People seem to think that funding is the answer in closing the achievement gap. Let me be clear...President Barack Obama could give schools the military budget and there would still be an achievement gap. The problem is not money. Schools in countries around the world have less funding for their schools and they continue to out perform our students. The reason why the achievement gap persists is because of the non-effectiveness of some teachers, some administrators and some districts. We can not continue to blame the problem on the lack of money. As we can already see our government and communities are not going to fund education in the way we would like. So, since the funding is not there does that mean us educators are off the hook for providing our students with an education that will help them be able to compete in the global world? The answer to that question is...NO! We still have a commitment to offer them an education. If we are concerned about offering a valuable education to our students without money let's look at the black schools during school segregation in the south. We would have shut down a school that even slightly resembled schools that those students had to go to. Those schools did not have anything close to the resources that even our poorest schools now have and their students received a much better education than many of our black students are receiving now because they had effective educators (if you do not believe me look at some folks who went to these schools like Thurgood Marshall).
What is the answer to closing the "Achievement Gap"?? Simple, it is effective teachers. Yes, teachers are wonderful. However not all teachers are effective. I love all heart surgeons but if one was not proving effective and more that 70% of their patients died after a surgery performed by him or her I would not want them operating on me. But the funny thing about that is if there was such a surgeon they would have lost their license a long time ago. This goes for our teachers as well. If I knew that a teacher was failing 70% of thier students I would not send my child to that teacher. After additional professional development and mentoring, if a teacher continues to neglect giving his/her students a quality education, then he/she needs to be let go.
Side note: Many people say that the curricula that districts are mandating teachers to teach are not providing students with a quality education. I agree with this and I am a teacher who has been subjected to these types of curricula. I feel that we need curricula which teach students core content and because I feel so strongly about that I have created curricula that enable me to give all my students a valuable education. Yes, it was hard work but I did it and that is why my job isn’t easy. If you know it is not right don’t do it. We have to start standing down to districted mandated curricula that we know is not going to breed a successful education and we have to start standing up for the future of our students and our country!
Thursday, November 11, 2010
New York Times Article shows that WE need to act now
The article, Proficiency of Black Students Is Found to Be Far Lower Than Expected by Trip Gabriel, which came out earlier this week states that black students are not achieving. This is not surprising...it is frustrating. When are we going to stop talking about it and when are we going to start being about it?? Enough with the books, enough with the forums, and enough with the research can we please just change the system? Can we please create schools where all of the educators are effective and the curricula is creating students that are well versed in reading, math, history, science, geography, and the arts? For all of you researchers, book and article writers and community advocates can you please get into our schools and volunteer to help the students that you continue to research, write about and advocate for? They need you!!!
American Public School System: OUT OF BUSINESS
More and more states are running their school systems like businesses. They are hiring business leaders to run their schools and they are using the check and balances model to monitor teacher and student progress. However, it is still proving ineffective (especially for students of color). But since this has become such a popular idea, let's discuss this model in a way that will, hopefully, get districts to realize that the business model of running schools is not effective.
The "business" of the schools is to educate all children so that they can become successful adults just like the business of Boeing is to build safe and innovative airplanes. Boeing's business is to create a way of travel that is conducive to our way of life. Can you imagine if Boeing had a "production gap" or a "safety gap"? Boeing would not be in business. However, it is okay to have one of the most important entities in our society suffer from an achievement gap or as I like to call it an instructional gap.
What would happen if Boeing found workers that were not fulfilling the mission of the company? They would get rid of these non-effective workers. Boeing would not jeopardize the quality of their product because too much would be sacrificed. The same goes for Microsoft. Microsoft's interviewing practices are just as rigorous as the job that interviewees are applying for. Why? Because, they want to hire individuals that will fulfill the purpose of the company by creating a product that will compete with the products of their rivals. Microsoft hires the individuals that will help them create the "best" product for their consumers.
Since districts are viewing our students to "products" let's use this framework to discuss what's going on with our students. As previously mentioned, the job of our schools is to produce students that will be effective citizens that will contribute to the success of our country and to contribute to global success. The consumers of our students include our communities and the fields of science, medicine, business, technology, and education, just to name a few. The companies in these fields are looking for employees that will help create new products that will catapult their company into that number one position. However, our schools are creating "products”, our students, that are so ill-prepared that companies in these fields are going to different countries to find workers that they know will help their company succeed.
The "product" that our public school system is producing, in much of America, can't even compete with the "product" that places like Finland, Singapore, South Africa, China, and Japan are producing. If Boeing or Microsoft consistently created products that consumers were not purchasing they would be out of business. If the American Public School System does not start producing a quality “product” by changing its business plan and ensuring that EVERY employee is effective and innovative it will be out of business because its competitors (other countries, charter schools, private schools and home schooling) will be producing a much better "product".
The "business" of the schools is to educate all children so that they can become successful adults just like the business of Boeing is to build safe and innovative airplanes. Boeing's business is to create a way of travel that is conducive to our way of life. Can you imagine if Boeing had a "production gap" or a "safety gap"? Boeing would not be in business. However, it is okay to have one of the most important entities in our society suffer from an achievement gap or as I like to call it an instructional gap.
What would happen if Boeing found workers that were not fulfilling the mission of the company? They would get rid of these non-effective workers. Boeing would not jeopardize the quality of their product because too much would be sacrificed. The same goes for Microsoft. Microsoft's interviewing practices are just as rigorous as the job that interviewees are applying for. Why? Because, they want to hire individuals that will fulfill the purpose of the company by creating a product that will compete with the products of their rivals. Microsoft hires the individuals that will help them create the "best" product for their consumers.
