I am an NYC public high school teacher at a school in what would be considered to be an "inner city neighborhood" with students coming from low-income homes. My kids have faced struggles I couldn't even fathom and they experience things on a daily basis that I can't imagine going through, but that doesn't mean that they have to fail in life. Not by a long shot. For some of them, the odds have been stacked against them for a long time, but if they take advantage of what's in front of them, they can succeed. But they can't do it all alone. They, themselves have to want it, and their family, their teachers, and the school system have to be behind them. Unfortunately, from what I see year after year, that is just not happening.
From what I notice from MY experiences, there are a lot of problems that need to fixed. There is also not a single solution to any of these. And of the multiple solutions out there, none are easy and quick. Some will be easier to tackle than others, but there is just a lot of dysfunction that has been going on for too many years. Not everyone has these same issues in their school and in their districts, but these are the reasons I want to pull my hair out and why I have ended up in tears more than I'd like to admit this year.
1) Students are totally fine with "just passing." In NYC, a 65 is a passing grade. That's a D. This is a little stricter than when I was a student. When I was in high school, anything lower than a 60 was failing so our kids are actually getting a raw deal as far as I can see it. But I see many kids just trying to earn the measly 65 and not even trying to get the grade beyond that. They just want to get by and that seems to be good enough for them. They have no concept of setting high expectations for themselves as well as setting and trying to achieve goals. They need to set the bar high for themselves. They need to have high standards for themselves. When they actually visualize success, they have a better chance in achieving it.
2) Classes are not tracked. Now I know this is a controversial subject, but I am just going to stay it: I am pro-tracking. Students should be placed in classes by their skill-level. Classes should be homogeneous. This way students and teachers alike won't get as frustrated. I know a hot-button word in the education world is differentiation but when you have a class where someone is reading on a second grade level and another on a 11th grade level, and then there is everything in the middle, this creates problems for both the teachers and the students. Sure, its our job as teachers to make it work, but with discrepancies so large in student needs, this makes our jobs even harder than they need to be. It takes a lot of the intensity and speed of the course away from our higher functioning kids and they get frustrated. Our school actually loses many good students each year because they don't feel challenged enough in their classes so they transfer somewhere else. If we grouped students by skill, the higher skilled students could be challenged a bit more and be taken to a higher level at a faster pasce while the lower skilled students can have the material presented at a slower pace and with a different method. Many of their end goals are the different so why not teach them differently? I believe tracking solves many problems and personally, I am just as willing to teach an "honors" class as I am a remedial class because I would go in knowing everyone is on the same playing field.
3) The parents are just not involved. Parent-Teacher conferences come twice a year. Once in the fall and once in the spring. In NYC, we have conferences on the first day in the evening and on the second day, in the afternoon. This allows parents who work day shifts to come on the first evening and parents who work night shifts to come on the second afternoon. At least the systems is trying to be flexible for the parents, but it doesn't seem to matter. On a good parent-teacher conference sequence, I may see twelve parents. Total. And I teach about 100 kids. Fucking pathetic. And sad. Not coincidentally, usually the few parents I do see are of students getting 90's in my class and their other classes. Makes sense that the parents who actually are involved have students that are succeeding in school. And the parents that don't come, don't bother calling to make an appointment at a different date or having a phone conference. Some will randomly call close to the end of the semester and ask why their child is failing. Um, lady, your kid comes to school twice a week and does zero work when he does come because he has no idea what is going on. And you are surprised? Get a freaking clue please. Oh wait, you also didn't know you could check your child's grades and attendance online anytime you want? That's funny, because we sent letters home giving detailed instructions how? Maybe you should take even the mildest interest in your child's education.
4) We're in a system where the dead weight is allowed to stay. Do you know how hard it is to fire a tenured teacher? (And do you know how easy it is to get tenure? This at least is changing a bit.) Ahhh. Every school has their dead weight. Those teachers that just go in day after day for the paycheck, going through the motions. They don't really put much effort into their lessons nor do they really seem to care. Basically, they make it harder on everyone else, yet they are impossible to get rid of. Brutal. It's one thing to be bad at your job and not have a clue you are that awful. It's another to not give a rat's ass and have it affect everyone around you. I'm not bitter at all. Nah. Ugh.
5) It's a fucking numbers game and its not helping anyone. When I speak to this numbers game, I am referring to attendance rates, course pass rates, state test pass rates, and even suspension rates at schools. All of these things closely monitored by the higher ups and even the state, and all of them are ultimately fucking over the kids and the teachers.
So you have a high course pass rate, and then your test pass rate is low? Um, red flag. But if you have a high pass rate you are considered to be a "good teacher" regardless if your kids learn or not. If you have a high pass rate, you will be more or less left alone and not questioned so much because your students are passing your class (regardless if they are learning the material or not). Clearly there is something wrong here. This is also the reason I get so many students that are not "high-school ready" skill-wise when they enter the ninth grade. Many read way below grade level and are so low-skilled its amazing how they made it this far. But teachers just kept on passing them and pushing them forward because they felt they had to and it is now my job to teach them to read, in high school. In a science class. Are you kidding? Oh yeah, and let's not forget the state Regents exam they have to pass too.
By having these pass rates held over our heads, many teachers end up enabling students by passing them when the credit is not truly earned. When the students are given multiple opportunities to turn in late work and do extra credit and don't, and still pass the class, what is that teaching them? That stuff doesn't happen in real life and we are teaching these kids that people get many chances. That is not the case in the job world and whether they go to college or not, they need to learn to take some responsibility for themselves.
When you are nervous that you have a lot of suspensions that something is wrong with your school, you are hesitant to suspend kids. Well, when that is the case, kids get away with a lot more than they should. Principals shouldn't have to worry if they are going to look bad by trying to do their jobs. It's not fair to them or their staff and the students. It is my belief that if you suspend early and often, then it sets the bar for the other students and in the end there will be less suspension overall, but you have to be willing to take that risk at the start. If you start the year with an iron first, students will pay attention and realize they can't get away with shit. If this doesn't happen, things can escalate fast and the kids will be the ones with the power.
There are so many factors that go into having a "good school." Strong leadership. Dedicated teachers. Motivated students. Involved parents. Money. And these are just the more obvious ones. I would love to see one of the district administrators come into my classroom and teach my kids for one day (or even an extended period of time) and see what they can do with our "customers." I dare them. They are so wise from their ivory towers but we are facing real issues that need real solutions. Someone needs to make a change in the right direction because until then this cycle of students not learning and teachers get burnt out and discouraged will continue to get worse. This is not the future I saw for myself when I started eight years ago and I refuse to believe that this is where the system is heading. Or maybe I am just in the wrong system? Or the wrong school? I don't know what to think anymore. What I do know is that something needs to change. Fast.
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