USA. 80% of students have 68 different mother tongue languages and speak English as a second language. Garden Grove has gained recognition for its success in bringing students with below average grades to above average grades within 2 years. It also has developed strategies to upgrade the standards of its schools and teachers. More importantly, Garden Grove won the Broad Prize for Urban Education in 2004. This is a reward for educational innovation. Here are some of Garden Grove’s methods: 1. It targets long term development in its students. Garden Grove defines long term as its ability to successfully prepare its students not only for college, university, and skilled careers, but also for life in general. It does this by creating individualized study plans for each student’s long term development. Educational administrators in other parts of America focus on increasing high school graduation rates, but while Garden Grove recognizes the importance of high school graduation, it thinks a high school diploma is not enough to prepare students for success in college, on the job, and in all of life. Garden Grove would like to guarantee parents, colleges, and employers that all its students have gained not only a body of information but also life skills, most important being the ability to learn. 2. It uses consistent standards to measure student development. In its evaluation, it assesses all skills required by competent citizens, including those skills learned in early childhood. Unless they develop their skills and are prepared for any opportunities that may open to them, most immigrant students have little chance to engage in higher education or to get a good job. Thus, to prepare all students for a college education, and also to ready them for their future career, schools need to ensure that each student received a good basic education from the time they enter kindergarten, for example, when the foundations for strong reading and writing skills must be laid in order to guarantee success in any future education or career endeavours. Student educational goal are first determined. Garden Grove evaluates students according to 4 levels: (1) Far Below Basic, (2) Below Basic, (3) Low Basic, (4) High Basic. Each year, all students’ knowledge must grow by at least one level. Also, Garden Grove also sets goal for each subject of each student for the following 5 years. Every student must achieve the high basic level in every subject and within 4 years, especially in English. It gives priority to students with lower mental facilities or learning disabilities. Every school in Garden Grove conducts detailed observations of each student’s learning development and study skills in order to have comprehensive data upon which to base any decisions regarding that child’s educational plan. Then, these data are used to improve the learning environment for that student. For example, students who have difficulty with algebra are given more opportunity to ask questions. Moreover, Garden Grove helps struggling students by fully integrating them into classrooms with brighter students and add any further skills to students with learning disability as per person by person. In any case, that can be happened by analyzing study report of those unintelligent students carefully. It manages students on an individual basis. Garden Grove releases its evaluations and observations of students 4 times a year for elementary students. This helps to monitor student understanding of key foundational concepts that are being taught at that level. Test results are kept and compared with previous results in order to track student progress. Administrators and teachers try to gain an overall perspective of each grade level in each school in order to tailor make the educational program in each classroom. It selects qualified teachers and then promotes intensive additional teacher development. Garden Grove Unified School District hires qualified teachers who have great qualifications, those who are fully dedicated to the educational process, and those who will sacrifice for their students. Teachers must be able to help students who don’t speak English as well as those who are academically weak. In addition, teachers must be enthusiastic learners themselves and those who work well in a team. Garden Grove provides teachers with all they need for teaching and living. This ensures that Garden Grove teachers have longer tenures, thus improving the quality of education in that district. Garden Grove uses professional recruiters to find new teachers at least 2 years in advance in order to get the highest possible quality of teaching. The teachers’ union also takes an important role in sponsoring seminars that will enhance teachers’ knowledge and skills. These strategies and policies have allowed Garden Grove to set the benchmark for excellent quality education. Bangkok Metropolitan can learn from Garden Grove. It can learn how to use long term goals to strengthen student performance, how to give priority to weaker students or those who lack opportunity, how to develop students on an individual basis, how to evaluate students on an ongoing basis, how to use educational data for evaluation, how to select qualified teachers, and how to involve the community, school committees, teachers’ union, parents, and the business sector to produce a strong educational system. Bangkok’s educational administrators can learn how to guard the moral development of each child by bringing in psychologists to counsel students with problematic behavior. Garden Grove demonstrates its commitment not only to the academic development of all its students but also to their future lives and careers. Since most of come from socioeconomically disadvantaged families, many are pressured to quit school in order to help their parents, and most do not plan to attend higher education. Bangkok schools are seeing more students like this, children who are not given much chance in our society. Because they are poor, many of these families cannot afford for their children to attend school. Hence, many of these children drop out of school mid semester. Thus, Bangkok’s Department of Education needs to set strategies that will give all the children in our city the chance for a bright future. All children in Bangkok need a good education. This will help to ensure that all Bangkok residents have a high quality of living in the future.

