A Curtain of Discontent
More press on the potential state takeover of the North Bolivar School District from the Clarion-Ledger:
Click for the article
Interestingly, Ms. Hayden focuses on Broad Street High School, which is the only school in the district which is NOT a level-one priority school (I believe it is a level four, which is pretty close to a level five, which is the best rating). She barely mentions Brooks.
During the course of her research, she visited my classroom. My students were *silently* listening to a book on what makes leaves change color as we waited for lunch to begin (I had extra time at the end of writing because their Computer class was cancelled.) They were actively engaged in listening, and answered questions in chorus when I asked for it and raised hands when I asked for that. She watched the class line up. She watched them leave. She asked me some questions. I assume she peered in on some other classes in the school and saw students engaged and learning as well. Hence, there are no comments about Brooks. Everyone at Brooks passed the state evaluation, so we're not scandalous news.
She also visited the Shelby Middle School, another level-one priority school -- one that did not have all its teachers (or administrators) pass the state evaluation. And yet, they are hardly mentioned, either.
Granted, the focus of the article is the superintendant. Of the quotes in the story, two are from high school teachers (irrelevant), one is from a high school student (also irrelevant -- it's as though she is looking to discredit the MTC.) Only one deals directly with the actual problem (Shelby Middle School), and then it's not a student, administrator, or teacher, but a parent. And, I'm sorry to have to report, but the parents in this town are on the whole not involved in their childrens' education and have no idea what goes on in the classrooms.
"Our kids are going to be lost," said Waukesha Townsend, whose daughter is a seventh-grader at Shelby Middle. "I don't think the teachers are putting the kids at heart."
Townsend doesn't think teachers have control over their classrooms. And she wonders why higher test scores haven't resulted from various state and federal grants the district has gotten over the past several years for such things as distance learning, French classes and new library books.
Ms. Townsend: the kids need to be taught self-control and focus on schoolwork at home in order for it to be applied in schools. That is a large part of why the kids aren't in control in the classroom (the other part being an administration that doles out punishments inconsitently). And at least one of the seventh grade teachers, my roommate Patrick, most definetely has the children at heart. He moved from Pennsylvania after graduating from an excellent college with a degree in his subject to come and teach at an impoverished district in Mississippi. He didn't do it for the respect, the pay, or the locale. He did it for the kids.
And as for the things that are supposed to have improved the school -- distance learning isn't operational yet, French isn't tested (and it's only taught in the high school), and the library books (at least at Brooks) can't be checked out.
As an AmeriCorps member, I can't comment on a political situation. So all that I will say is that in my direct experience, Brooks Elementary School is on its way to improvement. Yes, there is a long way to go and a change of attitude that needs to happen, but I think our principal is taking us in the right direction despite/in spite of any problems at higher levels of administration.
A final comment about the article, though. Teach for America is presented as a "program that puts college graduates without education degrees through training and help them find teaching jobs." While that is technically true, it is a misrepresentation of TFA's mission (and probably MTC's mission as well). We're not people who wanted to be teachers, forgot to major in education, and needed help finding a job. We are high performers from excellent schools, elementary through college, who are giving two years of our lives to these children and doing our very best to help them.
Click for the article
Interestingly, Ms. Hayden focuses on Broad Street High School, which is the only school in the district which is NOT a level-one priority school (I believe it is a level four, which is pretty close to a level five, which is the best rating). She barely mentions Brooks.
During the course of her research, she visited my classroom. My students were *silently* listening to a book on what makes leaves change color as we waited for lunch to begin (I had extra time at the end of writing because their Computer class was cancelled.) They were actively engaged in listening, and answered questions in chorus when I asked for it and raised hands when I asked for that. She watched the class line up. She watched them leave. She asked me some questions. I assume she peered in on some other classes in the school and saw students engaged and learning as well. Hence, there are no comments about Brooks. Everyone at Brooks passed the state evaluation, so we're not scandalous news.
She also visited the Shelby Middle School, another level-one priority school -- one that did not have all its teachers (or administrators) pass the state evaluation. And yet, they are hardly mentioned, either.
Granted, the focus of the article is the superintendant. Of the quotes in the story, two are from high school teachers (irrelevant), one is from a high school student (also irrelevant -- it's as though she is looking to discredit the MTC.) Only one deals directly with the actual problem (Shelby Middle School), and then it's not a student, administrator, or teacher, but a parent. And, I'm sorry to have to report, but the parents in this town are on the whole not involved in their childrens' education and have no idea what goes on in the classrooms.
"Our kids are going to be lost," said Waukesha Townsend, whose daughter is a seventh-grader at Shelby Middle. "I don't think the teachers are putting the kids at heart."
Townsend doesn't think teachers have control over their classrooms. And she wonders why higher test scores haven't resulted from various state and federal grants the district has gotten over the past several years for such things as distance learning, French classes and new library books.
Ms. Townsend: the kids need to be taught self-control and focus on schoolwork at home in order for it to be applied in schools. That is a large part of why the kids aren't in control in the classroom (the other part being an administration that doles out punishments inconsitently). And at least one of the seventh grade teachers, my roommate Patrick, most definetely has the children at heart. He moved from Pennsylvania after graduating from an excellent college with a degree in his subject to come and teach at an impoverished district in Mississippi. He didn't do it for the respect, the pay, or the locale. He did it for the kids.
And as for the things that are supposed to have improved the school -- distance learning isn't operational yet, French isn't tested (and it's only taught in the high school), and the library books (at least at Brooks) can't be checked out.
As an AmeriCorps member, I can't comment on a political situation. So all that I will say is that in my direct experience, Brooks Elementary School is on its way to improvement. Yes, there is a long way to go and a change of attitude that needs to happen, but I think our principal is taking us in the right direction despite/in spite of any problems at higher levels of administration.
A final comment about the article, though. Teach for America is presented as a "program that puts college graduates without education degrees through training and help them find teaching jobs." While that is technically true, it is a misrepresentation of TFA's mission (and probably MTC's mission as well). We're not people who wanted to be teachers, forgot to major in education, and needed help finding a job. We are high performers from excellent schools, elementary through college, who are giving two years of our lives to these children and doing our very best to help them.
posted by Jessica at 12:14 AM
1 Comments:
Fascinating post.
With journalism, especially on a local or regional level, all too often there is a huge disconnect between what is actually happening and what is being reported.
Perhaps we should start a "Journalism for America" program... sending the educated college kids out into the regional dailies and weeklies.
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