Reflective Journal 1
The Purpose of School
Linda Marie Williams
School of Education, Liberty University
EDAS743
Author Note
Linda Marie Williams. I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Linda Marie Williams.
Email: lmwilliams31@liberty.edu
Reflective Journal 2
The purpose of school is to educate all children, low-socioeconomic status, rich or poor,
black or white; education is for everyone. Our policymakers and educators need to raise their
expectations for all children. We must meet the children where they are once, they enter the
classroom. The question is, how do teachers reach the students who have fallen behind? How
do you know that they learned what you taught? How many Kindergarten children are reading
upon entering the classroom?
In bridging the gap, as educators, best practices and how children learn are especially
important at this crucial age. The Council of Chief State School Officers found that building a
21st-century learning system begins with a strong foundation for early childhood programs for
all children. Given the opportunity to be part of the solution by focusing on funding early
childhood classrooms with the highest quality. Elements of contemporary education conspire
against the prospects for poor children of color and create a gap during the school years that
has eluded several decades of reform. Reform efforts of No Child Left Behind and standardized
testing, alternative teacher certification, and the charter school movement have provided a
generation of poor children and children of color with the notion that higher education
achievement is not for them. Their assessment regimens and technology systems use outcome
data to drive instructional decisions. How educators use data is what matters most in closing the
achievement gap. Integrating data into instructional choices is the key to helping improve
student achievement.
Reflective Journal 3
As a middle school science educator, I know many children have entered the classroom,
not on reading grade level. As the classroom teacher, finding the reading ability based on read-
a-louds of each child in the school. Children learn by repetition, and building upon that requires
time on manipulatives for students to use and demonstrate the knowledge by vocabulary
building with diagrams, think charts, matching boards, etc., as this requires a lot of work on the
educator's part in designing and implementing such manipulatives to aid in the learning process
of all children. Benjamin Franklin's cliché', Tell me and I forget but teach me, and I may
remember, involve me, and I learn it, is so true with all children of all ages.
An administrative philosophy would be viewed as one that "all children can learn." The
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 (Harvey, et al 2013) provided another
tool for equity-based education reform for specific at-risk groups of children aid to extra
educational services. Further says the Title I portion of this act provided children from low-
income families' additional aid, which was later followed by other programs focusing on the
needs of other groups of students. However, children just learn in diverse ways, and meeting
them where they are is a start with our public school’s system. No child left behind means that
No teacher be left behind, meaning that the front-line leaders will need professional
development to shape the needs of both educators and students. Data collection, data-driven
instructional practices, co-teaching practices, best practices, and some type of Gap time for in-
school tutoring be provided to students. I want my scholars to move in the direction of affording
them a higher learning education for successful job skills preparation.
Reflective Journal 4
Biblical Worldview
Daniel chapter 1 introduces God as the figure in control of all that happens, the
possessor of sovereign will and power: it is he who gives Jehoiakim into Nebuchadnezzar's
hands and takes Daniel and his friends into Babylonian exile, he gives Daniel "grace and
mercies," and gives the four young Jews their "knowledge and skill, Daniel 1:17 As for these four
children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had
understanding in all visions and dreams.
Reflective Journal 5
References
Harvey, James S., Jr., et al. The Superintendent Fieldbook : A guide for leaders of
learning, Corwin Press, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-
proquest-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/lib/liberty/detail.action?docID=1363588.
KJV King James Version. Daniel 1:17. https://www.biblegateway.com
A Quiet Crisis: The urgent need to build early childhood systems and quality programs for
children birth to age five. A policy statement of the Council of Chief State School
Officers. (2009). In Council of Chief State School Officers. Council of Chief State School
Officers.
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