Shoddy Safety Nets (3-18-09)

I've come across many teachers who believe that one of the most exciting things about teaching is that every day is different. New challenges, dynamic students, "never a boring day," and ever changing content are just a few of the cited reasons for this belief. However, when mid-March comes around and you've spent every day of the year pushing students to learn Algebra while forcing them to abide by the expectations of the school, it's hard not to think that every day is the same.

I still have those special days where kids do and say amazing things. Don't get me wrong, I love my students and I love those moments where magic happen in the classroom. Nonetheless, putting those immaculate events aside, teaching freshmen mathematics in a "no-excuse" classroom is both repetitive and exhausting. How many consecutive days can you hound students to get into dress code, use appropriate language, act appropriately, and most importantly, use every one of the 85 minutes in class to learn mathematics. At some point you’re going to hit a wall. What makes the whole dilemma even worse is that you can never let down. You have to break through the wall. Unlike a job where sitting in your cubicle and fake working for an hour or so each day is common practice, there is no room for such downtime in the “no-excuse’ classroom. Burnout is not just an urban teacher problem as many careers face this same point of exhaustion. However, in our profession, the results are not that of bottom line dollars, but that of human life. Thus, we have no choice but to keep pushing and never give up.

Two weeks ago a couple of homeless adults came in to speak with my advisory group of 14 students. They told us their life story, detailing how they reached their personal rock-bottoms, and described the struggles they go through on a daily basis. Continuing their conversations, both men explained their efforts to get out of their situation and the never-ending challenges they face that inevitably seem to lead them back to the streets. I watched as the “homeless forum” sank into some of my students. It made a difference in their thinking and in mine too.

So often, teachers like me dream of the wonderful places our students will end up. Alma will be a public trial lawyer with a beautiful family, a cozy home and 2.4 kids. Donovan will be a famous public speaker, touring the country and inspiring youth to stand up for their lives and achieve their goals. Ronnie will be the CEO of a non-profit organization working to provide healthcare to every child living in the United States. Lupita will be a respected pediatrician, caring for kids with both extensive medical expertise and an enormous heart, always being sure to provide the young ones with a lollipop as they exit the office. What we rarely if ever discuss is the opposing perspective. What about the kid who ends up addicted to drugs, flat broke, disengaged from society and living on the streets? It’s all well and good to support our students in every way possible to reach their ambitions and to constantly encourage and promote their forward progress, but we must look at the counter-argument. What about our kids who are at risk of becoming homeless adults, and not world-renowned published authors?

After listening to our homeless guests and reflecting more deeply on their experiences I began to realize who exactly was at risk of joining their ranks. What I concluded was that it wasn’t me. Meaning, middle class kids like myself (I’m 27 by the way), who have a college degree, a strong network of close friends, a tightly knit family, and financial independence and saved assets, are very unlikely to live on the streets. There are so many safety nets that would catch me well before I lost everything should my life turn “bad,” for lack of a better word. If I developed a drug addiction or lost my job or was in a horrible accident I wouldn’t be alone in my recovery, whether social, emotional, financial or physical. There would always be someone there to get me back on track and remind me of the life I am capable of living. In extreme opposition to my situation, take my worst off students. Living with one parent who can barely take care of themselves, major deficiencies in skills and knowledge, lack of social skills and awareness of middle class values, a dysfunctional and broken family, and a network of friends who are in nearly the same situation.

If we, the school, don’t ensure that this child is able to prosper in the highly competitive and demanding world that lies beyond our building’s walls then that student may very well end up homeless one day. My intention in that statement is not to simply be negative and say that our students are doomed to a life of stress and struggle. However, it is my intention to say that the school has more of a responsibility than some of us recognize, especially those outside of urban education.

When I hit that wall of exhaustion where I’ve had it with doing the same thing day in and day out I have to consider the opposite perspective to the wonderful dreams that many of our students will no doubt achieve. It’s our job to not only prepare students to get where they want to go, but to also ensure that they don’t end up begging for money on a street corner and moving from shelter to shelter. I have a college degree, am fiscally sound, a caring and capable family and a group of friends who could help me in a variety of ways should I ever need to rely on them. Our students in many cases may not have any of these supports and therefore have a safety net filled with holes. It’s our job to do everything in our power to ensure that they never slip off of life’s trapeze and hit that shoddy net. If so, it may not catch them.

Negative Six Minus Eight (3-5-09)

First and foremost, my apologies for my recent hiatus. Life has been a little nuts, and as such I haven't been doing as much blogging or none at all for that matter. A big thank you to those who recently posted comments regarding my previous two posts. Your insights are thought provoking and greatly appreciated. Keep sharing as it makes all of us think a little more and that's how we get smarter.

On to today's blog...

Proctoring the CSAP is always the most depressing time of the year for me. Having only taught in the most difficult environments (low socioeconomic, urban) over the past 6 years I have yet to be part of a school that produces results greater than 15 % proficient or advanced on the 9th grade math portion of the assessment (compared to a state average of roughly 35 %). As I read through the directions of the math component on Tuesday and we embarked on the first of three math sections, I watched in complete frustration as my students answered the first sample question. - 6 - 8 = ____. The overwhelming majority bubbled the empty circle next to the response "2."

