Commodore John Rodgers: A story of Title 1 funding

The entryway to Commodore John Rodgers Elementary School, located in the Butcher’s Hill neighborhood of east Baltimore, proudly displays their students who have perfect attendance and the latest school project of a certain grade level. Like the way I remember my own public elementary school, the hallways were decorated with brightly colored paper and the latest classroom artwork.

It was one of my favorite schools to visit when I moved to Baltimore in 2014 to work for an AmeriCorps program called The Choice Program. My team worked out of the Department of Social Services and served youth on the east side of Baltimore City who were considered at-risk of being placed in foster care. Part of my job was to visit a caseload of 15 youth at school twice a week, so I was able to view the daily workings of a number of mostly east Baltimore schools, and not all of them looked or felt as welcoming as Commodore John Rodgers.

It was somewhat shocking to learn from WYPR a couple weeks ago that in 2010 Commodore was one of the lowest ranked schools, not just in Baltimore, but in all of Maryland. The story explained that the school had applied and received a federal School Improvement Grant, which is often referred to as ‘turn-around funding’ and is available to all schools operating in the bottom 5 percent of the nation’s poorest schools. A new principal came in, armed with an extra $2 million a year, and was incredibly successful in turning the school around. So successful, in fact, that Commodore is no longer eligible for the extra funding.

The school specializes in accelerating learning for students who are levels behind where they need to be, as well as creating a school culture among students, parents and teachers. The youth I knew who was attending Commodore was two grades behind, and while she still struggled with math (mainly because it was her first class and getting to school on time was not her forte,) she did improve in English. She and her younger siblings also participated in several after school activities and sports, and her parents attended different nighttime shows and events at the school.

In my experience, it was one of the easier schools to meet with teachers or administration. The adults at the school seemed to really care about the students, and wanted them to succeed. Commodore had a different feeling to it than a lot of the Baltimore City schools I visited, and after hearing this story, the extra effort that went into the school seems centered around the additional funding.

It hasn’t been that long since Commodore received the additional funding, and dramatically improved test scores and decreased absenteeism. According to the article, Title 1 funding doesn’t work for every school that receives it, and then goes on to list several reasons why Commodore did succeed – a change in atmosphere, enrollment and absenteeism. But it doesn’t say what makes these changes different from a school that received funding and wasn’t so successful. Did that school just need more time? A better leader? More community involvement?

While there might not be one formula to turn-around our poorest schools, the principal of Commodore did bring up an interesting point at the end of his interview asking if “federal funds would be better spent fueling his school’s progress a little longer as opposed to being directed at an entirely new school.”

It is hard to know where Commodore will end up in the next 5 years. Will it keep it's high enrollment and attendance rates it's worked hard to obtain? And is it fair to continue to obligate funding while other schools have more of a need, and should be given the opportunity to succeed? The real test to Commodore's success is in the years ahead, without additional funding, rather than in the work they've accomplished since 2010 -- and whether or not they can keep their progress moving forward. 

Fixing failing schools: do school improvement grants build sustainable change

http://wypr.org/post/fixing-failing-schools-do-school-improvement-grants-build-sustainable-change#stream/0

The Anti-Charter School Movement

“The education system in this country has never worked for poor people and people of color.  We’re not calling for the status quo. We don't want things to continue as they’ve always done."

quote by Hiram Rivera, one of the BLM platform authors and executive director of the Philadelphia Student Union

Recently, there has been pushback against a bipartisan popular educational reform, namely, charter schools.  

Critics have focused on issues of poor oversight and regulation.  Lax enforcement of regulations have led to incidents of fraud, corruption and tax dollar waste such as covered on John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight episode on charter schools

Other critics have focused on charter schools’ use as a mechanism to increase segregation, and exasperate, rather than alleviate the current problems in public education.  As a result, the NAACP and the Movement for Black Lives recently called for a moratorium on charter schools.

The Movement for Black Lives announced a big, overarching educational policy that had many different components.  Their educational policy called for a moratorium on charter schools and school closures, equity in funding levels and for an end to Teach for America and Broad Superintendents Academy, as well as other, more controversial measures.  BLM Educational Policy

The NAACP also called for a moratorium on charter schools, however, their focus was just on charter schools, and not on other aspects of educational policy. News on NAACP moratorium on charter schools

There is some serious debate going on in response to this issue, however, it appears to be primarily from pro-charter lobby groups, which is to be expected: Questions Of Race And Charter Schools Divide Education Reformers

But what about families?  Vouchers, charters, and lotteries in low-performing districts are hotly contested and people come out in droves to get into a lottery.  However, research from 2014 suggests that "87% of parents with school-age children have sent a child to a public school, more than a quarter have made use of an alternative type of school: 14% have had a child in a private school, 9% a charter school and 8% have homeschooled their children.  The totals add up to more than 100% simply because many families are making use of more than one type of school." quote by Paul E. Peterson from Education Next

Families seem to want good, safe schools, with decent curriculum, conveniently located and filled with quality teachers.   That isn't something that only charter schools can offer.

