The Middle School Slump: Who's Slumping?

            After reading about the drop in student achievement that students experience when transitioning to middle school for class (http://educationnext.org/stuck-in-the-middle/), I couldn’t help but wonder about teacher retention in the middle grades. Everyone knows that middle grade students face tremendous physical, social, and emotional change, as well as a corresponding decline in academic achievement. As a middle school teacher, I wonder, what impact does this have on teacher retention?

            I work at a K-8 public school, but the grades are separated among three different buildings. In the middle school building where I teach, more than 60% of the staff were new teachers last year. After speaking with the only veteran teacher in the 200+ student middle school building, last year was no different than the five years before that. The majority of the lower-grades are, conversely, staffed veteran teachers that have become fixtures in the school community. I had a hunch this was a citywide, if not nationwide, trend, and after reading several articles about teacher retention, this is what I found: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/17/education/17middle.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.      

According to the article, middle school teachers do, in fact, have higher attrition rates than elementary or high school teachers in several urban districts. Teacher attrition rates are alarmingly high, in general, but it appears that middle school teachers leave school systems at slightly higher rates than their counterparts in other grades. While the article acknowledges the challenges of middle school student volatility, rising violence, and slumps in achievement, especially in urban areas, it focuses primarily on teachers. The author praises the unique personality traits of career-long middle school teachers, such as great senses of humor and grit. She also examines the lack of teacher preparation focusing on the middle grades. Teacher personalities and teacher preparation matter, but what about school structure? Does a K-8 model have higher teacher retention rates than a 6-8?

Much more than this, I wonder, what about our students? What do students at this developmental age need to succeed in school? I think that this highly social and self-conscious, identity-searching subgroup of students needs to quit being shoved into existing models that are clearly failing them. If we start asking ourselves what it is these students need, instead of how to make the current situation better, we will likely be faced with needs that require bold and revolutionary changes in our mindsets, our curriculums, our classrooms, and our schools, not just our teachers.

Closing a Neighborhood School

When Baltimore City's 10-year plan was released, I noticed that the high school across the street from my elementary-middle -- Northwestern -- was slated to close in 2 years. I don't know much about what goes on at Northwestern. I do know that many of my students have older siblings who attend, mostly big sisters who are lovely people and who seem to have a parental role in my students' lives. I also know that even before the announcement that Northwestern would be closed, my seventh grade student (whose sister attends the school) vowed that she would "do anything" to avoid attending Northwestern.

A few weeks ago the Baltimore Sun reported that Northwestern alumni are suing the city over the school closure. The reasons for the closure are what you might expect: poor state of facilities, low student achievement, and "24 percent utilization rate of space in the school." Indeed, according to MD Report Card, the MSA pass rates in all subjects and grades are below 53%, and the school population has decreased by half over the past ten years.

The alumni association argues that it would be more cost-effective to renovate the school, citing several projects that have already been completed (new tennis courts, repaving) that seem to have been overlooked in the city's report. Perhaps more importantly, the alumni believe that "the plan is discriminatory because shuttering the institution would disproportionately affect low-income, minority students" in Northwest Baltimore. Neighborhood students will not have the option of attending this local school. The nearest option would be Forest Park high school in the Gwynn Oak neighborhood.

Northwestern is a neighborhood institution. It was founded in 1966 and has served the Fallstaff community continuously since then. There are strong ties between Northwestern and Fallstaff Elementary-Middle across the street; students often come back to my school to visit their old teachers. Friends who teach at non-neighborhood schools - charters mostly - complain that the underlying pride that comes with attending a neighborhood school is lacking in their schools Their students come from all over the city, and there is no common sense of community. I think there is a definite benefit to local, neighborhood schools that draw from a particular community, and this benefit will be lost with the closing of Northwestern.

On the other hand: Northwestern is clearly failing on many levels. It has 691 students roaming around a school that once housed 1400. The students at neighborhood middle schools dream of leaving Northwest Baltimore to attend City, Poly, Western, and Dunbar. They willingly travel across town on city buses to escape a worse fate at Northwestern. The idea of a neighborhood school is very appealing to me, but I must admit that Northwestern can no longer be an neighborhood institution if it is seen as a last resort by students applying to high school. I understand the pleas of alumni who are fighting to save their school, but I think we must face the reality that this school is seriously in decline. Maybe closure is not the answer, but I doubt that this school holds the same level of value in the community as it used to in its heyday.

