Our birthright—and the purpose of our great voyage on this Earth—is to seek and experience eternal happiness. We are of infinite worth to our Heavenly Father. The school, like the family, is an institution whose explicit mandate is to socialize people. In each case, this mandate is directed toward children. The school’s mission, however, is defined more narrowly than that of the family. It is primarily concerned with the formal instruction of children and the development of their cognitive skills (but here again, more is learned by the child than that which is explicitly taught). That is why if I could afford to, I would send my children to private school so they can learn about God as part of their enrichment material, and also so they would not pick up the habit of swearing from their friends, and also because they would have to wear a uniform, which is more likely to get them ready to conform to the career World. Next to the family, the school is the institution in which the child is most directly involved. And like the family, this involvement is largely involuntary. However, in most other respects, family and classroom constitute quite different socialization experiences for the child. #RandolphHarris 1 of 12

School is important in life because people need to gain knowledge and intelligence through their diligence and obedience so that they can have an advantage in the World to come. The classroom is composed of one adult and around twenty-five bright young children of both genders and approximately the same age, drawn from a relatively small geographical area. The major status distinction, which is important so students can learn to respect authority figures besides their parents, is between the teacher and pupils. There is a law, irrevocably decreed in Heaven before the foundations of this World, upon which all blessings are predicated—and when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.  The relationship between teacher and student is more of a limited scope (that is, more role-specific), and of shorter duration than is that between parent and child. The procedure of annual promotion from grade to grade provides the child with the experience of establishing and severing relationship with adults at regular periods. This being the case, we all should place the pursuit of light and truth, and intelligence, uppermost in our selections of goals, since we may have them eternally. #RandolphHarris 2 of 12

The glory of God is intelligence. School is the first socializing agency in the child’s experience that institutionalizes a differentiation of statues based on achievement. However, many parents can tell that their babies are intelligent and understand because, for example, when Leo (age 1) is asked to dance, but the music he likes is not on, he will not. However, when classical music is playing and he is asked to dance, he starts smiling and moving his hands and arms and head and legs, and even motions like he is conducting the composition. Other children Leo’s age when playing with a horse make the sound a horse makes when walking. Or watch their parents cook and when playing, get a pot and pretend to cook and taste the food and share it with their family. The homogeneous age composition of the class is an especially consequential feature of classroom structure. It provides the child with a standard of comparison for evaluating his or her competencies. It also provides the teacher with a standard for evaluating each student. Formal and public evaluation of performance is one of the hallmarks of the school experience, and, as we shall see, it has substantial consequences for the child’s self-esteem. #RandolphHarris 3 of 12

As you can see, it is important for children to be around their peer group, as they are all developing at the same relative level and can teach each other things. Ostensibly, school is primarily concerned with the cognitive development of the child—the acquisition of knowledge, the development of analytical and verbal skills, and other competencies. However, in the course of this socialization experience, other things are also learned, such as general norms and beliefs, and other aspects of the child are affected (personality characteristics, self-esteem). It is also important to understand, and this may or may not be fair, but grades are about social reinforcement, expectancy effects, and social comparison processes. The most conspicuous socialization process in the classroom (as perhaps, in the family) is social reinforcement. Teachers rely on several reinforcers in attempting to shape the student’s behavior and development—praise, blame, privileges, and, most important, grades. Grades represent the most concrete evidence of official (teacher’s) approval or disapproval of the student’s performance. #RandolphHarris 4 of 12

However, grade may also be used to reinforcement more than just the development of cognitive competencies. Teachers are likely to reward those students who conform to the social order of the school with higher grades and punish violators with lower grades, independent of their respective academic and cognitive accomplishments. An ABC10 Journalist, Gabrielle Karol reported on Beyer High School (Modesto, California USA), where sophomore Cedric Wright got in trouble for slapping his best friend. Cedric Wright was supposedly defending another student his best friend punched in the arm. The kids were all supposedly playing around like people do in the locker room. However, both Cedric and his friend were sent to the principal’s office. Cedric got a two day in-school suspension, where he sat in an intervention center, and was not allowed to go to class. Cedric Wright’s parents got upset and filed a complaint because the best friend did not get an equal punishment for a similar offense. Mr. James Wright thought his son had a bias applied against him because he is African American. After the complaint was filed by Cedric’s parents, it was then that Cedric’s best friend was punished. #RandolphHarris 5 of 12

Ignorance is expensive; in fact, it is the most expensive commodity we know anything about. Certainly, we make many mistakes through ignorance. After an investigation, the school claims there was a miscommunication, and that is why Cedric Wright was the only student punished initially. In this case, conformity to the social order meant that certain personality characteristics were rewarded (for example, dependability, consistency, perseverance, identification with school, punctuality, and tact), while others are punished or disapproved (for example, creativity, aggression, and independence). Sometimes people feel that certain families or students are out of control because they are successfully, well integrated and solid middle class, which is against an outdated negative stereotype that a small segment of the population would like to adhere to. There seems to be a significant positive relationship between the grade-point average of high school students and the first set of personality characteristics listed and second set of characteristics. Similar evidence reflects that grades are more than scholastic achievement of students. #RandolphHarris 6 of 12

