Blog #8

This class has been a pleasant surprise for me. I've never really been someone who enjoyed writing for grammar, however, WRD 110 has made me change the way I think about that. I found that the class as a whole was fairly straightforward, but it was difficult for me to form a topic for my documentary that was interesting and created an argument. That was probably the hardest aspect of the class for me. I was surprised by how easy the final documentary was though. This is probably because the entire semester had been focused around our topics and we were forced to think about the project well in advance. I found my biggest successes with my research for my secondary sources. At first, I thought that my topic was really narrow and that there wouldn't be very much on it, but, once I found the right words to search for, I found many different studies. I was especially grateful to have found Tania Alameda-Lawson's article because that gave me a way to solve my issue. WRD 110 has taught me a special lesson on what type of learner I am. I have realized through the creation of this documentary that I am a very sensory learner. I need visuals, audio, and text in order to fully grasp a concept. This was very special to me because I now know how to study and learn for my other classes.

Storyboard

For the opening scene of my documentary, I would like to show some footage of the East End of Lexington while a voice over plays. The intended voice over will say something to the effect of this:

“This is not your typical Lexington community. Everyone knows each other and everyone looks out for one another. It’s as though this community is still living in a time when children were free to walk the streets and parents leaned on one another for support. These families are dealing with far more pressing matters than making sure their children are finishing their homework.”

I would like to roll the footage of the East End while this voice-over is playing because I want the audience to be able to see what the community looks like. I want them to be able to compare in their heads what this community looks like and what their community looks like. I want the viewers to either be able to relate to the issues that will later be discussed or to bring awareness to an issue that they have never really faced before.

For my next scene, I would like to have a black screen with the demographics found on the schools website. The frame will say “88% of students at William Wells Brown students receive free or reduced priced lunch (Lane, p.1).” These words will then slowly fade away after about 7 seconds and new words will replace them. This phrase will say “65% of students are black and about 14% are of Hispanic background (Lane, p.1).” Just as before, these words will slowly fade away after about 7 seconds and new words will replace them, saying, “William Wells Brown received a score of 34.4 out of 100, making it the lowest scoring elementary school in the state of Kentucky (Honeycutt, p.1).” While this is showing on the screen, I would like for The Piano Guy’s cover of Les Miserable’s “Bring Him Home” playing. I am choosing this song because I think it creates a sense of reflection without being too sad or too strong. I didn’t want the background music to overpower the words on the screen and I feel like the music of this song evokes a sense of subtle urgency. I think it also adds a subtle sense of sadness as well. I want to create this emotion in my viewers so that they have an emotional reason to want to change what is happening in this school.

The music will then fade away so that viewers can hear the next voiceover. This one will explain the findings in William Trent’s experiment in “Why the Gap Between Black and White Performance in School?” I would like to use Trent’s research because I feel that it provides proof that students of the minority need to be taught differently in order to succeed like other students. This voiceover will say:

“In William Trent’s experimentation of how race impacts students’ test scores, he found that race alone directly affects scores by 7%. He also looked into how factors such as home-life, poverty levels, and prior scores affect testing and found that these factors affect 35% of test scores. Only 16% of William Wells Brown students belong to the majority race and 88% of students at William Wells Brown Elementary are qualified for free and reduced lunch. Trent’s research provides proof that, not only William Wells Brown Elementary School, but all schools, need to rethink the way that they are teaching students. Trent’s research proves that this is a crisis in America’s educational system.”

While this voice over is being said, I would like to have pictures of the school on the screen.

The first picture is of the outside of the elementary school. It allows the viewer to actually see the school for the first time and to visually connect the topic to the institution.

The next picture is of a trophy case inside the elementary school. I would like to include it because it allows the viewer to realize that, while this school is the most underachieving school in Kentucky, the students are still like any other elementary student. They still want to do well and they are still proud when they achieve great things.

After that, I would like to include a picture of some of the banners that hang in the halls of William Wells Brown. These banners promote higher education and student success. They also remind students of core values. I want to include this picture because I think that it shows the viewer that the school is already promoting the values that are found in most other elementary schools.

For the next frame, I would like to include an interview from Katie Washington. Mrs. Washington is the 21^st Century coordinator at William Wells Brown. This allows her to work closely with children afterschool and with their parents. While I do not have her responses to the interview yet, I’m hopeful that I will get them soon. I have sent Mrs. Washington questions like:

·          Why do you think test scores were so low?

·          What were the reactions of the parents of students?

·          Do you believe that this is a national crisis?