 

The question is, why are charter schools so popular among politicians and so unpopular among civil rights groups?  Why is there such an appeal to the privatization of public education instead of educational reform from within the system?  In practice, does competition equate better educational opportunities for all?   Is there a middle ground of an extremely well-regulated charter school system that goes in tandem with the public school system?  What states have been able to figure it out?  

Maryland seems to be one of the few states with consistently successful charter schools because it is one of the most restrictive in the country.  Charter school teachers are public school employees and are unionized.  Only the local school board can authorize charter schools.  They are under strict oversight and regulation.  A majority of the charters are in Baltimore (34 out of 47), and many are "mom and pop" charters, meaning parents or former local educators founded them, as opposed to some of the larger national charter management organizations. 

Governor Hogan introduced a bill to try and give more freedom to charter schools in 2015.   It became extremely watered down, and what was passed into law, did not make the impact that the pro-charter interests were hoping.  The bill ended up granting "greater autonomy to charters that have demonstrated five years of success, and it provides for increased flexibility with student enrollment. The bill also authorizes the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) and the DLS to complete a study by the end of October 2016 to determine what a more appropriate figure should be for districts when it comes to commensurate funding." A New Course: Larry Hogan wants to change Maryland's unique charter school laws and bring in more charters, but will kids suffer?

Grading on a Curve in the Foreign Language Classroom

“But our Biology teacher grades on a curve, why can’t you Mademoiselle?” Students usually ask some variation of this question towards the end of first quarter. I should probably come up with a less dismissive answer, but I say, “I’ve never been in a foreign language class where the teacher grades on a curve.”

Let me really explain myself here. Over the years, it’s become clear to me that a grade curve does not belong in a foreign language class. It creates competition for an “A.” For the record, I teach at a Baltimore City public high school. In French level 1, the freshman are skeptical about learning a new language. Some even tell me they don’t speak English well enough, so how are they going to speak French? Through surveys, I’ve learned some students believe they’ll never leave the country to study abroad. Why learn French? Simply stated, in order to graduate from a Maryland public high school, two years of a language is needed. My goal as the teacher is to help fulfill this requirement, but to also teach how to communicate effectively in French. Ce n’est pas bon if the student doubts or doesn’t see the worth of the subject taught from the beginning. Furthermore, a grade curve can undermine class morale, and low class morale can lower student ability.

I realize a grade curve helps the student reflect on their performance in relation to all other students in the class. In an ideal world, students may take the class more seriously and study harder as they realize earning an “A” is limited. First, this isn’t the type of intrinsic motivation I want to instill. Second, I’m concerned about the students who aren’t motivated by the grade curve. The students who earn a “D” (in Baltimore City public schools 69 or below), even with the grade curve. For these students, their self-worth just took a hit. Competition, especially in the foreign language classroom, hinders an inclusive classroom environment. No support or cohesion in the classroom means basically no student participation. Language in the classroom is about production. This means skits, presentations, class discussions, small groups,  partner discussions, and choral readings to name a bunch of important activities.  

Avoiding grading on a curve doesn’t immediately encourage students to collaborate or support one another. It’s necessary to make sure students understand that every student has the opportunity to earn an “A.” Furthermore, students need to get to know each other as quickly as possible. Icebreakers may seem cheesy, but they’re vital if you want to build community. Students are more willing to speak French in front of their peers if they feel as if they’re part of the group.

Now that a level of competition is removed and a collaborative culture in the classroom exists, how do I extend it outside of instructional time? How do I get them to help one another?By helping one another, they’re teaching each other and that’s one of best ways to learn. I don’t want to continuously assign group assignments. The students don’t live close to one another. How do I teach the skill of group studying? At the university level, the author and professor of the class “built a collaborative culture with a reward system where one person’s success benefited someone else.” How do I replicate that in a high school foreign language class? I could try his tactic, “to pick the one question about which they were most unsure, and write down the name of a classmate who might know the answer — the equivalent of a lifeline on the game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” If the classmate got it right, they would both earn the points.” But what about writing or speaking assessments? This tactic works for multiple choice. I’m thinking about limiting time on group work in class, especially when working on skits. Groups need to be of mixed ability (high-low) and so the time limit challenges weak students, but also pushes strong students to finish. I can suggest they continue practicing during study hall, during coach class, or after-school in the school library. Then when it’s time for the interactive oral assessment (a one-on-one interview cued by an image), if the student doesn’t know how to respond and they say the name of a classmate who might answer correctly, they both could earn the points, if the classmate gets it right. I’ll have to try this and report back.

link to article: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/09/11/opinion/sunday/why-we-should-stop-grading-students-on-a-curve.html

Clashes of Culture: Racial Tensions in Integrating Schools

The Hair I Wear, The Skin I’m In: This Is Me. Please, Let Me Be.