Where there is no law, there is no transgression. In a study of 639 National Merit Scholars, it was found that differences in scholastic achievement were not related to grades. However, two personality variables were significantly and positively related to grades: citizenship and drive to achieve. However, it was found that neither of these two variables had a significant effect on actual achievement measures, and both were negatively related to measures of creativity and mental flexibility. There is evidence that teachers directly reinforce certain personality characteristics and discourage others through the use of grades and other reinforcers. Less obvious than social reinforcement, but perhaps no less pervasive, are expectancy effects and social comparison process. Expectancy effects, better known as self-fulfilling prophecies, are part of the broader process of defining situations and thereby constructing realities. The concept refers to the capacity of beliefs or expectancies to alter a state of affairs so that it comes to be congruent with the original belief. If people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences. #RandolphHarris 7 of 12

The self-fulfilling prophecy is, in the beginning, a false definition of the situation evoking a new behavior which makes the originally false conception come true. This specious validity to the self-fulfilling prophecy perpetuates a region of error. For the prophet will cite the actual course of events as proof that he or she was right from the very beginning. Self-fulfilling prophecies are usually always negative, as attested by the literature on race relations, deviance, and stereotyping. However, research of self-fulfilling prophecies in the classroom demonstrates that greater intellectual growth can be produced if the teacher expected that than if he or she did not. The findings were equivocal, as teacher’s expectations had a significant effect on pupils’ IQ gains for first and second-graders. The fear that many people have, however, concerning the self-fulfilling prophecy in the classroom is not with regard to the effect of the teacher’s high expectations, but rather his or her low expectations of certain students. Especially in schools where the student body is racially or socioeconomically mixed, parents and policy makers fear that the teacher would have lower expectations for the underrepresented or lower-income students, and that these expectations will be communicated in differential treatment. #RandolphHarris 8 of 12

A careful study gives credence to some of these fears. A class of Black children was followed from kindergarten through second grade. There were numerous and subtle ways in which the teacher transmitted her expectations of their competencies or incompetencies to these children in a process that became self-fulfilling. According to Gabrielle Karol, a journalist from ABC10, data from California state assessments from 11^th grade students found that 64 percent of African American students did not meet state standards in English, compared to 33 percent European American students. In math, 93 percent of African American students failed to meet standards, compared to 64 percent of European American students. While subconscious stereotypes can lead to biases in judgment that people are not aware of, we need to help educate teachers and others in positions of power to erode these outdated standards of prophecy. At the same time, we need to encourage parents to be more active in their students’ education and ask them to investigate why their students are underperforming. If parents get involved, they can act as agents to educate teachers and let them know that they will not stand for unfair treatment, or help to correct the educational problems their kids are manifesting. #RandolphHarris 9 of 12

We need to help prepare leaders in education and to generate knowledge to improve student opportunity, achievement, and success. Sometimes people will try to demonize your children and ruin their lives because their own children are deviant and your kids make them look bad. Even though we may not think we are guilty of our sin because of our ignorance, neither can we receive the blessing, which is predicated on obedience, without rendering obedience to that law. Therefore, we are denied the blessing through our ignorance. If it is a traffic law one has violated through ignorance, the penalty is assessed exactly as one had known. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse. The goal of school is to have an exceptional and collaborative community of faculty, students, and alumni dedicated to improving lives and expanding opportunities through the comprehensive study and effective practice of education. We want our kids to grow to become innovative leaders in the community, entrepreneurs, and explorers of the World. It is also important the teachers understand that we expect a diverse, moral development of our children, an international education policy, and organizational leadership. #RandolphHarris 10 of 12

We want our children to be taught by renowned experts, who are passionate about education and preparing students to become transformative leaders. With that being said, it is important to be honest and let parents know when their children could do better and how, or to directly communicate that to the student. Never miss an opportunity to remind children the pivotal importance of a strong education. College is the key to success and a better life. Higher education encompasses more kinds of experiences, and more kinds of different experiences, than there are people in your classroom, and there is a place for every one of you. Commit to the goal of a higher education, and share your plans with others. Write it down, tell your parents, teachers, coaches, friends and extended family. Share your educational dreams with anyone who will be supportive. College education leads to higher incomes, lower unemployment rates, better access to health care, and it will give you the freedom to understand yourself differently. With education you will have a vaster range of life experiences. #RandolphHarris 11 of 12

It is impossible for anyone to be saved in ignorance. No person is truly enlightened unless he or she knows God. Education will help you learn to have meaningful conversations with people and give you a wide range of viewpoints. Education teaches people to even reconsider their own view point. By attending college, you will encourage dreams that you have never dreamed. Every person has extraordinary gifts, and education will help you build your future. Dear Lord, as we continue in life, help us never to forget to devote our time of praise and worship to you. We know, God, that you are the one who sustains us and we are so grateful that you blessed us with this amazing life on this beautiful planet. God, we know that you are renewing our minds. We pray that all of our instructors, professors, and administrators will also experience the love of God. We will grow and learn, and as we strive, we will become more like our teachers. Please give them wisdom, strength and courage to be the best authority figures. Help them stay healthy as they do teach us. Lord, if they do not know you personally, we pray that they come to know you and in doing so that their instruction and working is glorifying to you. Bless it be. #RandolphHarris 12 of 12