FIXING OUR SCHOOLS FOR DUMMIES-VI

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If you are like me, a baby boomer, then you probably remember the small groups in which we were placed in grade school, especially for reading. These groups were identified by various names such as "Bluebirds" and "Redbirds" allowing the teacher to group students according to reading ability. Years later in my high school there was only one class that was different from the other classes and that class was known by us as the "Brain Class". At Loyola High School this class was made up of the best and brightest students and the guys in this class were guaranteed admission to college as sophomores as a result of their advanced work .

Today we have students in what are now called "gifted and talented" programs at one end of the educational spectrum and the special education classes at the other end. In the middle is everyone else regardless of achievement, skills mastery and actual performance. It is this middle group that makes up the vast majority of all classes in which most students are placed and most teachers teach. These classes will have students who will be reading three to four years above and below grade level. Some students in these classes will be disappointed if they do not earn "A" grades and others will celebrate if they achieve a "D-".

For some reason the practice of grouping by ability or tracking fell out of favor and became educationally incorrect. Whereas homogeneous grouping is desirable for the gifted and the educationally handicapped it is not a placement process for everyone else. As a result teachers are forced to modify their instructional delivery by offering differentiated instruction; that is, teaching to multiple groups with varying ability levels. Furthermore teachers must accommodate many individual students with specific learning difficulties that require individualized instruction. This is to be accomplished in a class with 30 or more students with no other adult assistance. You see, administrators know that "redbirds" and "bluebirds" still exist; but refuse to divide students into manageable groups. Instead teachers are now required to set up subgroups in their classes to effectively deal with these vast differences in ability.

The result of this departure from tracking is that now most teachers spend more time dealing with issues of how to teach and classroom management issues rather than what to teach. Teachers must be aware of and recognize the cultural diversity, socio-economic background as well as the level of skills mastery of their students. It is understood and accepted that the educationally handicapped need to be isolated in special education classes to succeed. Additionally, the gifted and talented also allegedly achieve more when placed in homogeneous classes; but its baffling that these same placement considerations are denied to the vast majority of regular students. Consequently the end results, namely the achievement levels, actual grades and of course standardized test scores of the regular students are all over the place.

It is generally believed that nothing in education is ever really new; but a repackaging of something that has previously been done. If this be true, then why not bring back the "Redbirds" and "Bluebirds"? Let us begin to place regular students in classes by achievement or ability just like the gifted and talented and the educationally handicapped are now placed. Let us begin to give the regular students the same educational advantage that these other two groups of students now enjoy. Let us give the teachers of these regular students the same teaching advantage that the teachers of the other two groups of students now experience. Tracking once worked and still works for a few so why not allow tracking to work for everyone? We really have nothing to lose.

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FIXING OUR SCHOOLS FOR DUMMIES - V

Focus on Subject Matter

There has been a steady shift or slide by educators from spending professional time on their particular subject matter to spending professional time on classroom management, cultural diversity, fostering self-esteem, parent and student rights, educational standards and of course the now all important and almighty standardized testing. While all these topics and concerns have varying degrees of relevance and possibly importance, the business of education remains education. As such, curriculum is all important. Professional time should be spent on what is being taught in the core subjects: English, Mathematics, History and Science. Teachers need to be able to meet as colleagues and discuss subject matter concerns. Teachers must have the time to discuss particular subject matter units and how these units are being presented to students. Over the years teachers' meetings have been usurped by administration to cover, discuss, debate and promote everything; except the business of education. This trend must be reversed.

What teachers teach and what students learn in each grade as students progress through public school has become pretty much standardized and predictable. Yes, there have been some unfortunate changes like the mandate that all eighth graders must be taught algebra regardless of their mastery of basic math skills. But in general, there is for the most part a somewhat logical progression of skills acquisition and subject matter exposure. Unfortunately, for many teachers they teach in a collegial vacuum and professional isolation. Many novice teachers have little time to be mentored by their more experienced colleagues and veteran teachers have little or no time to "talk shop" with their peers. Once that bell rings and the door closes its is show time and all teachers are on their own, even the novice first year teacher with no experience.

During the last years of my teaching career most meetings, both full faculty and departmental, were taken up with the new concerns of education. Topping this list was of course standardized testing; but many other non-education topics consumed precious time under the alleged importance of staff development, in-service training and school improvement. Countless school improvement plan requests drifted down from the non-teaching administrators in the district office that required many precious hours to process and complete. To add insult to injury in some instances these plans would be filed away having never been reviewed or read. If by chance someone had discovered a new resource to explain the plot of The Call of the Wild or a new web site that provided more detailed back ground information for The Diary of Anne Frank little formal meeting time was available for sharing this information.

As a result of universal education in that all children regardless of school readiness, mastery of skills, attitude, behavior, attendance and socialization occupy seats in this country's classrooms; the classroom teacher now faces many challenges. Teachers are expected to wear many hats. They are expected to be social workers, counselors, crisis intervention specialists, surrogate parents, nutritionists, behavior modification specialists, attendance monitors and security cops in their overcrowded classrooms with far too many students needing special services. These special needs students are in addition to the educationally handicapped students that were once taught in special education classes; but now include the growing number of delinquent, chronically truant, frequently suspended, disinterested, out of control, parentally neglected children who are a constant source of disruption in the classroom.

No doubt if school administrators would handle the problems that these feral students bring to the classroom maybe, just maybe teachers could devote more time to improving their subject matter presentation and less time on all the various facets of classroom management. Could this result in even test scores going up ? Now that is a carrot to wave in front of school administrators.

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