I hope that her responses will provide solid evidence that there is a problem in America’s educational system that needs to be fixed. While her interview is playing, I hope to have her name and her job description in a caption on the screen.

                After Mrs. Washington’s interview, I would like to do a scene similar to the second scene. I want a black screen with the words “Females and whites outperform males and blacks in all test categories in Ralph Scott’s experiment of 3^rd grade students.” While this is being shown, I want “Bring Him Home” by The Piano Guys to fade back in. I want those words to fade after about seven seconds and be replaced by the question: “Why is this happening?” Those words, along with the music will then fade away after another even seconds. This scene gives a clear shift in the documentary, as it turns from an explanation of facts to a theoretical discussion of the causes of these outcomes that have been discussed.

            I would then like to go into an interview conducted with Dr. Lynn Phillips. Dr. Phillips is a professor at the University of Kentucky, where she teaches geography. Dr. Phillips is particularly interested in Lexington geography, which is why I thought she could shed some insight on why the East End of Lexington is so poor and underdeveloped. While Dr. Phillips’ interview is playing, I would like to show the audience a picture of her, so that they can relate to the interviewee better. Here is how the interview went:

Me: Why do you think that the test scores for William Wells Brown were so low?

Dr. Phillips: William Wells Brown students have low test scores because of their socio-economic condition. Research has shown that educational achievement is directly correlated with parents’ social and economic standing. Kids at William Wells Brown come from lower income households, often with single parents who are working two jobs to make ends meet. Lack of direct parental involvement is another cause for lower test scores. Those parents are too busy and exhausted from trying to pay bills to be able to invest the in their students’ work.

Me: What were the reactions of the community like when the results of testing were released?

Dr. Phillips: The white Lexington community immediately felt pity for the schools’ failure and immediately donated goods and time to help the students excel. Unless this assistance is sustained, its likelihood of success is low.

Me: Do you believe that what happened at William Wells Brown, in regards to testing, is happening on a national scale?

Dr. Phillips: The number of single-parent households is growing nationally and this cycles back to the lack of time and energy to be able to facilitate student progress in school.

            I then want to include my interview with Dr. Rosie Moosnick. Dr. Moosnick is a professor of sociology at the University of Kentucky. She also volunteers and sits on the board of many different Lexington organizations. I asked Dr. Moosnick many of the same questions as I did Dr. Phillips, however, I wanted to see the different answers that I got from the two. I thought it was interesting how one focused more on the geographical aspect of the community, while the other focused more on the social aspect. While Dr. Moosnick’s interview is playing, I would like to show the audience a picture of her, so that they can relate to the interviewee better. Here is the interview with Dr. Moosnick:

Me: Why do you think that the test scores for William Wells Brown were so low?

Dr. Moosnick: I think that the test scores were low because, like so many communities across the country, there is a mal-distribution of resources such that low-income communities do not have the same tax base as those with mixed or higher income communities and, accordingly, the schools suffer.

Me: What were the reactions of the community like when the results of testing were released?

Dr. Moosnick:  I know that Fayette County Public Schools take pride in having a good, solid school system so having the lowest performing school was hard to accept.  The community as a whole responded quickly to offer resources and volunteers.  The trick is using community resources in a thoughtful and productive manner.

Me: Do you believe that what happened at William Wells Brown, in regards to testing, is happening on a national scale?

Dr. Moosnick: As I said, this is happening around the country and, yes, it is overwhelmingly hurting communities of color.

            Then, I would like a black screen with white letters to say “So what do we do?” At this time I would also like for the song “The River Flows in You” by Yiruma, adapted by Hector David Solis and performed by David and Samuel Solis to softly begin playing in the background. I am choosing this song because I feel that the melody is very moving and creates a sense of urgency and hopefulness. Compared to “Bring Him Home,” this song sounds much brighter and more hopeful than “Bring Him Home” does. “Bring Him Home” suggests that there is a problem and it is not or cannot be resolved, while “The River Flows in You” suggests to the viewer that there is a problem, but that there is also something being done in response to this problem.

 I then want this to fade out and another part of Katie Washington’s interview to play. In this, Mrs. Washington will answer the questions “What is being done to improve the test results at William Wells Brown?” During this, I will show an official picture of Mrs. Washington, so that the viewers can relate to what she is saying.

I will then talk about Tania Alameda-Lawson’s “A Pilot Study of Collective Parent Engagement and Children’s Academic Achievement.” While I am explaining Alameda-Lawson’s points, I would like for more pictures of the East End to be showing on the screen.

