Tag: Research

I recently read an article titled “What Young Men of Color Can Teach Us About the Achievement Gap” on NPR. The author interviewed Harvard education researcher Ron Ferguson on his latest report commissioned by the Urban Institute. Ferguson’s report centers on strategizing better educational outcomes for boys and young men of color.

Ferguson talks about the school environment as a “sociological predicament” for young men of color. They may enter school already several years behind grade level, and in school encounter challenging behaviors from peers; their racial and gender identities are shaped in part by these experiences. What results is that these young men may succumb to stereotype threat[1], where they subscribe to behaviors and attitudes that do not necessarily fit with their identity, but seem to be a requirement to fit in.

Ferguson’s insights caught my attention. I started thinking: how can Apprentice Learning collaborate with educators in our partner schools to combat this “sociological predicament”? And what strategies can we use so that our students do not feel “othered” in the world of work?

Our hope for Apprentice Learning is that all of our students, including young men of color, have an opportunity to reinvent themselves at their apprenticeship if they want to. We strive to match students with site partners based on their interests and abilities, so that they may “be who they really want to be” and not feel constrained by their position in the social structure.

Nazareth Child Care in Jamaica Plain has been a devoted site partner to Apprentice Learning. As one might expect, the majority of the students we send are female. This year we had two male students of color participate in the apprenticeship at Nazareth. What we witnessed in this new environment is that these young men were tender and nurturing; they broke from their school personas to show another side of themselves.

Students who struggle in school academically or behaviorally can find success at their apprenticeship. And they may encounter a space in which they can see themselves differently. Our goal is for students to begin to think about and plan for their future. This exploration begins with an understanding of who they are, perhaps outside of this sociological predicament, and where they want to go.

As Ferguson says, we have to be aware that there is a complex web of conditions that has gotten us where we are. We are by no means presenting Apprentice Learning as a silver bullet, nor are we trying to bash public education. Our hope is that through open dialogue and collaboration we can provide a better education of life to all of our students.

[1] Steele, C. (1997). A threat in the air: how stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance. American Psychologist, 52(6), pp. 613–629.

The term “opportunity gap” refers to the ways in which race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, English proficiency, community wealth, familial situations, or other factors contribute to or perpetuate lower educational aspirations, achievement, and attainment for certain groups of students^[1].

^1] http://edglossary.org/opportunity-gap/.

In September 2015, the New York Times published a piece titled, “Education Gap Between Rich and Poor is Growing Wider”, in which the author, Eduardo Porter, explains how improvement in educational outcomes must be taken with a grain of salt.  Educational outcomes for African-American children improved in the decades followingdesegregation, yet these gains have been undermined by another gap, one between rich and poor, which has opened wider than ever.

In the United States, race is tied to class. During 2007-2011, 25 percent of Black or African American people experienced poverty, in contrast with the national rate of 14 percent, and 11 percent of white people[2]. In other words, the same population of students continue to experience unequal outcomes, despite the various labels used to describe this inequality.

Low socioeconomic status means that children experience a myriad of disadvantages that go far beyond education. Beginning in kindergarten they are already more than a year behind,  are less likely to matriculate to college, and are less likely to afford enrichment opportunities beyond school. They are more likely to have been born to a teenage mother and live with one parent only: they suffer from higher obesity rates, and have more social and emotional problems. Over time, these disadvantages perpetuate a cycle of poverty and disadvantage. One statistic that Porter does not mention is that African American men who drop out of high school face a nearly 70 percent cumulative risk of imprisonment[3].

We know that the opportunity gap impacts Apprentice Learning students. Across the three schools with which we currently work, 71 percent of students are low income. Apprenticeships inspire career dreams, expose students to professional, caring adults who are not their family or teachers, and provide access to professional settings. As a result, our students gain self-confidence and prepare for the future.

In the early 19^th century, famed education reformer (and Massachusetts native) Horace Mann fought hard for education to be the great equalizer. Disparities indicate that education alone will not close the opportunity gap. Apprentice Learning represents one comprehensive strategy to help Boston students succeed.

