While this was written to address the failing condition of Cincinati's Public Schools, it holds true for many inner-city public school districts. NCLB has only exacerbated the problems due to its reliance on "fudging" statistics. Please read on!
WHO'S ON FIRST AT CINCINNATI PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
Surely you've heard the old Abbot and Costello routine, "Who's on First?" You know the one where not even the most simple, obvious question can be answered in a straightforward manner. After minutes of round and round confusion all invested parties simply give up in exasperation. Well, imagine that routine multiplied by 25 and you can start to understand the situation Cincinnati Public School teachers are facing.
Teachers are prodded, trained, and pushed by anxious administrators to "hold students to high expectations." Great! I couldn't agree more. All of the teachers I know want their students to be able to achieve at high levels. So we teach well-thought, standards-based lessons. We give challenging class work and homework, we assign interactive and constructive projects, we give difficult, yet fair, assessments. In other words, we treat our students exactly how you would want your children's teachers to treat them.
Cue the Abbot and Costello music because this is when the confusion really sets in. Inevitably, some students do not buy into the high expectations. After all, even the best teachers do not achieve 100% success rates. It's what happens to those students not producing successful results that keeps CPS in the dilapidated state it's in. Do we hold those students accountable for not turning in their homework? Do we show students that failing quiz after quiz and test after test is unacceptable and that it doesn't have to be that way? Do we "punish" kids for not doing the important quarter-ending project that we spent a week's worth of precious class time researching and working on? Reassuringly, the teachers are trying. We are holding after-school tutoring sessions, we are consistently contacting parents about the academic and behavioral progress of their children, we are holding failing students out of any fun incentive activities. We are taking college and district-mandated courses to better serve our students. In short, we are doing everything we (legally) can do. So then what's the problem?
Instead of those students that have ignored their teachers' desperate pleas being taught their behavior is unacceptable, we turn around and do more to encourage its persistence. Teachers are told NOTHING from the district administration about what to do with failing students at the end of the school year. You know why? CPS administrators want NO students to fail. That's right, they want it to look like each child has miraculously been saved. They don't want to have to pay for summer school costs. They don't want an already failing state report card to look even worse. In fact, they treat the whole situation as a teenager might treat a pimple. You know, maybe if you ignore it long enough, it will just go away. What's worse, special-education students, those on IEP's (Individualized Education Plans) know that they are just about guaranteed to pass--regardless of their grades. This "universal passage" has even become a long-standing joke among students!
Instead of going away, the problem keeps getting worse. Students are passed along year after frustrating year. Is it any wonder why we have 8th grade students reading on 2nd and 3rd grade levels? A whole generation of students has been conditioned by our administrators that it's okay to fail, that it's okay to do absolutely nothing and still be promoted to the next grade.
The public plays a role in this too. While most of us undoubtedly find it appalling to reward failure, are we willing to foot the bill to pay for increased numbers of summer school students and those added costs associated with holding failing students back? Are we willing to tackle the "silent killer" associated with low performing students-- that is, low performing parents? Are we willing to hold parents accountable for their child's behavior, attendance, and yes, even their academic performance in school? Are we willing to do something--anything--to get a handle on this epidemic?
In recent years, most attempts at reforming low achieving school districts begin and end with teachers. Usually it a push to get teachers' pay linked to their students' performance on state tests. And, most teachers would wholeheartedly go along with the business community's pay-for-performance plan if it weren't for the fact that over half of our students start the year behind grade level. How do you expect a teacher to make up three years of missed learning in nine months? Would you be willing to sign on to a plan like that if you were a teacher? A common ground would be to measure the growth in each student from one year to the next. If a student starts his 8th grade year on a 5th grade level, but progresses to a 7th grade level by the end of the school year, that's worth a reward for that teacher. Any other system is simply unfair.
If it sounds like all is bad at CPS, it's not! In the midst of all this negativity, bright students continue to shine through--and that should be commended. With a little tough love and a lot of hard work, even more students can show success. But, until CPS administrators communicate a clear message to students, expect more of the same.