Objective: Learn about the varieties of K-12 education relative to location and racial composition of the school.
Background: As Kozol has shown, funding for schools varies dramatically depending on the wealth of the school district in which the school is located, because a large part of school funding comes out of the local tax base. The difference money makes in education is dramatic. It translates into how adequate the building and classrooms themselves are, how current the teaching materials are, how well the teachers are trained (and what they get paid), what courses are offered, and at what level. (For example, the number of Advanced Placement (AP) courses a high school offers varies greatly according to location and funding. As we have discussed earlier, such Advanced Placement courses translate into thousands of dollars saved once you go to college, because you don’t have to waste your time and money taking those classes again. In addition, in many cases they will increase your GPA, because they count more.)
A school might offer regents’ courses or honors courses in addition or instead of AP courses. The school should provide resources and information of how to go to college and apply for a number of fellowships. Depending on how many students per counselor, a counselor will have more or less time to dedicate to each individual students.
Then think about the racial break down: in the school district, in the school, and in the classroom. Which racial group was predominantly attending accelerated classes? Did you notice of that when you were a student? What explanations were given or did you come up with yourself to explain this?
Step 1: Pretend you are a researcher conducting an interview. Jot down a series of questions that you want to ask your interviewee. Use the above information as well as material from Kozol to come up with these questions. Then find an interviewee among your class-mates and use these questions to find out about her or his school experience. Listen very carefully and jot down short notes that will help you to remember later the answers your interviewee gave you. Don’t write out literally what you hear. It will take too long and bore your interviewee to death. To be a good interviewer is to make a person want to talk about her or his experience, elicit answers without posing biased questions, and listen very carefully. It is an art to bring a drifting interviewee back to focus on the questions you asked, while at the same time realizing when the “drifting” actually contains the most interesting information. Play it by ear! Also note the non-verbal cues about your informant. When is s/he pausing, when agitated, when embarrassed, etc. The interview should last anywhere from at least thirty minutes to however long you and your interviewee want to.
Step 2: Reverse the situation. Your interviewee now
becomes the interviewer.
See step 1.
As soon as you have a chance, sit down and write out the critical parts of the interview. Try to be as accurate as you can. You can use a format such as :
Interviewer: ……..
Interviewee: …….
Or you can use a narrative form. The transcript that you produce should be at least 3 pages long. It is the “raw material” and first part of this assignment.
Now think about what you have learnt from this interview, compare it with your own experience and with the descriptions that Kozol is providing about schools (film and article). In the spectrum of possible schools out there, from really poor, dilapidated, crowded, in inner-city areas, to fancy suburban schools, where would you place your own school? How do you think this has affected your chance to become a student at Clarkson?
Answer these questions in a one to two-page essay and attach it to the interview transcript.