Picture from http://www.broadfoundation.org/0/bp-masthead3.jpg

Bangkok’s 433 public schools employ about 15 thousand teachers who teach basic education to approximately 350,000 students. Most of these students come from poor families, where the basic needs of the kids cannot always be met. This affects their studies, meaning there is a high chance they will drop out of school. Moreover, those students who have come to Bangkok with their parents from poor villages have a low likelihood of getting a good job that will give them a sufficient financial base. Bangkok is like most other megacities in that it attracts large numbers of people who are seeking jobs in the big city. Thus, Bangkok has huge slums where these people live. Those overseeing education in the Department of Education Bangkok Metropolitan Administration are faced with the overwhelming task of managing Bangkok’s education system in such a way that every student receives a thorough basic education, one that will strengthen their future. However, BMA is grappling with the problem of how to handle these students and to give them the same quality of education as the other children in Bangkok. All children and youth in Bangkok need to be able to have access to higher education, so they can earn better wages, and enjoy a better quality of life.

One city has done just this. It is Garden Grove Unified School District in Los Angeles, California, USA. Garden Grove is a growing suburban zone. It has about 50,000 students in its more than 70 schools. Similar to Bangkok, many of its students are immigrants: 53% are Mexican, 31% Asian, 5% Caucasian, and 1% African-American. Because of socioeconomic reasons, most of them have little chance of making something of their life. In fact, more than 60% receive lunch scholarships. In addition, this area is full of families who have just moved to the USA. 80% of students have 68 different mother tongue languages and speak English as a second language.

Garden Grove has gained recognition for its success in bringing students with below average grades to above average grades within 2 years. It also has developed strategies to upgrade the standards of its schools and teachers. More importantly, Garden Grove won the Broad Prize for Urban Education in 2004. This is a reward for educational innovation. Here are some of Garden Grove’s methods:

1. It targets long term development in its students.

Garden Grove defines long term as its ability to successfully prepare its students not only for college, university, and skilled careers, but also for life in general. It does this by creating individualized study plans for each student’s long term development. Educational administrators in other parts of America focus on increasing high school graduation rates, but while Garden Grove recognizes the importance of high school graduation, it thinks a high school diploma is not enough to prepare students for success in college, on the job, and in all of life. Garden Grove would like to guarantee parents, colleges, and employers that all its students have gained not only a body of information but also life skills, most important being the ability to learn.

2. It uses consistent standards to measure student development.

In its evaluation, it assesses all skills required by competent citizens, including those skills learned in early childhood. Unless they develop their skills and are prepared for any opportunities that may open to them, most immigrant students have little chance to engage in higher education or to get a good job. Thus, to prepare all students for a college education, and also to ready them for their future career, schools need to ensure that each student received a good basic education from the time they enter kindergarten, for example, when the foundations for strong reading and writing skills must be laid in order to guarantee success in any future education or career endeavours.

Student educational goal are first determined. Garden Grove evaluates students according to 4 levels: (1) Far Below Basic, (2) Below Basic, (3) Low Basic, (4) High Basic. Each year, all students’ knowledge must grow by at least one level. Also, Garden Grove also sets goal for each subject of each student for the following 5 years. Every student must achieve the high basic level in every subject and within 4 years, especially in English.

