All of the above?

Okay, we read this article about urban vs. suburban vs. rural education. And it made me think, how would I classify the school district I grew up in? For those who don't know, I grew up in the Anchorage School District in Anchorage, AK. I've thought about this since we started talking about urban vs. suburban. Then my professor made an offhand comment last week that kind of annoyed me. She said, "So, rural schools, Dr. Mad Scientist you went to school in Alaska, you should get this." Or something like that. And I was thinking, "Huh? I did *not* go to a "rural" school!"


Anchorage has roughly the same population as Newark. It is admittedly much larger geographically. It actually has more public students than Newark, ~50,000 vs. ~42,000. Anchorage most definitely does not have the bad reputation that Newark does, though Anchorage does have its share of violence, gangs and poverty, and more than its share when it comes to alcohol and drugs.


In terms of education, most, if not all, schools in Newark would qualify as urban. My instructors and people in general seem to agree on that. Anchorage on the other hand has schools that I would classify as urban, many that are suburban, and a few that are pretty rural. Classifying the six high schools that were there when I attended school (two new high schools have opened in the last five years or so) I would call two "urban" two suburban and one rural. Bartlett High is a little weird because it's where all the military kids went. I'd probably call it suburban as well. Now, I've never set foot in a "real" urban high school, like in Newark. Yet. But I do consider my high school, East Anchorage, to be urban. It matches most of my criteria: mostly students from low income families, higher numbers of minority students, more bilingual/non-native English speakers, a lot of students in vocational training (the vocational "school" was built down the street, the "special needs" school which, among other things, is where the teen mothers went, was also down the street). Most parents of students were "working class", the percentage of parents who'd gone to college was not particularly high. All in all, I think I'm justified in saying I went to an urban school. I reserve the right to change that opinion as my experiences broaden though.


I'll let you know how it goes...


EDIT: My wife (Mrs. Dr. Mad Scientist) apparently decided to take a look at crime statistics between Anchorage and Newark, in part based on this post and in part for her own reasons. You can see her analysis on her blog.

At long last, Dr. Mad Scientist is joining the blogosphere!

Welcome to the lab! I'd say I started blogging because I feel I have an interesting and unique viewpoint I'd like to share with the world, but I'm trying not to lie as much as I used to. In reality, I'm taking a course in Urban Education. This blog is part of the course requirements, so it my posts will most likely be focused on Urban Education and a number of my posts will be on topics assigned by our instructor. I will also run a little farther afield. Get ready to hear (to a nauseating extent) about Colorado State football, my greatest love (oh, along with my wife and kids, I may post about them too, on occasion).



For those of you who aren't familiar with me, Dr. Mad Scientist is the name my wife refers to me by in her blog. She's a much more established blogger then I am. I recently decided my current/previous career just wasn't doing it for me. I have a Ph.D in a biological science and am currently doing medical research in NYC. I really can not see myself doing it for the next __ decades.



So after a period of self reflection, and more than a little anxiety, I realized the teaching aspects of my previous job were what I enjoyed most about it. I also realized I'm craving the feeling that I'm really making a difference (preferably for the better!) in the world. That lame old cliche about making the world a better place is alive and well in me. So I took a deep breath and applied to go back to school to become a teacher. Specifically I'm looking to teach high school biology, and I'm planning to teach chemistry as well once I get a little more settled.



I ended up in a program that is geared towards producing math and science teachers for urban school districts in general and Newark, NJ in particular. So I will be teaching in Newark Public Schools in the relatively near future. And yes, I've heard from many, many people that I am insane for voluntarily going into Newark. I know, I know, I will be beaten, stabbed, mugged, shot and called mean names. I know the general public perception of Newark is that I would be better off teaching in one of the lower circles of Hell.

But you know what? That's where good teachers are most needed. It's where I think I'll be able to do the most good, and have the greatest chance to actually make the world a little bit better. No, it probably won't be easy (but you will not hear me complain if it is) but it's my experience that the things most worth doing rarely are.

Stay tuned for my first class-related blog post. It will be a scintillating review of a couple articles we read for class. You really won't want to miss it. Well, objectively you probably will want to miss it, but I hope you'll check it out anyways.

Oh, and as a final note, I know the blog looks a little drab right now. I am going to spruce it up a bit and start adding more links and pictures to my posts. I just need to figure out how first. Thanks and welcome to Dr. Mad Scientists lab!