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Teachers talk about

Teacher
Voices:
some of the big
problems they face in
The Classroom And How
These Impede Student
Learning

Teachers talk about

Teacher
Voices:
some of the big
problems they face in
The Classroom And How
These Impede Student
Learning





Proj ect Description: This report is the
seventh installment in Teachers Are the
Center of Education, a series created to
highlight the critical importance of teachers,
salute their great work and amplify their
voices. Successful education reform always
needs active teacher involvement. As the
nation looks to rewrite the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act, we must be sure
to turn to them for advice and counsel.

The two teachers who spearheaded this
report were selected by the College Board. In
turn, they selected the colleagues with whom
they spoke. The teacher portions of the report
were edited lightly, but every effort was made
to retain their original voices.













2 Teacher Voices




Introduction
In most respects this report parallels the other six reports in the Teacher Voices
series. It amplifies the voices of practicing classroom teachers, highlights
the problems and solutions they face in our nations many classrooms, and
embeds these conversations in the context of school reform.

However, this report differs from its predecessors in one significant way:
It does not have recommendations. This is because the purpose of the
current effort is to spark additional conversations about what we must do
to improve student learning. But its purpose is to spark particular kinds
of conversations, ones based on the perspectives of classroom teachers.
Until we have these kinds of exchanges, real progress will be elusive.

As we said in our last report,
This study is neither scientific nor broad based. We simply asked two
experienced and committed teachers to speak with their colleagues
about this important issue.

Nancy Barile is an English language arts (ELA) teacher from Revere,
Mass., with 17 years of classroom experience. She spoke face-to-face
with 30 of her colleagues. Tom White is a third-grade teacher from
Lynnwood, Wash., with 27 years of classroom experience.
He spoke with 25 teachers via an online survey and follow-up
phone interviews.

This sample includes but a tiny fraction of the nations more than
3 million teachers, and these voices only reflect their personal
experiences, histories and circumstances. We know other teachers
may disagree.







Teacher Voices 3



Tom White
Teaches third grade at a public school in Lynnwood, WASH.,
an ethnically diverse suburb 10 miles north of Seattle.

Graduated from the teacher education program at the
University of Washington 27 years ago and has taught
since then.

Achieved National Board certification 12 years ago.

Works with the National Council f or Accreditation of
Teacher Education (NCATE), serving on their board of
examiners. Board members visit two col l eges each year and
wri te reports that determine whether or not the teacher
education program has met national accreditation standards.

Regul ar blogger on StoriesFromSchool.org focusing on
issues of school reform.



Here he talks about some of the major
hurdles he and his fellow teachers face
in their classrooms. They include class
size, shortage of teacher aides,
pressure to meet predetermined
curricular schedules and lack of
parental support.




4 Teacher Voices





I taught a math lesson recently. It was a pretty straightforward lesson: I
wanted my third-grade students to understand the difference between
perimeter and area. I started by asking the class to write what they knew
about the two concepts. Most knew nothing. That was good; it meant
the lesson would be meaningful. Next I led them through an activity in
which we drew rectangles on dry-erase boards. We measured the sides
to get the perimeter and divided the interior space into squares, counting
them to get the area. When I saw that most had mastered this, we
found the area and perimeter of triangles and irregular shapes. Finally,
we solved story problems involving area and perimeter. After an hour, I
asked my class to tell me in writing the difference between perimeter
and area. Twenty-four of my 28 students showed a solid understanding,
two more had a pretty good grasp of it and the other two, well they
werent quite there.

That evening I started thinking, How could this lesson have gone
better? What conditions would have better facilitated my students
understanding of perimeter and area? This simple act of reflection
something I do every evening is in some ways a microcosm of a
discussion that we in the field of education should be having on a larger
scale. For if we are to improve, its essential we start by understanding
what is really happening in the classroom. And we teachers need to not
only be part of local, state and national discussions of this kind, we need
to help lead them, too.