Nothing highlights my problems in succeeding as a teacher and closing the achievement gap better than that simple problem, - 6 - 8. We've worked with negative integers through out the year in a variety of capacities. From the "drill and kill" perspective, we've spent weeks going through mad minutes directly focused on adding and subtracting positive and negative numbers. Not moving on to the next set of skills until we'd seen substantial growth in this area, the typical student moved from doing 4 to 5 simple problems such as the sample in 1 minute to being able to handle 10 - 15. In terms of applying this skill to a meaningful task, students were taught how to find an equation when provided with a set of linear data. Using the linear model, students worked on making predictions about the future and used their equations to analyze real world situations such as cell phone bills, population growth, and job opportunities. This entire process started with finding the slope of a line which requires students to subtract positive and negative numbers on a regular basis. To support this necessary skill, the DO NOW's, starting problems for each day, asked students to find the slopes of points involving both positive and negative integers.

The bottom line is this. We encountered/worked with adding and subtracting positive and negative numbers over a long period of time. Most, if not all students showed growth in this area as they improved their skill set. This growth was evident in their ability to answer 16 simple arithmetic problems, i.e. -3 - 6 or -5 + - 8, in a minute, their accurate completion of DO NOW's on a daily basis requesting them to find the slopes of a line when given two points, i.e. (2, 5), (-3 , - 6), and their ability to utilize this basic skill and apply it to more complex Algebra such as determining the equation of a line when given a set of linear data. Nonetheless, despite all of the data that I've collected to monitor their growth and despite the tremendous amount of practice they've received coupled with intense coaching, the students failed to answer - 6 - 8 correctly. I failed.

Take Aways

The reality is that our students enter the classroom more like 5th and 6th graders in their skills and knowledge, particularly in the area of mathematics. Therefor, it makes sense for us to emphasize and reward growth. Meeting grade level proficiency would be a nearly impossible task for 90 % of our student body as this would mean increasing 3 to 4 grade levels in 3/4 of a year (don't forget, CSAP's in early march). While recognizing improvement is valid and necessary, it doesn't quite get the job done in a "results oriented" society. It's beautiful to bring a 9th grader from 6th to 8th grade levels of proficiency in a year's time, but this doesn't ensure our students the chance to compete with their middle class and affluent competitors.

The biggest take away I have is the fact that we have to change our approach if we're going to get the job done and become true "gap-closers." The obstacles are clear to see, the biggest being how do we ensure mastery of such vast content in such a short time span. This year, more than any other, I've used objective assessment data to dictate instructional and curricular decisions. Although this is a valuable practice, it also throws a wrench in our plan. If we constantly teach, re-group students, and re-teach to ensure mastery than how do we get through the content? Teaching for mastery takes far longer than the traditional covering of content, and in turn, makes it impossible to get through the depth and breadth of material assessed on the CSAP. That is unless we change the system in which we're teaching.

Solutions

There is a reason that highly successful "no-excuse" urban charter schools have a longer school day and a longer school year. Their low socioeconomic students of color need the time to catch up. There's also a reason that a huge percentage of these schools have summer academies before students ever step foot in an actual class come fall of their first year.

My solution to the dilemma of developing proficient 9th graders who come in way behind grade level is multi-stepped.

1.) All students have to attend a math skills boot camp prior to entering 9th grade. For three weeks in the summer students would work on nothing but the foundation skills necessary to engage in Algebra (fractions, percents, decimals, integers, ratios, operations, etc.). Students who feel they already have these necessary skills could test out of boot camp by performing at a proficient or advanced level on a rigorous assessment tool. Students enrolled in boot camp would take this same assessment at the conclusion of their three week period. If at this time they still score below proficient, they are placed in an additional class outside of their Algebra class that runs for a minimum of 9 weeks. At the end of this time students would have another opportunity to demonstrate proficiency on the high-stakes assessment. If they reach a proficient level of mastery they may exit the class and replace it with a regular class from the menu of options, but if they don't they are enrolled in another 9 week session. The entire "boot camp" program/philosophy basically says that improving isn't good enough and that proficiency is all that matters. It also sends the message to students that the school is going to do everything it can to level the playing field, but that it's up to the students to own their learning and to prove their mastering essential content.

- Issues with this plan are both financial (who's going to pay for the program) and staffing based (what teachers want to run a 3 week drill and kill math boot camp). Solve these two potential road blocks and you may have a workable piece to the overall solution.

2.) Urban schools need more time to handle the math dilemma, especially at the 9th grade level.
Schools have to constantly instruct, assess, re-group, and re-assess students. As such, I suggest a norm of 2 hours, everyday of mathematics. Many "beat the odds" school already employ this double math time schedule and their results are evidence of its effects. Should schools use the additional time wisely, creating a sense of urgency in the classroom and making every minute count in addition to constant assessment and monitoring of student learning, the 2 hours a day should be enough to reach mastery of essential content. Keep in mind that in this model students might move around to different teachers based upon their results of their assessments. On a weekly or monthly basis students could be re-distributed to work with other students who have the same learning needs. Rather than force three-tiered differentiated instruction to take place in a single classroom, students could be moved around to work with distinct groups struggling with the same deficiencies.

- There are certainly a slew of issues with this plan from school schedule to staffing capacity. However, consider the notion of going slow to go fast. If 9th graders could get caught up then the rest of their high school career would look a whole lot brighter. It's often said that failing Algebra is a great indicator of student drop outs. Let's reverse the cycle, emphasize mathematics with time, resources, and staff, and really close the gap.