Earlier this summer, students at the Pretoria High School for Girls clustered outside of their school’s towering gates to protest the school’s code of conduct that placed stringent limits on the ways in which the girls could wear their natural hair.

Several students reporting being ordered by school staff members to “fix” their hair. The recommended fixes—chemical straighteners and hot combs—were embarrassing and degrading to the African girls who perceived the school’s code of conduct as an obstruction of their cultural expression and identity. In an interview with NPR, Tiisetso Phetla, a recent graduate of the school, recounted how girls could be removed from class or excluded from assemblies as punishment for wearing their hair in an afro, “It was very difficult because they tell you that either you look barbaric or… to remove that nest off your head.”

Founded in 1902, the Pretoria High School for Girls, was an all-white school under apartheid, admitting its “first black, non-diplomatic pupils” in 1991. Phetla laments, “So you'd always be on the short end of the stick as a black child in the school or a mixed-race child because you were never included in the blueprint of the school when it started.” When girls at the school grew frustrated with the school’s attempt to dictate their hair in addition to discouraging them from speaking their native African languages, students began staging protests. The protests quickly went viral, sparking a national debate about the subtle and unsubtle ways that blacks are forced to conform to white culture.

After thousands signed an online petition supporting the Pretoria students, the head of the province’s education department organized meetings with students, parents and staff to address the students’ concerns. Soon after, the department ordered the suspension of the school’s controversial hairstyle code of conduct clause.

A Model For Baltimore City and County Schools

Multiple studies have shown the effectiveness of diversity on decreasing the achievement gap between minority and white student groups. However, integration is challenging and for schools strategizing new ways to compensate for increased minority enrollment, dialogue has proven to be a powerful tool for exploration and reconciliation.

Schools like Digital Harbor High in Baltimore City is one example of how thoughtful dialogue can be used as an vulnerary instrument in schools where shifting demographics lead to racial tensions. In 2014, the school’s growing Latino immigrant population faced ongoing conflict with the school’s dominant African American population. The mounting tension exploded into a weeklong procession of violence that culminated with the death of a student.

The following year, the school, along with a local Latino group called CASA de Maryland, started a program called SPIRIT to bring students together to find common ground, embrace their differences, and get to know each other. The group opens with an icebreaker before students begin answering questions about themselves that lead to honest dialogue about the students’ unique experiences and their perspectives on the challenges they face. So far, SPIRIT appears to be working and Digital Harbor High hopes to expand the model to other schools.

Final Thought

For those of us who champion integration and believe in its efficacy, we must also champion dialogue. When minority student groups enter schools with fixed cultures, rules, and social norms, there must be a safe space for those students to meet with their peers as well as stakeholders to raise their voices, questions, and concerns. Integration cannot be oversimplified and race relations cannot be overlooked. When a school’s demographics begin to shift, so should the school’s resources and staff, and ostensibly, so should its rules and policies.

From South Africa to Baltimore, Maryland, the effect of open dialogue between students, parents, and administrators is understanding, compromise and reconciliation. If Baltimore hopes to become a successful center of education, it must not look past integration and it must not neglect the dialogue that needs to accompany it. We must act before the protests erupt, before the violence catalyzes, before the lives are lost to create a culture of inclusion in our schools.

Sources:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/protests-over-black-girls-hair-rekindle-debate-about-racism-in-south-africa/2016/09/02/27f445da-6ef4-11e6-993f-73c693a89820_story.html#comments

http://www.npr.org/2016/09/04/492599435/girls-at-south-african-high-school-protesting-hair-and-language-bans

http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/09/06/492417635/a-ban-on-black-hairstyles-raises-deeper-issues-about-race

https://awethu.amandla.mobi/petitions/stop-racism-at-pretoria-girls-high?source=twitter-share-button

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/education/bs-md-county-school-year-20150818-story.html

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/sun-investigates/bs-md-ci-brown-v-board-20140511-story.html

http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-08-05/one-baltimore-school-students-are-easing-racial-tensions-learning-each-other

https://fsrn.org/2014/06/creating-common-ground-amid-racial-tensions-in-baltimore/

Determining Discipline

   “I went to Catholic school, and that kind of stuff did not fly there,” is a phrase that I repeatedly hear myself say when talking to my team members or teacher friends about students’ behavior and discipline.  When I was in school, at a tiny Catholic school in Dundalk, Maryland, disruptive behavior simply wasn’t tolerated.  Little things that I deal with as a teacher every day—talking back, yelling and being disrespectful to peers, pushing, and being disruptive in class—simply weren’t allowed.  There wasn’t a discussion, there weren’t any options or second changes.  Once you got in trouble, you were in trouble and that was the end of that.

