Comments on: Dominican families balance schooling with extended trips home

By: Indianist Online

Indianist Online — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:27:00 +0000

Can someone explain me what is study abroad program..plz…

By: Eddy45

Eddy45 — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:31:00 +0000

I think the kids already get several week-long vacations and something called summer off…ain’t that enough?

By: Matthew Levey

Matthew Levey — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:34:00 +0000

The parent and student comments in the essay remind me of the the lines from America, the Sondheim song from West Side Story. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnQR7BLwO2I

If life back home is so much better, does it not beg the question of why one would leave?

And if the goal is to make a bigger success here than one could make there, might that not require some sacrifices or compromises?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:37:00 +0000

It isn’t just Dominican families. When I worked in a school with a high Caribbean population kids left for Jamaica and Trinidad for a month or two all the time. The fact that the school in the article is seeing less families do this has nothing to do with the school’s discouragement, it is simply a temporary reduction in travel because of the bad economy. Teachers are forced to make a hard decision: do you give out makeup work (which is NOT a substitute for instruction or classroom experienced) and encourage this behavior, or do you fail the child and punish the kid for the irresponsible behavior of the parents. Fine the parents for educational neglect, I say.

By: Another Bronx Teacher

Another Bronx Teacher — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:34:00 +0000

I had several students take over two months off this year. They are 11th graders, and they wonder why they are failing and have no clue on what’s going on in class. I sent assignments to them over email every day, and of course I get the usual response, “Oh, I didn’t know I was supposed to bring my textbook with me”. Two days before the end of the marking period, they show up with a mountain of copied homework and demand full credit because “they were out”. I wish I could take a two month vacation from work in the middle of the school year, walk back into my principal’s office, and say that I’m not responsible for the work “because I was out”.

By: Bronx math teacher

Bronx math teacher — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:53:00 +0000

I teach at a middle school in the Bronx and many of my kids make those vacations during mid-December through mid-January. True, it is harder on the students to catch up and for me to work with them for everything they missed, but we work things out before and after the trips. It’s important for kids to see their family back at home… I know because I’m an immigrant to NYC from China and everyone in my family lived in China except for myself and my parents. From my experience, the kids that make these trips are often more refreshed and motivated when they come back. Family and school is hard to juggle together nonetheless.

By: Yep

Yep — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:10:00 +0000

They don’t take a couple of days, they take a month off.

Wealthy parents take kids out for extended vacations, too. A week here, a week there…

By: CkornNYSUT

CkornNYSUT — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:41:00 +0000

Interesting. Maybe the next piece could delve into how these students’ standardized tests scores will be factored into teachers’ evaluations. Whether the students are in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, China or in DisneyWorld, how can you hold teachers accountable for test scores when their students are away for lengthy periods of time?

By: Sssss

Sssss — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:09:00 +0000

That is so sad!!! That is some ignorant stuff!!

By: GUest

GUest — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:17:00 +0000

Yeah, yet another ignored piece of data.