Time to Get Real?

This season's issue of American Educator claims on its cover to have the answers that are needed to provide "Real Support for Really Struggling Schools." The article inside, which is titled, "Get Real," describes five parts of the solution for helping "poor children, their teachers, and their schools." Though none of the ideas are new and the article doesn't actually address how to achieve its suggestions, I did find the plans refreshing in several ways. First of all, everything that the author Antonia Cortese recommended reflects a solid understanding of the necessity to address the basics, such as developing a positive culture of respectful student behavior, early interventions for struggling readers, and allocating enough staff, time, and resources to the neediest schools. She does not try to pretend that the miracle solution will be putting technology in every classroom or shifting the size or composition of classes or investing in high dollar curricula. Instead, she describes realistic circumstances and sticks to the challenges that most need to be addressed.

Another aspect of the article that I appreciated greatly was its attitude towards teachers. Though Cortese did list high quality teachers as its first requirement, she recognizes that it is unreasonable to expect high quality teachers to stay in conditions that make their jobs next to impossible. She also argues that these teachers should be offered incentives and compensation for their work, as well as offered opportunities to advance within the system and take on more responsibilities along the way. To me, these suggestions reflect shifting how we conceptualize teaching and the potential for professional growth without seeking employment in a different field.

The final piece of this article argues that students need a knowledge-rich, grade-by-grade, core curriculum. Cortese points out that students need an enormous amount of background knowledge in order to comprehend more advanced material. She believes that limiting or cutting out completely the time dedicated to science, social studies, and the arts is detrimental to students even if the time is used for increasing reading and math skills. I absolutely agree with Cortese, which might reflect my bias as a high school social studies teacher, but I genuinely believe that children need to have instruction in a wide variety of disciplines from the beginning of their education. I am constantly shocked at what my students do not know. The majority of my students come to my class not knowing even basic geography or history. I have 16 year olds who cannot name the 7 continents, let alone place them on a map. They do not know that there are 50 states in the U.S. They do not know that Native Americans lived here before the pilgrims came. They do not know that the North defeated the South in the Civil War, nor do they know why the two sides were fighting. I would imagine that science teachers face the same basic deficiencies in prior knowledge. I understand the need for remediation in reading or in math, but I also believe that if it is at the expense of science and social studies instruction, ultimately, the child will be put at a severe disadvantage in his or her future studies.

Even if everyone could agree on what is needed to support low-income schools, which I recognize is a huge "if," the real obstacle to improvement is facilitating those solutions. Every one of Cortese's suggestions would take significant resources, both financial and human, and she recognizes that carrying out her plan would take a huge commitment. When listing the people that would need to cooperate, Cortese includes everyone from parents to the President. Despite the challenges and despite the costs, I believe that Cortese is on the right track.

Solutions for Middle Schools

As an 8th grade teacher, I was excited (and simultaneously filled with cynicism) to see a headline on the Baltimore Sun's Education page titled "Plan Targets Middle Schools." The article notes that more than a third of high school freshman currently have a D average, or are failing in Anne Arundel County. This alarming percentage led a task-force to look closely at where middle schools are falling short in preparing students for high school, and what can be done to improve them.

I find myself overwhelmed with this question on a daily basis-- how can we make our middle schools places that provide students with intellectually rigorous curricula and character-development skills to transition smoothly through their adolescence and confidently enter high school? In conversations with friends and colleagues, we lament that our middle schools are just the opposite. Students aren't given basic responsibilities (they must walk in lines, have few bathroom breaks) and teachers don't feel like they have support or resources to handle disruptions (in-school suspension, consistent administrative backing). I'm not saying anything you haven't heard/felt before. Ok, maybe we'll always have to line 8th graders up and walk them to lunch. What I feel is more heartbreaking is the absence of incentives for middle school kids-- clubs, sports, honors classes, electives (other than health and remedial reading), guest speakers, meaningful field trips-- parts of school that make them feel valued and that school is something to care about.

The study in Anne Arundel County yielded results for improving middle schools that many of us would see as obvious: a longer school day, smaller class sizes, "beefed-up" social studies & science curricula, and more social workers, counselors & security personnel. The Anne Arundel County superintendent responded that a longer school day would be tricky to negotiate with union contracts, but the other suggestions would help create a more "personal" school environment. He cited the success of high school advisories and academy programs within larger high schools that make students feel personally connected to their school, and valued members of the community.

If middle schools adopted the same concept- instilling responsibility in students by making them feel personally valued in school- I believe our 6th, 7th and 8th graders would better equipped to make good choices in the future.

