The Grass Is Always Greener?

Is the grass always greener on the other side?  Often, the case is not so.  Yet, that is not to say there are more patches of green on the other side.

I recently made a heavy decision to leave the school setting that I know and love.  I have moved to the suburbs and, according to my teachers’ contract, could no longer teach in the city.  I had to live in the city in order to teach in the city.  I saw this as a new adventure in my career and was eager to embark on it.

Leaving what one has done for a decade can be both intimidating and enticing.  I found myself eager and energized.  I was moving to a district where parents read to their children, children saw a dentist before their baby teeth rotted out, gang symbols and needles did not litter the playground, and funds were allocated smartly.  On the other hand, these are the challenges that have inspired me to wake up every morning.  These are the children who, more than ever, need an adult to show them a moral compass, or to give just a few words each day of encouragement and belief.  What I found in my new job, was not much different.

Although I do not witness the lack of concern and care for children at the degree that I did while working in the inner-city, I still work with children who have less involved parents, or children who have other emotional needs.  Luckily for me, I am able to continue to work with the most struggling readers, as that it what has always driven me in my career.

When I left my city career I worried that I would leave a part of me in it.  I now realize that I hope this is the case.  I pray that some of those children on the streets hear my voice and make a right decision when put in a tough situation, or more importantly, hear me telling them that they can achieve anything they put their mind to.  It has been an honor to have the opportunity to work in schools, struggles and all, because those are the experiences that build character.   I left a piece of me in each of the 250+ students I taught over 9 years.  More so, those children have become a piece of the teacher that I am today. 

For those of you who have read Tuesdays With Morrie, you understand the impact a teacher can have in the life of a person.  You also understand how a student can impact the life of a teacher.

So, let's take Teacher Appreciation Week to a new level; let's appreciate teachers for who they are and what they do.  As students, parents, and community members, let's understand the value of appreciation.  We all know it, crave it, and share it. 

I appreciate Cohen's insight into teacher appreciation.  It's more than getting a mug, a chocolate flower, or a card.  It's about the child's hug that comes with that mug, the love that was involved in picking out the right flower, and the parent's heartfelt message in the card thanking the teacher for taking such care with their child.

Let's make this expression of appreciation a commonality.  Not only will we foster happier teachers, but we'll grow our own hearts.  Studies of high performing countries shows that they value their teachers more than any other profession.  They foster their growth, development, and confidence by supporting them.  Cohen offers simple suggestions of showing ongoing teacher appreciation.  In case you don't read the entire article, I'm putting his words below.  Try it out today with a teacher in your life.  Until then, be kind to one another.  Appreciate one another.

The following is taken from:

Unpacking the Meaning of Appreciation

May 9, 2012

by David B. Cohen

• No more jokes about finishing our work at 3:00 and having summers off.  We work more hours per year than most people, and for less pay than similarly educated and trained professionals.  Over the years, my second shift of teaching-related work typically has started at 9:00 p.m., and it’s not unusual to send work-related emails close to midnight and get a response from a colleague that night, or before 8:00 a.m.  (Note – I actually think that’s a weakness rather than a virtue, but I’m looking for appreciation in the sense of understanding, not gratitude).
• No more missionary or martyr complexes.  Yes, we care about the future and the children.  But if accountability is a term that means anything in education, it must be reciprocated.  If teachers are accountable, so is the public.  Give us the resources to do the job you expect (or maybe you already do – which would be a rather inconvenient truth).  Appreciate that we cannot build and sustain the profession, or the education system, if we demand excessive sacrifices of our dedicated and energetic teachers, young or old or in between.  It makes a great narrative for a while, until the teacher burns out, moves on, or ends up divorced.
• No more generalizations about our failing schools.  Appreciate the complexity of the situation: while there’s much work to be done in modernizing and improving schools, simplifications make our work harder.  Failing schools are not so easy to recognize, especially from the outside.  To the extent that we attach labels and then begin ranking schools, we fail to appreciate the differences among schools, the strengths of “failing” schools and the weaknesses of our “best” schools.  The label “failing” is becoming increasingly empty of meaning as No Child Left Behind limps onwards despite its flaws.  Teachers who work in “failing” schools are unfairly stigmatized for problems mostly beyond their control, and teacher turnover becomes a cycle that harms students and is hard to break.

Read Cohen's article HERE.

NBC News: Teacher Town Hall Takes Place In Chicago

Merit pay, large class sizes, testing, frivolous programs, and much more discussed at this NBC town hall!

Watch Video HERE.

"To ask us to sacrifice what we know what's best for our students is frustrating, ridiculous, and angers us everyday."

Jennifer Johnson weighs in at minute 40:00 (there's a brief news clip prior)

In A Nutshell

Click HERE to read the article.

I do not have anything to add and have little to comment on with this article.  Is speaks what I believe.  It touches on may of the topics of blogged about.  It is refreshing to read an article that bluntly states the facts and considers all factors; the blame game, politics, reform programs, inappropriate spending, and comparison across countries.  

Enjoy the article!

Politics of Education

By Dr. Brad Johnson and Tammy Maxson McElroy

School Reform

I have an administrator who understands that educators are facing more uphill battles than ever, as well as encourages us to look past them when making students' needs priority.  Recently, my administrator made a bold statement that poverty is not the cause of our problems in the classroom, as much as we want to blame it (paraphrase).  I wholeheartedly disagree and, in juxtaposition, believe poverty is the cause of many challenges in education.  However, while reading research about the effects of poverty on education, I decided to take a different approach and reviewed research and articles discussing solutions, rather than causes, for faults in education.  Enter the Education Policy Research Unit at Arizona State University.

