Article 1: Jamaica and Its Education System (January 2, 2011)There were three major challenges being faced in this article and they are as follows; textbooks and writing materials are limited in schools and some primary schools still have not received textbooks from the Ministry of Education. Second, many of the teachers are unable to master Standard English.

Causing the students, however, to find difficulty in learning Standard English, because there are not many opportunities for them to be immersed in the language since it is not heard at home, or in the public space, or through the media and neither in the classroom. Thirdly, parental responsibility for the social, spiritual and emotional development of our children is being demitted by parents and left to the schools. This responsibility primarily belongs to the home, yet more and more the schools are being expected to perform the parents’ role in the upbringing of their children.To alleviate the challenges being faced in this article, I would embolden the principles to collect the textbooks for their school from the ministry of education instead of waiting on the ministry to send the books to their school. Second, I would recommend that teachers attend an English class so that they may learn to speak and write the language better and also from groups amongst themselves to support each other. Lastly, I would encourage parents to spend more time with their children especially on the weekend, since it cannot be done during the physical week due to work hours and other reasons known to them.

 Article 2: Framing Urban School Challenges: The Problems to Examine When Implementing Response to InterventionThis article has two major challenges being faced, which are: structural challenges and cultural challenges, however, the first challenge is broken down into five smaller issues and the second one is broken down into three, therefore making it eight challenges in total. The challenges are as followed: Persistently low student achievement, a lack of instructional coherence, inexperienced teaching staff, poorly functioning business operations, and low expectations of students, the perceptions of race and class as limiting predictors of school achievement, perceptions of different learning styles versus intellectual deficiencies; and the lack of cultural responsiveness in current policies and practices.To alleviate the challenges being faced in this article, I would give the students a chance to prove themselves worthy and abandon low student achievement. Second, encourage the school districts to partake in closed-door sessions to develop the framework to “fit” the operational structures already in place to correct the lack of instructional coherence. Third, urge the ministry to host workshops to educate and train the inexperienced teaching staff. Fourth, implement a system that allows data analysis can occur at the district level with improved data collection and monitoring systems, to correct the poor functioning data management system.

Fifth, edit the school curriculum and provide more programs to assist struggling students so that they may improve and to raise the expectation of students. Sixth, perceptions of race and class as limiting predictors of school achievement can be change by abolishing the slang “students are not ready” and instead prepare the student so that they may become exceptional. Seven, demand that teachers teach the way that students learn instead of using the lecture method that is not effective because people only remember 20% of what they hear. Lastly, remind staff and student alike that we are all the same no matter what the race or gender we are, also promote the support and respect of gender, culture, religion, ethnicity and family composition.