{"id":798,"date":"2011-07-02T15:31:22","date_gmt":"2011-07-02T22:31:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=798"},"modified":"2011-07-02T15:31:22","modified_gmt":"2011-07-02T22:31:22","slug":"transitions-manual-arts-the-department-of-education-and-stepping-into-the-productivity-of-the-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=798","title":{"rendered":"Transitions: Manual Arts, The Department of Education, and Stepping into the Productivity of the Summer"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Thursday was the final day of the school year at Manual Arts. It was the end of a very long year with significant changes<\/a>. As the students left the school, they walked away from a campus that has been under constant operation for nearly a decade. This will be the first summer since I\u2019ve worked at Manual Arts that the school is not in session (aside from a paltry summer school offering). What will the school\u2019s return to a traditional calendar look like next year? Will student, teacher, and parent concerns about security at the overcrowded campus be addressed? Will we adequately meet the needs of students in classes that are averaged at 40 students per teacher? Will the incredible (absolutely incredible) graffiti murals at our school be painted over? (Strong signs point to yes.)<\/p>\n

Thursday was also my final day as an official employee of the U.S. Department of Education. And though my role as a 2010-2011 Teaching Ambassador Fellow<\/a> has come to an end, I am excited about the network of individuals I have been able to talk with and from whom I hope to continue to draw expertise on future projects.<\/p>\n

This summer, I am focusing on coding, analyzing, and writing up preliminary findings for my dissertation. I am also teaching a few classes in and around L.A. and will be consulting for a few education-related projects. I hope to share information about these in future posts.<\/p>\n

I am also pleased to be working with the Schools for Community Action<\/a> design team. We are developing four amazing (amazing!) small schools to serve the South Central Los Angeles community. The work before us is exciting, difficult, and (occasionally) overwhelming. You are welcome to join us. At the least, please consider following us on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I am excited to share a bunch of other work in the coming weeks:<\/p>\n