Because there is such emphasis on quick reform, research has yet to catch up and become available to lawmakers, therefore "School reform is, therefore, frequently debated in an environment that is long on emotion and short on hard data".  These policymaker meetings because emotional and reactionary.  Focusing not on our reactions, but on what is working in successful schools is what needs to guide new policies for reform.  I note that when comparing successful and underperforming schools, poverty will expose itself. Research that may guide policymakers' reform ideas include, but are not limited to, early education, poverty, teacher effectiveness (taking into factors outside of student test results in relation to teacher performance), and class size.  

Bottom line, our approach to thinking about what reform is needs to be reformed.  Reform is not a cookie-cutter solution and will not work for every district, or even every school.  That is precisely why education is not (yet) a corporation.  Students are individuals and they come with varying experiences which affect their educational motivation and progress.  Schools attempt to intervene positively.  So when reviewing reform strategies, whatever reform considerations taken into account, I wish to see those involved also take "(h)eeding about proposals that seem certain to waste funds".  By accepting that many factors weigh in and recognizing that reform is not a quick fix, but ongoing process, policymakers and educators can be more prepared to choose better reform routes and resources.

To read further discussion as well as specific research related to the above topics, please visit the article HERE.

The Great Debate

Watch the debate HERE.

Charter schools or public schools?  Fire teachers as a solution?  Resources are the solution?  Today's post is about a fascinating debate between Diane Ravitch and Geoffrey Canada.  The two go at it and cover a plethora of education-related topics.  Ravitch, who worked for the Bush administration, openly admits the mistake supporting a heightened focus on testing.  She uses her knowledge of research and a recent visit to Finland to back up her opinion that firing teachers and opening charter schools is the answer.  Canada uses his hands-on experience leading a charter school to back up his opinion that firing teachers and opening private-funded charter schools is the answer. 

The bottom line?  Poverty needs to be taken into account.  Poverty-stricken families have less access to resources.  From my experience teaching in a poverty-stricken urban school, some (not all) families do not appreciate the resources, nor education.  Their children engaged in minimal 2-way conversation and are  neglected emotionally and physically.  The children are not read to every night, homework demands little concern, and when the parents come into the school they think it appropriate to cuss at both the children and adults in the school.  Obviously, there are many hard-working parents who value education.  Sadly though, there are not enough of them for me to be able to paint a prettier picture.  As Ravitch once said, "The education system in this country cannot alone solve poverty, and in many cases it will inherently reflect poverty."

How is Canada's solution of firing teachers or closing schools going to solve the issue?  The same children and families in the neighborhood will still be there, as will the poverty.  What exactly do standardized tests tell us?  We already know which kids are going to pass and which kids will fail...it's about poverty.  You can put 'great' teachers in impoverished schools and the kids will improve.  Great teachers will do that.  However, these teachers are not superheros and will not be able to close the education gap between the poverty-stricken and wealthy students.  As long as poverty exists, the gap will exists, and we have to stop blaming teachers for poverty!  America, including Geoffrey Canada, needs to advert our attention to the impact of poverty on education. 

Debunking the Myth: Schools Are Failing Our Students

Is summer setting American students behind?  According to Karl Alexander, yes.  Summer is a time for fun in the sun, but it is hurting low-income students more than children of middle and upper-income statuses,  John Hopkins University's research (Karl Alexander) follows the progress of 650 first graders in Baltimore.  They scored low, middle, and upper income students in math and reading skills from the beginning of the school year to the end, then from summer to the following September.

When looking at the data, the students do not have significant score differences, with the high income students having a 32 point advantage over the low-income 1st grade students.  When the students are in 5th grade the gap more than doubled (low-income = 461, high-income = 534).  Alexander's research confirms what other research shows; that high income children are not smarter, but have circumstantial advantages.  Because of these advantages, his research proves it is not the schools that are failing children.

Alexander gave the students the test in September, then June, then September again.  What he found was low-income children actually outperformed high-income children by 5 points during the school year.  So, all children are learning while in school.  Then there is the data from after students were on their summer vacation.  This is where the "achievement gap" shows itself.  The high-income children return to school in September scoring 15 more points, compared to the previous June's score.  The low-income children dropped 4 points.  In summary, "(P)oor kids learn nothing when school is not in session."

So why is this happening?  It comes down to culture of parenting (See The Outliers).  High-income children are put in educational settings and conversations throughout the summer, whereas low-income children do not have access to such settings.  Their parents may not afford a caretaker to take them to special summer programs.  They may not have access to find such programs, nor transportation to get the child to and from them.  Additionally, research (i.e. 3,000 Word Gap and others) shows low-income parents typically talk at their students rather than having a conversation with them.  High-income children are taught to converse and question, resulting in higher-order thinking.

So what can we do to decrease this summer achievement gap?  There is the conversation of year-round schools and/or extending the school day.  Yet there is more to it, we need to intersect the cycle where it really matters.  First, we need to address the culture of young parents.  Often, men in low-income cultures are proud to have multiple children from multiple mothers.  This leaves children without a male role model.  It also means many young females are playing the role of a parent without knowing the extent of their responsibilities.  If we can reach these young parents while the child is in the womb, we can begin to positively affect the next generation.  We may never reverse the idea that it's acceptable to have children while in high school and continued education is not needed, or not an option.  But we can try by intervening with the generation still in the womb and the mothers who carry them.  We need to stop the cycle of passivity and teach these mothers how to advocate for their child, read to them, feed them properly, and mentally engage them when they are outside of school.  Many programs currently exist with these goals in mind.