Coming to the 2011 MSEA Convention in October!
Over 600,000 people in all 50 states and 20 countries have watched the grassroots film that The New York Times called “a must-see movie.” Now, Race to Nowhere is coming to the 2011 MSEA Convention for a special screening. Director Vicki Abeles will join MSEA in Ocean City, leading a discussion about the film and the state of education in our schools.
MSEA Editor Casey Newton interviewed Abeles to learn more about the making of Race to Nowhere.
Why did you make Race to Nowhere?
Many children today have pressure-filled lives. Several years ago, I began to question the changes I saw in my kids as they tried to navigate days filled with school, homework, tutoring, and extracurricular activities. When one of my daughters became physically ill from the stress, I was determined to do something so I turned to the power of the media.
I wanted to create a film that would give voice to those closest to the education system and yet often the last to be heard from – students and teachers. The film is a vehicle for raising awareness. It’s bringing communities together across the country—just like MSEA is doing in Ocean City—to let people know they are not alone.
I’ve also launched a grassroots campaign to build a national consensus around the need to move away from the current quantity driven, test-centric, one-size fits-all approach in order to transform education, redefine success and achievement for young people, and safeguard their health and well-being.
By bringing concerned parents, students, and educators together at screenings around the world, the film is beginning to influence the way we think about education, human capacity, and lifelong learning.
What is your background? Have you ever made a film before?
I’m a former corporate attorney and a mother. It was seeing the changes in my children and feeling helpless that inspired the film. I turned to filmmaking in 2007 to tackle critical social, educational, and political issues that are often ignored by the mass media.
What does the title of the film mean?
Race to nowhere is a term one of the students featured in the film from Oakland used to describe the educational treadmill that students in American high schools are forced onto. It is an apt metaphor for a system where students are driven by competitive pressure to acquire the academic and personal characteristics valued by university admissions departments.
What are the three most important issues that your film addresses?
The first is education policy. Our education system is following a quantity-driven model, supporting a stale curriculum driven by policy
The second is children and their mental health. Our children are trapped in a system that has them believe they need more schoolwork, more homework, more advanced placement classes, and more extracurricular activities to measure up to the expectations of parents, university administrators, and our culture. Many students do what it takes to get through—and in the end their health and education suffers.
Statistics indicate marked increases in childhood depression and suicide over the last 10 years along with increases in the abuse of prescription medications, cheating, and the number of students checking out of education altogether. The film also highlights the toll of today’s paradigm on our teachers.
And the third is a new paradigm built with the power of community. Since its beginnings, public education has been in the process of reform. What is needed today is not more of the same but a radical transformation of the way we educate children.
How have audiences responded to the film?
In spite of the difficult issues that the film presents, the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. Demand for screenings continues to pour into our offices.
I look forward to talking with Maryland educators about their experiences and how they cope with the emotional and policy issues we address in the film.
How do teachers feel about the film?
We recognize the critical importance of the teaching profession to the educational infrastructure of the country. Rather than following a system that punishes and rewards teachers based on students’ standardized test scores as mandated by the No Child Left Behind law, we need to support teachers and treat them as professionals.
Most teachers are drawn to Race to Nowhere for its honest presentation of the dedication, commitment, and frustrations expressed by the teachers in the film. Audiences for the movie are always made up of a large percentage of current or retired teachers.
Vicki Abeles continues to produce short films on issues affecting children, women, and families. Other credits include associate producer on the recently completed documentary Miss Representation.