User:Aidanrocha/sandbox

Mexican American Studies Department Programs, Tucson Unified School District
Evaluating content

The information given in the existing article is relevant to the topic with little distracting. Though I feel there was more information necessary in providing more perspective of the students that the MAS Program was supporting. No information out of date, like I previously said, some possibly missing. Other simple grammar mistakes should be fixed. Otherwise follows Wikipedia’s guidelines to providing basic and relevant information.

Evaluating tone

The article does a simple job of staying neutral, though there are key points to the conflict between the MAS Program and Tucson Unified School District that are relevant to basic knowledge. The viewpoint of the youth students within the educational system in Tucson are slightly underrepresented.

Evaluating sources

The links and citations are working and valid. Most sources show support of the articles claims simply from the title. All facts are reliably referenced. The majority of the sources are neutral beside a few aiming toward the racism of the decision of the TUSD to ban the MAS program along with the books and material information related to the program. There were no signal phrases introducing the articles point, rather a new paragraph to the article.

Talk page

The conversations existing in the Talk page touch on similar grammar and sentence structure mistakes, along with missing content and information within certain sections about the MAS program. The article is a part of four WikiProjects. The article/ way Wikipedia talks about the topic is similar in a factual sense about what actually happened between TUSD and the MAS Program, but doesn’t goes as in depth like in class regarding the identity of the minority voice in this case, and the relevance of the perspective of the targeted youth.

Article Drafting
Strikethrough is what is being edited/removed. Bold is new content. Italics show some explanations. WORD COUNT: 365

The Mexican American Studies Department Programs provides courses for students attending various elementary, middle, and high schools within the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD). The program sought to provide students with knowledge relevant to their own cultures and community in which they could thrive and prepare to become leaders. The program led to controversy and the Arizona House Bill 2281, which effectively banned the program in 2010. The intentions and teachings of the MAS Program arose controversy with the TUSD which led to the Arizona House Bill 2281 in 2010, banning all classes being offered in school and the program as a whole.

History[edit] NEEDS ADDED CONTENT
The Mexican American Studies Department Programs in the Tucson Unified School District came into existence (reword/change, seemingly informal) (was established) in 1998 by high school teacher, Curtis Acosta, in an effort to help Chicano/a and Latino/a students reach their full potentials (check the source for additional necessary information/ is there a more descriptive reasoning behind Acosta's intentions of creating this program, the purpose of the program relates more towards connecting Chicano/a students to their heritage and culture, something they desire to learn about that has never existed within any educational curriculum). The department grew from offering a few classes at the beginning to about 43 classes in recent years (in the years following). Students were able to take these courses throughout elementary, middle, and high schools throughout the district (throughout twice doesn't make sense, change sentence structure so it flows) (Within the Tucson school district, students were eligible to take the allotted courses throughout grades K-12.). The program was designed to help raise the statistically lower (low) (The program was designed to motivate students to engage and participate more effectively in school in order to raise the statistically low graduation rates of the hispanic community) graduation rates of the Hispanic community. The Hispanic dropout rate in the MAS program was 2.5%, which is lower than the national average of 56%. The program was banned by a state law passed in 2010, but has been revived to a certain extent by various court rulings. (Though the program was banned by an Arizona state law in 2010, there has been resistance from the hispanic community along with the student youth and those effected. Since the ban, the opposition has gained ground in the reinstatement of the Mexican American Studies Program through various court rulings.)

Demographics[edit]
...

In the English Journal article “Developing Critical Consciousness: Resistance literature in a Chicano Literature class,” Curtis Acosta, MAS curriculum teacher, (Does the name of the article / Curtis Acosta acknowledgements need to be mentioned in this paragraph?) states that at Tucson High Magnet School 60 percent of students (add comma between school and 60) are Chicano/a or Latino/a students, and the European-American student population is 28 percent.

Vision and Goals[edit]
The purpose of the classes were to enable students the opportunity to engage in a learning-based community, specifically encouraging students to become leaders while understanding and appreciating Mexican American culture, both past and present (from contributions: I edited the opening sentence under the vision and goals section in order to provide a more clear opportunity for the an audience to understand the MAS program's intentions at the surface). The goals were to have a culturally relevant curriculum that can relate to student justice work, encourage student activism, promote critical thinking, and develop awareness for social issues. More importantly, the overall vision of the MAS program is to help students create a sense of identity while providing the opportunity for student youth to more deeply relate {to become more connected with} the culture and environment they are a product of. (from contributions: I added a sentence to the vision and goals section that I feel was most important to the purpose of the MAS program. The perspective of the youth that were directly effected by the decisions of the TUSD were barely touched on, deferring the voice they suffered to gain)