First, I would like to show a map of the area. This map will include the school and the surrounding community, the East End. I want to include this so that the audience can see that the school is literally at the center of the community.

Next, I would like to show a picture of a local grocery store. This store looks very old and like it has not been taken care of very well. I would like to include this so that the audience can see that the community cannot afford the luxury grocery stores like Kroger and Wal-Mart.

                Lastly, I would like to play the extra B-Roll from the opening scene. Similar to before, I want the viewers to be able to compare the poverty levels of this community with theirs and be able to relate or recognize that there is a problem that needs to be solved. However, this time, I want the audience to realize that Alameda-Lawson’s call to action in her “A Pilot Study of Collective Parent Engagement and Children’s Academic Achievement” can be applied to this community to improve student success at William Wells Brown, which would in turn improve student success in their future endeavors. 

During this, I will be talking about Tania Alameda-Lawson’s “A Pilot Study O f Collective Parent Engagement and Children’s Academic Achievement.” It will go something like this:

“Tania Alameda-Lawson conducted a study in 2014 in which she found that students perform better in school when their parents are actively involved in their education. She also states that people from low income communities typically get their strengths, not as individuals, but as a community. Creating a sense of community around students allows them to socially connect with other and gain skills in working with other ideas. It also allows parent's voices to be heard in schools, as they are directly involved and can see things from many perspectives. William Wells Brown is a unique school, in that it is the only one of its kind in Fayette County, Kentucky. The school also doubles as a community center, where East End citizens can take cooking classes; receive advice on numerous subjects, and much more. If adults and parents are already utilizing the school in the evenings, why can’t there be a family centered, after-work homework session where parents can help their students learn in a community setting? Collective academic involvement can be the solution to this crisis. Since people of low income communities are found to find their strength when they are together, wouldn’t it make sense that their students’ would thrive in a community atmosphere. As a people we should strive to make this happen. Low income communities need our help in creating a community atmosphere for all of our students to grow and learn in.”

            After this, I would like for the screen to go black for a moment and for the song “The River Flows in You” to slowly fade back in where it left off. After giving the audience a moment to reflect on the call to action, I would like the final credits to roll. I would like them to begin with the name of my documentary (still TBD) and my name to appear in white letters on a black background. After that, I would like to list my sources and interviewees in order of appearance. I would like all of the credits to be in white letters on a black background and to fade away after about 3 seconds. I would still like for “The River Flows in You” to be playing in the background. I would like to end the documentary with the phrase “What will you do to help?” as I think that it will be very powerful and will encourage viewers to join my cause.

Bibliography

1.      Alameda-Lawson, Tania. "A Pilot Study Of Collective Parent Engagement And Children's Academic Achievement." Children & Schools 36.4 (2014): 199-209. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 Oct. 2015. < http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uky.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=5b19ee6f-6577-4365-9ddf-4032905211f5%40sessionmgr110&hid=111>

2.      Claude-Michel Schönberg. “Bring Him Home.” Perf. The Piano Guys. Arr. Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson. Aug. 10, 2011. MP3.

3.      "It's About Kids." Fayette County Public Schools, Lexington Kentucky. Tammy Lane, 1 Oct. 2015. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. < http://www.fcps.net/schools/elementary/william-wells-brown>

4.      Map of The East End. Screenshot of GoogleMaps. Nov. 16, 2015

5.      Moosnick, Nora. "Race and Education." E-mail interview. 15 Nov. 2015.

6.      Phillips, Lynn. "Race and Education." E-mail interview. 15 Nov. 2015.

7.      Photo of a Market. Taken by Rachel Lynn Hampton. Oct. 8, 2015

8.      Photo of Plaques. Taken by Rachel Lynn Hampton. Oct. 8, 2015.

9.      Photo of Posters. Taken by Rachel Lynn Hampton. Sept. 30, 2015

10.  Photo of Sign in Front of William Wells Brown Elementary School. Taken by Rachel Lynn Hampton. Sept. 17, 2015

11.  Scott, Ralph. "Gender and Race Achievement Profiles of Black and White Third-Grade Students." Journal of Psychology 121.6 (1987): 629-34. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Oct. 2015. <http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uky.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=4&sid=d243f57b-3e96-43f2-8c2f-25af14e8c730%40sessionmgr4005&hid=4105&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=5370720&db=a9h>

12.  Screenshot of B-Roll. Taken by Rachel Lynn Hampton. Oct 8, 2015

13.  Spears, Valarie Honeycutt. "William Wells Brown Elementary Struggles to Move beyond Label as State's Lowest Performer." Kentucky.com. Rufus Friday, 25 May 2015. Web. 01 Oct. 2015. http://www.kentucky.com/2015/05/25/3869082_william-wells-brown-elementary.html?rh=1

14.  Trent, William T. "Why the gap between black and white performance in school? A report on the effects of race on.." Journal of Negro Education 1997: 320-29. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Sept. 2015     

15.  Yiruma. “The River Flows in You- Cello & Piano Orchestral Version ft. Yiruma” Perf. David Solis, Samuel Solis. Comp. Hector David Solis. Dec. 1, 2013. MP3.

