OPINION
WWW.KANSAN.COM
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2005
PAGE 6A
Teach for America: Does it make the grade?
By the time children growing up in low-income communities are 9 years old, they are already three grade levels behind 9-year-olds in high-income areas.
This means that there are children who are barely able to read "Sesame Street" books who should be able to read "Harry Potter."
Even more alarming is that students in low-income communities, by virtue of where they are born, are seven times less likely to graduate from college than their more-wealthy peers.
Teach For America believes that ending this educational inequity must be our generation's civil rights movement.
Teach For America recruits the top students from all fields. These students are leaders who have the qualities to excel as a teacher despite immense challenges and will ultimately assume great influence in our country.
We have seen it proven time and again that the teachers who are able to move their students to the greatest academic heights are those with determination and drive.
It doesn't matter what students"major is. On average, Teach For America corps members, of whom only 1 percent are education majors, make more than 10percent more growth than other new teachers (as stated in the CREDO survey, 2001).
The impact of Teach For America teachers is even more clearly shown by the fact that 74 percent of all principals of Teach For America corps members surveyed stated that they were more effective than traditional new teachers, and 63 percent went as far as to say they were more effective than all of the teachers at their school.
We want the University's outstanding seniors to join our movement; The children in the communities we serve need and deserve you to.
This year, 3,500 corps members are affecting the lives of more than 500,000 students.
During their two years, corps members gain the insight and experience to become more effective leaders in the movement to end educational inequity and become lifelong advocates of change within their chosen field, whether it is education, medicine, law, business or science.
For those of you who want to fight for social justice, it is important to remember that you cannot make important changes if you don't know exactly what the problems are.
Corps members serve as fulltime,paid teachers throughout the country in San Francisco, Chicago,Miami, Washington,D.C., rural North Carolina and more than a dozen other locations.
As a KU student, you are privileged with an excellent education that has and will continue to open doors for you.
Many of you were also privileged growing up to have dedicated teachers that instilled you with the basics and a strong foundation for future learning.
Every child deserves this type of education, and now you have the ability to help provide it to those who may not otherwise.
Some of you have experienced the unequal conditions
that exist in many urban and rural schools firsthand.
Now you know better than anyone who vital a good education is and you have the ability to provide it to others in this similar circumstance.
Your education says you're able; you have to decide that you're willing.
We will have KU alumni and Teach For America corps members and alumni coming to campus to speak about their experiences during the coming months. If you're even slightly interested, please come to one of these events.
After 15 years, Teach For America is even more committed than ever to our mission.
We've seen that educational disparities do not need to exist, but to truly reach the day when where you're from doesn't determine your educational outcome, we need the most committed and exceptional among you to step up and lead our efforts.
♦ Stephanie Craig Edmond, Okla., senior in English and economics.
Kevin McKenzie Salina senior in political science and American studies.
OPPORTUNITIES
Application deadlines are Oct. 30 and Feb. 17.
+ Info Session with KU Alum and 2003Teach For America Corps Member Jessica Risley Tues Oct 4 at 7 pm Jayhawk Room of the Kansas Union
Make Calcu-less mistakes
Note: The following article will not teach you how to cheat. Cheating is wrong and despicable. Those who do it take value away from everyone else's GPA.
Math has always been one of the toughest subjects for college students.
The class' toughness is increased because it has nothing at all to do with what most of us are studying.
POR TI YO ESCRIBO
But, because we are forced to take these classes, it makes sense that we should get an "A" in them and not just any "A," a 100-percent "A." To do this you can do one of two things.
Why on earth do we need to take any math classes if we're studying underwater basket weaving, competitive lawn-gnome tossing or something equally as useless, such as political science?
First, you could study long hours into the night to make sure you can integrate and find the derivative of every type of formula your teacher might throw at you on a test.
Or you can figure out how to get the correct answer on your TI-83 calculator so that you can always check your answer and make sure you're correct before turning in your test.
The first option might take time away from your late-night Bible
JULIAN PORTILLO
opinion@kansan.com
study groups or tutoring little children at Big Brothers/Big Sisters so the second option is the choice that we must go with as socially-conscious individuals who desperately want to use our time to grow our knowledge of religion or help children learn.
