English 102 - Spring 2009

The article discusses data from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) that indicates more college students in NCAA programs are graduating as compared to previous years. The data illustrated that a majority of college athletes in Division I colleges graduated and that graduation rates improved for male college basketball players and baseball players.

Offers a look on some of the most recent academic reforms instituted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the role academic and athletic advisors in carrying out those reforms in the U.S. in 2005. Mandatory academic support for student-athletes; Initial eligibility legislation and graduation rates; Overview of the new NCAA academic standards.

Hill and Barth discuss the Federal Government's attempt to raise student achievement, especially in standardized testing, with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The NCLB's intent was to limit academic achievement gaps in students who are minorities, disabled, financially disadvantaged, or limited English proficiency. One of the biggest problems that has arisen from the law is teacher retention. The NCLB requires highly qualified teachers, but all the highly qualified teachers are not staying. The authors focus on this huge problem of teacher retention.

This article is about the program No Child Left behind designed to kill illiteracy in young people. The article is also about the new movement Merged Model which is more than the NCLB program. It also talks about the new models they are trying to use to improve literacy in children.

The authors Tierney and Colyar discuss the treatment that the lower class recieves. The lower class experience a lot more in their lives than most other people should. The face amy difficulities in succedding in many different aspects. The things that they face make it very ifficult for the students to go to schools and effects their future. A study was done to kids that are low poverty. These students experienced many more difficulites in their lives, which makes everything more difficult

Comments on the proposed rules of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to close the gap of the graduation rates of black and white college athletes in the United States.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the articles "The New Face of College Sports," "Controversy Surrounds NCAA's Certification of International Athletes."

A provision in the No Child Left Behind Act is that teachers must me the standard of being "highly qualified." The authors argue that the provision is necessary, important, and achievable. Teacher qualifications can greatly affect the process of student learning. The authors suggest certain Federal initiatives that can be put in place to ensure all children have highly qualified teachers no matter the district or state. The article is helpful in knowing the standards for teachers in the No Child Left Behind Act.

A provision in the No Child Left Behind Act is that teachers must me the standard of being "highly qualified." The authors argue that the provision is necessary, important, and achievable. Teacher qualifications can greatly affect the process of student learning. The authors suggest certain Federal initiatives that can be put in place to ensure all children have highly qualified teachers no matter the district or state. The article is helpful in knowing the standards for teachers in the No Child Left Behind Act.

This article presents the authors' views on the educational experiences of intercollegiate student, athletes. The critics of intercollegiate sport argue that winning, which is highly correlated with revenues, has corrupted higher education. Most specifically, at some schools the athletic performance of athletes is more important than their academic achievement.

The author of this article emphasizes on the relationship between urban schools and other shcools. They realize the achievement gap and how it is increasing over the years. The students in urban schools were put through programs to help thier knowledge and to challenge them. The students of the school were to take classes on technology to help further technology because of how much we use it today. This will help students further thier knowledge and help them grow as an individual.

This article talks about what makes Harry Potter so appealing to young people and why it encourages them to read. The books inspire children to read and think. They also encourage young people to use their imaginations.

Rodriguez explains a program that has helped decline the number of truancies and dropouts among the African American and Latino population. Truancy and dropouts are closely connected with each other and are mostly seen in the urban schools. Because of the living conditions and things that go on outside the schools, kids are more likely to not make it to college. There are many institutions that have been created to help these children that live in poverty stricken neighborhoods. The goal is to get them where they can exceed and do what they want in life. Keeping students more entertained will keep them off the streets and more determined to do well. According to Rodriguez all urban schools need is encouragement and structure.

This article talks about how Harry Potter has truly had a major impact on the literacy of young people. It give statistics of how many young people feel it has made them become more interested in reading. The article also gives results of studies done at a few universities

Murnane focuses on the children living in poverty and the low performance of the students. His goal is to make the No Child Left Behind Act more realistic. The goal should be to concentrate on the children's growth as a student, not to reach an obtainable test score. The government needs to improve conditions of schools of children living in poverty. The author suggests that the poverty stricken schools need to strengthen their staff in order to change anything. The main goal of children living in poverty is to get them to graduate from high school. The rate of kids graduating from high school in low income schools is down a great deal of percent than suburban schools. Murnane gives his opinion of setting obtainable goals not only for middle class students, but students that come from a poverty stricken area.

Kraus proposes a reform program that will reform low-income Minneapolis schools. Then he observes how urban schools attract low-income students and creates a problem of low achievement in these types of schools. This reform wanted no school to have more than 70% of any racial or minority group. He noticed that students in urban schools have lower test scores, so in order to change this they are implementing transfer programs into suburban schools. Most students showed improvement and to test their improvement the students were assessed. This program may improve academic achievement in some schools, but it does not exactly improve urban schools.

Georgiou shares the view of how school achievement is effected by the unity of a person's family. Children with parents that have greater incomes and better jobs tend to do better academically than students that comes from lower income. Georgiou conducted a study that shows the differences between the SES and socioeconomic status between suburban and urban schools. The results showed that test scores for people with low income tend to be lower because the lack of unity in their families. Even though this study focuses on schools on the island of Cyprus, this can relate to any urban and suburban schools.

Georgiou shares the view of how school achievement is effected by the unity of a person's family. Children with parents that have greater incomes and better jobs tend to do better academically than students that comes from lower income. Georgiou conducted a study that shows the differences between the SES and socioeconomic status between suburban and urban schools. The results showed that test scores for people with low income tend to be lower because the lack of unity in their families. Even though this study focuses on schools on the island of Cyprus, this can relate to any urban and suburban schools.

The authors Cartledge and Lo explain the discipline problems teacher's deal with in Urban Schools. Many factors influence children in urban school districts to act up in the classroom. They conducted a research program where they selected school H, which consisted of low-income students that were not reaching academic standards. The program recorded the number of disciplinary actions teachers took towards the students. The results showed that more than 50% of students received discipline in one year of teaching, which takes away from their education time. The authors make some significant points, but more can be determined from this study. By looking at the study, people can infer that because of the high disciplinary problems in urban schools that it affects their academics. This can be because of their lives at home and what students go through with their families.