            I believe that my upbringing in schools (I followed my K-8 Catholic School with an all girl’s Catholic High School) really plays into how I feel about discipline as a person and as a teacher.  I consider myself a strict teacher, and I set high behavioral expectations for my students.  One reason is that I need non-disruptive behavior in order to teach the most effectively and also because I am trying to prepare them to function further in their education and in real life.

The Articles

            As I was perusing articles this week to determine what I wanted to blog about, I came across two articles in the New York Times that were themed in student discipline.  The first article, “The Unintended Consequences of Taking a Hard Line on School Discipline,” discussed the unintended consequences of the “Zero Tolerance” policy.  It explains the roots of the policy and how it has been expanded quite beyond its intended reach of stopping gun violence to suspending students for minor incidences, such as kicking a trash can or drawing on a desk.  The second article, “An Effective but Exhausting Alternative to High School Suspensions,” discussed alternative methods to high school suspensions, specifically focusing on restorative justice and also the need to discuss race and its relation to discipline.

My Thoughts

            The first article that I read was pretty eye-opening for me.  It mentioned several incidences where elementary school students, even those with diagnosed disabilities, were being suspended for minor incidences, like drawing on a desk.  Honestly my first thought was where is this happening? Because the people I have spoken to can’t get any type of disciplinary action taken at all.  In some of my own experiences, and in those of some teachers I have talked to, it is very difficult to get disciplinary action taken, even for behavior significantly more disruptive, and at times more dangerous than that.  It’s interesting to me that there seem to be discipline at opposite ends of the spectrum, and I’m wondering if there’s some type of, to be cliché, happy medium that could be achieved. 

Although I don’t agree with the severity of a suspension for a minor infraction like kicking a trashcan, honestly if it were me it would just be easier for me to deal with it in my classroom, I do understand where those teachers and principals stand.  Any teacher will tell you that one student can change the whole dynamic of your classroom.  It’s very difficult to teach a room full of students with varying degrees of prior knowledge, and it becomes even more difficult when you have a student who is being disruptive.  I think that these teachers are probably trying their best to do what is best for their students, and getting those students out of the room somehow was the best thing they could think of.  I also think that in a way, not being strict enough is doing a disservice to disruptive students.  If teachers don’t impart some kind of discipline, how will the students be prepared to make decisions and face consequences in the “real world” when they are adults.

I also think, like with a lot of issues in education, concerning discipline it becomes a question of what is more important.  Is it more important to keep this student in school and to try and work out a problem with him or is it more important to teach the majority of my students the skills and concepts they need to learn.  Tied in with this idea of importance is also the idea of fairness.  How is it fair to my students who are following directions to spend so much time with this one student who is being disruptive?  I will admit I have thought this many times myself when dealing with challenging behavior issues.  As teachers, everyone wants us to be fair to all of our students, so how do you fairly decide who gets how much of your time?

Reading the second article was honestly a little uncomfortable for me.  I mean I came from schools where I lost recess if my shirt was untucked, got detention if I forgot to wear my formal uniform for mass, and literally got cornered against a wall by an angry nun.  In comparison to that the idea of restorative justice that this article was pushing, just seemed so wishy-washy to me.  I keep hearing in my head that the students should just listen because I’m the adult in the room and they should know better, but I also realize that not everyone has the same upbringing that I did in school or otherwise.  I understand the theory behind it, talking out the problems in a calm way, giving all parties a chance to voice their side, and then determining a solution, and I think it is more beneficial for students to have this type of training in the long run, but I struggle with the practicality of it. 

My school does not currently use restorative justice practices, but my sister’s school does, so I asked her a few questions about it.  She has to have a morning meeting every day that focuses on some aspect of conflict resolution, team building, social training.  While this is valuable and her students enjoy that time, it does take away instructional time.  I see this as an issue of what do schools, districts, and the country care about more—the students’ social, emotional states and their conflict resolution abilities or their test scores. 

I have heard through various articles and discussions that restorative justice works and improves school behavior, unlike the zero tolerance policy, but I am very interested to see what it looks like day-to-day.  I value the research and data, but I much prefer to hear from teachers in schools similar to mine about how these practices actually look and how much they have to do to prepare and to facilitate and to determine if these practices are actually working for them.  Since there are varying degrees of restorative justice, I also wonder which practices on that continuum are working better for students and teachers.