The link to the full New York Times article can be found here.

[2] https://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/acsbr11-
7.pdf.

[3] http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2014/05/10-crime-facts.

“Getting an inside edge by using help from family and friends is a powerful, hidden force driving inequality in the United States.” Does this affect employment in certain racial groups?

According to Nancy DiTomaso, it does. A researcher at Rutgers University, Ms. DiTomaso authored a recent NYTimes article entitled, How Social Networks Drive Black Unemployment (5/6/13) , Why this is true, according to Ms. DiTomaso, is because the help we receive from family and friends, through our social networks has a strong racial component.

While the article is lean on data to support its claim, a certain truth that caught my attention: our city’s corporate culture is less diverse than our public schools. For many underserved students of color, the landscape of Boston’s downtown skyline is a wilderness. Students don’t know what happens inside the city’s notable buildings, such as 60 State Street, the Hancock Tower, the Federal Reserve Building, or the financial institutions on Federal Street. These office buildings and many more like them are unexplored regions.

What’s missing is the social capital–the connections to adults that help families introduce their children to wider career opportunities. Apprentice Learning hopes to close that gap by helping students venture into these places just as they might venture out into the wilderness on an Outward Bound expedition.

Ultimately, our goal is that the  students’ view of Boston’s skyline be marked with familiarity. All students should dream about their place in vibrant cultures of commerce, medicine, law, biotechnology, innovation, and technology. Especially when these opportunities are within walking distance from their homes.

Apprenticeships give students the chance to work alongside of professionals who can show them the ropes, share their personal stories and come to know students as individuals with the potential to contribute. In turn, Apprentices have an experience that reshapes an unfamiliar environment into one where they can imagine themselves. Experiences like these contribute and strengthen a young person’s social network, academic motivation and ultimately, develop into the type of support so important to landing a highly competitive job.

The Commonwealth Corporation released a report last week, entitled, Signaling Success: Boosting Teen Employment Rates.

The employment news is dismal for teens. In 2012, only 27% of youth 16-19 years old were employed, down from 54% in 1999. Why? Teens are being displaced by older workers. It’s the economy….!

The good news is that Commonwealth Corp offered some salient strategies to help teens gain an edge in the employment market. These tips supported the work we are already doing in AL; strengthening a student’s presentation skills, the traits such as eye contact, learning to ask questions, dressing appropriately and being prepared. The research also supported what we already know: that these types of behavioral traits and proficiencies matter at all levels of employment, whether you are an entry level employee or the CEO.

Thanks Commonwealth Corp for your great research! To access the report:
(http://commcorp.org)

Apprenticeships are often thought about as an old-fashioned way to learn something. One might think about a of shoemaker (they do still exist!) or a fine woodworker who learns at the elbow of a master. 

As I consider what has drawn me to use the term ‘apprentice’, it is the understanding that there is something to be learned that goes beyond reading instructions. ‘Apprenticing’ means being in relationship with someone charged with teaching you to become a skillful, situational problem solver.  It is fundamentally social learning.

Cognitive apprenticeships appeal to me because they teach a mindset: the master craftsperson narrates their thought processes. What’s is behind the action? why might someone choose A, not B? It is a powerful way to teach someone how to think critically! 

Here’s a great article describing cognitive apprentice learning:  Cognitive Apprenticeship: Making Thinking Visible « The 21st Century Learning Initiative.

Has anyone ever asked you the price of one of your dreams? Seems like a ridiculous question, eh? Want to be a rock star? Want to find a cure for cancer? It’ll cost. Truthfully, it will cost but who wants to strip away them inspiration from some one else’s dream?

For many high school students (a recent study called Charting the Path from Engagement to Achievement: A Report on the 2009 High School Survey of Student Engagement) indicated that over 80% of high school students expect to go to college. Our education system, schools, families and our culture has done a good job of messaging the importance of attending college. It is a very reliable way to improve one’s lot in life. College students earn an average of $1M more over the course of their lifetimes than those who do not attend college.

