Direct Instruction is Gas, Dog! Fa Sho!

Direct Instruction is Gas, Dog! Fa Sho!

The astonishingly poor academic performance of students in our public schools continues. The Wall Street Journal reports that only 60 percent of American fourth graders can read at grade level. They were shocked. Well this is an average. Imagine how really shocked they would be if they found that according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 84 percent of black students lack proficiency in math and 85 percent lack proficiency in reading. Recall the study that found that in 33 schools in Chicago there were no students that could read or write at grade level. 

This poor performance is met with indifference by school administrators and the education establishment to change how students are “taught”. Also astonishing is the total absence of criticisms from black politicians and Civil Rights organizations. Instead the impetus for change is from parents who want more for their children as evidenced by the over 1,000,000 students on waiting lists for charter and private schools. Of course, the education establishment opposes charter schools and vouchers because they threaten their main source of income. Most black politicians and organizations are beholding to the teachers’ unions and put their financial support above the needs of their constituents’ children.

I have written many times on the failure of our schools to teach reading so our children will be proficient at grade level. I have also written how the local school administration had rebuffed any effort to change the failed method of instruction to one that has demonstrated success, direct instruction. As a result I have concluded that the education establishment simply does not want poor kids, in particular black kids to learn how to read. Instead of teaching, the unions have resorted to using Critical Race Theory to make excuses for their failures in the classroom.

The problem stems from the fact that most poor children are raised in households that do not speak the language of the classroom. When those children go to school they find themselves having to learn English as a foreign language while trying to stay current in the classroom. Things are not as bad as when there was slavery. When Sherman marched through Georgia, thousands of slaves ran away from the plantations and became camp followers. Bennett Parten’s “Somewhere Toward Freedom: Sherman’s March and the Story of America’s Largest Emancipation” tells the story of a Union soldier asking a slave where she is going and she responds “I’s gwine where you’s gwine.” BTW, my maternal great grandfather was one of those camp followers. 

Today, just like yesterday, much of the language of the poor is difficult to understand. Imagine children growing up with this vernacular then arriving at your local elementary school. How do you meet this challenge to make them literate in two languages? The only method that has proven effective is called direct instruction which has been rejected by the education establishment. I have written on this topic and will write more. But for now here are some examples of the urban English spoken by many of our inner city children.

These are adapted from Odyssey https://www.theodysseyonline.com/nyc-urban-slang-dictionary#google_vignette

1. Whack = (adj.) used to describe something that is appalling in nature

“That’s whack!”

2. Grill = (v.) to stare, usually impolitely, to give a dirty look

“Dude stop grilling my girlfriend, I know her braids look dookie whack.”

Grill is also used to refer to the jewelry worn on one’s teeth.

3. To front/Fronting = (v.) to put on a façade, acting like you are something that you are not.

“Stop fronting like you own the place.”

4. Cop = (v.) to buy

“I’m about to cop some chips, want some?”

5. Catch these hands = phrase used to initiate a fight

“If that girl keeps grilling me she gonna catch these hands.”

6. Crusty = (adj.) used to describe someone who is dirty or trashy

“Girl, did you shower today? Your hair is looking musty, dusty, and crusty.”

7. Lit = (adj.) used to describe someone or something that is amazing 

“That party was lit!”

8. Mad = (adv.) a lot

“She has mad problems.”

9. Dumb = (adv.) extremely

“This party is dumb lit.”

10. Brick = (adj.) very cold

“It’s mad brick out.”

11. Tight = (v.) to be upset

“You’re getting me dumb tight.”

12. Thirsty = (adj.) desperate (for sex)

“I ‘m thirsty.”

13. Buggin’ = freaking out, acting up

She’s buggin.”

14. Dog = (n.) a good friend

“That’s my dog!”

15. B = (n.) a good friend

“What’s good, B?”

16. Sus = questionable, dishonest or false

“Its us that he say he don’t know how to shoot craps.”

17. Dead ass = (adj.) seriously

“You dead ass getting me tight, B”

*Could also be used as follows:

“Dead ass?” = Are you serious?

“Dead ass!” = Yes.

18. Guap = (n.) money

“Okay, this to all of my enemies that seeing me gettin’ guap right now.” 

19. Grimey = (adj.) used to describe a back-stabber

“I’m telling you, bro. He’s mad grimey, ain’t no trusting him.”

20. OD = (adj.) excessive, an abbreviation for “over-doing”

“Man, my teacher just put some OD stuff on the black board.“

21. It is dead ass brick out there today.

 “It is seriously cold today.”

22. Aiight – all right

And then there is the ubiquitous “yanowhaimsayn?”

Good luck teaching these kids past participles, conjunctions, misplaced modifiers and compound predicates!