Although this wasn’t mentioned in either article, I think that discipline and behavior in schools is intertwined with discipline and behavior at home.  I think that it is crucial to have a home-school connection concerning behavior and discipline so that students have that consistency, and I think that is what is lacking in a lot of school systems.  I have noticed from my time teaching and student teaching in various schools, and with talking to other teachers, that in schools that have lower SES statuses, restorative justice, and practices like it, are seeming to become closer to the norm.  I think this has a lot to do with parental involvement.  I think that in a lot of instances, in my own experiences at least, students who come from lower socio-economic backgrounds, or at least who attend schools that are less-affluent, have less training and practice from home about talking out problems and conflict resolution, whereas students that come from more affluent schools, with higher levels of parental involvement, have more training and practice from home.  They come to school with more of these skills, so they don’t need as much of the training and practice in the classroom because they are learning about this at home.  I wonder if other teachers who have been in different types of schools have the same experiences that I have had or if mine is a unique situation to myself or my district.

In general, I found that there needs to be some type of balance in school systems, and really individual schools, about what constitutes disciplinary action, such as suspensions, and what can be dealt with in the classroom through restorative justice.  I think that leaning too much in either direction can be harmful to both the students and the teacher.  For example, suspending a student who is constantly being disruptive—talking, being disrespectful, etc.—is not going to deter that behavior, especially if they are not getting a lot of social training at home.  However, consistently allowing a student to be disruptive and disrespectful in the classroom without any type of disciplinary consequences can take away from the other students’ ability to learn, and that in my opinion is not right.  I also think that students need to buy-in to whatever practices the school is using, which is probably the toughest obstacle.  In the accompanying video of “Unintended Consequences of Taking a Hard Line on School Discipline,” Bertie Simmons, a school principal uses a student court to determine academic consequences, rather than punitive ones.  However, I really only think this can work if the students buy into the idea that they need to complete the academic consequences.  I think that one of the biggest obstacles to having suspensions actually deter behavior is that the students are struggling in some way and then are out of school for a pro-longed period where they are not working on their issues or their social skills, which leads to continued disruptive behavior and more kids dropping out of school.  However, I wonder how teachers and administrators get students to understand and to buy into restorative justice so that it can work for them in their classrooms.

           

If you are interested in reading either article, I have provided the links below:

Unintended Consequences of Taking a Hard Line on School Discipline

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/03/us/the-unintended-consequences-of-taking-a-hard-line-on-school-discipline.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Feducation&action=click&contentCollection=education&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront

An Effective but Exhausting Alternative to High-school Suspensions

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/11/magazine/an-effective-ut-exhausting-alternative-to-high-school-suspensions.html

Race to the Top: The Common Core Dilemma

4 years after the start of the Race to the Top initiative, we as a country have reached a point in which we should see the fruits of the insurgence of resources schools have received. However, the benefits have yet to be reaped. This is due to a variety of reasons. 

With the money that schools received, there were stipulations put into place that forced schools to implement certain strategies. This would work if schools across the nation that were receiving this money had the same type of needs. Working in an inner city school, the students I serve need different things than students at higher performing schools even in the same state, let alone the country. Whereas the implementation of common core standards are great in theory in raising the bar of the education in this country, they are lofty and inappropriate to be implemented in every county. The common core standards that each and every school that accepted race to the top money are held to were not released until this past year. The assessment that students will be evaluated with are still not yet released with definite detail. Therefore, it would be highly irregular for success to be met at any which level in the first couple of years of the testing cycles. Would it have been a more effective way if the common core standards were released, then funding be provided and finally then hold our students accountable to testing measures? Probably, however we are now still "catching up" to meet standards that were promising for our educational system. 

It will be interesting to see what the next few years bring in terms of actual implementation of assessments that focus on common core standards and to see how students do on them, especially for those students who are still unprepared, not due to a lack of trying, but only due to a lack of not enough preparation time with resources. 

Teacher Certification

In my humble opinion, we will not have an effective public education system in the U.S until we, as a country, take some pride in the teaching profession. The phrase that I heard over and over after telling people that I was goign to teach in Baltimore was "Those who can, do and those who can't, teach!" The funny thing is that if I told them I was joining Teach For America the reaction was quite the opposite. I would hear soemthing along the lines of "wow, I hear that is a really selective program, congratulations."

It shouldn't matter if I became a teacher through traditional means or an alternative certification program like TFA, ultimately I had signed up for the same job as every other teacher in Baltimore. Why then was the reaction so different?

Because, as a society, we value competition and accomplishment. People are proud to say that they are a doctor or a lawyer or a neuroscientist because we accept that those fields are competitive and only the most competent individuals succeed in them. This is simply not the case for teaching. The perception throughout our society is that the most capable people stay away from teaching, and the only way it is acceptable to become a teacher if you have other options is to join a program like TFA. TFA essentially provides a stamp of approval that says, "this candidate has succeeded in school and could be doing a lot of different things, they chose to teach for at least two years as part of their growth as an individual and in hopes of helping our country's youth." Without this stamp, would TFA get the level of highly competent corps members that it is so proud to hire?