I came up with four factors that, had I been able to control, would have
contributed to all of my students understanding of area and perimeter.
And this is not pie-in-the-sky thinking. These are things that we can,
and should, change. Because if education reform is for real, then it
has to have an impact on real lessons that happen in real classrooms.
Classrooms like mine.

First of all, 28 students is an awful lot for one man to teach,
especially during certain parts of the lesson. During the opening
discussion and the concluding writing activity, it doesnt really matter, but
in the heart of the lesson the part where my students are grappling


Teacher Voices 5





with concepts and practicing new skills it matters a whole lot. Thats
when Im watching my students carefully, looking for feedback to tell me
how fast to proceed and which kids need extra practice. And thats when
class size makes all the difference. Thats the critical point in the lesson
where the teacher is balancing the pressure to move the lesson along
before too many kids get restless and the pressure to slow it down so
that everyone understands. Thats when class size is important. Ive
taught for almost three decades, with class sizes that have ranged from
17 to 31. Ideally, a primary class should have around 23 students. Less is
better, but it probably isnt cost-effective. Any more, and it takes too long
to monitor the learning and adjust the rate of instruction.

Besides a smaller class size, this lesson would have benefited from
in-class support. We call them paraeducators now, but they used to
be called teachers assistants or aides. These people are a godsend;
they come in for an hour or so, figure out what were trying to do with
the class, find the students who are having trouble and do what they
can to help them learn. Actually, in many ways, in-class support is a way
to offset a large class size; most schools make a point of strategically
placing paraeducators in certain classrooms at the times when theyre
most needed. Unfortunately, need always surpasses demand, and I was
teaching this lesson alone. Had there been a paraeducator in my room,
I would have been able to move the lesson along at a little faster clip,
keeping the restless kids engaged without losing anyone who needed
more time. Had I had that support, more than likely all of my students
would have achieved my objectives.

The third factor that impacted this lesson concerns curricular mandates.
Specifically, my math curriculum and the pace at which its implemented
are entirely decided by district administration. Im essentially told what
to teach and when to teach it. And although our curriculum is generally
well designed and intelligently planned, were strongly encouraged to
move on to the very next lesson the very next day, which means that
those two students who didnt grasp the difference between area and
perimeter during this lesson are basically out of luck. Ready or not, Im
expected to move on. The problem is, of course, that Im not always


6 Teacher Voices





ready to move on. Or more specifically, the students arent always ready.
Teacher supervision, like classroom instruction, should be differentiated;
if a teacher is experienced and competent, he or she should be given
discretion over issues such as pacing and curriculum instruction. And
vice versa: Inexperienced teachers need more supervision.

And then theres parental support. During this math lesson, it was
clear that several students were tired. Really tired. They were slumped
over, glassy-eyed and exhausted, which sadly is fairly typical, especially
on a Monday. For me to do my job well, and for my students to do
their work well, I need the support of parents who will make sure their
children are rested, fed and ready to learn. This matters a lot: The four
kids who struggled in this lesson the most all come from homes that
can best be described as disorganized. Students also need parental
support after the lesson, when they do their homework. Coincidentally,
those same four students had the least help that evening on their
homework, which was turned in with uncorrected errors. For education
to be effective, teachers need the support of their students parents.
When I give my back to school talk each autumn, I ask parents for five
things: Get your kids to bed 12 hours before school starts; make sure
they do their homework and make sure you check it each night; get them
to school on time every day unless theyre seriously sick; read to them,
read with them and read next to them every night; and make school
events a family priority.

Those four factors class size, teacher aides, curricular mandates and
parental support are the biggest issues that impacted this single
math lesson. But Im just one guy. What do other teachers think? What
do they consider the biggest issues that impact student learning in their
classrooms? To find out, I invited 26 teachers, half of whom are National
Board certified, to complete an online survey. Quantitative education
research is important, but so too are teacher observations.