Controversy[edit]
On May 11, 2010, the governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, signed into law Arizona House Bill 2281. This law, written by Tom Horne who at the time was Arizona's superintendent of public instruction, made it illegal for schools to teach classes that were intended for any given ethnic group, go against another ethnic group, or advocate for overthrowing the government of the United States (The bill was written by Arizona's superintendent of public instruction, Tom Horne, stating the terms that no program: "1. Promote the overthrow of the United States government 2. Promote resentment toward a race or class of people 3. Are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group 4. Advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals." [Add citation to https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&docref=news/16A75B6E11F81130]) Additionally, ethnic solidarity, as opposed to individuality, could not be taught in accordance with the bill. The bill was originally written with the intention to end the Mexican American Studies Department programs. The consequence for school districts of not following this law was that they could lose 10% of their funding. The bill came into effect on January 1, 2011. Tom Horne, who at the time was the attorney general of Arizona, said that the program was not in accordance with the law (The bill came into effect on January 1, 2011, with the original intention to completely get rid of the Mexican American Studies Department programs, threatening that the teachings were not in accordance with the new law which would consequently result in the loss of ten percent of a certain school districts funding.). However, the Tucson Unified School District decided against ending the program. On December 27, 2011, the court found that the Mexican American Studies Department Programs were not in accordance with the law. (though in a court hearing with the Tucson Unified School District on December 27, 2011, the decision was made that the MAS Program did not abide by the new law). Then, on January 10, 2012, the school board voted to end the Mexican American Studies courses. Additionally, the court ruling on December 27, 2011, deemed seven books in the MAS program to be in conflict with the law. These books were only removed (removed only) from the MAS program, so only the program's teachers and students were prohibited from using these banned books. (the structure of this section is very scattered and hard to understand the direction to which the author was going in explaining how the law created controversy)

Final Draft
''' Move Demographics section to the bottom just above references??? '''

The Mexican American Studies Department Programs provides courses for students attending various elementary, middle, and high schools within the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD). The program sought to provide students with knowledge relevant to their own cultures and community in which they could thrive and prepare to become leaders. The intentions and teachings of the MAS Program arose controversy with the TUSD which led to the Arizona House Bill 2281 in 2010, banning all classes being offered in school and the program as a whole.

History[edit] NEEDS ADDED CONTENT
The Mexican American Studies Department Programs in the Tucson Unified School District was established in 1998 by high school teacher, Curtis Acosta, in an effort to help Chicano/a and Latino/a students reach their full potentials. The department grew from offering a few classes at the beginning to about 43 classes in the years following. Within the Tucson school district, students were eligible to take the allotted courses throughout grades K-12. The program was designed to motivate students to engage and participate more effectively in school in order to raise the statistically low graduation rates of the hispanic community. The Hispanic dropout rate in the MAS program was 2.5%, which is lower than the national average of 56%. '''Though the program was banned by an Arizona state law in 2010, there has been resistance from the hispanic community along with the student youth and those effected. Since the ban, the opposition has gained ground in the reinstatement of the Mexican American Studies Program through various court rulings. ''In recent years, Mexican American Studies programs have spread throughout the country and into college universities. Mexican American classes are being offered in different disciplines in other states with wide-ranged Latino/a communities. The newly integrated programs are promoting original goals while providing all students with new perspectives about Mexican American history and culture.'

Vision and Goals[edit]
The purpose of the classes were to enable students the opportunity to engage in a learning-based community, specifically encouraging students to become leaders while understanding and appreciating Mexican American culture, both past and present. The goals were to have a culturally relevant curriculum that could relate to student justice work, encourage student activism, promote critical thinking, and develop awareness for social issues. Additionally, the overall vision of the MAS program is to help students create a sense of identity while providing the opportunity for student youth to become more connected with the culture and environment they are a product of.

Controversy[edit]
On May 11, 2010, the governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, signed into law Arizona House Bill 2281. The bill was written by Arizona's superintendent of public instruction, Tom Horne, stating the terms that no program: "1. Promote the overthrow of the United States government 2. Promote resentment toward a race or class of people 3. Are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group 4. Advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals". [Add citation to https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&docref=news/16A75B6E11F81130]). The bill came into effect on January 1, 2011, with the original intention to completely get rid of the Mexican American Studies Department programs, threatening that the teachings were not in accordance with the new law which would consequently result in the loss of ten percent of a certain school districts funding. Furthermore, in a court hearing with the Tucson Unified School District on December 27, 2011, the decision was made that the MAS Program did not abide by the new law. Additionally, the court ruling deemed seven books in the MAS program to be in conflict with the law. These books were removed only from the MAS program, so only the program's teachers and students were prohibited from using these banned books. Immediately following on January 10, 2012, the school board voted to end the Mexican American Studies courses.

