Posted on 07/18/2005 10:25:14 AM PDT by 45Auto
Incorporating Ebonics into a new school policy that targets black students, the lowest-achieving group in the San Bernardino City Unified School District, may provide students a more well-rounded curriculum, said a local sociologist.
The goal of the district's policy is to improve black students' academic performance by keeping them interested in school. Compared with other racial groups in the district, black students go to college the least and have the most dropouts and suspensions.
Blacks make up the second largest racial group in the district, trailing Latinos.
A pilot of the policy, known as the Students Accumulating New Knowledge Optimizing Future Accomplishment Initiative, has been implemented at two city schools.
Mary Texeira, a sociology professor at Cal State San Bernardino, commended the San Bernardino Board of Education for approving the policy in June.
Texeira suggested that including Ebonics in the program would be beneficial for students. Ebonics, a dialect of American English that is spoken by many blacks throughout the country, was recognized as a separate language in 1996 by the Oakland school board.
"Ebonics is a different language, it's not slang as many believe,' Texeira said. "For many of these students Ebonics is their language, and it should be considered a foreign language. These students should be taught like other students who speak a foreign language.'
Texeira said research has shown that students learn better when they fully comprehend the language they are being taught in.
"There are African Americans who do not agree with me. They say that (black students) are lazy and that they need to learn to talk,' Texeira said.
Len Cooper, who is coordinating the pilot program at the two city schools, said San Bernardino district officials do not plan to incorporate Ebonics into the program.
"Because Ebonics can have a negative stigma, we're not focusing on that,' Cooper said. "We are affirming and recognizing Ebonics through supplemental reading books (for students).'
Beginning in the 2005-06 school year, teachers will receive training on black culture and customs. District curriculum will now include information on the historical, cultural and social impact of blacks in society. Although the program is aimed at black students, other students can choose to participate.
The pilot program at Rio Vista Elementary and King Middle schools focuses on second-, fourth- and seventh-grade classes. District officials hope to train teachers from other schools using the program as a model.
Board member Danny Tillman, who pushed for the policy, said that full implementation of the program at all schools may take years, but the pilot program is a beginning.
"At every step we will see positive results,' Tillman said.
Tillman hoped the new policy would increase the number of black students going to college and participating in advanced courses.
Teresa Parra, board vice president, said she worried the new program would have an adverse effect.
"I'm afraid that now that we have this the Hispanic community, our largest population, will say, 'We want something for us.' Next we'll have the Asian community and the Jewish community (asking for their own programs). When will it end?'
Parra said the district should focus on helping all students who are at risk.
"I've always thought that we should provide students support based on their needs and not on their race,' Parra said.
Tillman disagreed with Parra, saying programs that help Latinos already exist in the district. He cited the district's English- as-a-second-language program.
Texeira urged people not be quick to judge the new program as socially exclusive. She said people need to be open to the program.
"Everybody has prejudices, but we must all learn to control that behavior,' Texeira said. She said a child's self confidence is tied to his or her cultural identity.
She compared the low performance of black students to starvation. "How can you be angry when you feed a family of starving children?'
Ratibu Jacocks, a member of the Westside Action Group, a coalition of black activists, said they are working with the district to ensure the policy is implemented appropriately.
"This isn't a feel-good policy. This is the real thing,' Jacocks said.
Jacocks said he didn't believe the new policy would create animosity. He said he welcomed the idea of other ethnic groups pushing for their own programs.
"When you are doing what's right, others will follow,' Jacocks said. "We have led the way before the civil-rights movement opened the door for women's rights and other movements.'
Of course, imagine how much help an Ebonics education will be in supporting suits for racial discrimination. "They wouldn't me because Ebonics is my primary, native language," and since, "most Ebonics users are black, they wouldn't hire me because I am black!" Pay up!!
Outstanding! But how do you say that in Ebonics?
for later
This is funny, the Oakland school board, (not any great authority) passed this resolution as an attempt to get foreign language pay for their black teachers. (As the spanish speaking teachers did until the state passed an "English first" law doing away with the bilingual program in California). BTW, the new program is doing well and former spanish speakers move into regular english classrooms after one year. A proper approach might be to take these ebonics speaking kids and give them nothing but intense English for a year. Might do the trick.
It's only right in case some interested parties are reading and need to understand what we are saying. Biyatch.
English immersion is the best thing for ebonics speakers as it is for any students who do not speak English.
The only movement she has had any success with is the bowel movement. And the result of Ebonics will be the same.
I'd like to know the ebonics word for, algebra, verb, noun, calculus, infinitive, etc.
\sarc
I think this school was highlighted at the end of zoolander...
If anything is condescending it the teaching of Ebonics to black folks. You're telling them they're too stupid to learn standard English. Are we going to teach Spanglish to Latino students? I am sure Chinese American parents will love their kids learning Chinglish or maybe Hop Singlish (that might even be a new one the egg heads in academia never thought of---hip hop slang and Chinee mixed)---let me shut up before I get too wound up.
Eryvay rutay.
Translation: their achievement is not low enough yet.
We need Ebonics to take it to historic new lows -- about the brains of a chicken.
It's good that he lives in seattle then and not here otherwise he might be wearing his ass for a hat.
The goal of the district's policy is to improve black students' academic performance by keeping them interested in school. Compared with other racial groups in the district, black students go to college the least and have the most dropouts and suspensions.
This is what happens when you spent too much time on education doing nothing but going to classes, rather than getting a "real job." Eventually, anything seems like a "good idea."
Let me see if I have this straight... Using your term, these "morons" want to introduce bad grammer and speech patterns that are incomprehensible to most people who are aspiring to become more than gang-bangers and crack whores!
You're absolutely right. This sort of nonsense (lowering standards again and again) pretty much guarantees that the next few generations of black students will keep thses moron sociologists employed and making stupid suggestions for years to come.
Mark
They'll still be expected to speak ENGLISH when they go out to find a job in the workplace. How will this help any of them?
Exactly. BTW, most of the Spanish-language component of the "bilingual" teachers spoke "Grandmother Spanish," that is, an uneducated Spanglish they had picked up at home as kids. Many of them could not even pass tests in formal Spanish.
The dumbing down of America takes aim at the ghetto. These kids will have no skills that will enable them to get a good job. Stupid people are easier to control, especially when they don't know the Constitution or the Bill of Rights.
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