So teacher certification and training and everything else that accompanies the current practice of preparing a teacher does not matter until we make being a teacher more prestigious than being a doctor or a lawyer or a neuroscientist.

Wide Angle Youth Media

   The most exciting student group that I read and hear about this year was Wide Angle Youth Media. I first heard about the group when I went to the school board meeting, and was amazed with what the students were doing. WAYM is a program that introduces students to media production and the performing arts through various media outlets. The video they showed at the meeting was written, produced and edited by students and used to get their message out through a creative outlet.
   I think that integrating arts back into schools is one of the most important things that we can do. There is a serious lack of art programs in Baltimore and it is discouraging because it is one of the things that our students like the most. I think that giving students the opportunity to express themselves could improve not only student academics but also classroom behaviors. So much of the negative behavior we see in class is students wanting to express themselves with no outlet to do so. Therefore, I think giving them this outlet would really help them focus in class. Also, creating a piece of media art is a huge production that will help students learn how to work together, develop work ethic and simply give them something positive to put on their resume.

New Science Budget

   I read an article posted on the TFA Facebook page that discussed Baltimore City's new science budget. The funding includes $1.74 billion dollars to bolster science curriculum and give teachers much needed science supplies. The article made me think about my own situation in a Baltimore City science classroom. On the one hand, I am very supportive of the City giving school money and materials. Clearly these supplies are needed, and Baltimore is vastly under funded. In my own class I have very little materials to perform labs. This means that generally I have to purchase the supplies on my own. However, at times I feel that Baltimore City pumps money into so many new initiatives, but never follows through on anything that it starts.
   For instance, my school initiated an online reading program at the beginning of the year. Just last week they followed up on it asking "How has this worked for everyone?" Not only did they take away our planning period to try and follow up it, but they never gave us any resources to actually implement the plan or any time to do it. While in theory I am sure this was a great plan, there is no accountability in the system. Thus, in the end it was just a waste of money that could have been allocated to a different program.
   This is a point of contention for me that I don't know how to solve. I really wish that the city was much more efficient at implementing programs so that they could be more effective at helping our students. I know that there are a lot of moving parts when implementing a program, but there must be a better way of using the money that gets put into city schools, or at least a way that gets better results.

The Ultimate Teacher Rant

I recently read an editorial style piece in the Huffington Post (find it here) that left nothing but a bad pessimistic taste in my mouth. The author, a veteran teacher, gave an overview of what seemed like every new piece of educational policy to go into effect in the past decade. And then proceeded to detail how each of these policy initiatives destroyed education and is currently destroying the teaching profession.

While not all of it seemed to miss the mark, I found it, on the whole, hard to swallow. Yes - it is clear that our schools have lost art programs, physical education classes and extracurricular activities in order to allow for increased test based instruction on math and reading. Yes - it is likely that teachers have lost an amount of autonomy in their classrooms as the era of high stakes testing was ushered in. But could it be true that every reform has harmed our nation's classrooms?

For example, the author takes an extremely hard stance on student survey's being integrated into teacher evaluations. Is this horrifying to me as an educator? Probably  But that does not mean it is not a valid measure of teaching success and it does not mean that this reform won't help create more positive, productive classrooms. As teachers, I think it is important that we examine reforms and new laws relating to education from not only our vantage point in the classroom but also from the perspective of educational advocates who want to see meaingful, lasting and impactful change.

Teacher Retention...?

I know we left this topic alone a while ago but I found myself thinking about it the other day while reading the New York Times. On May 4th the Times ran an article about an old factory in Philadelphia that is being converted to housing, some of which is specifically set aside for teachers. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/education/philadelphia-renovating-apartments-to-lure-teachers.html?ref=education&_r=0

When I read the headline, I immediately thought about Miller's Court and Union Mill, two buildings that serve a similar role in Baltimore. Sure enough, the article references the two buildings in Baltimore and the same company that oversaw the work here in Bmore is involved in Philadelphia as well. The article highlighted some of the benefits of the housing complex, it offers a discounted rate for teachers, it offers a community that people can be a part of, and it offers safe, comfortable, secure housing for people who may be moving to the city for the first time. Teach For America was mentioned in the article because of the partnership that was formed here in Baltimore, and the new complex in Philadelphia sounds almost identical to the two here.