Not surprisingly, over 80 percent of our respondents listed class size as
a significant issue. Thirty-eight percent listed it as the most significant
issue. This was particularly true among teachers in the lower grades. A


Teacher Voices 7





first-grade teacher commented, The more students I have, the harder
it is to work with each of them as much as they need. Fewer students
would allow for more small-group meeting time. A second-grade
teacher agreed: Good teaching in the primary grades requires reading
conferences, writing conferences and individual reading inventories. The
larger the class, the less time there is to spend with each student doing
these important tasks. Whats even more striking is that many of these
teachers feel apologetic toward their students because the class is too
big for them to adequately serve everyone. To wit: I hate complaining,
but I do feel like I am able to offer a higher level of service or education
when I am working with fewer kids. I can only spread myself so thin that
the neediest get most of my attention; the rest do the best they can.

Lack of in-class support was listed as a significant issue by 50 percent
of responding teachers. Interestingly, 21 percent listed it as the
most important issue. Many of the respondents comments actually
overlapped with those concerning class size, like this from a sixth-grade
teacher, With the wide range of abilities, not having enough support
means Im trying to meet with all students. With support, I could handle
reading groups or math better since I know more kids could be observed
and informally assessed. They could also get help sooner when they
need it. Another comment, this one from a kindergarten teacher with a
flair for brevity, sums it up nicely: Too many kids, not enough adults.

Not surprisingly, most of the teachers who cite a lack of support as a
significant issue are the same teachers who want a smaller class size.
This makes total sense, of course, since the cheapest way to mitigate a
large number of students is to bring in another adult.

This brings us to curricular mandates, the third factor that would have
positively impacted my math lesson. Again, my survey respondents
agreed: 46 percent listed it as an important factor, and 13 percent cited it
as the most important factor. One first-year teacher commented on the
struggle between addressing the real needs we see in the classroom
and external directives: While there are federal, state and district
mandates regarding curriculum, sometimes its the teachers who know


8 Teacher Voices





whats best for their students. Dont shy away from doing whats best for
them. Many district mandates are a pragmatic response to the current
culture of high accountability, with an emphasis on teaching tested
subjects and concepts, leading this teacher to reply, I would encourage
teachers to resist the temptation to teach only tested skills as a means
to raise test scores. All children need instruction in the various content
areas. Well-rounded education is important in creating productive citizens
in our community.

Lack of parental support was the fourth factor I cited as having an impact
on my math lesson. Twenty-five percent of the teachers I surveyed
agreed; 8 percent consider it the most important issue that impacts their
ability to teach their students. Heres a typical response that describes
what most of us feel when trying to work with sleepy-eyed students
who consistently fail to do their homework: I have learned to teach
with minimal parent support. I think if parents were more involved with
their child after the school day is over, more of our students would take
school seriously and meet standards. This teacher works in a high-
need, low-income school, not unlike mine. Oddly, the other end of the
socioeconomic spectrum presents its own challenges regarding parental
support. Consider this comment: In regard to parental involvement,
I work at a high-income school, and though parents are very willing to
give, they also demand a large portion of my academic time with the
kids spent on their definition of fun activities (field trips, parties, in-
depth art projects, etc.). As a result, I am often spending precious time
negotiating with parents and convincing them of the importance of their
childs education rather than focusing on what they think I should do.
Parental overinvolvement also affects students in that students become
too reliant on adults to solve their problems for them and lack the
problem-solving skills that can be applied to their academics. Discipline
problems also stem from students thinking that they can get away with
poor behavior because they have been blessed with this privilege at
home. I often have to spend time defending myself on a discipline issue
with parents as they take their childs side instead of working together
[with teachers] to improve student behavior, thus taking away from
student learning.


Teacher Voices 9





This takes us full circle, all the way back to the student learning
exemplified by my math lesson. After all, student learning is what this is
all about. What happens in the classroom is a complex mixture of what a
teacher does, school policies and the influence of the larger society. Can
we reduce class size or at least provide more in-class support for large
classes? Sure we can, if were serious about student learning, but itll
cost some money.

What about reducing external pressure, giving classroom teachers more
autonomy regarding the content and pace of instruction? This can be
done, too, although we seem to be moving in the opposite direction
right now. (Ironically, countries like Finland, whose students consistently
outperform ours, generally defer to the classroom teachers judgment
when it comes to content and pacing; theyre also far less concerned
about high-stakes testing than we are.)