It gives priority to students with lower mental facilities or learning disabilities. Every school in Garden Grove conducts detailed observations of each student’s learning development and study skills in order to have comprehensive data upon which to base any decisions regarding that child’s educational plan. Then, these data are used to improve the learning environment for that student. For example, students who have difficulty with algebra are given more opportunity to ask questions. Moreover, Garden Grove helps struggling students by fully integrating them into classrooms with brighter students and add any further skills to students with learning disability as per person by person. In any case, that can be happened by analyzing study report of those unintelligent students carefully.

It manages students on an individual basis. Garden Grove releases its evaluations and observations of students 4 times a year for elementary students. This helps to monitor student understanding of key foundational concepts that are being taught at that level. Test results are kept and compared with previous results in order to track student progress. Administrators and teachers try to gain an overall perspective of each grade level in each school in order to tailor make the educational program in each classroom.

It selects qualified teachers and then promotes intensive additional teacher development. Garden Grove Unified School District hires qualified teachers who have great qualifications, those who are fully dedicated to the educational process, and those who will sacrifice for their students. Teachers must be able to help students who don’t speak English as well as those who are academically weak. In addition, teachers must be enthusiastic learners themselves and those who work well in a team. Garden Grove provides teachers with all they need for teaching and living. This ensures that Garden Grove teachers have longer tenures, thus improving the quality of education in that district. Garden Grove uses professional recruiters to find new teachers at least 2 years in advance in order to get the highest possible quality of teaching. The teachers’ union also takes an important role in sponsoring seminars that will enhance teachers’ knowledge and skills.

These strategies and policies have allowed Garden Grove to set the benchmark for excellent quality education. Bangkok Metropolitan can learn from Garden Grove. It can learn how to use long term goals to strengthen student performance, how to give priority to weaker students or those who lack opportunity, how to develop students on an individual basis, how to evaluate students on an ongoing basis, how to use educational data for evaluation, how to select qualified teachers, and how to involve the community, school committees, teachers’ union, parents, and the business sector to produce a strong educational system. Bangkok’s educational administrators can learn how to guard the moral development of each child by bringing in psychologists to counsel students with problematic behavior. Garden Grove demonstrates its commitment not only to the academic development of all its students but also to their future lives and careers. Since most of come from socioeconomically disadvantaged families, many are pressured to quit school in order to help their parents, and most do not plan to attend higher education.

Bangkok schools are seeing more students like this, children who are not given much chance in our society. Because they are poor, many of these families cannot afford for their children to attend school. Hence, many of these children drop out of school mid semester. Thus, Bangkok’s Department of Education needs to set strategies that will give all the children in our city the chance for a bright future. All children in Bangkok need a good education. This will help to ensure that all Bangkok residents have a high quality of living in the future.

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comment 3
Kriengsak date : 18/06/2008 time : 14.34
http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/kriengsak

I agree with both comments. Thank you.

comment 2
littlefish date : 09/06/2008 time : 23.11
http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/Breakthrough

Yes that is a brilliant thought, BUT.

Why just Bangkok? As far as I know there are poor people all over Thailand. And education does not get to them either. It is so pity that we always look at problems only in Bangkok. Who cares about Garden Grove, Los Angeles, California, USA. I can appreciate what they did for that community. HERE, Thailand, talking about giving attention to individual student? Dreaming.

The education system as a whole is corrupted and needs to be looked at. I mean Thailand, not just Bangkok.

I learned from a TV program the other day that parents in Bangkok had to pay a lot extra to government subsidized schools. And did not seem the authority cared about it. I think it may be good idea to get the existing system cleaned up first before introducing a new one.

comment 1
panalwayscute date : 08/06/2008 time : 00.54
http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/panalwayscute

With the current political situations we are facing, it's tough to actually see a unified school like this happening in Thailand. Even government owned schools still need "undertable" money to get your child in? Ridiculous but true unfortunately. Money talks. Maybe all schools should have only one name. A name which at present is the most popular one known to all. Then we might have our unified school before you know it.

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