The reason I brought this up was that the article said that the goal of the buildings was to increase teacher retention in Philadlephia. My obvious question was whether or not the housing does anything for teacher retention. I know the two buildings in Baltimore are wildly popular amongst the teaching crowd but I also know that some people who live their begin to feel like they can never get away from the teaching conversations that go on in the building. I am curious as to whether or not Teach For America in Baltimore has looked at any data on retention for people who choose to live in the subsidized housing units. In the end, do they help hold teachers in the classroom or are they just a nice idea that allows teachers to live in comfortable, affordable apartments?

Matt Gould, Teach For America's vice president for administration said that he had no data on the retention of teachers who live in the Baltimore options. If this is the case, why don't they gather some? It seems that TFA has data on everything else...

K - 8 Schools and the Opportunity Gap

There is little arguing with the data. It seems that K - 8 schools, quite common in Baltimore City, are here to stay, and data bears that they should be. In Mary Tamer's "Ed." magazine article "Do Middle Schools Make Sense," the answer seems to be a clear no. If student achievement, as measured by test scores, is the measure of success, the middle school model is not successful; it does not serve the purpose of a school by improving learning for its students.

However, there is more to a school than test scores. Our public schools are the great equalizers. They are places where students not only learn academically, but improve socially and gain experiences. In a small school, beginning or maintaining an extracurricular activity is a challenge. It is difficult to garner enough interest in activities to make it worthwhile. While the K - 8 school model is beneficial academically, it does not encourage students to have new experiences outside of the classroom.

Extracurriculars not only provide new opportunities for middle school students, they hook middle school-ers and may bring students to school who would not otherwise attend. At my school, middle school students have one extracurricular option: the school newsletter. Certainly the school newsletter will not interest all students. The school should be able to field a baseball or lacrosse team and a photography club. There should be 5 - 6 different activities, not one, for a middle school student to choose from. Perhaps the motivation and excitement about school associated with a favorite activity would translate into increased test scores and more confident and hard working people. If we intend to teach our students to be citizens and not test takers, we must find a way to increase access to a variety of opportunities within the middle grades of a K - 8 school.

Chronically Underemployed

While the challenges of a classroom, a school or even the district seem to be overwhelming as it is, the even greater context in which public education exists can’t be ignored. Scott Simon, host of PBS’s “Need to Know,” spent some time in Baltimore interviewing young men who are among, what he refers to as, the chronically unemployed. (See video here:http://video.pbs.org/video/2149549112/)

The interviews and segments briefly address the issue of education and its role in the cycle of unemployment directly, but the implications are obvious throughout the entire 7 min. clip. When factories and large industry left Baltimore, they left a huge employment void that has yet to be filled. Children are raised in communities that have no jobs and no prospects. They attend schools that have been chronically failing for decades.
The video begged the question – even if we fix education, even if each child graduates high school and goes on to college, is there a community that can sustain them? Provide them with job opportunities? Housing? The answer, currently, seemed to be a resounding no.

While the outlook may seem grim, the segment also made it clear that there are community members with drive and community members who are ready to welcome change. Re-contextualizing the information into a conversation about education, I challenge us to remember that it is not only our job to teach students so they may leave their communities, but teach students so they can help transform their opportunities for the next generation. 

Should school performance be used to evaluate teacher effectiveness?

            Baltimore City Public Schools is currently field-testing a new teacher evaluation system that it plans to implement in the 2013-2014 school year. The new evaluation model attempts to remedy the existing observation-based system, which critics claim does not accurately reflect disparities in teacher effectiveness. The innovative model will incorporate student growth measures, such as value-added scores based on standardized assessments, student surveys, measures of school performance and professional responsibility, and observations. While there is an emerging body of research on value-added measures and the utility of student surveys, there ought to be more debate on whether or not school-index scores should impact individual teacher evaluations.

            In the new evaluation framework, (accessible in presentation form here: http://www.baltimorecityschools.org/Page/18778) measures of student growth and the school index score will make up 50% of a teacher’s entire evaluation. Any individual component may not consist of more than 35% of the final effectiveness measure, which means that the school index score will make up at least 15% of a teacher’s evaluation. The school-index component will consider attendance, school-wide growth measures, and school climate. The District argues that this will promote teamwork within individual school communities and reward schools that tackle school-wide challenges. This sounds great, but I can’t help but wonder what effect this will have on schools facing the greatest challenges. City schools with the most concerning climate issues and lowest growth rates are arguably the hardest schools to work at from a teacher’s perspective. If teachers working at schools with positive climates are rewarded, then what incentive do effective teachers have to teach at our lowest performing schools?

            I am very skeptical of the idea that including school-index scores in teacher evaluations will incite school improvement. The idea that teachers will rally together to prompt school-wide change, in order to improve their evaluations, is troublesome. A low score will imply that teachers in failing schools are not working together or doing everything they can to improve their school. Teachers I know in failing schools will beg to differ. Schools fail for a multitude of reasons outside of teacher performance, including poor leadership and years worth of lowered expectations for academics and behavior. Improving schools and school climate starts with building a school family and a staff that is committed to the school, community, and students. How can a school build a strong community if it is constantly experiencing large staff turnovers like many failing schools?  If the school-index scores negatively impact overall teacher evaluations then this problem is only exacerbated. As a school district, we need to be thinking of ways to keep highly effective teachers in front of the children who need them most, and in my opinion, incentivizing employment in high-growth schools with positive climates is counterintuitive to improving failing schools. 

Teacher Motivation and Merit Pay

While researching for my position paper, I came across a study called “Incentive Pay Programs Do Not Affect Teacher Motivation or Reported Practices.” The researchers in this study surveyed teachers who were part of the following incentive pay programs across the nation: Project on Incentives in Teaching (POINT), Team Incentives (PPTI), and School-Wide Performance Bonus Program (SPBP). Although the three programs differed in program design, they all rewarded teachers on the basis of student achievement gains.

By interviewing the teachers, the study aimed to address important questions regarding merit pay programs- a) did teachers find incentive programs to be motivating? b) In response to the implementation of the programs, did teachers report changes in their practices or their working conditions?

Interestingly, the researchers found that teachers who participated in this study did not find their incentive programs as motivating, did not have high expectancy that their personal efforts would lead to student achievement gains, and did not see the opportunity as worthy of changing their behaviors. Thus, all three incentive programs had little impact on teachers’ instructional practices.

Before reading this article, I considered the absence of credible teacher evaluation systems to be a major barrier to incentive pay programs. Although this may be true, this article made me realize that teachers’ acceptability of reform is critical to success of all merit pay programs. If the ultimate goal of merit pay programs is to increase teacher effectiveness and student outcomes, then more attention needs to be given to factors that contribute to the lack of changes in instruction among teachers who participate in merit pay programs. First, it is important to examine why teachers lack motivation to achieve program goals. Second, it is important to not undermine teachers’ intrinsic motivation and existing accountability pressure, which may have stronger motivational effect on teachers than financial incentives. Third, and most importantly, it is critical to realize that teachers might not be equipped with the knowledge and skills required to improve student achievement. In other words, teachers in these incentive programs were not necessary lacking in motivation, but may have lacked resources. The teachers may have done best to improve student achievement if there were additional professional development or other capacity building mechanisms added to the merit pay program.

In conclusion, even though it is important that there has to be more studies examining and comparing the benefits of traditional salary system and merit pay plans, it is equally important to consider redesigning of other components of already existing merit pay plans. 

Article: Incentive Pay Programs Do Not Affect Teacher Motivation or Reported Practices : Results From Three Randomized Studies

Teacher of the Year!

Reading about the recently announced teacher of the year for Baltimore city is inspiring and it helps to show that there are great things happening in our schools. After reading about this year's teacher of the year, I find myself thinking about my own classroom with and my own students with a renewed sense of possibility. 

Despite different titles and the specifics of our teaching positions, we all share many of the same fundamental goals for our students. I was reminded of this when I read that "One of Stokes' chief philosophies is fostering independence and confidence in students, and challenging them to go beyond their comfort zones." I am a high school general education teacher and Ms. Stokes is a middle school special education teacher, but I share these same fundamental goals for my own students.  

I think that recognizing more of the great things that teachers are doing in their classrooms, and sharing out the successes that teachers are having with our students will not only help to inspire us to be better teachers tomorrow than we were today, but it will also help to unite us as professionals that too often operate as islands because we are so much more effective when we come together to share ideas, strategies, and information.


http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-teacher-of-the-year-20130418,0,4172190.story

Should We Extend the School Day?

As a teacher, I am always running out of time to finish a lesson with my students. I often have to cut a lesson short or finish it the next day. This makes me think, “If I only had a little more time in the day…” Although I am thankful a day is over when it is many times, I did begin to wonder about the issue of an extended school day. Do extended school days really help students achieve higher standards of learning?

I recently read this article by the Washington Post about the latest research on the affects of an extended day on student learning. The article criticized the extended day model that is currently being pushed by the United Stated Department of Education. The article referenced two different studies that both showed that an extended day had little effect on student learning. However, the article did say that many of the school systems in the studies quickly put an extended day in place without thinking through the true needs of students and what would be done with the extra time. So I continued to do further research.

I found another article, that was posted by a user on the Washington Post, that actually referenced the correct way for an extended school day to happen. This gave me hope in the model. When done right, an extended day can really help students do a better job in school, especially students from high need areas such as Baltimore City

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/what-new-research-on-extended-school-day-says/2012/04/18/gIQAnmV3RT_blog.html.

http://www.educationsector.org/sites/default/files/publications/OffTheClock-RELEASED.pdf