Im less optimistic about improving the level of parental support, for two
reasons. First of all, no one wants to be told how to raise their child,
no matter how crucial the advice might be. Secondly, whenever our
school has parenting classes or subject-specific events such as math
nights designed to help parents better support their children, most of
the attendees are the parents who least need our advice, which only
exacerbates the divide between their children and those who lack critical
parental support.

This is intended to be the beginning of an overdue conversation: a
national discussion on the barriers students and their teachers face in
America. I dont have all the answers; no one does. But if education
reform is to happen if were serious about fixing our schools we
must start the way I did: by examining whats really happening during
real lessons in real classrooms across America.








10 Teacher Voices



Nancy Bar i l e
Teaching English language ar ts f or 17 years at Revere High
School, a public urban, low-income school outside
of Boston.

Achieved National Board certification in 2001.

Teaches Classroom and Behavior Management and Developing
Teaching Strategies at The Graduate School of Education at
Emmanuel College, Boston.

Wrote a 46-week bl og on a variety of classroom topics
f or Scholastic.



Here she talks about some of the major
hurdles she and her fellow teachers face
in their urban classrooms. They include
absenteeism, lack of resources,
family engagement and cheating/
plagiarism.











Teacher Voices 11





What is it that makes the urban school experience so challenging? Are
the difficulties and problems teachers face in the urban, low-income
classroom all that different from those at other schools? Ive always felt
strongly that while quantitative research is extremely important, teacher
observation can also truly provide insight into the issues affecting our
schools. After all, if we hope to improve, we need to understand what
is going on in the classroom. For this reason, I brought together 30
urban, low-income high school teachers to discuss these questions.
These teachers revealed four major issues affecting their classrooms.
The first three were fairly unique to urban, low-income schools, while
the last is a challenge that appears to be common for all teachers. But
let me be blunt: If we are going to fix our schools, we need a lot more
teachers at the table. We also need other educators, students and their
families, policymakers, business people everyone, all with their own
perspectives and opinions. So far, the conversation has been limited to
far too few. We all need to be invited to the party, talking, arguing and
exchanging ideas about education.

1. Absenteeism
Absenteeism in urban, low-income schools is a staggering problem. In
any given day, I have at least two students in each class absent, one
teacher reported. Frequently its more. With our schools 80-minute
block schedule, these students miss an enormous amount of work, and
they often do not come back to make it up or get extra help. Students in
urban schools are absent for a number of reasons, including being sick.
Asthma-related problems are one of the main causes of absenteeism,
and urban areas have larger concentrations of this disease. Besides
being sick, students are often absent because they need to take care
of younger siblings when parents are working, or they need to serve as
translators for their non-English-speaking parents. One of my Albanian
students was upset that he was marked absent yet again. But, Miss, I
had to go to the IRS with my father; he speaks no English. It would have
been impossible for him to communicate, and the IRS is not open on
Saturdays! he cried.


12 Teacher Voices





Baker, Sigman & Nugent (2001) have noted the high rates of truancy
(intentional, unexcused absence from school) in large cities, and they
also point out that those students with the highest truancy rates are at
the greatest risk for dropping out of school. And while the relationship
between income and truancy may not be well established, it is generally
believed that students from lower-income families have higher rates
of truancy (Bell, Rosen & Dynlacht, 1994), and that 15 is the peak age
for truancy cases. (Puzzanchera, Stahl, Finnegan, Tierney & Snyder,
2003). In addition, many urban high school students feel disconnected
from what they learn in school, and that is another reason for truancy.
School is boring, one student said matter of factly. Id rather stay
home. Or work. With absenteeism at a crisis level, policymakers and
educators need to work together to find new strategies to get students
to school. Enforcement measures might help, but I would argue a more
fundamental change needs to occur. We need to examine and try to deal
with the root causes.