Link:  http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/education/blog/bs-md-ci-northwestern-closure-lawsuit-20130222,0,1299917.story

Barry Manilow Wants More Instruments in Baltimore City

I recently read that Barry Manilow, (yes, the singer), donated his Yamaha piano to Baltimore City Public Schools. It also said than anyone who donates an instrument at the 1st Mariner Arena Box Office will get a free ticket to Barry’s concert on April 20th.

I truly commend his efforts. I do. But I can’t help but think that somehow these instruments will never get used, or they will be destroyed and that there won’t be a music teacher to teach our students how to use them. In a school system that increasingly cares about tests and graduation rates, the arts programs are being cut. And in general, it’s not because of a lack of instruments, it’s because schools don’t want to pay music teacher salaries. This happened at my school this fall. We had a music teacher, he was awesome, and the students loved him. But our students were robbed of this opportunity because our school didn’t want to pay him anymore.

I have a $5000 Promethean board in my classroom but have not been able to use it all year because the tech people at my school will not provide me with the cords that connect to my computer. I also called the tech people at City Schools and they said they would call me when the cords would be available to pick up. They never called. And I called back and they had no idea what I was talking about.

In terms of resources, we’re almost there, but until we actually care about teaching students and providing the support staff that will allow us to educate our students, instruments and fancy tools may not work. We can secure donations, we can secure technology grants, but we can’t secure belief in the arts. 

The story on Barry Manilow: http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2013/03/02/barry-manilow-donates-new-piano-to-benefit-baltimore-schools/

The Role of Nutrition in City Schools

            Baltimore City Schools are making progress to prioritize nutrition in education. Great Kids Farms, the Baltimore City Schools farm, provided our school with materials to jump-start our garden, including seedlings, compositing supplies, and education materials for experiential learning. We also received a salad bar for the cafeteria as a reward for submitting proper FARMS paperwork; better yet, students are actually eating at it. Just taking a quick stroll around the cafeteria, I can see the improvement from last year in the nutritional value of the food on students’ plates, which sometimes comes straight from our own garden.

            Despite the positive change, this progress ends once students walk out the school doors. I see throngs of students stopping at McDonalds on the way to the bus stop, or picking up a party size bag of hot Cheetos while walking home. In a homeroom activity earlier in the year involving food logs, over half the students reported having one or more fried foods for dinner, despite acknowledging them as unhealthy. Although these eating habits lead to a long list of negative effects, including obesity and diabetes, I discovered an overwhelmingly simple cause when I asked students why they eat these unhealthy foods.

“I don’t know how to cook.”

            So, the next step to ensuring students have access to three healthy meals a day: teach them how to cook. The Teen Battle Chef program is an after school club that teaches students nutrition, food safety, cultural background of foods, and, of course, cooking skills. Teen Battle Chef uses a similar layout to competitive cooking shows such as Iron Chef by giving students recipes which they have to prepare for the entire group and complete a presentation for all, including the judges. Now in our fourth week of the program, the shift in attitudes toward healthy foods and cooking is impressive. Fifteen students went from thinking all peppers are spicy to chopping and snacking on bell peppers and hummus. A solitary student had tried mussels and attested to that “they taste as bad as they smell;” by the end of the class there were no leftovers. Although it is only one program at one school with only a small subset of kids, I can see fundamental changes in perceptions of healthy foods. Hopefully, students will spread their knowledge to family and friends, and programs like Teen Battle Chef will continue to not only give students healthy meals, but lifelong healthy eating habits.

For more information on the Teen Battle Chef program, check out the website: http://www.familycookproductions.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=42&Itemid=45

Factors Influencing Job Satisfaction and Teacher Retention: A Supportive Administration and Content Teams, Relationships with Colleagues, and Frequent Positive Adult Interaction

            Having a supportive administration is definitely a huge factor in a teacher’s satisfaction and in teacher retention. I do think the principal is a huge difference maker as they set the vision and the tone for school culture and can create a positive supportive, culture or a negative, threatening culture. They also have to communicate the goals of the school and how staff actions help the staff to reach the goals. However, I think we need to widen our definition of administration and not solely focus on the role of the principal, as that is a lot of pressure for a principal as one blogger noted, and, if one works in a large school, it is a lot to expect a principal to have a strong relationship with every teacher. I think that the assistant principals and the department heads have an ability to make or break a teacher’s experience and feeling of support within the school environment as well.