To view the Baltimore Sun article, click here: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/education/bal-ar.middle23mar23,0,7267762.story?coll=bal-education-top

Ethics in Our Schools

With MSAs finishing up and HSAs just around the corner, students and teachers in Baltimore City are all anxious about testing. These high-stakes testing programs have caused debate over their authenticity, their effects on curriculum, and the weight that they carry. The Baltimore Sun recently pointed out, however, that we also must consider the ethical violations that seem to be on the rise with the trend towards high-stakes testing.

According to the article, last year in Maryland there were several reports of teacher-led cheating in Carroll and Charles counties. Across the country, teachers and administrators have been caught giving students answers, changing answers and forging test papers to increase their test scores in order to make adequate yearly progress. The rise in unethical behavior has paralleled the implementation of No Child Left Behind Act and its increased emphasis on test scores. This increase has led to the need for monitors to ensure that tests are given securely.

This article raises the question—what else is being handled unethically in our schools? I would argue that student disciplinary measures have also been compromised. Administrators, teachers and security personnel may be turning their heads or inappropriately handling violent misbehavior to avoid having their school labeled as “persistently dangerous”. Attendance records are also falsified—if a student is seen in the building but never in class, is he present? He is if you are trying to make AYP. While these two examples may seem minor in comparison with cheating on a high-stakes test, to me they represent larger problems within our system. If we, as adults, as leaders, cannot hold ourselves to the most basic of ethical principles, how can we bring about positive change for our children? The results so far seem alarmingly clear.

You can read The Baltimore Sun article here: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.cheating21mar21,1,4025619,print.story

Will a new leader bring achievement to our students?

As we are anticipating, it will soon be time for the Baltimore School Board to choose a new leader for our school system. The question is, will this leader be another one of the same mold as Copland or Cooper Boston or will this leader be a component of a larger form of school reform?

As I was reading the editorial, “A New Approach to city schools CEO” in the Baltimore Sun, I was again struck at how a seemingly simple decision, a hiring of one person, can completely reshape or continue the cataclysm in our schools. The editorial suggests the same concepts that have been discussed in panels and in the reform class. The School System needs to hire a CEO that knows how to be a CEO. They need to look at people who are successful at running businesses, not classrooms or schools. They need to find someone who has a vision for the school system and is able to carry it through.

However, I have my doubts. As much as I feel that we need a strong, dynamic, new leader. How much will this really change things? Will they be able to stay in the position long enough to be more than a catalyst, if that? How much power does the CEO have?

With a school system that changes CEOs as frequently as one might change their undergarments, I feel the main goal of the school board should be to look for a candidate that is in this for the long haul. A leader who will not only kick off new programs, partnerships, and initiatives, but also see them through until they can be claimed as a complete failure by all or a success by a few. Another quality I feel is overlooked is a leader who values their employees, especially those considered at the bottom of the barrel, like teachers.

HSAs!

While hurriedly searching the Internet for information about Baltimore City schools, I came upon an article from the Baltimore Sun about apparent growing concern over the HSA testing requirements for a diploma in 2009. The article contains the usual talking points: the need for high standards versus the validity of having four tests determine the outcome of 13+ years of school; how to make the tests fairer for students with disabilities and students with limited English proficiency; lawmakers versus the school board; etc. There was also a one-liner about the abysmal passing rates of Black and Latino students: “Critics also note that larger numbers of [sic] blacks and Hispanics are failing the tests.” That, apparently, about sums it up for the Baltimore Sun (no need to look any farther into that statement, now is there).

But the most interesting and, in my opinion, the most entertaining part of the article was the final section on remedial help. The article notes that students who fail to pass the HSA the first time are often enrolled in remedial HSA mastery courses the following year. Apparently, there have been concerns about students missing out on elective opportunities so that they can retake classes that they found difficult or boring the first time. What I find so amusing (darkly amusing, mind you), is that people actually think that it is valid to criticize remedial coursework in algebra, biology, government, and English, when tests show that these specific students have not mastered the material taught in those courses. In my opinion (and in my experience), many of the students who reach high school in Baltimore City NEED remedial courses in these subjects, and if failing the HSA is how they’re going to get it, so be it. Now, I don’t discount the need for student-selected courses of study to broaden the educational experience, but really, if the city is waiting until high school to implement remedial courses in core subject areas, what do we, as educators, really expect? Parents and students SHOULD be heated about missed opportunities to study African literature and AP Chemistry, but they should be more heated that there weren’t opportunities to catch up in core subjects before high school rolled around. Imagine if students were on grade level in everything (or even in three of the four subject areas) before they got to high school? I’m sure the testing and the remedial courses wouldn’t be seen as so much of a problem.