Word Count: 2502

Blog #7

The process for creating my documentary has been rather tough. My topic is about an elementary school, so, because of privacy laws, I am unable to film the children. It has also been difficult to travel to the school. Even though is is only a couple blocks from my dorm, the area is not a place that I necessarily want to walk though. So, finding the time to get my car from K-Lot and going to the elementary school has been hard.
Thus far, I have gotten quite a bit of information on my topic and many articles that back up my argument. I have also gotten many pictures and a significant amount of "b-roll." I plan on getting some interviews in the next week to support my community as well and provide a first hand look at what it is actually like to work in the school.
Because I have gotten to explore this community in depth with another one of my classes, I have been extremely lucky to have two instructors that are willing and happy to answer (or try to answer) any of my questions regarding the area, including advice on how to handle sensitive topics. I have also been able to connect with an employee at William Wells Brown, which has allowed me to work with the kids and to learn about how the school is handling their issue.

Blog #6

This source provides an argument for collective academic involvement in poor communities. Alameda-Lawson explains that students perform better in school when their parents are actively involved in their education as well. She also states that people from low income communities typically get their strengths, not as individual, but as a community. Thus, her argument for collective parent involvement in the education of children. Alameda-Lawson says that creating a sense of community around students allows them to socially connect with other and gain skills in working with other ideas. It also allows parent's voices to be heard in schools as they are directly involved and can see things from many perspectives. Since William Wells Brown Elementary doubles as a community center for residents of the East End, I hope to use this document as a call to action. My thought is that, if parents are utilizing this community center, and the students are already at the school, why not get them together to form a body of families. This could possibly raise academic achievement at William Wells Brown.

Source: Alameda-Lawson, Tania. "A Pilot Study Of Collective Parent Engagement And Children's Academic Achievement." Children & Schools 36.4 (2014): 199-209. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 Oct. 2015

Clickable Link: Source

Blog #5

This journal article is an experiment conducted on third grade students to see how race an gender affect test scores. The author used the California Achievement Test to prove Grant and Sleeter's conclusion that race and gender cannot be separated when looking at how academia is impacted. 107 test scores were picked at random, 20 were black males, 20 black females, 28 white males, and 39 white females. Over all, the study concluded that "females and whites outperform males and blacks in all 11 academic areas" (Scott p.629). While this article is somewhat outdated, I plan to use it to show how the East End of Lexington has been dealing with the issue of race and academic performance for decades now. 

Source:
Scott, Ralph. "Gender and Race Achievement Profiles of Black and White Third-Grade Students." Journal of Psychology 121.6 (1987): 629-34. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Oct. 2015. <http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uky.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=4&sid=d243f57b-3e96-43f2-8c2f-25af14e8c730%40sessionmgr4005&hid=4105&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=5370720&db=a9h>

Clickable Link:
Academic Search Complete

William Wells Brown Photo Essay

William Wells Brown Elementary School is located in the center of the east end of Lexington and doubles as a community center. This is a very poor area in Lexington, but the elementary school was built in order to raise the value of the area, along with new housing. 

This picture was taken on one of my visits to William Wells Brown. Here, Stephanie is reading “Perfect Timing” to one of the kids, teaching him about one of the world’s most famous jockey, who lived right in their neighborhood. You can see that the student is very focused on the reading and engaged in the story. This was interesting because I had always imagined that, since this elementary school had low test score, the students did not want to learn and were very far behind on core learning strategies. This was not the case. Shortly after this picture was taken, we gave the student the option to stop reading and work on other homework. To this, he replied that he already knew how to do the rest of his homework and he would rather continue reading the book. Not only did he continue to read the book, but this student picked up an extra copy of the story and actually started reading aloud to Stephanie, rather than being read to. This was a turning point for me. I had always assumed that these students would not have the same level of focus or desire to learn as other students at other elementary schools do, but these students have just as much of a drive to learn as others, arguably more. One of the other students I spoke with at William Wells Brown told me that he wanted to get really good grades so that he could go to college and make a lot of money. These kids know where they stand in society and they know what needs to be done in order for them to succeed, which is something that I did not expect.

