I found this article, and the story really surprised me.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/education/28school.htm?pagewanted=1&_r=1
I think Brockton High School raises a few issues. First off, it is a stunning exception to the belief that big schools with a high student to teacher ratio will ultimately fail, simply because it is easy for students like "Frank" to fall through the cracks. It's no secret that a school responsible for educating thousands of students needs sufficient funding to survive, and probably places test scores, which usually translate into funding, at the top of the to do list. In order to obtain this funding, it is absolutely necessary for a unity of purpose to exist among the teachers to achieve the goal of higher test scores. This is the difference that allowed Brockton High School to rewrite their story of failure into one of success. All of the teachers met and agreed to institute some form of writing into all curriculums in the school, even math. Although not all of the teachers were on board at first, I think once the test scores rose it proved that not only was this a viable argument to solve the problem: it actually worked. Just another testimony to how literacy can, and should be incorporated to all aspects of education.
However, the story I read between the lines was of teachers who were not necessarily directly blamed for the low test scores, but took it upon themselves to identify what was important, essentially literacy, and incorporate it into their subjects. We talked about in class how teachers today don't really see 'literacy problem solving' as part of their job description, but the nature of teaching itself is a rewarding job. People don't go into teaching because they feel like they can't make a difference in students lives, or aren't responsible for it. So if teaching is supposed to be self-rewarding why don't all teachers think they are capable of solving the literacy crisis? Or, better yet, feel that it is their responsibility to do it without extra compensation? The Brockton High School teachers did it, each compromising a little bit of time from their individual curriculum to fit in the basics, and it is those basics that made the difference for their school.
I think that this puts the questions, "Who has the power of testing?" and "Who has the power to change literacy?" into perspective. It doesn't necessarily take an extreme switch in testing techniques or education to make a difference.
3 comments:
Great find Sarah, and kudos on the valid points you raise: "Who has the power of testing" and "Who has the power to change literacy". One brief paragraph that slipped by, yet caught my eye, was the point Brockton made to dispel their "elaborate tracking system" because basic level courses set low expectations for struggling students. This seems contradictory to how most would approach teaching 4,100 students.
I wish they would have expanded on this information a little more. Were the "basic" courses restructured? Dropped? or kept; but utilized more efficently with the new attitude towards literacy pedogogy?
Again, great find Sarah!
I believe that what the teachers at Brockton High School did is very admirable and that the nature of teaching should be self-rewarding. However, I also think that it is the obligation of teachers to instill the ideology of striving for high levels of education and literacy. I can honestly say that the reason why I actually tried in school in because of the values that my teachers and my parents passed on to me.
Both of my parents were teachers and they pushed and helped me through school whenever I needed it. They stressed the need for education and naturally, because both of my parents were teachers, I believe they subconsciously influenced me to take pride in my schoolwork. By incorporating literacy practices into all subjects, the teachers have shown that it is a value worth keeping. It also raises the question: What can be classified as high literacy in all of the different subjects at Brockton High and how do the teachers go about achieving this?
This article makes the connection, as Sarah rightly points out, between literacy and test scores.
In the article, Dillon writes that "Massachusetts had instituted a new high school exit exam in 1993, and passing it would be required to graduate a decade later." This is the MCAS exam. You can see the Spring 2010 MCAS exams at http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/2010/release/default.html
Note that the exam includes English and Math for most grade levels with writing being one part of the English test and reading comprehension being the other part. So, consider that Brockton High School was rewarded for raising test scores
Note that the teachers identified the "basics" and used a "rubric" to help guide their efforts. And note that teachers attend Saturday meetings.
What's useful here is that Brockton did not fire mass numbers of teachers. That was the strategy in Rhode Island at Central Falls High School, where they fired EVERY high school teacher last February (only to re-hire them later). See
http://www.projo.com/news/content/central_falls_trustees_vote_02-24-10_EOHI83C_v59.3c21342.html
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