Exit out of that screen, then press the math button on your calculator and hit 9 to get "fnInt" to appear on your screen. Press the Vars button then and hit the right arrow once to move into Y-functions, choose "y1" and hit enter.
The first trick: Integrate anything on your calculator. Hit the "y=" button in the top left of your calculator, then enter in whatever formula you'd like to integrate into the Y1 section.
Type a comma then an X, another comma and then your lower bound, and another comma and your upper bound then hit enter and voila!
Your problem will be integrated.
So, if you were to integrate your
function from 0 to 10 it would
look like this before you hit enter.
"fint(Y1, X. 0, 10)".
The second trick: Check any derivative on your calculator.
Go back into the "y=" screen and go all the way down to Y6, then hit the math button and hit number 8 to put "nDeriv" into the formula line.
After that, go back into the Vars button and put in Y1 then a comma and an X and another comma and an X. So, it should look like this: nDeriv(Y1, X.X).
Now simply put whatever formula you want to find the derivative for in the Y1 line and what you think the derivative is in the Y2 line and you can check your answer by going to the table (hit the 2nd button then the Graph button) and making sure that the numbers under Y6 and Y2 are equal.
I these are two neat tricks that will make sure that you know if your answer is correct and should guarantee you an "A" in the class.
Make sure that you always show your work though as math teachers are infamous for their dislike of writing only the answer.
- Portillo is Kansas City, Kan. junior in accounting and electrical engineering.
TALK TO US
Austin Caster, editor
864-4854 or acaster@kansan.com
Jonathan Kealing, managing editor
864-4854 or jkealing@kansan.com
Matthew Sevclik, opinion editor
864-4924 or msevcik@kansan.com
Sarah Connelly, business manager 864-4014 or addirector@kansan.com
Joshua Bickel, managing editor 864-4654 or ibickel@kansan.com
SUBMISSIONS
Prove your genuine commitment to the cause—the KU School of Education is accepting applications for fall admission to the Teacher Education Program until February 1, 2006.
if you are passionate about leading educational reform, we applaud you.
John Morgan, sales director
864-4462 or adddirector@kansan.com
Macolm Gibson, general manager. news adviser
The single most important issue in this country today is education, and we need well-prepared, passionate leaders who are in it for the long haul.
TFA's intentions are noble; yet do not adequately address the problems surrounding education today.
This attitude does not reflect the necessary commitment to long-term reform which education so badly needs. A true commitment to education is pursuing teaching as a lifelong career.
864-7667 or mglbson@kansan.com
Jennifer Weaver,,sales and marketing
Elaine Jardon Overland Park junior in secondary English and Spanish education.
sqware
864-7656 or jweaver@kansan.com
The Kansan welcomes letters to the editors and guest columns submitted by students, faculty and alumni.
The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length, or reject all submissions.
For any questions, call Austin Caster at 864-4810 or e-mail opinion@kansan.com.
two-year volunteer opportunity.
General questions should be directed to the editor at editor at kansan.com.
We disagree, however, in how to fix to this problem. Teach For America is simply not the fix-all solution that it purports to be.
LETTER GUIDELINES
We agree with the propaganda put forth by Teach For America (TFA): the state of education in this country is pitiable and in serious need of passionate, dedicated and knowledgeable professionals.
Ryan Good Overland Park senior in American studies, English, and geography.
Maximum Length: 200 word limit
Include: Author's name and telephone number; close, hometown (student); position (faculty member); phone number (will not be published)
GUEST COLUMN
GUIDELINES
TFA features a strong support network that is unavailable to the average beginning teacher.
TFA claims "74% of all Principalsof Teach For America corps members surveyed stated that they were more effective then traditional new teachers."
If TFA was truly committed to reform, it would provide non-exclusive support to all first-year teachers, not simply their corps members.
The National Education Association cites lack of support as the number one obstacle first-year teachers face.
purpose. Look first to TFA's structure. To begin, the sum total of training for TFA corps is comprised of six courses during five weeks, compared to between two and four years of vocational training in a traditional school of education.