William Wells Brown Elementary School has brightly colored wall and superior technology just like any other elementary school. However, William Wells Brown has the lowest test scores of all elementary schools in Kentucky. When I first heard of William Wells Brown and its reputation, I envisioned a crumbling school near an economically underdeveloped area, that was not the case. While William Wells Brown is the primary elementary school for families in the "East End" of Lexington, a notoriously poor area in Lexington, the school is held to the same standards (financially, at least) as other elementary schools in Lexington. I also found that, while the vast majority of the community still needed work, the community surrounding the school was actually improving financially and architecturally. The photo above was from my first visit to William Wells Brown and I liked how it shows that the school looks like every other school. There are plenty of nice looking cars in the parking lot, the announcement sign is up to date, even the trees look taken care of. These are all thing that I did not expect to find at the school because I had this preconceived notion that their test scores were bad, so they must not have a very nice school.

      This picture was taken while en route to William Wells Brown Elementary School. The community surrounding the elementary school can kind of be in “rings.” The school can be considered the center of the rings. Working our way from the center out, the next ring is a lower-middle class residential area. And the last ring is low class, poor area. This ring is where the above picture was taken and I find it particularly interesting to contrast that with the previous picture.

     The type of situation that William Wells Brown is dealing with, in terms of test scores, is also happening on a national scale. William Trent‘s article Why the Gap Between Black and White Performance in School? observes the impact race has on test scores in St. Louis. He finds that 7% of kindergarten test scores are impacted by race alone (p. 321). He then further examines how other independent variables, such as student background, prior test scores, and the poverty level of schools affect these same test scores. When adding these factors, concludes that 35% of test scores are affected (p.321) He then links the fact that most African American students populate schools with high poverty (p. 324). The majority of students at William Wells Brown are minority races and receive free and reduced lunch. This document very much supports my argument for my documentary, so I intend to use it to factually support my theories and observations

    This article directly addresses race in schools and how the problem should be solved. Kara S. Finnigan, Lesli C. Myers, Shaun Nelms and Kevin McGowan suggest that elementary teachers must ingrain anti-racists beliefs in children at a young age in order for the problem to go away. They also give three ideas of what educational leaders should be doing to end racism. They are as follows “They must address negative stereotypes. They must ensure that educators have the knowledge and skills to create environments that build on the strengths of all communities. Finally, they must reduce institutional barriers” ( p. 1). I plan on using this article as a call to action for those that watch my documentary. While this article addresses how educational leaders should deal with racial differences, I believe the same can be applied to society.

Bibliography

1.      Trent, William T. "Why the gap between black and white performance in school? A report on the effects of race on.." Journal of Negro Education 1997: 320-29. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Sept. 2015.

2.      Finnigan, Kara S., et al. "Confronting Race, Racism And Privilege."District Administration 51.9 (2015): 80. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Sept. 2015.

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Blog #4: Primary Artifact #2

         "In terms of demographics, 96 percent of the school's students receive free or reduced-price lunch. About two-thirds of the students are black and 12 percent Hispanic.

With a score of 34.4 out of 100, William Wells Brown Elementary was the lowest rated among elementary schools statewide in Kentucky's testing and accountability program in 2013-14.

It is classified by the state as "needs improvement" as opposed to "proficient" or "distinguished." William Wells Brown also is classified as a "focus" school, meaning that it is underperforming in closing the achievement gaps between poor, minority and disabled students and other students."

These records were found in an article posted be the Lexington Herald-Leader on May 25, 2015. While I have visited William Wells Brown a few times, I was curious as to what the actual demographics were for William Wells Brown. I knew that the school was primarily populated by minority groups, but I felt for this project, it was important to find actual demographics and statistics. I plan on using this excerpt from the Lexington Herald-Leader to prove to my audience that the test scores at William Wells Brown are indeed correlated with the race of the students that the school teaches.

Source: 

Spears, Valarie Honeycutt. "William Wells Brown Elementary Struggles to Move beyond Label as State's Lowest Performer." Kentucky.com. Rufus Friday, 25 May 2015. Web. 01 Oct. 2015. <http://www.kentucky.com/2015/05/25/3869082_william-wells-brown-elementary.html?rh=1>

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2015/05/25/3869082_william-wells-brown-elementary.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy