A commenter wrote:
You place the entire responsibility of education upon the schools.
Yes.
A fine educator once called me a “No Excuses” teacher and that is a badge I wear with pride. I visit my students at home, I’m constantly on the phone to their parents, and I send home progress reports weekly. But teaching is my job. In the pursuit of academic achievement, I am the professional in my classroom and the families support me, not the other way around.
In my classroom, learning is not a service offered it is an expectation demanded. I am ruthless when it comes to assuring the success of my students. I fight for every minute of instruction; I stomp on nonacademic rituals; I flagrantly violate inappropriate district mandates; I beg, borrow and steal resources; I teach until it hurts; I do whatever it takes. Consequently, if my students do not attain the achievement of which I believe them capable, I blame no one but myself.
As to the potential of my students to match the achievements of their white or Asian peers, I have no question. There is not a shred of doubt in my mind. After working with students for one year, my class proficiency scores usually match the state average, an increase of around a hundred percent. I’ve had this group for two years and I anticipate that they will exceed the state average by twenty to thirty percent. That said, I'm far from the best teacher I know. What would the high school graduation and college enrollment rate of a high-challenge class look like if they had worked with me and my betters for thirteen years?
When we have staffed every high-challenge classroom with an effective teacher, when we have developed curricula that truly meet the needs of high-challenge students, when we have provided the resources to engage all high-challenge students every year, ---in short, when our own house is in order--- and our black and Latino students are still failing, then we can have discussions of family and culture, then we can praise-fests for Confucian values and helicopter parents, and then we can produce the quasi-race-science studies about the origins of the “achievement gap.” But, of course, by then we won’t need them.
Teaching the core — and social competence
6 minutes ago
3 comments:
Inspirational words. Thank you.
You seem to have misunderstood my comment. I have no doubt that you are unique in the teaching profession both in your passion and dedication, and in the results that your students achieve. Let's be clear: All students are capable of being extraordinarily successful in school. The issue is that more Asian and white students will be successful in school even if they have an ineffective teacher or are placed in an ineffective school than African-American or Latino students in the same school or with the same teacher.
This increases our urgency - I feel the same passion and need as you. To avoid discussing why the achievement gap exists, and to avoid admitting and confronting those reasons, is the same as ignoring them. We can't deny that it exists, and we can't avoid asking why. The reason may make us uncomfortable, but we still need to pursue - and to work to ensure that every person receives the opportunity for a great education.
True words. Inspiring. I only wish such a strong spirit would start infusing the healthcare system, too...
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