Educational Media Reviews Online

SelectED is a fascinating look into the Chicago Public School System and the benefits and consequences of select schools. These are public schools, but, certain requirements need to be met for admittance, such as high grades. The film highlights and analyzes how the building of the school helped with the desegregation and integration process after the assassination of Martin Luther King.

Whitney Young High School is still an example of integration among different races and cultures. The film portrays the struggles in urban education through the journeys of its students. Seniors were documented finishing their paths at Whitney Youth with varying levels of success. Obstacles they had to face were severe depression, economic hardship, hospital stays, and they all had to deal with an extremely high stress competitive environment. Most are able to overcome the challenges presented to them through the support of family, classmates, and the school staff. The pressures and stresses of admission processes are illustrated through the determination of 8th grade students and their parents looking for a better option.

In a college class this could be used as an example of successful selective enrollment, and how it betters the community and those that attend this type of school. Selective admissions in public education are not generally addressed in most college teaching courses. There are those that disagree with the successfulness and fairness of the selective process, and SelectED addresses these arguments with evidence and outcomes produced by the Chicago Public School System.