            Though I do not interact that frequently with my principal, because she is very busy, I have a strong relationship with my Department Head and that has made a huge difference in my personal job satisfaction. I feel like I have a mentor and someone who “has my back,” which provides an important element of security. When we were discussing what we want from our principals and administrators during class, we said we wanted to feel supported and that we wanted better communication and more transparency about why we have to do certain tasks. I realized, upon reflection, that my Department Head does a very good job of making you feel supported and appreciated, because she is very quick to say thank you for any extra work she asks you to do. She makes an effort to ask how you are personally before getting to business, so that we have built a friendship over the last two years. I also realized, that she is very transparent about why we need to complete certain tasks, especially when the tasks do not seem important and are tasks that are required by the district and which do not appear to link to increased student achievement. I know that I can go to her if I have a quick question about a lesson plan or need advice on classroom management. Our positive relationship has been influential in my decision to remain at my school next year and continue teaching, because I feel like I am a part of a team and that I will continue to learn from her next year.

             As one blogger noted in her post on “Blended Learning,” teachers can often feel isolated during the day when they spend all of their day with their students. For this reason, I do feel that positive adult interaction during the day can lead to increased job satisfaction, as I know this has been the case for me. My Department Head and I had opportunities to co-teach for a few days to prepare students for the HSA, and, while co-teaching does not always work because the team is not a strong team, because we were a team it made such a huge difference having another adult in the room while teaching. My stress was lower, because I knew there was someone else to help teach small group or deal with a management issue. It also meant that you did not have to waste class time to deal with management issues, as one blogger noted, because having two teachers in the classroom helped management a lot. However, even when we are not co-teaching, which is the majority of the time, we interact daily, at least once if not more, which has also had an impact on my job satisfaction.

            Not only do I have a positive relationship with my Department Head, but I also have good relationships with other colleagues in the building, which definitely influenced my decision to stay in the classroom for another year as well. I know that a few of my peers who have chosen to leave the classroom next year have expressed frustration with the lack of collegiality between colleagues and dissatisfaction with a department head or an administrator, as opposed to dissatisfaction with their students and with teaching as a whole.

           On the contrary, my days are still often challenging in the classroom, and I cannot say that I like teaching every day, because certain classes and certain students give me management challenges every day. Interestingly enough, these management challenges are less prevalent for some of my peers who are at higher-performing schools yet who still desire to leave the classroom due to a dissatisfaction with their administration. I feel like I am learning and growing as a teacher and that I am a part of a team that is working towards a goal and that we are making progress with regards to solving problems that affect some of the lower-performing schools and that gives me motivation to say one more year.

So, is it the kids or the adults that actually push teachers out of the classroom?

Top Public Schools in America: Are They Missing the Point?

What does it take to be one of the best public schools in America?  U.S. Weekly recently started rating public schools the in the same way that it has been helping high-school graduates decide which college is the best.  So what does it take to be the best? 

Looking at the list almost all schools have partnered with a university, college, or community college in order to provide classes that award college credit.  A few offer tracks that students can take, similar to a major in college or have a focus such as STEM or art.  Overall, it seems that most of the top performing schools are structured very similarly to a college. 

My next question is how did they get there?  Do these schools have teachers who’ve earned their Ph.D.?  Do teachers make more money?  Are the communities affluent and supportive?  What models have they created that can benefit the schools that didn’t make the list?

I took a closer look at the top school, Dallas’ Schools for the Talented and Gifted and wanted to know what made it so special.

First, let’s look at the demographics.  It’s located in a predominately Hispanic neighborhood with an average income of about $22,800 per year compared to over $40,000 in the rest of the state.  So I feel safe in saying it’s not because of the resources of the community when they’re earning almost half of the rest of the state attending schools that did not make the list.   

So, what about the teachers?  After browsing a few teacher profiles, none that I saw had Ph.D.’s but almost all had been recognized in the state for their teaching efforts and successes.  All of the teachers had more than 10 years of experience.   This is potentially noteworthy.  Looking inward, the teachers at my school average less than 10 (most less than 5 years).  Only 2 have been teaching more than 10 years and the number of years that the upper grades (6 teachers) have COMBINED are just around 20 years.  Perhaps the answer lies in the number of years teachers have been in the classroom.  However, we know that teachers tend to stay in a functional and high-performing school so which came first here?

Lastly, let’s look at the curriculum and expectations.  Talented and Gifted is a magnet school which means students have to apply to get in.  There are currently only a few openings in 10^th, 11^th, and 12^th grade.  There are 65 openings in 9^th grade.  How do you get in?  Well, just like applying for college, you had better built up your resume before the age of 15.  There are several conditions for acceptance, especially if you are looking for fill the 1 spot left for 11^th grade.  I hope those tween years were productive! 

Overall, I wonder if the Talented and Gifted School in Dallas has missed the point of public education.  How can a school be rated the best if they require applications for entrance?  Any city, and all cities, has utilized different school models to become the best public school.  However, if these models are not available to everyone, haven’t we just created a private school using public finances?