2. Lack of Resources,
Especially Technology
Lack of resources, especially technology, is an extreme challenge in
urban, low-income high schools. How can I teach my students
21st-century learning skills without 21st-century technology? one
teacher bemoaned. Twenty-first-century learning focuses on critical
thinking, synthesis of information, effective communication and
creativity, often using 21st-century tools, including computers, software
programs, digital and mobile infrastructures, and other technology. It
is absolutely essential that students learn these skills if they are to
compete in todays fast-paced global society. In my own school, it is
easier to get Red Sox tickets than to book time on library computers
or in the computer center. And I am one of the luckier teachers
because I have an interactive whiteboard and a document camera in
my classroom. Technology resources are not the only items that are
scarce. Other essentials are scarce. It is difficult to get sets of books


Teacher Voices 13





for the classroom, especially for enrichment reading that enhances
and strengthens the schools current reading program. Money for field
trips, guest speakers and other activities is nonexistent. English teacher
Matt Despres remarked, I have run out of books, paper, computers
and desks. Literally time and space, in some cases. We shouldnt ever
use it as an excuse, but I do catch myself saying If I had... with greater
frequency every year Im here.

So whats a teacher to do? At my school, weve all made excellent use
of websites like donorschoose.org, where teachers can post lists of
needed items and have their wishes fulfilled by donors throughout the
country. Ive gotten everything from books to video cameras to netbook
computers. I even received funding to bring Michael Patrick MacDonald,
author of All Souls: A Family Story from Southie, to my school. Good
advice for teachers in urban, low-income school districts is to quickly
learn grant writing. Its not as hard as it may seem. A number of small
grants can be found in professional journals and through teacher union
websites that are very easy to fill out and can result in extra resources.

Policymakers, however, have to help urban, low-income schools by
leveling the playing field so that my students have the resources
necessary to compete with their wealthier peers. We need more local,
federal and state funding provided to urban, low-income schools to help
students be part of the cutting edge of technology rather than the last
ones at the party. This is a tough demand in tough times, but lets face it,
we are not going to really help poor kids learn without more resources.

3. Parental and Family
Engagement
Nearly all urban school teachers interviewed lamented the difficulties
they had in engaging their high school students parents and families.
I have over 100 students, but on parentteacher night, only 15
parents showed up for conferences, one teacher stated. Its almost


14 Teacher Voices





impossible to even get a parent on the phone, another complained. It
is true that parental involvement drops off significantly in high school,
mainly because most strategies and suggestions for engagement are
geared to the elementary and middle school years: bake sales, field trip
chaperoning and room monitoring, for example. Most high schoolers
would be mortified by such involvement (Hill & Tyson, 2009). Parental
and family involvement, however, is necessary in order to promote
educational resilience and achievement. Fostering high aspirations,
taking a supervisory role in overseeing students work and monitoring
their progress are all ways parents and families can work with schools to
help students achieve.

Students from urban schools are greatly influenced by the behavior
their parents model and through the expectations and aspirations that
parents have for them. Programs that train teachers to work with parents
and families to alter aspirations in youth, encouraging and promoting
high achievement and academic goals, lay the foundation for helping
urban school students. Teacher training in techniques that include
communicating their expectations for their childrens achievement;
discussing learning strategies; fostering career aspirations; linking what
children are learning in school, or were interested in learning, to outside
activities; and making plans for the future (Viadero, 2009, p. 14) can
be extremely valuable. In addition, Brint (2006) noted that the people
who tend to move up are those who have the habits and skills that bring
success in school: regularity, diligence and reasoning ability (p. 178),
all skills that can be taught by parents and families. Academic ethos,
the discipline to study when others are out with friends, socializing and
having fun (p. 178), can also be cultivated in children by their parents
and families. Our students and their families also face many other
complicated issues. Here are just a few:

Educators in urban, low-income schools need training in
understanding the research that shows that people from lower
status backgrounds sometimes tend to be less comfortable
interacting with authorities, including teachers (Brint, 2006,
p. 194), which makes parentteacher interaction difficult in
urban, low-income schools.

