Trials for Teach for America Teacher
A teacher for Teach for America has started a blog called A Blog Covering D.C. Education (ABCDE) which chronicles his experiences with students in the classroom and his thoughts on education reform. In this week’s entry the teacher encounters JR, a student taking summer school classes to gain entrance to 10th grade. Because he is so far behind, the teacher is struggling with the decision to pass the student based upon his clear motivation to succeed or to fail him based upon low scores, which will only serve to shuffle an under-performing student through the system. After answering JR’s questions regarding the No Child Left Behind law that he assumed meant no student could be failed from a class based regardless of merit, the teacher enters into some sobering analysis not only of JR’s plight but that of thousands of students like him around the country.
Conversations like this one are going to be quite common. I found the whole talk ironic because JR clearly showed that he is capable of analyzing and evaluating a situation. He’s a smart boy. Yet, somewhere inside him there is a disconnect between his ability to think and his ability to express himself on paper. It’s sad and I honestly think more about him than I do any other student.
At this point, it would take a miracle and a half for JR to pass. I would feel terrible promoting him to the 10th grade given how far behind he is. Yet, I know that failing him again might break his heart. He’s had one of the best attendance records and, despite the fact that he daydreams a lot in class, he’s been an active participant in class.
Teachers around the country have had, and continue to have, similar experiences with their under-performing students. Regular classroom instruction and other traditional methods of teaching can reach a large portion of a classroom, as evidenced by the hundreds of millions of students who have progressed through the system. But there is a small portion of the classroom on both ends of the spectrum (both under-performing and gifted-and-talented) who might need differentiated instruction. JR, although challenged by the curriculum, clearly has the motivation and desire to succeed but lacks the ability to do so. The teacher anguishes over the great conundrum he faces: