This is my Contract for Grade,

-- Anonymous, November 11, 1998

Answers

Proposal for an "A" grade:

During these two years of classes & research for the Master's degree, I hope to focus on underachieving, "disenfranchised" learners -- what factors contribute to that status, and strategies that provide the most promise for moving these students rather quickly to a more successful educational journey.

These goals tie into the two proposals I am making in contracting for an "A" grade: 1) On October 15th, I attended the Education Minnesota conference in St. Paul. The main attraction, for me, was a presentation by Sharon Stenglein, the math person for the MN Dept. of Children, Families and Learning, on "When Students Haven't Passed the Math Basic Skills Test." I intend to write up what I learned in a user-friendly format, and use the information for my own students' benefit, and to inform other teachers about Sharon's ideas. I will likely have some opportunities to share the information with fellow math teachers: the math curriculum specialist for our district would like me to talk about the information at our district math committee (of which I'm a member) meeting, and also possibly at our yearly regional math get-together in February. 2) I am presently reading two books that will shed some light on the students on whom I plan to focus, and will hopefully give me some ideas for success. One is "White Trash: Race & Class in America"; the other is "The Autobiography of Malcolm X". (Of course, I don't mean to say that these students are "White Trash," but the book is a series of sociological studies, many authored by people who were not expected to "succeed," but who, in many cases, became professors and researchers.) I propose to write a paper on the discoveries that might help my students, and on ways to incorporate these discoveries in my work.

Answered by Christine Osthus (costhus@d.umn.edu) on November 07, 1998.

-- Anonymous, November 11, 1998