Rough Ideas for Question to Explore for Community Inquiry Project

I'm having some trouble formulating a question/topic to explore for the Community Inquiry project, but I have a few rough ideas.

I would say that, over the course of the readings, I am most interested in NCLB and its impact on local urban schools in Paterson or Newark. I am getting the impression simply that punishment is not equally progress. If it appears like this initiative is falling apart, what could we do to change it OR better implement it? What do these schools need in terms of resources that they're not getting? What resources do they have? What do they need that would help them achieve and meet the goals? How do the teachers feel? How much of their time is spent away from other subjects as a means of laying groundwork that will lead to higher AYP and higher test scores? What would need to be done so that hitting these marks would be possible? I thought interviewing teachers was the way to go and I'd be interested in attempting to do that myself.

A second topic involves a poster I saw from a project from last year involving teacher prejudice involving urban education and urban schools. It appears as if teachers coming into an urban school to teach are severely limited by their "frames of reference" regarding what the experience will be like. This limits their effectiveness as teachers- and I would consider exploring a topic similar to the one I saw in class.

I'm also interested in ESL programs at urban schools and the process of integrating non-English speaking children into English speaking classrooms. I'm also interested in the idea that Fruchter proposes that suggests that if a student's culture is integrated into the classroom, then it personalizes their commitment to what they are learning. As a future English teacher, I wonder if I will found myself teaching MORE than just English and more than just BASIC literature. What about literature that incorporates the culture of students in urban areas? Does this personalize education? Are there other schools incorporating a diversified curriculum that includes Latin and African American literature? What changes are being put into place- curriculum wise- to involve and inspire children that are being educated in urban areas? What policies/ideas are putting into place to do something out of the norm?

I've also heard from other teachers working in urban areas that they are serving a population of students who do not speak English in the classroom or need help with English and the only route to reach them is through speaking both English and Spanish. With only an operational knowledge of Spanish, they are finding it very difficult to teach them the topics they need to know, let alone being able to teach it in both languages. I would like to possibly look at the impact this has on urban teachers, what is being put in place to help both the children and the teachers, and perhaps even how these outside factors may impact NCLB restrictions. I plan on taking a look at the pressures of the classroom coupled with pressures enforced by various policies. I'm not sure if Paterson or Newark could afford me this opportunity, however. I wonder if teachers receive outside professional development or services that help them to teach and impact children whose first language isn't English. I have given some thought to obtaining an ESL certificate on top of my Master's- so I'm curious if it this extra work is as needed as I often hear it is.

I am still mulling over topics/questions for the project and will post more- whenever I think of any. Comments and suggestions would help!

-Danielle