Maximum Length: 650 word limit
Include: Author's name; class, hometown (student); position (faculty member); phone number (will not be published)
Furthermore, many students who are attracted to this program view TFA as a
Accepted applicants then teach in a rural or urban school for two years upon completion of little more than this month of intensive training.
TFA neglects the fact that successful educators are not manufactured.
There is no such thing as "Neurosurgeons for America" for a reason.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Rather, a combination of pre-professional training, in-class experience and professional development creates effective teachers.
Elis Ford, Yanting Wang, Joel Simone, Dan Hanyi, Anna Woltmert, Jolie Parisai, Nathan McGlinnie, Joaish Goosting, Sara Garick, Trevis Brown, Julian Portillo, David Archer
Also: The Kansas will not print guest columns that attack another columnist
Educators continually struggle to be recognized as the professionals that they are. TFA undermines these efforts by suggesting that their "specially-trained" college graduates can outperform fully licensed and trained professional educators in a matter of two short years.
Teaching builds upon itself, and takes years to master. A two-year commitment adds little, if anything, to the profession as a whole.
Kansan newroom
111 Stuart-Flint Hall
1435 Jayhawk Blvd.
Lawrence, KS 60458
(785) 848-4810 qgionn@kansan.com
You would never propose a mere two-year commitment to any other profession and expect to be taken seriously.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Kansas blew it on new logo
On the same day (Sept. 30) that the Kansan ran a story on needed maintenance tasks that the University is deferring for lack of money, the Lawrence Journal-World disclosed that the University paid $89,000 for a new logo similar to the one that cost Kutztown University in Pennsylvania a mere $20,000.
Meanwhile, the KU Libraries are throwing out books in dumpsters, the Provost is resigning on surprisingly short notice and for the first time that I remember, the registrar screwed up the fall final-exam schedule. Contrary to the apparent motive for the new logo, the University's identity isn't hard to define. This is Klutztown University!
♦ William O. Scott
Professor of English
Call 864-0500
Free for all callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansan editors reserve the right to omit comments. Standerous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
Who the hell is writing this weed article? No ounce ever cost $1,200, and smoking does not take you to a another place that you've never been.
I think Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie should make a porno together, because that'd be hot.
Hey, I lost my voice. Can you even understand me?
I don't think James Foley has ever even seen weed in his life.
Why is it that every single hot girl on this campus smokes? It is such a turn off.
Come back, wolf-man. KU needs you!
I'm skipping class so I can give blood.
Does the karma cancel itself out?
the smokers are feeling all of my fresh air!
I'm giving blood so I can help people!
And so I can get drunk off of two beers;
Siegfried and Roy met at a frat party.
Shout out for my peeps.
+
When I'm drunk, I can predict the future.
I just heard Bill Bennett say on the radio,
"It's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you
could - if that were your sole purpose,
you could abort every black baby in this country, and
your crimerate would go down."
That's pretty messed up to say.
I just walked by a guy with a pink iPod, and that's hot.
Matthew Sevcik/KANSAN
Hey GDI's, don't be pissed because you didn't make the cut.
I'll get five bonus points if you put this in, and I just failed my last test, so I could really use your help.
The picture of the provost吃 Chik-Fil-A Is the funniest thing I've ever seen in the Kansan.
Thank you, Michelle Goodrick, for saying what all women on campus wanted to say.
You'd think that if you were going to put a hand on the cover of Jayplay, it wouldn't be covered in hangnails.
I am so hot for Eric Jorgensen right now.
You know why the Rhombus House is constantly in the Free for All? Because all you GDI's so badly want to be in a fraternity.
I only have $5 in my pocket.
Hey, Jayplay, you guys need to get a new movie reviewer.
Michelle Goodrick is my hero.
Milk Duds just aren't that exciting. The name says it all.
I'm pretty high right now, and I was wondering if you guys want to switch legs.
Free for All, I challenge you to a dance-off!
Anytime, anywhere.
Some kid from my town got arrested.
I always thought I'd be the first one from
my town to get arrested.
It's my birthday and I'll cry if I want to. Or I'll get drunk if I want to. Yeah, that sounds like more fun.
This is the first time I've called you sober.
Aren't you proud of me?
I don't have anything to say.
Free for All, what would you know? You're just a virgin who can't drive.
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