While this is still true, the dream of college has a hefty price tag. This year, the average college graduate will carry the largest student loan debt in history: an average of $22,0000 per student.  Many students have gargantuan loans, more than the cost of a home. A recent story in the NYTimes (5/13/12) described students with loans of $70,000 who are working at restaurants making $260 a week, living at home, and facing a lifetime of daunting loan repayments.

Many quoted in the article mentioned the confusing financial aid process or the ambiguous language to explain the “affordability” of a college education.

How can we better prepare young people and their families–many of whom have not attended college–to navigate the cost of college? What skills might students have before attending college that might arm students with strong marketable skills in a part-time job market? How can we best prepare students for the best ROI on their college experience? Especially, those students who do not have the luxury of family support but are still expected to go to college, earn, and fully support their families.

Start early with exposure to all kinds of jobs and the related skills so that students have a good idea of the kind of work they like–and don’t like.  Begin education about the world of work at an early age so students can understand the meaning of a good job and job satisfaction.

Work experience comes from working. And doing a variety of interesting and uninteresting jobs–some that pay and some that are done for the value of doing for others. College will seem like part of the larger plan, not only a dream.

That’s the name of Juliet Schor’s new book. Juliet was the guest speaker at the Boston Building Coop’s annual meeting held on May 3. An economist and sociology professor at Boston College, Juliet is one of the leading proponents of the (old) idea of rediscovering the balance between work and leisure.  It’s becoming challenging, especially given the climate crisis and shrinking resources. Well, maybe challenging is the wrong word. Urgent.

Technology has created enormous labor and time-saving resources. I like Juliet’s revisiting of the DIY label into “high-tech self-provisioning”.  One might cast off this DIY stuff as a leisure class activity until you understand the economics in her argument.

• In year three of our ‘recovery’, unemployment is still very high. Currently 25 million workers are unemployed or under-employed. And the figures for 18-25 ears olds are truly staggering–40% under- or unemployed.
• The latest news is even worse: jobs in the US are just plain disappearing–or it seems workers are giving up on looking. See the NYTimes article on our shrinking job market.
• Food stamp use is at a historic high. This past year, 44 million Americans used food stamps.
• Job creation is still lagging: our economy requires that 3-4 million jobs be created each year just to keep pace with the growing number of people aging into the workforce.
• Last year, of the 2.5 million jobs created, 1.5 million went overseas.

What are the jobs in our future?  What are the skills that will help young people have satisfying, meaningful work?  In her earlier book, Plenitude, Schor describes two types of jobs, those that will be heavily reliant on technology and performed remotely; and jobs that have face-to-face engagement. Technology is having an increasingly large impact on all of our work and the belief is that jobs creation is strong in this sector. I am always surprised at the ways this manifests. Recently, Stanford University offered a free on-line course on Artificial Intelligence and 200,000 students signed up!  Teaching, information management, even many aspects of the medical world will be increasingly reliant on technology skills. As technology and users become more advanced, this can increase the reach of certain services, create job opportunities, and, on the down side, possibly shrink existing jobs.

And the face-to-face jobs? Those friendly service people in the neighborhood? Fixing your plumbing,  rebuilding a stone wall, painting, cooking, fine craftsmanship: these jobs will need equally skilled people who can provide vital services in a community.

Creating equal access to the types of skills, knowledge and training in the manual arts is no longer just for those who didn’t do well on the English test. By elevating these skills to a place of value in our economy we can help tip the balance in favor of job creation in areas that need craftsmanship, intelligence, problems solving skills, and strong habits of work. This new wealth of skills and experience offers opportunities for collaboration and cooperation within communities.

Juliet offered some examples of the new wealth initiatives:

• A children’s clothing exchange that uses the “Netflix” model of mail exchange called ThredUp (thredup.com)

Take a look at some of the fabulous ideas and initiatives at The Center for the New  American Dream (newdream.org).

To read more from Juliet Schor: www.julietschor.org/