APS Supt Winston Brooks has recently set a new graduation rate goal of 75 percent, link. His battle plan; more of the same;
- extending the day at our comprehensive high schools
- offering programs like AVID at more than two dozen of our schools
- continue small learning communities and advisories, and
- professional learning communities ...
If we want to close the gap on the 30% of students who don't graduate, it won't follow offering more of the same. Obviously, there are a relative handful of students who do benefit from "extending the day". But they're never going to be more than a handful. The vast majority of students who fail, need something vastly different than what they are being offered. That "something" is within the grasp of educators, but only educators who are released from the constraints of the cemetery seating paradigm (five rows of six desks, everyone in the same book, on same page, everyday for twelve years).
We need bold new ideas; whole new paradigms different from the stodgy thinking of educational oligarchies and "nobody ever got fired for doing things the way they've always been done" thinking. Those ideas won't come from people deeply invested maintaining the status quo.
The ideas will come from teachers, who in APS alone, have nearly 100,000 years of ongoing teaching experience. Stodgy thinking keeps them from a seat at the table where the future is planned.
Stodgy thinking is satisfied with growth in graduation rates that is within the margin of error in calculating them.photo Mark Bralley
3 comments:
I hate to burst his bubble, but the reason most teachers are leaving by way of early retirement, or just leaving the profession all together, is due to the last 2 items on his list,both of which began a cople of years ago. Behind closed doors at tne " bargaining table", the union sold off one of our prep.periods, that on paper, are professional learning communities. In reality, teachers have to meet during their prep with other teachers who may or may not, teach similar subjects and kids. The advisories have turned into unfunded mandates that are in reality holding pens for unruly,undiciplined kids. Teachers now do next step plans that the counclers used to do.
APS puts down on paper what these programs are supposed to look like, then leave it to each school administration to implement them any way they see fit. Some schools are tight as a drum, some loosy-goosy! All I know is that at my middle school they are both implemented for the convenience of the counseling and administration offices, kids and teachers be damned.
Your union is what creates this adversarial environment of distrust...I never hear about these problems in private and charter environments.
I'm not sure what you mean by "your" union. I am also not sure how you can argue that teachers unions are responsible for the fact that teachers are not part of the decision making process
What creates an adversarial environment of distrust, is a system that doesn't guarantee due process for complaints filed against administrators.
Post a Comment