Gresham-Barlow School District

How do you see internet access impacting the digital divide and the impact that it has had on learning for students at all economic levels?

With COVID, students who have high-speed internet or advanced computers are usually students who come from families with high income. Our low-income students are at a higher rate of falling behind due to their lack of access to internet, online tutoring and help. Learning online is not for all students. Our low-income families have both parents or the parent who has to go to work, our low-income families do not have the luxury to have a parent at home during school hours to be there to assist them with online work. This puts them behind their upper income counterparts when learning material.

What is your opinion of the role of high stakes standardized testing in the education of our children?

I do not believe standardized testing is an equitable way to measure children's learning. It does not account for different learning styles and it puts unnecessary pressure on students that if they do not meet that standard they are unworthy of success or graduation. Setting a high-stakes standard for student learning is inequitable and does not display our students success and ability in a comprehensive and accurate way. Standardized testing impacts our students of color especially in a negative light because it labels all our student of color behind the standard or unsuccessful.

What steps do you see need to be taken in order for science to be taught as a method of inquiry and deduction, and not just a litany of facts?

We need to encourage curriculum that is inclusive of hands on learning and it can be taught in a way that engages our students into the course. It can be easier for some students to absorb information that way and if we train teachers to include hands on work with the scientific facts and curriculum required we will be able to reach a broader amount of student learning styles and increase student understanding.