More than one-third of white students in HISD labeled GT (Houston: live, homeless)

[smuggy_mba]

By this analogy - white players are discriminated against in NBA and other sports.

[Vicman]

Check with the school, testmo. I bet there's one class for non-Spanish speakers that teach in English. For example most Pilgrim Academy classes are "bilingual" but there's one class per grade for non-bilinguals.

Originally Posted by testmo

In some ways im turning into an old grump.

My niece is zoned to an elementary school that teaches in spanish only through third grade. Shes not a spanish speaker. What if learning second language is hard for her? She will be behind and a kid without a lick of english will be GT? Thats setting her up for failure in middle and high school and an american kid who cant speak the most widely spoken language in the world (english) gets an artificial bump yet stats show is still less likely to take that bump and go to college with it.

People want the best education for their kids, white kids included. Ive told the parents money is of mo consequence ill help pay whatever tuition is if they feel like their daughter isnt doing well in that environment

And im a big supporter for public schools but not at the expense of a very smart well behaved sweet child who still currently loves learning

[houston-nomad]

Originally Posted by Vicman

Check with the school, testmo. I bet there's one class for non-Spanish speakers that teach in English. For example most Pilgrim Academy classes are "bilingual" but there's one class per grade for non-bilinguals.

Not necessarily. I just heard from a parent who just bought a house zoned to a dual-language school. They refused admission to her kids because they had no way to accommodate a third-grader who didn't speak Spanish. She would have been lost in the immersion program, and there was no other class. Someone didn't think this through, in the case of that school.

[Vicman]

Originally Posted by houston-nomad

Not necessarily. I just heard from a parent who just bought a house zoned to a dual-language school. They refused admission to her kids because they had no way to accommodate a third-grader who didn't speak Spanish. She would have been lost in the immersion program, and there was no other class. Someone didn't think this through, in the case of that school.

Did they write this down in a letter? I'd like to see this. I wonder what school it was and where?

In that case the campus registrars should assign her to another school close to her house which does meet her needs. It may be good to put on writing in the website "persons in the school zone for So-and-so elementary who are not served by the bilingual program will be assigned to this-and-that elementary."

[museumdad]

I'm going to guess this is Wharton? Their website does make very clear their policy on immersion and ability to enter the program in the later elementary years.

[Vicman]

Originally Posted by museumdad

I'm going to guess this is Wharton? Their website does make very clear their policy on immersion and ability to enter the program in the later elementary years.

If it's Wharton then it's in the gentrifying Montrose/Neartown area; AFAIK many monolingual English-speaking families choose the school because of its bilingual program. From the staff list School Information / Staff Directory most are "bilingual" with only a few being ESL.

If it's a scenario where a monolingual English speaking student can't be served from the ESL-dominated school near his/her house, then it is more likely to be a majority ESL, recent Spanish-speaking immigrant situation.

[detachable arm]

Originally Posted by DejaBlue

Uh....the white kids in HISD are from upper to wealthy parents.


Very, very rarely are white students in HISD average or poor kids.

That's all there is to it. The real issue is segregation by income is extreme here. The wealthy to upper white kids live in the city, the upper to middle white kids love in the burbs, and the poor whites live in meth country. So of course the "ruling elite" is going to ace the test. Whether they did it honestly or cheated their way through it.

[houston-nomad]

Whether "race" in these statistics is telling of skin color as a factor, or economics (most likely it's economics, as people are pointing out), the question remains the same: why are white students more likely to be in GT? If the answer is because their parents have more money, then it would appear that our GT tests are not testing intelligence/talent, but rather, something that money can buy, which means there is some serious inequality in the testing.

Now, a study just came out showing that poor kids in America are disadvantaged educationally by the time they're one year old... that the culture of poverty inflicts harm on performance indicators... this study bears some serious examination. Maybe we need to be leveling the playing field much earlier, so that all kids get a fair shot-- that's the philosophy that America is built on, isn't it? You can't pull yourself up by the bootstraps as well as someone else if you are facing additional obstacles by the time you are one year old.

[ipuck]

Originally Posted by houston-nomad

Whether "race" in these statistics is telling of skin color as a factor, or economics (most likely it's economics, as people are pointing out), the question remains the same: why are white students more likely to be in GT? If the answer is because their parents have more money, then it would appear that our GT tests are not testing intelligence/talent, but rather, something that money can buy, which means there is some serious inequality in the testing.

Now, a study just came out showing that poor kids in America are disadvantaged educationally by the time they're one year old... that the culture of poverty inflicts harm on performance indicators... this study bears some serious examination. Maybe we need to be leveling the playing field much earlier, so that all kids get a fair shot-- that's the philosophy that America is built on, isn't it? You can't pull yourself up by the bootstraps as well as someone else if you are facing additional obstacles by the time you are one year old.

It never cross your mind once that the white upper income kids put in effort by learning more every day and their parents actually try to be a parent? Maybe that is one of the reason why it is mostly the white upper income kids pass and not the poor minority kids?

You can't penalize the upper income white kids because they spent more time and effort to learn. I know it is hard to believe for some of you people, but hard work and effort do get you further in life.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by ipuck

It never cross your mind once that the white upper income kids put in effort by learning more every day and their parents actually try to be a parent? Maybe that is one of the reason why it is mostly the white upper income kids pass and not the poor minority kids?

You can't penalize the upper income white kids because they spent more time and effort to learn. I know it is hard to believe for some of you people, but hard work and effort do get you further in life.

I never thought I would agree with you