Bibliography of sources
Works Cited

"Education as Instrument Or as Empowerment?" Multicultural Education 22.3 (2015): 35-8. Web.

Goldberg, Beverly. ""Book Traffickers" Meet Tucson Ban on Mexican-American Studies." American Libraries 43.3/4 (2012): 13. ProQuest Central, Research Library. Web.

Hannity, Sean. "Interview with Tom Horne." Hannity [Fox News] (USA), 2010, NewsBank; Access World News. Web. < https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&docref=news/15446C4FEC19DB20 >.

"Horne responds to Ethnic Studies ban lawsuit." 2010. Web. NewsBank; Access World News. < https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&docref=news/13BF7DFEE8494B20 >.

Kunnie, Julian. "Apartheid in Arizona? HB 2281 and Arizona's Denial of Human Rights of Peoples of Color." Black Scholar 40.4 (2010): 16-26. Web.

Raul Ramos, y. S. "Arizona's Ban on Latino Studies Will Widen Ethnic Divisions." Times, The (Munster, IN), 2010, NewsBank; Access World News. Web. < https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&docref=news/16A75B6E11F81130 >.

Rodriguez, Roberto D. C. "Countdown in Arizona: Todos Somos Raza Studies." La Prensa San Diego, 2010, p. 1. Ethnic NewsWatch, ProQuest Central. Web. < https://search.proquest.com/docview/757948962?accountid=11091 >.

Safier, David. "A Few Thoughts on the Mexican American Studies Trial." Tucson Weekly (AZ), 2017, NewsBank; Access World News. Web. < https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&docref=news/165E7DA39EA63CB8 >.

"Students, Community Rally Around Support for Mexican American Studies on Day Trial Begins." University Wire, 2017, ProQuest Central. Web. < https://search.proquest.com/docview/1914190727?accountid=11091 >.

The Handmaid's Tale
The lead section does a decent job providing basic information of the book as a whole. Though, the middle paragraph is some sort of mysterious of which category it would fall into, it leans toward somewhat of a short interpretation of the book.

There is no background section at all. The structure of the article goes straight from the lead section consisting of basic information on the novel, into a very lengthy summary section. There are parts within different sections of the article that could be pulled out to create a background section.

The "Plot Summary" section is very lengthy and consisting of an a seemingly overload of information about the novel. From a broader perspective, the author of the article attempts to create somewhat of a structure to his summary by starting with "Beginning with", "The story is told", and "The novel concludes".

There is not many sources within the article as a whole suggesting that the article is full of interpretation from the author of the novel. The main source is the book exemplifying this fault.

Rule could be referenced and sourced here to add to the character description / summary of Pieixoto, since the fact that if you looked up a summary or description of him you would get more important information than what is on this page.

Content Gap within Character Section

In the character section there his a content gap within a few of the characters which misses describing the actual person rather than just describing what they do in the novel. The main character with missing content is Professor Pieixoto which the author faults in not describing his chiselers of words throughout the novel along with his demeaning character toward woman and woman rights as a whole. As well as sexist jokes he makes.

Merriman Citation if needed...

Merriman, Ben. "White-washing oppression in Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale." Notes on

Contemporary Literature, vol. 39, no. 1, 2009. Literature Resource Center, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A206534450/LitRC?u=wash43584&sid=LitRC&xid=a7ab0743. Accessed 26 Aug. 2019.

The Handmaid's Tale continued
General Observation: The "Race" section at the end of the article is generally vague and not signifying of one of the main points of criticism of where Margaret Atwood essentially collects her ideas.

Concrete point of Evaluation: The author uses the statement that speaks very broadly on what the "the African-American experience" is in the real world and what it is referring to within the novel. Then going on to say that the Atwood is "applying it to white women", the African-American experience, but what about it specifically, their experience is a very large timeframe.

Actionable item: Possibly add content feeding off of the African American experience specifically of what part, which could come from Ben Merriman's source of "White-washing oppression".

Fun Home Evaluation
The lead section offers basic information and completes the task of listing necessities within this paragraph. Though, the lead section as a whole could be considered too lengthy with unnecessary information being referenced.

The links and references in the article are consistently valid and as well as repetitively modified by a bot. In a sense, on top of the article overall being a well-written and well-structured article, the article is being supported as an article of importance. Though it is a bot editing and modifying the links, there is an emphasis on keeping the article up-to-date and as informative as possible. This leads the audience leaving the page better respecting the novel as the evaluation and analysis throughout this article is executed very well.

The plot and summary consists of quality and gets to the point in general on the novel as a whole, not really any complaints on it as it is factual regarding the meat of the novel. Though, why not have the Themes and Allusions sections under its own heading rather than under the "Plot and thematic summary".