Teachers are the Solution

All summer teachers in our Inspired Teaching Institute have expressed concern and worry about all the press surrounding upheaval and change in DC's school system.

We've taken the opportunity to remind them that while the system may struggle to find its financial and administrative footing, the real solution has been right in front of us all along. Teachers are the solution.

Given high expectations and effective training and support so they can reach those expectations, teachers could have the power to change the way DC’s children are educated. We’ve worked with thousands of DC educators over the years and have seen what is possible when teachers do what it takes to ensure every child in their care reaches his full potential.

When teachers recognize that even struggling students have an innate desire to learn, and then meet that desire with instruction that is relevant, challenging, and engaging, students excel, teachers enjoy their jobs, and schools improve.

We have been pleased to see new Chancellor Michelle Rhee quoted as saying “good teachers are the key to improving schools.”

D.C.’s educational system will improve when we devote as much time and energy to our teachers as we do to the politicians and policies that govern our schools.

When the Outside Blows In

According to the Washington Post, DC's new mayor, Adrian Fenty, has promised $80,000 and the services of two city organizations to help cut down on violence in two Anacostia schools.

I think everyone wants to see something done to decrease the statistics at Anacostia High School. "This school year, there have been 102 reported incidents at Anacostia, including fights, threats, robberies and thefts," the article states. And the groups Fenty is bringing in have had some success working with students to find the root causes of violence in schools.

But what strikes me about this article and the project designed to solve to this problem is the absence of teachers in the solution. Certainly trained counselors can make a difference, and safety patrols in the hallways are likely to cut down on fights, but are teachers being trained to deal with what happens when the world outside their classrooms blows in?

Maslow's Hierarchy of needs is very clear on the point that the ability and desire to learn is only possible when basic and social needs are met. It matters little that they're being met in school hallways and counseling offices if they're not also being met inside the classroom.

These community groups should share their strategies with the staff at Anacostia and Johnson Middle School (the other school involved in the project.) And all the adults in the building should work together to make sure the changes implemented outside the classrooms are also happening inside them.

Teachers spend more time during the day with students than most other adults in their lives. When teachers make their curriculum relevant to the lives of their students and interesting to learn - this alone will cut down on the discipline problems in the classroom. Teachers are a necessary component in the success of this project.

If they are supported in their efforts to build trusting relationships, share responsibility for learning, respect student differences, and celebrate each student's unique gifts - Teachers will be part of the solution to what's troubling these schools.

If You Want to Build a Ship...

Mayor Fenty’s proposal to restructure the governance of the city’s public schools represents a sense of urgency, a desire for swift action and strong leadership. What is missing from the Mayor’s ambitious plan to improve the governance of DC’s schools is an equally ambitious, equally bold plan to improve the quality of instruction our students experience. Scholarly research has shown that teacher quality matters more than class size, more than students’ prior achievement, and more than students’ socioeconomic background^[1]. The report from the Parthenon Group commissioned by Mayor Fenty himself to make the case for a mayoral takeover cited the quality of instruction as the leading ‘pain point’ in DCPS[2]. Thus, scholarly research, independent analyses of DCPS by experts, and plain common sense all suggest that the real issue before us is not who controls the budget but rather how well our teachers are teaching. Yet the current proposal and the surrounding debate are entirely silent when it comes to what actually happens in the classroom. The children, parents, and teachers of the District of Columbia deserve greater detail on the Mayor’s vision of teaching and learning, and the Council should consider whether and how the proposed restructuring will support innovative, effective instruction that allows our young people to reach their full potential as learners.

Substantive change will not be accomplished through the familiar workhorses of educational policy reform, such as mandating new curricula, threatening stricter accountability measures, or tinkering with collective bargaining agreements. It can be accomplished by re-engineering the classroom so that the work of school becomes more intellectually engaging for both students and teachers. In one recent study conducted by Center for Inspired Teaching, an educational reform nonprofit that fosters teachers’ professional growth, DCPS students spent just one percent of their class time asking thoughtful questions about the subject at hand. In contrast, students spent sixty percent of their time on passive learning activities—sitting quietly, completing worksheets that emphasized simple recall and basic understanding, copying down information provided by the teacher. A teacher who values students’ obedience more than their intellect, a school system that encourages compliance rather than critical thinking, is not an adequate preparation for participation in democracy. We must transform our classrooms from places where teachers talk and students listen to centers of inquiry, where teachers inspire and students investigate. Going to school should be like going to work in a NASA or NIH lab. Students should have real responsibility; make important decisions; look for answers when they need new information; experiment; take risks; learn from failures; and return home each day exhausted and exhilarated from their accomplishments. We should invest in training teachers to provide these sorts of learning experiences, and support them materially and administratively when they do.

When thinking of the underlying reasons for the intractable problems in our schools, and why our efforts at reform have so far fallen short, it is worth considering a quote from Antoine de St-Exupery, author of the children’s classic The Little Prince. "If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give the orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea." Top-down educational reform gives teachers orders, standards and curriculum plans divide the work, but none of these validates their yearning for meaningful work that makes a real difference with the children they serve. There has been far too little consideration of how the proposed restructuring would affect teachers and teaching. Those of us concerned with the education of our city’s children—and that should be each and every one of us--should urge our leaders to spell out more fully whether and how the alternative structure would allow for more purposeful, more powerful investments in training teachers to deliver the rich and responsive curriculum our children deserve. No educational policy can effect substantive change in schools if it does not successfully galvanize teachers’ efforts and intellects and invest in their continuous professional growth as educators.

While sophisticated, meaningful inquiry into the possibilities and challenges of truly engaging teachers and learners may be less amenable to sound-bites than easy-to-understand solutions such as “let the mayor run the schools,” the complex nature of quality teaching and learning requires complex questions and answers. Throughout the recent City Council hearings on the proposed restructuring, there has been much talk about testing and legislating, and comparatively little discussion of teaching and learning. Careful consideration of the effects of change at the top is warranted and welcome, of course. But at some point, and hopefully some point soon, the children who attend DCPS schools deserve an equally vigorous debate on a plan to create meaningful change the teaching and learning they experience on a day to day basis.

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[1] Sanders, William L., and June C. Rivers. 1996. Cumulative and residual effects of teachers on future student academic achievement: University of Tennessee Value-Added Research and Assessment Center.

[2] Parthenon Group Report ‘Fact Base for DCPS Reform,’ page 25.