Since districts are viewing our students to "products" let's use this framework to discuss what's going on with our students. As previously mentioned, the job of our schools is to produce students that will be effective citizens that will contribute to the success of our country and to contribute to global success. The consumers of our students include our communities and the fields of science, medicine, business, technology, and education, just to name a few. The companies in these fields are looking for employees that will help create new products that will catapult their company into that number one position. However, our schools are creating "products”, our students, that are so ill-prepared that companies in these fields are going to different countries to find workers that they know will help their company succeed.
The "product" that our public school system is producing, in much of America, can't even compete with the "product" that places like Finland, Singapore, South Africa, China, and Japan are producing. If Boeing or Microsoft consistently created products that consumers were not purchasing they would be out of business. If the American Public School System does not start producing a quality “product” by changing its business plan and ensuring that EVERY employee is effective and innovative it will be out of business because its competitors (other countries, charter schools, private schools and home schooling) will be producing a much better "product".
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Missionary Teacher Syndrome
Missionary Teacher Syndrome is when teachers come into predominantly black schools that are low achieving wanting to "save the black child". MTS causes educators to accept the low achievement of black students. Teachers who are in these schools with the mission to "save" black students allow the students' circumstances and lack of dominant cultural experiences to become reasons why it is okay for these students to fail. Although the teachers truly care about the children, this idea is detrimental to the education or our black students and it is why so many black students are "mis-educated" and are not achieving. With MTS excuses of poverty, troubled neighborhoods, and family disfunction outshines the educator's purpose of providing all students with a quality education".
Signs of a School Plagued by MTS
*Students do not have to be at grade level as long as they tried their best based on their life circumstances
*Students are not disciplined for negative behaviors
*Students are allowed to display behaviors that do not promote social success (wearing hoods, sagging pants)
*Excuses are made for the lack of student success
*Students are socially promoted
*Families are not truthfully told about their child's progress
*Students are not held to academic and/or behavior expectations
*Students' education lacks rigor
*Unsatisfactory student work is accepted and displayed
*Students spend more time gaining "experiences" and less time receiving academic instruction
Signs of a School Plagued by MTS
*Students do not have to be at grade level as long as they tried their best based on their life circumstances
*Students are not disciplined for negative behaviors
*Students are allowed to display behaviors that do not promote social success (wearing hoods, sagging pants)
*Excuses are made for the lack of student success
*Students are socially promoted
*Families are not truthfully told about their child's progress
*Students are not held to academic and/or behavior expectations
*Students' education lacks rigor
*Unsatisfactory student work is accepted and displayed
*Students spend more time gaining "experiences" and less time receiving academic instruction
In 1933 Carter Godwin Woodson's The Mis-education of the Negro was published. This book demonstrated the inequities of education and the insecurties that came with being "mis-educated". As an educator, I find it quite facsinating that 77 years later the black child is still "mis-educated". This blog will deal with sensitive issues around education, as I see it as a black educator. It will touch issues that are controversial in many ways. However, this blog is intended to bring about change in a system that is failing the black child.
The Instructional Gap
Education is filled with "buzz words". One buzz word that continues to receive a lot of attention is the "Achievement Gap". The "Achievement Gap" deals with the academic achievement gap between white students and students of color. There is no denying that there is a huge discrepancy when we look at academic performance of white students and students of color. However, the phrase "Achievement Gap" lends itself to society looking at students of color within the deficit model. When I see the phrase it tells me that there is something wrong with the black child. It has to be understood that the black child can achieve if given correct instruction. Therefore, I do not believe that there is an "Achievement Gap" but an "Instructional Gap". Many public schools, that are predominantly black and low income, are lagging behind predominantly white schools because of this prevalent "Instructional Gap". In other words, many of our black students are not being effectively taught the skills they need to know in order to be successful citizens and the skills they need to know in order to navigate a system which is not in their favor. But why?
In schools of success teachers who lack proper education, training and/or experience are not even allowed to step foot inside these schools. The staff and parents will not allow weak instructional staff or weak leadership. If there is even a sign of inadequate instruction or leadership those parties will be driven out by colleagues, families and/or the community. In public schools of color that are underachieving there are many cases in which the teachers and/or administrators are incompetent, lack experience and/or proper training, or teachers are in the school in order to have their student loans paid off. But, the most damaging ideology that is preserving this "Instructional Gap", is that many teachers suffer from the Missionary Teacher Syndrome (MTS).
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary the word instruct is defined as 1: to give knowledge to: teach, train; 2: to provide with authoritative information or advice; 3:to give an order or command to: direct. The reason why many of our black students are not achieving is because these three things are lacking in the classroom due to the Missionary Teacher Syndrome, meaning students are being taught dominant culture experiences instead of being taught academic fundamentals and their academic failure is excused.
In schools of success teachers who lack proper education, training and/or experience are not even allowed to step foot inside these schools. The staff and parents will not allow weak instructional staff or weak leadership. If there is even a sign of inadequate instruction or leadership those parties will be driven out by colleagues, families and/or the community. In public schools of color that are underachieving there are many cases in which the teachers and/or administrators are incompetent, lack experience and/or proper training, or teachers are in the school in order to have their student loans paid off. But, the most damaging ideology that is preserving this "Instructional Gap", is that many teachers suffer from the Missionary Teacher Syndrome (MTS).
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary the word instruct is defined as 1: to give knowledge to: teach, train; 2: to provide with authoritative information or advice; 3:to give an order or command to: direct. The reason why many of our black students are not achieving is because these three things are lacking in the classroom due to the Missionary Teacher Syndrome, meaning students are being taught dominant culture experiences instead of being taught academic fundamentals and their academic failure is excused.
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