I see this at about the end of August every year. Many of my students don't study for the my test. They come in the next class and learn that they've flunked, often in spectacular fashion. "I didn't even know it was possible to get 30." Welcome to high school, kids.
I used to be nervous about giving a test back when most kids failed it. I worried about them giving up on the class. Now, I sort of relish it (not too much -- I'm not that sadistic.) It's a chance for real learning to happen. I have my students' full attention: What you were doing is not going to work. You must change. I can help you do that, but you're going to have to do what I say.
And then we really start.
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The difference between the crisis Obama and Emanuel faced versus what we face in education is immediacy. In 2008, the country faced a depression, something it hadn't seen since 1929. It had to be addressed. Now.
In education, it's different. We face the same set of crises every year. We have become used to it. I'd say we crossed the line from crisis to tragedy, except for one thing: we can change things.
A veteran teacher once told me that the great thing about teaching is this: "Every August, there's a clean slate. Everybody starts over." She went on to tell me about students she'd known who had been disasters one year, then came back as top performers the next year. She also talked about how she had a fantastic second year after a miserable first year as a teacher.
Every part of our education system can experience this renewal each year because this is a profession that deals with potential, with what a person can become. And the book is never finished on what a person can become.
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What to do when you've got a bunch of crises? I've argued that we have one in District 5, that the elementary options for pretty much everyone are terrible, and that our kids aren't graduating ready for college.
Of all those, the one that affects me most is the last one. I don't have kids right now and I teach high school, not elementary. Not surprisingly, this caught my eye from today's Tennessean:
Citing improving graduation rates, Freeman said the chamber believed Register had done a good job since the school board hired him in 2009. The 2009 high school graduation rate, which gave students five years to graduate, was 73 percent for Metro Nashville Public Schools. The rate rose to 83 percent in 2010, which also used a five-year calculation. In 2011, the calculation gave students four years to graduate, and the MNPS rate dropped to 76 percent.Here's a bigger picture, courtesy of the Chamber of Commerce's Education Report Card:
Graduation rates matter, of course. I'd rather see a kid graduate than not. We are in a better place now than in 2003-2004. However, graduation rates are also easily manipulated* and not necessarily indicative that students are ready for the next level, whether it's college or some other type of post-secondary education.
The ACT also has its flaws, but it's still the best shorthand of seeing if our graduates are actually ready for the next level. Again, courtesy of the Report Card:
The last label is slightly cut off, but it's MNPS' overall average. Out of about 4,000 graduates, 28 percent of them test as college-ready. In other words, about 2,880 students left MNPS this year with a diploma, but inadequate academic skills.
So, how do we not let this crisis go to waste? I'll write about some of my ideas in future posts, but I also want to hear what you know.
You can leave a comment or e-mail me at wilson dot s dot boyd at gmail dot com (trying to avoid the spammers...).
* In a world where administrators can override grades with the push of a button or shove kids through an easy credit-granting computer program, the temptation to just graduate 'em already is too much for some principals.
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