What I also found interesting was the discussion of how teachers affect student’s scores on the HSAs. Someone pointed out that if a student had a bad teacher in a tested subject, they wouldn’t stand a very good chance of passing the HSA in that subject. I found myself thinking that I could only HOPE that the only year my students had a bad teacher was one year in the one HSA tested subject that they needed to graduate. We all know that the 40% pass rate in Baltimore City is not due to that one biology, algebra, government, or English II teacher. Our students don’t pass because of accumulated years of schools that consistently don’t meet their needs. I, for one, happen to think that a remedial course or two is the least we can do to make up for all of those lost years of basic instruction in core subjects, even if it ends up being a little boring for the students in question.

If you’d like to read the article yourself, here’s the link: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/education/bal-te.md.tests12mar12,0,2353768.story?page=1&coll=bal-education-k12 .

Is the achievement gap a result of apathy?

When I opened my Baltimore Sun this morning I wasn’t surprised to see a bold headline that read “SCHOOL SYSTEM FLUNKS REPAIR.” Having taught in the city for two years and seeing the continued failure of our city schools, I figured it was just another public exposure of the poor conditions we deal with on a daily basis. However, I was even more shocked to see that this article was about Baltimore County schools. County schools are far from perfect, and having had the opportunity to observe a couple of classes in some of the “leading” county high schools, I know that the magic that happens there isn’t much greater than the magic that happens in our very own classrooms. What angered me most about this article was seeing the ever-growing disparities in expectations between the education systems of Baltimore City and County.

County officials are outraged by the horrible conditions of their schools, which they believe ultimately hinder their students’ academic achievement. Travesties like rusty bathroom stalls, poor climate control, and stained or missing ceiling tiles are causing uproar by a team of auditors. As the article reports, the County Executive said, “That [the school system] would institutionalize such a low standard of expectation is a real concern to me,” in regards to the published list of “noteworthy deficiencies” that the auditing team found. This list includes things like “books stored near hot-water pipes,” “an electrical outlet in need of repair” at an elementary school, and “warped window blinds” at a high school.

County officials should be upset that the children they serve aren’t getting the best of the best. My question then is, why aren’t city officials more upset about the conditions of our schools? Is it maybe because we don’t even have books, working electrical outlets, or window blinds to get angry over? Or is it because our system faces such greater problems that the facility concerns aren’t even on the radar? I really don’t mean to sound bitter or overly sarcastic (though I know I do), but how can such disparities between neighboring systems go unnoticed or at least kept so quiet? This just goes to show that the achievement gap exists far beyond the low-performing student population we serve or the poor neighborhoods from which they come – it exists because so few people care. And I guess that’s where we come in, with the challenge to care in Charm City.

Read the March 19 Baltimore Sun article, "School system flunks repairs," here:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-md.co.audit19mar19,1,5755985.storyv

Is it really that bad? No, it's worse.

Graduation rates in Baltimore City are always a hot topic. I have lived in the DC/Baltimore area for almost 9 years and have always heard the statistic that Baltimore City's graduation rate consistently teeters around the 50% mark. This is terrible, and does not demonstrate the change the city needs in order to grow and improve. If 50% is bad, then 38.5% is horrendous. The latter and the lower percentage for graduation rates in Baltimore City was published by USA Today in 2006 based on 2002-2003 data (which was the most recent at the time.) Why the discrepancy of approximately 12.5%? Well, USA Today explains that typically graduation rates are calculated based on the number of students who drop out. The study done by USA Today did not use drop out rates, instead it focused on students who entered the 9th grade and then successfully graduated on time, in 4 years, and received a standard diploma. Basically, only every third student who enters a BCPSS school in 9th grade has a probability of graduating on time and receiving a diploma. That is terrible. Now, that Baltimore City has the 4 years and out rule for high school students (meaning they do not allow students to repeat grades or recover classes except in summer or twilight school), I believe using actually graduation data instead of drop out data is much more accurate. As the first senior class of school #430 is getting ready to graduate this year, we have a sizeable group of 12th graders who have not dropped out, but will not graduate either, because they lack the 21 credits needed to graduate. By the old method, these students would not have been calculated in the statistic.

So, what are we doing? Where are we going? Statistics like this make me want to pull my hair out. On one hand, being a teacher is amazing, because you do rule the world in your own classroom, and if you work hard enough you can definitely affect change...in your own classroom. And you should feel good about that, but it is also too easy to get caught up in that and to lose sight of the bigger problems at large. It's going to take more than a group of good teachers and a few good schools to turn this system around. Hell, at the moment, I believe even if you had an "excellent" and highly qualified teacher in every classroom in Baltimore City it still would not be enough to turn the city around. It's not just about education reform, because it is not enough. The standard of living in urban cities needs to be reformed and improved. I used to think poverty and lack of a good education was sort of a chicken or the egg scenario, but I do not anymore. You cannot change one without influencing the other. Both cycles must be broken in the urban environment before we will see a significant change/improvement in either issue.

Here is the link to the USA Today Article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2006-06-20-dropout-rates_x.htm