Activism
YUC students win changes in testing procedures
Dreams of college for immigrant students
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Activism around the city
YUC students win changes in testing procedures
After protesting that test preparation sessions were causing some students to be pulled out of their major subject classes and even advanced placement courses, students from Youth United for Change (YUC) at Strawberry Mansion High School have won sweeping districtwide commitments to change procedures for standardized test preparation and administration.
The changes, announced by School District Chief Academic Officer Gregory Thornton at a joint press conference with YUC January 17, were the culmination of a two-year campaign by the YUC chapter at Mansion.
After conducting a student survey and research on testing, the students at Strawberry Mansion had taken to District officials their concerns and recommendations about what they saw as the negative impact of test preparation and test pressure on student learning and school climate in their school.
A set of YUC-proposed changes to testing practices that were endorsed by the School District includes the following:
- Students will not be pulled out of core subjects; specific test preparation activities will take place in elective classes or non-instructional time.
- All students will have equal access to extra test preparation opportunities.
- The District will improve the quality of its test preparation activities and work to integrate it into instructional content.
- Students’ test score results will be kept strictly confidential.
- A testing hotline will be established during testing periods.
- Testing procedures will be posted in all high schools.
- Stepped up monitoring will be implemented for compliance with testing procedures.
For YUC students, the January 17 press conference was a celebration that brought plaudits from District officials and national press coverage. But Youth United for Change members at Strawberry Mansion expressed frustration in its aftermath that the organization’s access to students and staff at the school has been restricted.
Youth United for Change is an independent, local youth organizing group with chapters at five Philadelphia high schools.
For more information, call YUC at 215-423-9588.
Dreams of college for immigrant students
As a child, “Amanda” moved to the United States from Trinidad. She graduated as valedictorian from her Philadelphia high school, but she is not attending college.
An undocumented immigrant, she is not comfortable having her real name in a newspaper. Amanda must pay international student tuition rates, three times higher than her documented classmates, despite the fact that she has lived in Pennsylvania for five years. She is ineligible for government financial aid. And most private scholarships require legal residency or citizenship.
Pennsylvania colleges will generally consider a student an in-state resident after 12 months. But in 1996, a federal immigration reform bill changed the playing field for undocumented immigrant students, making it difficult for them to qualify for in-state tuition rates. Nine states have passed laws to work around the confusion, but not Pennsylvania.
Higher tuition and fewer financial resources aren’t the only barriers undocumented students face. Colleges now depend so heavily on Social Security numbers that it can be difficult to apply or enroll without one. And students who clear these hurdles and graduate with a degree still need legal status and work authorization to use it.
The DREAM Act is a federal bill that would change things for students who entered the country at least five years ago and were under age 16 when they arrived. By completing two years of college or military service, they would earn a green card. The bill had significant support in the last session of Congress, with the co-sponsorship of 48 senators, including Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, and 153 representatives, including Philadelphia Representative Chaka Fattah. But it was not brought to the floor for a vote.
Locally, the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition (PICC) is organizing support for the DREAM Act.
Last April, the School District of Philadelphia issued a statement in support of the DREAM Act, noting that 10,000 immigrant students in the District are facing unique barriers to continuing their education; 845 of these students graduated last year.
For more information, contact PICC at 215-832-0626 or email piccpa@yahoo.com