Personal Bias Phlogg

I am a very tolerant and compassionate person by nature. I have been raised to except everyone and respect individual differences. As a teacher I expect my students to respect each other and be fair to one another. If a bias does exist it is difficult for me to admit. Being honest with myself (and you all) I would have to say that I have personal bias for those students that are low income and have some sort of disability. I have extensive experience working with this type of student population here at CNM.

I have worked as a tutor at CNM since 2005. Working as a science tutor at CNM for a federal grant program called TRiO. The history of TRIO is progressive.  TRiO is a federal grant program which emerged out of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 in response to the Kennedy administration's War on Poverty.  The Kennedy administration created this piece of legislation to serve underprivileged students in middle school (Educational Talent Search), high school students (Upward Bound), and post-secondary students (Student Support Services). By the late 1960's, the term "TRIO" was coined to describe these three federal programs.

Over the years, the TRIO Programs have been expanded and improved to provide a wider range of services and to reach more students who need assistance. Additional TRiO programs have been created under the Higher Education Amendments throughout the years.  Currently, TRIO includes eight programs targeted to serve and assist low-income individuals, first-generation college students, and individuals with disabilities to progress through the academic pipeline from middle school to post baccalaureate programs. The legislative requirements for all Federal TRIO Programs can be found in the Higher Education Act of 1965, under Title IV.

My role with TRiO as a science tutor has expanded beyond the content of science. I have worked with a diverse student population with a number of challenges. The unique population that I work with has a long range of learning disabilities and physical disabilities. I have to develop new ways of supporting students as they navigate their way through higher education.

In addition to tutoring this population of students, I have also worked as a science teacher at CNM in the School of Adult and General Education (SAGE) for six years. These students are taking developmental courses to help prepare them for entry level college courses. The sad truth is that most students do not take freshman level course work as a freshman. Rather they take developmental courses that implement high school level content. There is a problem with this of course; students are not learning or retaining information from high school. Sadly, the NM state legislature has recently cut CNM funding for these types of courses. As a result I lost my teaching jobL My bias as a teacher is for the underprivileged student that needs special attention to be successful. Now teaching high school I hope I can eliminate the need for developmental education at CNM!