Teacher Voice

March 2008 Question: "What were your reactions to Superintendent Brizard’s budget for 2008-09?"

• 1 - Open the Josh Lofton campus as a GED academy for those students who - because of age and credits (not) earned - cannot graduate. Staff it with experienced teachers and provide them with some incentive for working with these (likely) difficult students. This has benefits for the schools and the students. Schools get to excise students who do not have a real reason for putting forth an effort but who hang around for social or other reasons and are disruptive elements. Students get another chance to actually graduate. Mandate that those students who cannot legitimately graduate attend the Lofton GED Academy.
• 2 - Across the borad scheduling reform. In many buildings "Study Halls" are a joke. It'll take more teachers, but increase elective offerings, or make a district-wide push to make Study Hall a meaningful part of the students work day. No student with a study hall should be failing, yet far far too many are, and they're given passes to anywhere in the building, dropped in front of computers, or allowed to sleep the period away. Bring in tutors, encourage rigorous proctoring of study halls, and get the administration involved in making these currently wasted periods meaningful.
• 3 - END SOCIAL PROMOTION. This, again, may require a (temporary) radical reconstitution of the teaching load and student distribution, but if a student does not complete every subject satisfactorily, they should not move on. This goes for every grade, but most especially in the middle school grades. If a student is not high school material, they should remain in 7th or 8th grade. Students who remain in middle school too long should be removed to a tutoring academy in a separate campus rather than remain in whatever facility they are not being successful in. Again, incentivize experienced teachers to staff this. We have entirely too many 9th graders who are mired in 9th grade because they have absolutely no business being in 9th grade.
• 4 - Summer School Reform!!!!
  +End Summer School for students who fail more than 2 courses.
  +Summer School should be rigorous. (I have too much experience with too many students who "passed" Summer School simply by showing up, but did no better in the "class work" or on the August final than they did during their failing school year.
  +Students who attend 2 Summer School courses in one year may not attend the next summer.
  -Far too many students use summer school as an excuse not to work at courses or for teachers they don't like during the school year. We are rewarding laziness through our Summer School policies!
• 5 - Something needs to be done during the middle school grades to maintain the students' achievements made in primary grades on exams. Far far far too many high school students fail finals due to unnecessarily inadequate multiple choice grades.

Michael Emmerling, Secondary Math Teacher wrote...

• I would like to see the Framework for Reform specifically address several key areas that are essential to the teaching and learning process. They are:
  
  Culture of failure - with just 22% of our students scoring at or above proficiency in Math 7, it can be said that a culture of failure exists in the classroom. With peer approval and acceptance being of significant importance to adolescents, students actually gain a sense of belonging when they are failing. When working together in small groups of 3 to 4 students, the passing students actually become the minority. Interventions must include measures that create a culture of passing (or desire to pass) among students.
  
  Poor Attendance - a leading contributor to poor academic performance is poor attendance. It appears from the data presented that an attendance rate of less than 80% has been set as the threshold for concern. That equates to an absence rate of 1 school day per week which is far too high. The data must be revised to express concern when attendance drops below 90%. Students must be in the classroom to receive instruction and learn the material. We must eliminate the perception that a students can learn by simply asking for make up work.
  
  Discipline - alternatives to out-of-school suspensions must include out-of-class instruction. We must be willing to commit resources for students to receive adequate and appropriate instruction outside of the classroom when they are disruptive in the classroom. Students that are repeat offenders must also be provided with aggressive interventions that enable them to function appropriately in a classroom setting. Allowing students to remain in school without adequate instructional resources and appropriate behavioral interventions will only lead to additional disciplinary problems. Students must know/learn that there is high standard for behavior within our schools.

Rick Amico, Edison Imaging, Social Studies wrote...

• Teachers should teach what they want, employing their own strategies. Directives from CO will lead to more failure. Devolutionize to the schools - to the teachers who know what they teach and know who they are teaching!

January 2008 Question: "Superintendent Brizard stated his desire to see student suspensions dramatically reduced. But what else must be done to accomplish this in ways that would contribute to a better, not worse, environment for teaching and learning in our schools?"

• Still waiting to hear what the alternatives are for suspensions. Dealing with disruptive and violent students is of the utmost importance when it comes to providing a safe and productive learning environment.

Barbara Seniuk, RCSD Home/Hospital Teacher wrote...

• Superintendent Brizard's safety reforms are good; however, they are just the framework of the larger structure that needs to remain intact. Neither students, teachers nor anyone in our schools will be safe without alternatives for our students. Nobody benefits from a disruptive environment!