Teacher Voices 15





Urban parents and families dont really have the necessary
resources to manage child care, transportation and time off for
meeting with teachers; to hire tutors; and to become intensely
involved in their childrens schooling (p. 194). Teachers need
education in how to handle these obstacles.

We have large influxes of immigrants and not only do we need
to welcome and be successful with the students, we also need
culturally specific and sensitive ways of reaching out to their
families and involving them in their childrens education. If, for
example, school information is not disseminated in a language
that the family understands, or if the family is left out of the
critical process of helping the student to achieve, then the child
is sure to suffer.

4. Academic Integri ty
Cheating and plagiarism are epidemic in many classrooms not just
the urban, low-income classroom. Last year, my school had a cheating
scandal in physics that involved over 60 students. Some of the worst
memories Ive had in my 17-year career as a teacher involve plagiarism.
And the Internet has made this more complicated. I gave my AP


students an essay assignment to analyze My Last Duchess by Robert
Browning, instructing them that they could NOT use the Internet. I later
found out that some had used the Internet and others had copied from
their peers. Even my husband said the students should be applauded for
seeking out the information when they were stumped after all, this
is the information age. The whole incident was a nightmare. And other
teachers have similar stories: assignments downloaded completely from
the Internet without any citations; students from first-period classes
sharing test questions with students in third-period classes; students
using phones and iPods to share work.

According to the Josephson Institute Center for Youth Ethics, A majority
of students (59 percent) admitted cheating on a test during the last year,


16 Teacher Voices





with 34 percent doing it more than two times. One in three admitted
they used the Internet to plagiarize an assignment. This is an extremely
alarming statistic especially when, Id argue, the number is much
higher.

What can teachers do? Combating plagiarism and cheating requires a
great deal of vigilance on the part of teachers and administrators. The
first place to begin is with an honor code that clearly delineates the
expectations for students. Unfortunately, honor codes are not enough.
One effective method for dealing with plagiarism is the use of websites
and software that can detect plagiarism and cheating. This can be as
simple as teachers typing suspicious material into a search engine
and seeing if there is a match. Antiplagiarism software programs are
expensive, but they are even more effective. Not only do they detect
copied material down to a percentage point, but they highlight that
material and list the source. They also store previous student work,
eliminating cheating from year to year. Use of this type of software
program has been helpful in eliminating plagiarism issues, and it teaches
students proper source citing.

Schools need to handle cheating issues more strictly to stop repeat
offenders. Issues of breaches in academic integrity should travel with
a student throughout his or her high school career. Teachers should be
vigilant when creating tests and assignments. The best assignment
one that is virtually cheat-proof is one that requires students to draw
on their own knowledge to synthesize and interpret information.

These issues reveal that while teachers play a huge role in a students
success, school policies and what goes on in the larger society also
impact what is happening in the classroom. We need a nationwide
discussion to address the barriers that students and teachers face if we
are going to fix our schools. Teacher observations help uncover important
issues and can point out where the focus should be to help the process
of improving our schools begin.





Teacher Voices 17





Works Cited

Baker, M. L., Sigman, J. N., & Nugent, M. E. (2001). Truancy reduction: Keeping students in
school. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention.

Bell, A. J. , Rosen, L. A., & Dynlacht, D. (1994). Truancy intervention. The Journal of Research and
Development in Education, 27, 203211.

Brint, S. (2006). Schools and societies (2nd ed.). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Hill, N. E. , & Tyson, D. F. (2009, January 8). Parental involvement in middle school: A meta-analytic
assessment of the strategies that promote achievement. Developmental Psychology, 45(3),
740761.

Puzzanchera, C., Stahl, A. L., Finnegan, T. A., Tierney, N., & Snyder, H. N. (2003). Juvenile Court
Statistics 1998. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention, National Center for Juvenile Justice.

Viadero, D. (2009, November 17). Scholars: Parent-school ties should shift in teen years.
Education Week, 29(12), 114.

























18 Teacher Voices






























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